CHURCH WORRIES OVER YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN IDOL WORSHIP, CALLS FOR PROMPT CHECKS

(By Alex Uzoigwe)

    The apparent involvement of some youth in various forms of fetishism and idol worship is now giving the church some sleepless nights.
     Expressing grave concern over the phenomenon, the church challenged every genuine christian to join hands to put the trend at bay before it could escalate to unmanageable dimensions.
      An Anglican cleric, Diocese on the Niger, Ven Nwachukwu Okeke who expressed the concern recently frowned at how he said the practice was fast spreading among youth in most Igbo communities.
       The venerable made the grim observation and the subsequent call for the check in a sermon he said to mark the opening of the Niger Provincial Council and Mothers' Meeting held at the All Saints' Cathedral, Onitsha, recently.
        In the sermon which he tagged, "Faithfulness in a time like this," Ven Okeke, to some extent, chided some christians for the development of the observed apostasy among the youth.
     According to him, the seeming faithlessness among most believers have caused a good number of people, especially the youth, to dare the church and profane the name of God in various ways.
       The man of God therefore called for what he described as the godly manner of child and youth upbringing, adding that the responsibility of child and youth upbringing was not exclusive job of a few class of people.
      "Child upbringing is everybody's responsibility", he said, urging all hands to be on deck in order for the church to raise quality youth for a desired godly society.
     He remarked that for christians to achieve the society of their dream, every professing believer should be good ambassador of Christ any time and anywhere they found themselves.
      While urging that everyone should always be prepared to do the needful at the appropriate time, he appealed for the necessity of going back to the drawing board for "the diligent corrections and perfection of our Christian faith".
       In his words, "This is the only way to make the church move forward".

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