Mensa Otabil responds to critics over money-making controversy

- Mensa Otabil has argued that criticism against his Church for making money is uncalled for

- The head of ICGC says the Church has the right to make money

- Mensa Otabil has been criticized over the huge pledges that congregants make during the Greater Works Conference

Who told you the Church must not be rich? This was the question Pastor Mensa Otabil posed his critics during the Greater Works Conference at the Independence Square in Accra.

Already, the general overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Mensa Otabil, has been condemned by a section of the public who argue that he has turned Christianity into a money-making business.

In an introductory speech at the Greater Works Conference on August 2, the pastor argued that the Church has the potential of making it big and spending extravagantly especially when it comes to the word of God.

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Mensa Otabil questioned why the same critics do not chide football clubs for spending millions of dollars on a single player instead of using the same funds to advance the cause of society.

Commenting on the success of the American Company, Apple, becoming the first company in America to hit a profit estimate of 1 trillion dollars, the pastor hinted the Church will soon be a rich as that if not more.

Mensa Otabil's ICGC is one of the largest churches in Ghana with branches across the world.

Recently, the church introduced an online system through which congregants could pay their tithes and offerings.

This system, which was widely advertised by Joy FM, will now see congregants use the online bill payment platform, ExpressPay.

This development comes just moments away from the annual Greater Works Conference which will see thousands of congregants converge at the Independence Square from July 30 to August 3rd.

This is not the first time ICGC has been in the news for offering and money-related controversies as exactly a year ago in July 2017, they were condemned by the public for making a price list for special prayer requests. Read Mensa Otabil’s response to critics.

Amidst the hue and cry, ICGC remains one of the churches in Ghana with a high taste for technology. YEN.com.gh is gathering that these measures to use online platforms is to ensure accountability for all payments made to the church be it tithes of offerings.

About ICGC

The International Central Gospel Church – ICGC – is an Evangelical, Charismatic Christian Church. It was officially inaugurated as a church on the 26th of February 1984, in Accra, Ghana. The first meeting was held in a small classroom with an initial membership of just about twenty people.

From February 1984 to April 1986, the membership grew to about one hundred and eighty (180) adults in regular attendance. The early meetings of the church were held in several facilities which included classrooms, a private residence, a public hall, a science laboratory, a mechanical workshop and a cinema theatre.

In May 1986, the church settled in a rented scout hall – the Baden Powell Memorial Hall – which became its home for the next ten years.

During this ten-year period, the membership rose to over 4,000. This period also saw aggressive missionary church planting activities with local assemblies established in almost all the major towns and cities of Ghana. Several other churches were also planted in cities in Europe and the United States.

The first congregation which was established in February 1984, now designated as the Christ Temple Assembly, has directly planted over forty other churches out of the original congregation in the Accra - Tema metropolis of Ghana alone.

In 1988, the ICGC established a ministerial institute to train a new generation of leaders to carry out its vision. From the initial six-month certificate in ministry, the college has developed into the premier private-owned University in Ghana known as the Central University College.

Again in 1988, the church instituted an educational scholarship scheme, known as Central Aid, to finance the education of selected needy students in pre-tertiary educational institutions. This scheme is now considered the largest non-governmental scholarship programme for students in pre-tertiary education in Ghana.

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The International Central Gospel Church is a socially conscious Christian church which upholds the philosophy of human dignity and excellence. It engages in promoting and staging events whose impact have reached to the depths of the Ghanaian society and brought Christ to the doorsteps of the people.

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Source: YEN.com.gh