Lutheran Church ordains 13 new pastors
Thirteen new pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG) have been ordained in Accra with a charge to preach the undiluted word of God and to discharge their responsibilities dutifully.
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The President of the ELCG, Rt Rev. Dr Paul Kofi Fynn, who ordained the pastors at a special church service yesterday, advised them not to add to or subtract from the word of God.
“Do not conform to anything apart from the word of God,” he told the newly-ordained pastors.
Rt Rev. Dr Fynn urged them to avoid preaching prosperity messages and materialism, and instead devote themselves to the teaching of the pure word of God.
He said their ordination as pastors came with responsibility and they must be prepared to discharge those responsibilities effectively.
Those ordained included Emmanuel Adinkrah, Johnson Agbelemegpe, John Apam, Joseph Arhin, Joseph Bentum, James Cobbinah and Robert Degraft-Fuah.
The rest are Charles Kwaku Dickens, Elijah, Enoch Kwasi Fiawoyife, James Paari Konlaan, Johnson Maclean and Elisha Hamidu Osman.
Administering the ordination oath to the new pastors, Rt Rev. Dr Fynn reminded them of their stewardship to God for which reason they must endeavour to do the will of God at all times.
He advised them not to base their teachings on the law because the law could not ensure moral renewal, except the word of God.
Anchoring his sermon on Jesus’ admonition to his disciples that “…The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few,” as captured in Matthew 9:37, Rev. Dr George Black of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, USA, charged the newly ordained pastors to go into the world and redeem the millions of people trapped in sin.
According to him, out of the world’s population of 7.1 billion, only 2.2 billion of them were Christians, meaning 5.9 billion people “are living in darkness” and they might go to hell if Jesus returned today.
“The power of the gospel can change sinners and give them a new life,” he remarked.
Rev. Dr Black told the newly ordained pastors that “you are not called to be served by your congregation; rather, you are called to serve your congregation.”
By: Kofi Yeboah/Ghana
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