The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah has said the overall worldwide membership of the church of Pentecost (COP) which is operated in ninety-one (91) countries was 2,804,861 as of December 2016.

Apostle Prof.Opoku Onyinah continued that total membership of the Church in Ghana as at the same period was 2,367,283 which represented 84.4% of total worldwide membership.

He attributed the phenomenal increase to the church’s active engagement in sundry activities and programmes including Leadership Development, Bible Study, Prayer and Fasting and Evangelism.

The Chairman disclosed this at the opening of the 15th Extraordinary Council Meeting held at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC) at Gomoa Fetteh near Kasoa.

The Extraordinary Council meeting was held under the theme, “I am an Example in My Generation (1Corinthians 4:16-17)

According to the Chairman, the church which has been described as the fastest growing church occupies approximately 11.74% of the total Christian population in Ghana.

‘The overall analysis implies that 71% of COP membership in Ghana is made up of children and youth (up to 35%) which to us is an indication that the COP is a thriving church with a great future,” he emphasised

Speaking of the role of the Church in nation building, the Chairman assured that the church will use its platforms to collaborate with government in the fight against illegal mining and other practices which degrades the environment.

“A true example of Christ is a true and patriotic citizen of his or her nation; Christ set the pace by obeying the laws of the land, it is wrong to separate your profession from your worship or church service, the prayers and worship are supposed to assist you demonstrate Christ wherever you go,” he stated.

Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah stressed emphattically that work must not suffer neglect for prayer and prayer must equally not suffer neglect for work adding that they must both be done at the right time.

The Christian public servant, entrepreneur, student, politician, chief or policeman must live as an example of Christ for others to follow.

Her Ladyship, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Georgina Theodora Wood described the theme for the meeting as relevant for the period in which the country finds itself.

She challenged the Church to gird its loins and join government and the rest of society in the fight against, what she described as, naked environmental lawlessness.

“We need to let the people of God understand that as stewards of the environment, the Lord experts each one of us without a single exception to manage all that he has entrusted into our hands responsibly,” she remarked.

The Chief Justice also disclosed that it was in view of that, that she designated fourteen(14) courts to deal with all mining offences under the Minerals and Mining Act,2006(Act 703).

“As a lead justice institution committed to the rule of law, the judiciary has a mandatory constitutional duty to support the state in the renewed fight against illegal mining, a menace which threatens our very survival as a nation” she stated