By Bida Elly David
A senior clergy and a spiritual councilor belonging to the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS) has cautioned believers amid unnecessary joining of churches whose intention is to gain financial benefits from their congregation.
He made the statement as a major concern during one of the funeral rites in memory of one of the pastors who demised months ago in Kampala Uganda.
South Sudan is a Country that has prioritized freedom of worship and religion to her citizens from various ethnicities. Ministry of religious affairs and the Council of churches have been mandated to exercise legality of any religious denomination in the Country as well as Islam at large.
The Country after gaining independence from Sudan has been experiencing continuous influx of different foreign churches with different backgrounds and faith. According to the law, any religious leader who has the will to establish a church should undergo registration.
Speaking to the mourners during the funeral rites prayers, Rev. Francis Phillip Lado of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan said that some faith based institutions are established with the aim of income generation and financial interest and called on all faithful to be cautious over faith directives.
“There are very many denominations coming up within the Christian religion. Many churches these days open up because of money. Their interest is to make money through the people of God and with this, we have to be careful in choosing which church to go to avoid contradicting our choice of faith,” the cleric cautions the believers.
According to Pastor Francis, some Churches work contrary in total distinction with the teachings of Jesus Christ the son of the living God using their external or adopted spirits to perform miracles.
“You should use your faith wisely to direct you through the word of the Lord. Any church that values finances instead of valuing out Lord Jesus Christ is questionable,” he noted.
“Church does not prioritize money to faith. We have very many churches of different kinds in South Sudan. We need to ask God to give us positive directives to our faith in this difficult moment. Let our sorrows not drive us away from the Lord,” he added.
Pastor Francis further briefed the congregation about their visit to the Western world in regards to syllogism on same sex marriages.
“We as the clergies in South Sudan stood against the decision of the western world prioritizing same sex marriage dictating the creator who created a man and a woman with the purpose of propagating offspring to give rise of the world population. What is done is against the will of God,” he noted
At the same note, he called on all the citizens to live in harmony and work towards bringing everlasting peace to the nation as well as calling on the authorities to lead the country in a Godly way for affirmative prosperity.