The year-long celebration is on the theme: “Maintaining a Peaceful Society as a way of manifesting God’s glory” and the climax is scheduled for August, next year.

Preaching the sermon at a special church service, also dubbed as traditional wear day and homecoming, Reverend Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, former General secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, said traditions were not a fetish.

Our traditions of respect, language, dressing and fellow feeling are not fetishes but God-given stars to guide us to our destination and every Christian must be concerned about how we are losing touch with our culture and traditions.

Referring to the shepherds, who were led by a star to the destination of Christ, the Saviour, on Christmas day, he said God gave stars in different forms to direct his people to their destinations and one of such stars was our traditions and culture.

He said Christians should not relegate culture and traditions to the background all in the name of Christianity and modernity because if we missed our star of direction, we would miss our destinations as well.

“Speaking your language, dancing to the traditional drums and songs, paying homage to your family and clan elders are all part of our cherished traditions, which must not be seen as a fetish but must be seen as our identity through which we worship God in fullness.”

“The star of God directing us to our destinations may not be unique or mystical as the one which led the shepherds at the time, but God can use people around us to lead us to our safe destinations and we must be humble enough to appreciate whatever roles people play in our lives,” he said.

The Church service was spiced up as congregants, including the clergy dressed in different traditional wears and danced to the tunes of traditional drums and songs to the glory of God.

Reverend Opuni-Frimpong, also leader of the Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa (ACAA) and a Presbyterian Minister, expressed the hope that Christians will not disregard traditions because ‘they are forms of stars directing us to our destinations.’