Category Archives: PC Ghana

Reverberations From Ordination Decisions: The PC(USA) And Her Global Partners

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[Ed. note: This is the first in a three part series that I hope to get written and posted over the next week.]

Over the last few months a couple Presbyterian branches have made decisions to make, or move towards making, standards for ordination more inclusive, particularly regarding the ordination of individuals who are in active same-sex relationships.  These decisions have made waves in the international Presbyterian community and these waves will be reverberating in the community for a while to come.  This is a look at one specific reverberation.

In a couple of widely publicized decisions the General Assemblies of the
Iglesia Nacional Presbiteriana de México (IPNM) (National Presbyterian Church In Mexico) and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) have gone on record expressing disapproval of the passage of Amendment 10-A by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and warning that it jeopardizes the partnering relationship between the churches. However, each of these decisions have multiple nuances that seem to be getting lost in the media headlines and tweets.

The IPNM decision was made at a called Consultation of the General Assembly held August 17-19.  This decision was then communicated to the PC(USA) in a letter to the Stated Clerk and the PC(USA) has posted an English translation.  It says in part

In my position as Secretary of the H. General Assembly of the
National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, I [Presbyter Amador Lopez Hernandez] am sending the present
document to communicate the official decision made by our National
Presbyterian Church of Mexico, in the last extraordinary and legislative
Council meeting held at El Divino Salvador Church, in Xonacatlán,
Mexico, on August 17-19, 2011, regarding the partnership between our
Churches, which states:

“To revoke Article 41, number 4 of our Manual of Procedures, which
entitles us to have official, covenant relations of work and cooperation
with the PC (U.S.A.) and terminate the official relationship with the
church, starting on August 18, 2011. As the General Assembly, we are
open to restore the partnership and work together in the future, if the
Amendment 10 A is rescinded.”

As I said above, this came from a special Consultation of the General Assembly and it is interesting to note that the primary purpose of the called meeting was ordination standards, but specifically the ordination of women.  The Presbyterian Outlook article helps fill in the details:

The Mexican church, with close to two million members, held a special
assembly Aug. 17-19 specifically to discuss the ordination of women –
voting overwhelmingly, by a margin of 158 to 14, to sustain its policy
of not ordaining women. The assembly also voted 103 to 55 not to allow
any sort of grace period for presbyteries that had, on their own,
already begun ordaining women. That vote means that any presbytery which
has already ordained women must immediately revoke those ordinations.

They also let us know that the vote to end the relationship with the PC(USA) came on a vote of 116 to 22 and was only a small part of this meeting.

In light of the full scope of these decisions made by this General Assembly it is interesting to note that in the blogosphere and twitterverse the PC(USA) related decision seems to be held up with little to no mention made of the other one. To be fair only the one decision directly affects the PC(USA) so that is one possible explanation. (At least one blog (non-PC(USA) related) did highlight the decision about the ordination of women and only mentioned the other in passing.)

Now, my Spanish is not very good, but from what I can tell and getting translation help from a couple of different sources it seems that when this meeting is discussed on the IPNM Facebook page it seems to be the women’s ordination issue which gets the most attention.

There is of course a response from the PC(USA), first an official statement then a webinar (archived presentation available from the Mexico Ministry page) to help those involved in ministry with the IPNM understand the new lay of the land.  In the webcast Dave Thomas (World Mission regional liaison for Mexico) gives a great description of the timeline and process for the decision.  He concludes by saying “And I think it’s ironic to think that here’s a church in Mexico that has nearly two million members, do you know it is almost the same size as the PC(USA), and yet 116 men voting on one Friday afternoon changed things. And in spite of the fact that thousands of people on both sides of the border, thousands of people from both countries have been impacted, have been transformed by God’s grace and by the work that they have been able to do jointly through this partnership we have had with the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.” There is clearly a tone of sadness and frustration in his voice as he says this but also a hint of condescension. My personal reaction is “this is what Presbyterianism is about” were a small subset of the whole church, be it 200 commissioners or 850, try to discern God’s will and make decisions for the whole church. And it seemed to me that throughout the webinar there were times when comments by panelists or questions from participants projected the expectations, process, standards or norms of the PC(USA) onto our sister Presbyterian church.

The webinar did offer an opening – As Maria Arroyo (World Mission area coordinator) said “…[The IPNM] would continue receiving the presbyteries in partnership that voted against 10-A and also were willing to sign something saying that they were against 10-A and they would conform to the principles of the Mexican Church.”

