— President Granger tells Eccles Assembly of God Church congregation

THE church has a role to advance the promotion of social cohesion in Guyana’s multi-cultural society said President David Granger at the 60th-anniversary dedication service of the Eccles Assembly of God Church on Saturday.

The Head of State attended the function where he also reminded the congregation that the cultural diversity character is an asset, not a liability.

“We are blessed to belong to a country with such diversity,” said President Granger as he noted that social cohesion enhances cooperation among citizens, civil society, institutions and the State.

Through the weaving of the various social, economic and political strands in the Guyana society into a cohesive whole, differences, he said, can be recognised but respected.

A release to the media also indicated that the President acknowledged social cohesion as a state which encourages greater equality across the boundaries of class, gender, geography and ethnicity; ensures that every group, no matter how small, enjoys a sense of belonging; creates a moral community that is safe and that offers opportunities for uplifting everyone.

“Social cohesion is consistent with the ideal of the Christian vision of promoting harmonious relations in society. Our diversity is evident everywhere — in our schools, in our offices and factories and in this congregation. It is evident in any community where churches, mosques and temples are established side-by-side,” he said.

In congratulating the Eccles Assembly of God Church on the 60th anniversary of its formal establishment, the President commended the body for its religious stewardship to the East Bank Community.

He reminded that the church can continue to promote social cohesion by providing spiritual and material relief to those in need.

It can also do so by mending the emotional wounds caused by violence; protecting the vulnerable from malice and injustice; by advancing class and ethnic harmony; promoting non-confrontational ways of settling differences and by becoming a peacemaker.

“The Eccles Assembly of God Church has been an instrument of social cohesion from the time of its existence. The Church’s members and leaders embrace persons regardless of their class or ethnicity. This Church through its community engagement – its school-feeding programme, its senior citizens’ and widows’ outreach and its children’s education support – is perpetuating to Jesus’s mission to the infirm, the needy and the poor. The ‘Assembly’ is helping to create a gentler Guyana,” President Granger asserted.

Speaking to the Assembly’s vision “…to establish the rulership of the Kingdom of God throughout this country and beyond through the faithful proclamation of the gospel in every stratum of human existence”, President Granger stated that it is the Church’s obligation to realise this vision by promoting harmony among all men and women.

He urged the Church, through its ministry, to continue to contribute towards the shaping of a society where differences are respected, the weak are assisted and where everyone, regardless of class or ethnicity, feels a sense of belonging.

“The virtues of compassion, love and mercy are the means through which we can experience the Kingdom of God. It is written in the Holy Bible (to the Galatians 3: 28) that the apostle Paul laid down a model of cohesion for the early Church. He writes: “…There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,” said the Head of State.

He also reminded that the Christian faith makes no distinction in terms of class or ethnicity.
Upon his arrival, President Granger was greeted by Bishop Dr. John Oswald Smith, CCH, General Bishop of the Assemblies of God in Guyana and Bishop Michael Perreira, Senior Pastor of the Eccles Assembly of God.

The re-modelled church has a membership of 815 persons and can accommodate approximately 1700 persons.