The Ghana Baptist Convention has ordained 92 ministers, including eight women, paving the way for them to offer their service to God, the church and humanity.
The ordination ceremony, held on Saturday, August 29, 2026, formed part of the 63rd annual session of the church, which took place at the Baptist Women's Retreat and Resource Centre at Ejura in the Ejura Sekyedumase Municipality in the Ashanti Region. The five-day session was held under the theme: "Revived to reach out: Proclaiming Christ in every community."
The ordination process was started by the Vice President of the GBC, Rev. Charles Oppong-Poku, who spelt out the ministerial journey within the Convention. He said after the candidates had received a calling into the ministry and were affirmed by their respective local churches, they underwent theological training in institutions approved by the Convention.
After training, interview and endorsement processes follow, where candidates are vetted through a formal interview conducted by the Ministers' Conference on behalf of the church's presidency to ascertain their readiness and doctrinal soundness.
The entire ministerial journey involves three main stages: licensing, endorsement for full membership into the Ministers' Conference, and ordination, which sets them apart for full life-long ministerial function.
The Executive President of the GBC, Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, assisted by Rev. Oppong-Poku and the President of the Ministers' Conference, Rev. Victor Brew, laid hands on them, prayed, anointed and presented certificates to each of them to complete the process.
Charge
Delivering the sermon on the topic "Be a faithful steward of God's flock," the Accra Coordinator of the Ghana Baptist University College, Rev. Dr Felix Owusu, charged the new ministers to ensure that the doors of their churches were open to receive believers and non-believers and to reduce the attrition rate.
He urged them to be mindful of their personal spirituality in the performance of their ministerial responsibilities.
"You must take the word of God and all spiritual discipline of your faith seriously to the glory of God," he said.
"Watching over our personal spirituality is a call to have a habitual association with God. It is intended to cultivate a consistent and deep relationship with God through prayer and the study of the scripture," he said.
"The goal of the habitual association is to learn from Christ, live like Him and represent Him effectively in whatever we do in our ministry," he added.
Personal conduct
Dr Owusu advised them to be careful about their personal conduct and always guard their integrity.
"As ministers of God, you must always ensure that you live above reproach towards the growth of ministry," he said.
"I call on you to live by example and serve as a positive moral compass and spiritual model for the church and the community. Whatever positive attitude you exhibit in the church must reflect in the home and workplace," he said.
He further entreated them to take care of their health needs due to the demanding nature of the ministerial work, saying: "Do not try to be Messiah but rather delegate others to assist you in your ministry."
Personal relationship
For his part, Rev. Thompson urged them to be conscious of their personal relationship with God and study the scripture, since Christianity cannot be practised based upon one's feelings but because of God's teachings.
"I charge you to love everyone who is seeking to know Christ and to follow Him and the larger community because we believe that the gospel of our Lord Jesus is the answer to the world's problems," he stated.
He said governments would do their best, but the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ is what gives young people hope not to turn to drugs, alcoholism, corruption and other wrongdoings happening in society.
In an interview, some of the new ministers described the ordination as a great honour and pledged to justify the confidence reposed in them.
"This is a great honour done to us, and we pledge to justify the confidence reposed in us by working effectively to advance God's ministry," they said.