In his comments, Hunter Farrell (Director of Presbyterian World Mission) summarizes the situation and includes this comment, “Perhaps the most regrettable piece in this is that the Mexican Assembly in its action reduces us and our 139 year relationship to one question, our stance on a particular issue — It is critically important, and that is not to say the theology is not important, but the result is that we are reduced to yes or no on one particular question. And ironically that is what our church was trying to move away from by adopting 10-A — to broaden that understanding of ordained ministry.” He continues “At the same time our part in this, we understand from the perspective of Presbyterian World Mission, is to accept and respect the decision by the Mexican Presbyterian Church.”

This changed relationship will have to be lived into and there are still more questions than answers. The Mexico Ministry page does note that on September 8 an agreement between the two churches was reached to continue boarder ministry.

The second decision made and stance taken was from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. This came from the 11th General Assembly recently concluded and can be found in both a communique from the Assembly as well as a summary page. But again, there appear to be nuances that are not reflected in the blogosphere and twitterverse.

For example, one article is headlined “Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) severs ties with US partner over homosexuality.” Is the the situation?  That is a definite maybe!

First, let’s take a look at what the church has actually publically said.  The Communique is a bit longer and so I will focus on that.  The section begins on page 21 and starts by echoing the announced stance from earlier this year. It also reaffirms the earlier announcement that “The General Assembly wishes to state that although it unreservedly condemns homosexuality as sin, the Church is prepared to offer the needed pastoral care and counseling for those wishing to come out of the practice, in keeping with the truism that, ‘God hates sin but loves the sinner.’”  It is only in the last paragraph of this section that they address foreign partners and say, in total:

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is further taking steps – a process which has began with its just ended General Assembly to sever relationship with any partner church local and foreign that ordained homosexuals as ministers and allowed for same sex marriages and wants to make it clear that we respect the decisions of our Ecumenical Partners abroad concerning gay and lesbian practice and same-sex marriages and believes that our position would also be duly respected by them.

Note that there is an “and” in there – that the conditions appear to be both “ordained homosexuals as ministers” AND “allowed for same sex marriages.”

Now unfortunately this appears to be all we have to go on.  I have requested clarification from the General Assembly Clerk on this point but am still waiting for his response.  (Will update if I get one) I am not aware that the church has sent official notification to any partners yet, but please point me in the right direction if I have missed something. It looks like we will have to wait until the church has worked out more of the details.  It also raises the question about other partners like the Church of Scotland which has not approved ordination or marriages but has set a trajectory in that direction.

So all the headlines about severing ties? At the present time it appears that no specific action has been taken from this decision and since the PC(USA) does not currently permit same sex marriages it appears that the PC(USA) does not currently fit the stated criteria.  It is interesting to note that the Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCG, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, is currently touring the USA and we may get more clarification from his statements here.

Are there other partnerships in jeopardy? It does appear that there are.  Without being specific, in the webinar Maria Arroyo does say that some partners in the Caribbean and Latin America will be considering their relationship with the PC(USA) at their upcoming General Assemblies or General Synods.  In addition, Rev. Jim Miller gives us a five point declaration from the National Council of the Korean Presbyterian Church of the PCUSA. This is an entity within the PC(USA) but probably reflects broader attitudes within this ethnic community nationally and internationally.

I don’t think I need to stick my neck out very far to predict that over the next year we will see a variety of responses from PC(USA) international partners ranging from approval to acceptance to disapproval to dissolution of the relationship.  And in cases like there, where a possible way forward is provided based on their standards, it will be interesting to see how all this develops. But in it all we do pray for God’s mission to be advanced in whatever ways God ordains.

Next, a look at what has been happening in the Church of Scotland over the last few months.

Presbyterian Church Of Ghana And Their Stand On Homosexuality

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For those of you who follow things generally Presbyterian on your news or Twitter feeds you know that a recent development related to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana went viral, or at least high-profile.

The specific development is a news story about an announcement that the church “is to establish therapy centres
for homosexual victims for counselling and rehabilitation in the various
communities.” But what you might suspect is true, that this is not a sudden revelation and there is more to this story in the church and Ghanaian society.

Let me acknowledge right up front that this conversion or reparative therapy is a controversial topic and there are critics and defenders in professional circles, the community, and the church.  And it is worth mentioning that in “western” circles the critics currently outnumber the defenders in all these groups.  A week ago NPR ran a story on this and with the critical listener response the story brought the NPR Ombudsman wrote a great piece giving more background on the topic.

Having said that, let me move on because I want to focus more on the background to this announcement than on the announcement specifically.

