The Mount Olivet Methodist Church, at Lagos Town in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality of the Western Region has climaxed its golden jubilee celebration with a call on Christians to grow and mature spiritually in Christ. The Right Reverend Emmanuel Kwesi Ansah, the Bishop of Sekondi Diocese of the Methodist Church, who made the call, was speaking on the theme: 'Discipleship: Keeping the Heritage of Jesus Christ-Nurturing Lives for 50 Years Thus Far and Beyond.' He said mature Christians were those not easily led astray by teachings and practices that were contrary to the word of God. According to him, spiritual maturity should be a goal that all Christians strive for as they sought to imitate God and live out Christ's love. Rt. Rev. Ansah said: 'Spiritual maturity is described as being built up to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by cra ftiness in deceitful schemes.' He expressed worry over the decline in the membership of churches, although communities were growing. 'One of the possible reasons for this decline is an apparent lack of focus on discipleship ministries and spiritual growth. Participation in discipleship opportunities of our church like Bible Class Meetings, Sunday school, organisational meetings, and other small, accountability groups are limited to a few. 'The problem is not that there is no discipleship taking place but that, most of us seem content and satisfied with where we are. We are not putting into practice our God-given gifts and graces,' the bishop stated. Rt. Rev. Ansah, therefore, urged the leadership of the church to discuss and adopt new strategies to enhance both physical and spiritual growth among members 'to take the church from where it is now to where it ought to be.' The Reverend Seth Kobina Amoah, the Resident Minister of Mount Olivet Methodist Church, expressed gratitude to all who had contributed t o the success of the 50th anniversary celebration of the church. He said the celebration was anchored on two main pillars, namely: the sacramental blessings of God in the life of the church, and the mobilisation of funds for educational infrastructure. He said: 'As we know, the spirit of Methodism is to promote education to feed the state of human sense with self-filled and spirit-led as well as sound-minded workforce for a befitting output.' Rev. Amoah, therefore, called on benevolent individuals and corporate bodies to assist the church in building educational infrastructure to augment the government's efforts in promoting quality education in the country. Speaking on the December 7 general elections, he said: 'The Church as a unit does not involve herself in party politics but each individual member by virtue of his or her citizenship, has a right to vote and because he is a Christian, has a duty to vote at elections. 'The Christian, like any other individual citizen has the freedom to decide whether he will devote time, money and energy to persuading people to vote for one particular party or not.' Rev. Amoah encouraged members to be courageous and engage in healthy political discussions with others within the framework of Christian standards. Dr Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, the Running Mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Andrew Egyapa Mercer, Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, and Parliamentary Candidates of NPP and National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Effia and Kwesimintsim constituencies were among some of the dignitaries that graced the occasion. Source : Ghana News Agency