Ho, Jan. 30, GNA - Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboah, Volta Regional Minister, on Thursday said the State would continue to rely on the Church for the observance of peace and tranquillity towards national cohesion and development.

He, therefore, urged Church leaders to inculcate positive values in their members to enable them to co-exist with people with other religious background, as one people with a common destiny. Mr Owusu-Yeboa was addressing a three-man delegation of the Global Evangelical Church, led by its moderator the Right Reverend Emmanuel Gbordzoe when it paid a courtesy call on the minister in Ho. Rt. Rev. Gbordzoe expressed the Church's gratitude to the minister for honouring an invitation to the regional launch of and celebration of the new name of the Church.

Mr Owusu-Yeboah appealed to the Global Evangelical Church to work assiduously to strengthen the state-church relationship towards national reconstruction adding, " Do not use the religious body to sow seeds of discord amongst the people".

He said though government would not interfere in the affairs of the Church, authorities would expect that the religious body established code of conduct to regulate the activities of its leaders and members. He noted that too much attention was being given to Church leaders to the disadvantage of members and called on religious leaders to fight against social vices that had plagued the society.

Mr Mawutor Goh, Ho District Chief Executive (DCE), urged the Church to initiate more developmental programmes to improve the living condition of the people.

The DCE condemned noise making by some churches beyond the stipulated time, which they had disregarded with impunity. Rt. Rev. Gbordzoe said the Global Evangelical Church was undertaking development projects in the northern part of the region and was also working hard to unite the different ethnic groups. Other members of the delegation were Rev. Samuel D.K. Dumevi, in-charge of programmes and inter-church relations and Rev. Emmanuel Bredzei, acting Ho Presbytery chairman.

Global Evangelical Church, which was formally known as Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) church of Ghana, broke away from the EP Church, Ghana in 1991 due to doctrinal differences.