On one level it is important to recognize that the level of discussion on the topic of homosexuality has risen a bit recently in the PCG because the it seems to be a topic of particular interest to the current Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, and he has been outspoken about it.  About a month ago he did a radio interview aimed at an international audience with Isaac Kofi Amissah, host of the program “Alpha and Omega Gospel” on “Volta Power FM.”  An article about the interview is long and covers most of the standard discussion regarding the view that homosexuality is sinful.  Rev. Martey does give a hint about today’s announcement when it is reported that the host asks about what he would do if he finds a member of the Presbyterian Church is gay or lesbian.  Martey is quoted as replying:

I will approach such a person and counsel him or her and offer my help
to make him or her change for the better to please God and feel
comfortable to live in society. But if such a person does not repent
after all such assistance, I will not hesitate to sack or give him the
marching orders from the Church because if such a person is allowed to
remain there, his immoral action could go a long way to affect other
members of the church.

Within the PCG the opposition to homosexuality has become a significant theme.  Other pastors are also preaching against it, including the Second Minister of a District and another District Pastor who told the Ghana News Agency that “homosexuality and lesbianism are against our culture, which the builds society” and “More importantly, it was against God’s rules as the bible clearly points out”.

But it is not just the PCG that is currently making statements. Almost a month ago on July 18th the Christian Council of Ghana, of which the PCG is a member, released a statement urging Ghanaians to vote against politicians who support LGTBQ rights.  The press conference to announce the stance was covered by Joy Online (story republished by Modern Ghana) and in an account published by Church Ministry Center and another by the Christian Post.  The Joy Online article begins “The Christian Council of Ghana has condemned in no uncertain terms the practice of homosexuality in Ghana.”  The article from Church Ministry Center is full of quotes including these from the Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, General Secretary of the Council:

“We call on all Christians to vote against politicians who promote and support homosexuality.”
…
“We Ghanaians and for that matter Africans cherish our rich and strong
values on issues such as homosexuality and we must not allow anyone or
group of people to impose what is acceptable in their culture on us in
the name of human rights.”
…
“[If] this detestable and abominable act is passed into law, the
passage of a law allowing the practice of homosexuality in the country
will bring the wrath of God upon the nation and the consequences will be
unbearable.”

The Rt. Rev. Martey was at the press conference and made similar statements, and the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church in Ghana, the Right Rev. Matthias Mededues-Badohu, received coverage for his remarks as part of an article in Changing Attitude.

This debate, brought to the forefront by statements by religious leaders, is one within the Ghanaian culture in general.  Just before the Christian Council statement there was a report that President Mills had made a comment to the press supporting the opposition to homosexuality but Ghana News Now reports that President Mills denies making those comments and demanded, and got, a retraction from the government owned Ghanaian Times. But last week President Mills encouraged the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana to maintain “the moral sanctity of society” but apparently without mentioning homosexuality specifically. Others are weighing in against legalizing homosexual conduct, including an Imam in an op-ed piece in Ghana Web.  Finally, there is a long article from Daily Guide which provides a more balanced and comprehensive look at the issue as well as a bit of coverage from the Council announcement.

There is at least one prominent voice with a contrary opinion and a voice advocating for LGBTQ rights, Prof. F. T. Sai.  Prof. Sai is an expert on population and sexual-health studies, the former chair of the Ghana AIDS Commission, and an adviser to a former president of Ghana.  And in this piece from Ghana Web he takes on the statements made by Moderator Martey, with his response paraphrased like this:

If homosexuals are too filthy to meet the criterion of charitable
Christian acceptance, then wherein lies the authoritative designation of
the Church as an unreserved sanctuary for the bereft, deprived and
destitute? Of course, a confessing Christian may or may not accept the
lifestyle of the homosexually inclined, but does such acceptance or
rejection warrant any provocative name-calling on the part of those
fully convinced of their Christian moral self-righteousness?

Another article by VibeGhana.com provides a similar report, but Prof. Sai is not without his detractors and The Herald has a critical and negative op-ed piece about his position.

As you might expect there is a lot of negative reaction to these recent developments in Ghana, much of it coming from outside the country.  The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has announced the Coalition Against Homophobia in Ghana. And while the blogosphere has been covering the issue for some time, such as Doug Ireland’s 2006 article “Ghana: Media Leads Anti-Gay Witch-Hunt,” new reaction comes from Behind the Mask, Str8talk, LGBT Asylum News, and South Florida Gay News. And three sites, African Activist, Youth and Human Rights Ghana, and gagelouis701 make a point of contrasting the PCG with its partner church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) which, at about the same time as the Council statement, made its ordination standards more flexible.  On the other side, Samuel Obour reports that the PCG “would decide later this year whether or not to continue relations with
churches which had decided to ordain homosexuals in any part of the
world.”

