Partner govt in nation building - Veep tells Methodist Church
The Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, has reiterated the need for the church and the government to team up as partners in nation building and not as separate entities.
Advertisement
"Together we will continue to build a nation that will be a source of pride for all," he said.
He was speaking at the thanksgiving service to mark the 180th anniversary celebration of the Methodist Church, Ghana, at the Independence Square in Accra yesterday.
It brought together hundreds of members of the church and other dignitaries, including the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood; Members Of Parliament (MPs), the diplomatic corps, traditional leaders and leaders of sister churches.
The anniversary, which was on the theme: “180 years of connexionalism, a heritage worth preserving," was marked with thanksgiving, praises and worship and awards for people who had contributed to the growth of the church in diverse ways.
Apart from the hymns and contemporary music, two groups, the Northern and Ewe missions from Tema, who used traditional instruments and songs stole the show with their performance as the gathering danced and sang along with them as they dropped their offerings which would be used to support the church’s medical and educational outreach programmes.
Contribution of the church
Mr Amissah-Arthur commended the Methodist Church for its contribution to nation building in the areas of education, support for the sick and needy in society, health and sanitation, agriculture, empowerment of women and girl child education and training.
"In complementing government's effort in education, you set up some of the best schools. In health you created a number of restorative facilities. You are involved in agriculture production and in the drilling of boreholes to provide potable water for poor communities," he said.
The government, he said, was determined to ensure that the activities of the church made a positive difference in the lives of Ghanaians.
"There is no denying the fact that in the past 180 years, Methodism in Ghana has made tremendous gains," he said.
Unity
The outgoing Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, urged members of the church to be united by showing love to another other.
He said although the church was made up of people from different backgrounds "we must not allow our ethnic, academic, political or sexual differences to divide us."
The diversity of the backgrounds of the people in the church, he said, should bring them together.
He commended the members and leadership of the Methodist Church for their prayers and encouragement throughout his six years in office and urged them to support the new presiding bishop.
Methodism in Ghana is traced to the arrival of the first Methodist missionary, Rev. Joseph Rhodes Dunwell, in Ghana in 1835 as a request by an indigenous Ghanaian group for bibles for Christian development.
Writers email: [email protected]