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Samoa: The Church must be proactive

The church in Samoa needs to adapt so that it can tackle the “many illnesses” of modern society.

That’s the opinion of the Chairman of the National Council of Churches (NCC), Reverend Kasiano Le’aupepe, who says the church must play a more active role to address problems cropping up in Samoa, today. The Chairman is referring to the number of sexual abuse cases before the Courts, prostitution, pornography, violence, robberies, thefts and other social ills. “We as the church have a responsibility to address these issues,” Rev Le’aupepe tells the Sunday Samoan. “That responsibility is to tell our people what the Bible says we should do [about these things].

“I feel that technology has progressed at a very fast pace and unfortunately the church has been somewhat left behind. The church needs to grow with the country and walk alongside progress.” One of the biggest problems in Samoa is the love of money. “I believe this is what’s causing all the problems Samoan people face today. “Our people see money as their new god, that without money we would cease to exist. We have fallen into this idea that everything is about money.”

 

Rev Le’aupepe says it is not “a bad thing to have money” but the church must be strong to tell its members that “not everything is about money.”

It must also inform people about God’s will in relation to how they should use their money – in terms of the church and helping people around them. Rev Le'aupepe says the NCC is extremely concerned about prostitution. “These women do this do it for money and it further proves my point that money is the driving factor in most of Samoa’s problems.