This is not an issue that will resolve itself quickly or easily, as many other Presbyterian branches know.  It is also important to realize that much of this increased rhetoric is aimed at having input and influence in the election process looking ahead to Presidential elections over a year from now. And it reminds us that in many parts of Africa the churches, and in this case the Presbyterian Church, is a major part of the country’s culture and politics. We shall have to wait and see where this goes.

New Moderators And Moderator Candidates

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Over the last couple of days there has been an interesting collection of announcements about Moderators and Moderator Candidates. A very quick run-down:

Yesterday the Presbyterian Church of Ghana held the installation service for the Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, who becomes the 16th Moderator of the General Assembly.  The Rev. Martey was elected by the 2010 Assembly back in August and now begins a six year term of office.  It is reported that he expressed his optimism while acknowledging the task ahead.  The previous Moderator, the Very Reverend Dr. Frimpong-Manso, assured the new Moderator of his support.

Yesterday was also the day that the Principal Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Canada announced the names of the nominees for Moderator of the next General Assembly. The nominees are:

Notable that all are ministers, no elders, and the westerner is from Hamilton (just slightly west of Barrie), so they reflect the church’s eastern concentration.  The vote of the presbyteries will be counted and announced on April 1, 2011.

Finally, not a GA Moderator, but the new Moderator of the National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland.  The Kirk has announced that Amanda Philip will lead NYA 2011 as well as serving as a youth delegate to the General Assembly in May.  The press release informs us that Amanda has attended every NYA since 2005 and has been a youth delegate to GA three times.  She also works in social care for the church at Morlich House. Other coverage of her appointment from the Edinburgh Guide.  Waiting for more info or response on the Church of Scotland Youth (COSY) Blog .

Best wishes and prayers for all of you.

Latest News And Some Local Commentary On The Presbyterian Church Of Ghana

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Many of you have probably noticed that one of the global Presbyterian branches I try to follow closely is the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG).  What makes this possible, and in itself is one of the aspects that I find interesting, is the amount of media coverage that the church receives.  Based on the amount and nature of the media coverage this Presbyterian denomination is a recognized entity in the life of that nation.  So today I will bring a few short notes on that church in the media, and finish with something unusual — a published local criticism of the church.

A couple of weeks ago the Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCG, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso raised many eyebrows when he commented on several recent fatal traffic accidents.  In addition to human factors he raised the issue of “forces of darkness” being involved.  Joy Online writes

“The spiritual dimensions of the recent spate of fatal accidents,
therefore, call for spiritual solutions”, Rev Frimpong-Manso told The Ghanaian Times in Accra on Monday in sharing his thoughts about the carnage on the roads.

It should not be a surprise that those writing on the comments page for this story mostly criticize the Moderator for invoking “superstition.”  And while this criticism takes on some cultural aspects, it also has parallels in the just released Barna survey that most U.S. Christians don’t believe Satan or the Holy Spirit exist.

There have also been a couple of recent words from the church leaders addressed to the people of Ghana.  At a chapel dedication on Easter Sunday the Rt. Rev. Dr. Frimpong-Manso “urged political leaders to mobilize the country’s human and material
resources… to
enhance the living standard of the people” and “appealed to Ghanaians to use the resurrection of Christ to transform
the nation and avoid negative tendencies such as corruption, armed
robbery and laziness but should work hard to increase productivity in
the country,” according to an article in Modern Ghana.  In another appearance he “advised the youth to avoid indecent dressing and other immoral activities during festive occasions,” also from Modern Ghana.  The Rev. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, a District Minister in the church, in a report from AllAfrica.com, warned his listeners about “the increasing spate of ethnicity and tribalism in the
country.”  The article goes on to say that “He warned that if the practice was not checked with the
urgency that it deserves, it could ruin the development of the country.”  Finally, Modern Ghana reports a speech by the Rev. Otuo Acheampong at another dedication (this a public sanitary complex) where he encouraged virtue and moral behavior by the young people.  The article quotes him as saying “The act of going to church regularly is good in itself however, we
must be more conscious of putting into practice what the Holy Book says
if we are to achieve our aims and objectives to be sons of God”.  And this is just a sampling of the many public comments by PCG clergy to the citizenry as reported by the media over the last couple of weeks.

But, there has also been a rare published piece of criticism of the church this past weekend as well.  In an op-ed piece in Modern Ghana Mr. Yaw Opare-Asamoa writes about “The Reformed Tradition and the Presbyterian Church.”  Beginning with the motto “The Church reformed and always to be reformed” (as he phrases it) he complains that the church should have a “dissatisfaction with the status quo” and then asks “Why does the church today seem to be so satisfied with the status quo?”

