International Pastors and Leaders Conference ends at Kasoa
The Presiding Bishop of the Western-West Africa Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church, Rt Rev. Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe, says church leaders in the sub-region should not relent in their efforts to impact positively on the socio-economic programmes and projects in their countries.
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According to him, the church is in a critical time in the global development agenda, which requires leaders to be equipped with transformational skills and ideas that would help them to keep pace with the demands of the rapid advancements in the world.
Rt Rev. Dr Dogbe said this at the annual International Pastors and Leaders Conference organised by the Western-West Africa Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church.
The five-day conference was held at the Pentecost Convention Centre, near Kasoa in the Central Region, on the theme "Refocusing on our Purpose by the Renewing of our Minds". It was attended by more than one hundred delegates from Ghana, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia
Rt Rev. Dr Dogbe noted that the church, as the moral conscience of society needed to be proactive with purposeful programmes to meet the increasing needs of members in terms of their spiritual and physical development.
It is based on this that the Episcopal District has been organising the annual International Pastors and Leaders Conference to strategise on how to employ modern leadership knowledge to enhance the work of church growth and its positive impact on community development.
The Pastor incharge of the Mother AME Zion Church in New York, USA, Rev Dr Richard Chapple Jr. who was one of the Principal Speakers at the event, acknowledged the fast moving pace of developments in the world, and cautioned against the adoption of teachings that would undermine the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He commended the Western-West Africa Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church for organising the annual meeting for the pastors and lay leaders to appreciate the changing dynamics in leadership skills that reflect the core values of the church.
Rev Dr Richard Chapple Jr stressed the need for the kind of leadership that would make the church relevant to the needs not only of members, but the surrounding communities, through the support of some social and economic initiatives to improve their welfare.
The topics discussed at the five-day conference included basic finance and budgeting principles for managing church resources, Missions and money; Financing Mission Ministry, developing a vibrant youth ministry, Ministering to children as a strategy for church growth, Leadership as service: The role of church Trustees and Stewards, The Craft and Practice of sermon preparation and preaching and how to start and grow a class for effective discipleship.