The Ga West Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) over the weekend consecrated 17 new catechists, to lead various congregations within the presbytery.
The catechists, with the mandate to direct spiritual and administrative growth of their churches, are; Ellen Oppong Biney, Augustina Oparebea Addo, Florence Akua Ago Amankwah, Kezia Ann Larbi-Koranteng, Salome Asante Adu, Salome Nkrumah Gyimah, Daniel Owusu Ansah and Emmanuel Osei Akyea.
The others are; Mr Samuel Baffoe Monney, Emmanuel Kumah, Emmanuel Ainooson, Magnus Yaw Amankwah Acorlor, Daniel Konjah, John Kofi Baah Apea, Samuel Kwesi Asuah, Benjamin Adeku and John Kwakye Baidoo.
Rev. Enoch Adjei Pobee, the Chairperson of the Presbytery, preaching on the theme “The call,” appealed to church leaders to acquire requisite knowledge and training to teach sound doctrines to their followers.
According to him, the “calling of God” on an individual was not to be taken for granted, adding that “anytime God calls, he reveals and introduces who he is to all and sundry.”
The Chairperson, who expressed worry over false teachings that had crept into the Christian community, said it would take men and women of God who were willing to apply themselves to serious studies to reverse the trend.
“Some preachers of the bible give literal meanings to the scriptures thereby misleading their congregants. Some of us read the bible and give the surface meaning because we are not able to differentiate between what was meant for some particular audience and what is meant for us.”
He challenged the Catechists, as well as other church leaders to study and apply themselves to good translation of the bible considering the literal and historical contexts of the text while consulting other tools like commentaries, cautioning that “in all this, the role of the Holy Spirit cannot be overemphasised.”
Congratulating them for accepting the “call”, Rev. Pobee tasked the Catechists to be good ambassadors of Christ and the church by remaining faithful to the scriptures, the teaching of sound doctrines and upholding the tenets of the PCG.
Rev. Gideon Puplampu, the Director of Ramseyer Training Centre, Abetifi, presenting the Catechists for consecration, commended them for submitting to the training and taking it seriously in the last one year.
He charged them to build on and share the knowledge acquired with not only the members of their respective congregations, but everyone God brought their way.
Catechist Samuel Kwesi Asuah, on behalf of his colleagues, registered their profound gratitude to God and the leadership of the church for the consecration.
He pledged their willingness to do their best in order to fulfil the great commission as assigned to them.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