He raises three issues that, in his opinion, need to be dealt with.  The first issue is “postings,” where a minister is assigned to work, especially new ministers.  While the “field” areas outside the cities need good ministers those ministers who are well connected can get more desirable and comfortable assignments in the cities.  He suggests that the process is political

Ministers go to the head office to lobby for placement to
congregations/stations they consider favourable. If you are not
‘connected’ at the head office, then your chances of being posted to
any of the ‘plush’ congregations are virtually nil.

And he holds up the Methodists’ system as an alternative

They (the Methodists) have a laid down structure where new ministers
join the ‘queue’ and wait their time. You start your ministry from the
village/town and work your way to the city.

He points out that one effect of the political nature of the process is that new ministers don’t immediately take parish work but continue in school to earn more academic qualifications in an attempt to avoid the country churches.

The second issue is that some ministers don’t want to be posted outside the main city of Accra.  For those that speak Ga they avoid serving the country churches since many of those speak Twi.  Yet, Mr. Opare-Asamoa points out that they don’t seem to have a problem serving a Twi church in Accra.

Finally, he takes issue with the quality and editorial bias of the church’s monthly newspaper, Christian Messenger.

Third issue has to do with the ‘Christian Messenger’ (Ghana’s oldest
Christian monthly newspaper). I have never seen any Christian newspaper
that is as unchristian as the Christian Messenger. If you pick up this
newspaper expecting to be edified or spiritually exhorted forget it!
You would be lucky to find a page of biblical/spiritual content. The
rest of the pages are reserved for obituaries and announcements. There
are pages devoted to activities that various congregations have
embarked upon. For years the former editor had a stranglehold over the
paper. Nobody could say anything to him. The quality got from worse to
worst. During private conversations with some ministers, they
acknowledged the sorry state of the newspaper but were not ready to
cross the editor. I wondered why. He eventually went on pension only to
be contracted back as a consultant, for what I don’t know.

Unfortunately Christian Messenger does not appear to have a web presence, as far as I could tell, so checking out the content and editorial bent for ourselves is not easily done.

Based upon the Modern Ghana page Mr. Opare-Asamoa is a regular contributor of op-ed pieces to the web site.  He usually deals with the politics in Ghana and from looking through his other pieces this appears to be the only one that addresses the PCG.  Also, his style and level of criticism of his other targets seem to be similar to this article.  None the less, as he points out churches in the Reformed tradition are to be “always reforming” so a voice pointing out potential problems and holding the church accountable has a place.

As I said at the beginning, this style of criticism is unique in the numerous articles I have read about the PCG.  The church generally seems well regarded by the media and the people and the PCG is an active and supportive part of many communities.  As such, I have not found either corroboration or contradictory evidence of Mr. Opare-Asamoa accusations.  Particularly regarding the “posting” system, the potential for abuse is clearly understandable.  This is one advantage of the “call” system in many Presbyterian branches, that the congregations select the pastor rather than receiving a pastor by appointment.  However, even in the PC(USA) there is a preference among ministers for urban over rural parishes.  Some things are constant in the church no matter where you are on the globe.

Outreach By The Presbyterian Church Of Ghana

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There were two interesting news items in the last week from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, both dealing with the outreach and evangelism by the church.

The first, reported by Modern Ghana, is a workshop on “modern strategies of evangelism” held by the Akuapem Presbytery for catechists.  The article says

The workshop, which was organized by the Department of Church Life and
Nurture of the Presbytery, brought together more that 80 catechists on
Akuapem ridge to be equipped with modern ways of church leadership and
evangelism.

and continues

[The presbytery chairperson] said the only way the church could be attractive to the outside
world was when the old ways of worship gave way to new and modern
strategies by way of preaching, bible studies, praises and worship.

This is reported as the first of its kind in the presbytery.

On another continent, there is coverage by both Modern Ghana and Joy Online of the installation of the Rev. Dr. Charles Gyang-Duah as the Minister-in-charge of the Ebenezer Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana (PCG) Bronx, NY, and the new Chairperson of the Overseas Mission Field – USA.  In the recent interview carried by both news outlets Dr. Gyang-Duah…

…stressed the significance of the overseas assemblies of the
Presbyterian Church of Ghana by poignantly observing that language
barrier and an unfamiliar cultural environment necessitated Ghanaians
resident abroad having ready access to religious and cultural
institutions fashioned according to both their cultural norms – or
ethos – and linguistic needs

But, he also said

“We need to move away from our seemingly invariably acquisitive and
palpably unhealthy immigrant mentality. After all, this is the modern
era; we live in an organic global community of inextricable
interconnectedness,” Dr. Gyang-Duah opined and added, “We
[American-resident members of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana] see the
mainstream Presbyterian Church of the United States as our partner
Church; and we want to assure them of our unstinting support and
cooperation.”

