Showbiz personality, George Quaye (L) and, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome (R)
Astute showbiz personality, George Quaye, has expressed disappointment in the General Overseer of Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, following his recent statement that some secular musicians are fond of exploiting churches.
In a discussion on Hitz FM on March 25, 2025, George Quaye described such utterances as baseless.
He explained that some churches are among the richest institutions in the world, yet they have refused to financially support creatives when they need help the most.
“If you speak to a lot of musicians, they will also tell you how the church has used them. People know how the churches generate revenue… Have you ever seen a gospel concert being sponsored by a church before? It is the alcoholic beverage and condom companies that sponsor such programs. Yet, some churches are the richest institutions in the world,” he said.
George Quaye further argued that if the church wants talented young musicians to stay, it should put them on their monthly payroll.
“Why don’t you put these instrumentalists on a monthly payroll if you don’t want them to leave? Give them good welfare, as some of the non-gospel musicians are taking from the people they work with before you come up and say they have robbed the church… It is a very unfortunate comment.
“What is our dear pastor talking about? Talent is of God, so if I start giving my talent to the church and I am growing, meanwhile the church is not paying me for the guitar I am playing, and I get a gig somewhere, shouldn’t I go? Gospel musicians will also travel to perform in churches, and they don’t even pay them well. What are you saying? That they should continue to starve and die? Or they should become thieves,” George Quaye added.
What Pastor Chris said
Pastor Chris bemoaned the trend where musicians begin their careers in the church but leave once they start to make progress.
Labelling the trend as an act of cheating and exploitation, he stated that these musicians only used the church as a means to an end.
“No one has cheated the church like the music industry. What most of them have ever done is use the church. If you look at history, you’ll see many worldly singers who started in the church. They were in the choir, leading praise, but ended up in the world. All they ever did was use the church to make themselves popular or find a way to use the church to make money,” he stated.
b>You can also watch videos from the unveiling of the 2025 TGMA nominees on GhanaWeb TV below:
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