Rev. Dr Komi Ahiatroga Hiagbe has been inducted as Rector for the Global Theological Seminary of the Global Evangelical Church, established to train pastors and others for effective ministry.
The induction service held at the Global Evangelical Church, Victory Chapel, Teshie, was officiated by the Rt. Rev. Dr Setorwu Kwadzo Ofori, Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church.
The Moderator delivering his sermon on, “The Purpose of Leadership”, said leadership was crucial to every environment and the bedrock that drove every institution, be it the church, government or the family.
“Leadership is a universal gift and the purpose of leadership is to do what will give glory to God at all times and at all places; Christian leadership is to make people know Christ and live for him,” he said.
Rt. Rev. Dr Ofori who is also the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Seminary said, true leadership must be exemplary, promote and support what is good, devoid of vices including discrimination, corruption and wrongdoing.
“A seminary is not solely for Bible study but a place for academic work with various disciplines, geared towards people receiving Jesus and bringing about transformation.”
He urged pastors, church leaders, the youth and everyone, to go back to school to be taught to understand true leadership to enable them lead well for sanity to prevail in the system.
“The writers of the Bible were schooled. A lot of pastors and so-called prophets need educational training to attain the purpose of true leadership and stop the mess being created around,” the Moderator said.
Rev. Dr Hiagbe was called into the pastoral ministry of the Global Evangelical Church in 1998 and served in the Cape Coast district of the church as his first station. He also pastored the Faith Chapel of the church at La North in Accra.
As a student in Nairobi, Kenya, he was recommended by the Synod Committee of the church to the Community Presbyterian Church, Madaraka, where he served as an associate pastor and Missions Director between 2001 and 2004.
In February 2008, he was appointed the first Director of Global Impact Foundation (GIF), a financial NGO, where he served till May 2012. As the director of GIF, he raised the portfolio and assets of the foundation from a negative balance to over half a million Ghana cedis.
In September 2014, Rev. Dr Hiagbe and his family were recalled from Kenya to serve as the Vice Rector and Academic Dean of the Global Theological Seminary, a position he held until his appointment as the rector in 2018.
Rev. Hiagbe had his secondary education at Zion College, Anloga and gained admission to the University of Cape Coast for a one-year preliminary arts programme after which he read a four-year Bachelor degree and Diploma in Education programme.
He also had a certificate in Theology from the Trinity Theological Seminary and his Master of Divinity degree in Bible Exposition and Theology from the International Leadership University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rev. Dr Hiagbe obtained his Doctor of Theology degree from the Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany.
In a brief speech after his investiture, Rev. Hiagbe said, the Global Theological Seminary was to become a tertiary institution responding to the needs of society.
He revealed that from January 2020, the Seminary would not only train pastors and lay leaders of the Global Evangelical Church, but also pastors and leaders from other Christian denominations.
“We shall soon be inviting our farmers, house helps, caterers, market women, tailors, seamstresses, hairdressers among others to come and polish their skills in their chosen vocations,” he said.