The induction ceremony, hosted jointly by the Bronx and Manhattan congregations of the PCG, will be held on April 5 at the Manhattan church.  Participating in the service will be the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Rt.-Rev. Yaw Frimpong-Manso.

It is interesting that Rev. Gyang-Duah mentions the partnership with the “mainstream Presbyterian Church of the United States” as a partner because about a year ago Emmanuel Presbyterian Reformed Church was chartered.  This is, as best as I can tell, a union church between the PC(USA) and the RCA made up of about 20% of the members of the Ebenezer congregation who chose to affiliate with the American denominations.  There appears to be cooperation between the two congregations because Emmanuel posts of list of Ghanaian Congregations in North America that includes their sibling.  There is a detailed write-up of the Emmanuel history on GhanaWeb.

Current Presbyterian News From Ghana

As I follow Presbyterianism globally, or at least in regions that I can read the news reports, I have regularly found the Presbyterian branches in Ghana a point of interest and a source of inspiration.  First, and most helpful, they are well covered in the press, especially on-line versions.  This may be for the second reason, and that is that the leaders are regularly saying interesting things to the population of the country as a whole from the pulpits.  I get the impression that the church is “relevant” while being the body of Christ and proclaiming the Gospel.

So, this is another one of my occasional posts of news from Ghana that encapsulates several interesting stories.

Regarding national news, the last time I posted on Ghana was just before their national elections on Sunday December 7.  In the presidential election that day there was no majority winner so a runoff was held on Sunday December 28.  (I didn’t see any similar news items about what would happen to worship services that day so I figure it was probably a repeat of December 7.)  In the runoff Professor John Evans Atta Mills was elected president and he was sworn into office on January 7.  He has a candidate web site worthy of any politician and it continues to be updated now that he is in office.  According to the bio on the web site he is a law professor with degrees from The University of Ghana, Legon and Stanford.  He began studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London before being selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Stanford.  He has served in several government posts, including being elected as Vice President of Ghana.  At one time he also played on the Ghana national hockey team.  Accounts describe him as deeply religious (Methodist according to Wikipedia) and Aaron at I must follow, if I can has a picture of him and the ESV Bible on which he was sworn in.

While there was tension and uncertainty in Ghana about the elections they went smoothly, and there was a lot of encouragement for this from religious leaders, including the Right Rev. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, who is quoted as saying:

Let us pursue our partisan agenda in the
framework of national unity to engender peace and tolerance in our
country. We must be true to ourselves at all times when debating
issues, accepting the obvious facts and ensuring that our criticisms
are just, fair and constructive. Put Ghana first, keep the peace.

Best wishes to all in the new administration.

There have been a series of short news pieces about the Presbyterian Church of Ghana promoting various causes.  These include the Chairman of the West Akyem Presbytery encouraging people to get involved in the promotion of Primary Health Care.  A district minister encouraging Ghanaians to have an attitude toward work in the new year that takes into account the betterment of the country as a whole and helps the new government’s policies and programs for socio-economic development.  He is quoted as saying “All and sundry have a stake in developing Ghana and we should not fail in our endeavours.”  And before you think that this is disassociated from the Gospel, there is a news report about the Bible Study and Prayer Group of Asante Presbytery which, as part of its four day convention, issued a “call on Christians to renew their commitment to the propagation of the gospel.”

There are a couple of other stories as well about the church’s support for education and a local congregation’s gift to prisoners at Christmas.  All of that in the last month.  As I said, there never seems to be a lack of news items about Presbyterians in Ghana reaching out to their country in positive ways.

I would end with one final news item about the church being involved in a property dispute, but not in the same way we are seeing here in the states.  According to Joy Online local landowners are encroaching on a school.  The article does not have a lot of specific details but as I read the story it appears that at a school owned by the government, but possibly operated by the church, is having problems with surrounding landowners using the land around the school, jeopardizing a playground.  The situation appears to be complicated by unclear title to the property, the article saying:

Mr Kofi La-Opare, Senior Presbyter of the Church, said the Social
Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) passed the land on to the
Church but was reverted to the land owners, sparking unending
litigation between the church and the landowners.

But the Moderator of the General Assembly has addressed the landowners and strongly urged them to let the school use the land.

So that is a summary of the recent news.  We will see what the coming months hold.

A Different Sort Of Lord’s Day In Ghana

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This coming Sunday, December 7, has presented a bit of a challenge for churches in Ghana, including the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.  This Sunday Ghana will hold national elections and the churches are encouraging their members to be responsible Christians in both the spiritual and the civil spheres.  In addition to being sure that members can participate in both worship and voting, the situation is complicated in many communities because the churches are used as polling places.  The circumstances have led the denominations to consider the alternatives of moving worship to Saturday, or doing it earlier or later on Sunday.

