Hohoe, April 10, GNA - The Reverend William Sakoe, a pastor of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, has exhorted church leaders to preach the good news of God and the salvation it promises and refrain from inordinate materialism through extortion. He said inordinate materialism and extortion in the name of God undermined the principles, which Jesus Christ of Nazareth stood for. Reverend Sakoe said this in a homily to mark Easter Good Friday at Hohoe.

He said it was sad to see majority of pastors crafting schemes to "milk" dry its membership and bask in affluence at the expense of the congregation, whose desire is to attain both spiritual and physical growth. Rev. Sakoe was optimistic that when "anointed men" passed the moral standard tests, the results would trickle down to affect the congregation and the society positively.

He observed that, "special anointing, ground-breaking and signs and wonders and prayers," premised on the highest financial bidders breed corruption and wrong doings among congregations and the society at large.

He appealed to the Church to rather embark on crusades to correct societal wrongs such as armed robbery, indiscipline, parental irresponsibility and also intensify the preaching of salvation and repentance. "With these, we would have been satisfying the principles of Christ and mankind as a whole," he said. 10 April 09