It appears that PCG is discouraging the Saturday alternative, as an article from the Accra Daily Mail suggests.  In this case, the early alternative is encouraged, and by early they mean at least an hour before the 7:00 a.m. opening of the polls.  This information is echoed in an article on GhanaDot.com.

On the other hand, based on the Ghana Elections 2008 blog, the national recommendation for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, is to hold worship on Saturday evening before the elections.

Which ever alternative churches take, it is clear that they are also encouraging their members to vote responsibly and to pray for the elections.  The GhanaDot.com closes with the sentiment from the Moderator of the PCG General Assembly:

Rt. Rev.
Dr.
Frimpong-Manso
urged
Christians
to
continue
to pray
for
peaceful,
fair and
transparent
election.

8th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana

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At this time there is less coverage of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana than the General Synod of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.  It is currently meeting so maybe there will be more news later in the week when it concludes.

One article from Ghana Web focuses on the comments of the Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso in his Moderatorial sermon yesterday.  He encouraged the PCG churches “to pray for peaceful, transparent, free and fair elections.”  He also commented on the political process saying “As we work towards
Election 2008, let us pray for presidential and parliamentary
candidates who seek office because they see themselves as a call to
serve God and his people and not themselves first.”

I have noted previously that the Rev. Frimpong-Manso is forthright and outspoken when commenting on the moral state of society.  According to this article he also addressed that in his sermon:

Rt. Rev.
Frimpong-Manso said Satan had re-packaged immorality, bribery and
corruption, ethnicity, alcoholism, among others, “so that they are now
called weaknesses worth tolerating”. He appealed to Christians to be
watchful and lead upright lives and said “today we encounter forces of
division and rancour, sexual promiscuity, murder and crimes as well as
forces of family breakdown and breakdown in cherished values of
society”.


The Assembly also heard the call for churches to work for peaceful elections in a statement from Ghana’s President Kufuor that was read to the Commissioners, according to another story from Ghana Web.

In addition, Rev. Frimpong-Manso reported on the project to construct a new conference center and he reported on the church’s television ministry.  For both projects he appealed for the church’s continued financial support of these ministries.

As the week goes on we will see if additional news stories give us more information about the Assembly.

News from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana

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Well, I’ve gotten a little preoccupied with North American Presbyterianism in the last couple of months and the PC(USA) in particular.  So, looking globally there have been a series of interesting news items from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana over the last few weeks.

It is worth noting that the PC Ghana can be described as being, at the least, “well connected” in Ghana’s society and government, and it is probably fair to say that in some areas, including education, it is a significant contributor to society.  This fact was recently recognized when the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong – Manso, was recognized with a State Award from the President of Ghana.  The Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso was one of 147 individuals to be recognized this year and his specific award was the ORDER OF VOLTA – OFFICER (RELIGION) distinction for his contribution to the Christian community and national development.

The Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso has been an outspoken leader for moral values in society and earlier this month at two ordination services for new clergy, some of his comments were picked up separately in the news media.  From two of these services were reports on his exhortations to clergy about showing humility in their work and being faithful and responsible in their obligations.  The story on ModernGhana.com about the first service says:

He expressed regret that some clergymen praised and advertised
themselves instead of preaching the word of God to address the
challenges and vices in society.

and

He
said: “The constant changes and decay in the world today, are always
calling the church to its mandate of transformation based on the
imperatives to the great commission of Our Lord to go into the world to
make disciples of all nations”.

He entreated clergymen to at
all times strive to work within the principles and tenets of the Bible
in the discharge of their duties to sustain and enhance the image of
the priesthood institution.

He picked up a similar theme at the second service according to the article on GhanaWeb.com:

[He] urged ministers of God to be humble and patient with the institution of the church in which they had been called to work.



Rev Frimpong-Manso said some pastors had neglected to fulfill their
obligations concerning visitations to the sick, the poor and vulnerable
and payment of assessments.



He said those same pastors did not attend meetings nor did they submit
statistical data about their activities.


In the first service reported on, Rev. Frimpong-Manso led the way in addressing the “challenges and vices in society” by criticizing advertising of alcoholic beverages and calling for a ban on advertising.  An article on JoyOnline picked this up as a story with an different emphasis on the same sermon.  That article says:

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of
Ghana (PCG), Right Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, has appealed to the
government to ban all advertisements on alcoholic beverages as it has
done with tobacco.

According to him the widespread intake of
alcoholic beverages in the country did not give any revenue to the
government or individuals.

“Alcohol has only succeeded
immensely in contributing to increase in diseases, immorality and crime
in the country, he observed.

and

“The earlier we became concerned about this canker and arrested it
before it succeeds in destroying our dear nation, the better it would
be for us all,” he said.

The moderator, therefore, urged the
public not to be lured and pressured by advertisements to take to
drinking alcoholic beverages, because there was nothing to be gained
from their intake, but would only give huge revenue to producers.

While in town for one of these ordination services, the Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso helped open an Information and Communications Technology centre built by the Northern Presbytery.  This is a training facility mostly funded by European partners to benefit the PCG educational programs as well as those of “other sister church members and the public.”  (Ghana Broadcasting Corp. article)

Finally, there was also news this past month about the Moderator helping to lay the foundation stone for a new Presbyterian Conference Centre.  The vision for the conference center is multi-fold, providing not just a location for Presbyterian meetings, but to be state of the art so that it will provide a revenue stream from corporate meetings and employment of Presbyterians in the area.  The Moderator also made an appeal for church members to give towards this project with a suggested regular monthly donation of one Gahanian cedi (currently worth about $0.90) per member.

Notes on African Presbyterian Churches

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Over the last couple of weeks there have been some interesting reports about Presbyterian activities and politics in parts of Africa, but the reports of governing body actions have been too short to warrant a full post.  So here is a post bundling news from Sudan, Ghana, and Malawi.

Sudan
There were two brief reports by Anyuak Media from the General Assembly of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) a couple of weeks ago.  The first article is about the Rev. Philip Akway Obang being elected as the General Secretary of the SPEC.  Rev. Philip (as the article refers to him) has a degree in business administration as well as theological training.  The article says that he has been a church worker for 18 years doing evangelism and parish ministry, probably in a capacity like a Commissioned Lay Pastor.  He completed his theological training four years ago and was ordained a pastor two years ago.  One of the reasons for the article from Anyuak Media is because Pastor Philip is the only Anyuak pastor in the SPEC so there is cultural pride here.

The second article about the GA talks about establishing the first Synod in the SPEC.  The article reports that the new Synod will have two presbyteries, the North and West, and have about 70 pastors.  This is pretty much the extent of details on the new Synod and from a polity and connectionalism perspective it is not clear the role of the new governing body.  The article almost makes it sound like it is the highest governing body and that it might be operating in parallel with the GA.  Part of the confusion might be related to the church structure necessitated by the civil war in that country.  According to Reformed Online the SPEC maintains separate administrative units in government held areas and rebel-controlled areas so this might be related to that division.

The Anyuak Media article also provides a brief overview of the Presbyterian church in Sudan and the Reformed Online site expands on that.  The SPEC is the northern church while the Presbyterian Church of Sudan (PCOS) works mainly in the south.  Unlike northern and southern US Presbyterians, this is not a result of the civil war but due to the history of their development.  The SPEC began as a presbytery of the Egyptian reformed church while the PCOS was established by American missionaries.  Both have parallel administrations due to the civil war and both have churches in the other’s regions, apparently without problems.  The World Council of Churches web site says that they cooperatively run a seminary.  The half-century history of civil war has kept the two churches from uniting.

Ghana
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is one of the more active African branches and it enjoys a good working relationship with the civil government.  A couple of news articles have appeared recently.  One covers the installation of the new national executive committee of the Bible Study and Prayer Group of the Presbyterian Church in Kumasi.  The featured speaker was the Right-Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, the current Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana.  He reminded the new officers to live exemplary lives and to be agents of change.  Another article covers the first graduation from a new campus at Okwahu of the Presbyterian University College.  The ceremonies included a message from Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor read by Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education.  The message said “the Presbyterian Church had been a faithful ally of government in
providing the manpower needs of the country since it established a
primary school in 1843 and a training college in 1948.”  The article does note that the GA Moderator was present at this ceremony as well.  And finally, regional Presbyterian leaders have condemned violence in Bawku that destroyed property belonging to workers at the local Presbyterian hospital and is causing some of the workers to leave.  The church is actively providing supplies to workers who lost property in the violence.

Malawi
This not so much news, but blog posts about visiting Malawian churches on the blog Swords into Plowshares, the Peacemaking Blog of the PC(USA).  These blog entries record the visits, meetings, adventures, and worship services of a PC(USA) affiliated group as they traveled through this part of Africa.  The visit included the Presbyteries of Blantyre and Dwangwa, and the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP).  One major focus of the trip was the programs to combat HIV/AIDS in the country and caring for those with and affected by the disease.  The PC(USA) has a significant presence in partnership work in the country.  While the blog entries make no mention of the internal controversy in the CCAP, and I have heard no updates for a while, several of these governing bodies are involved in territorial disputes over church planting I have mentioned before.