Sixty-seven newly trained pastors of the Methodist Church Ghana have been ordained by the Presiding Bishop of the church, Most Rev. Paul Kwabena Boafo, at a ceremony at the Akyem Oda St Luke Methodist Cathedral.
All the Diocesan Bishops and some retired bishops and representatives from all the 22 dioceses of the church attended the event, which formed part of the national conference of the church.
The function also attracted some dignitaries, including the Member of Parliament (MP) of Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tree Crop Development Authority, William Agyapong Quaittoo; the Principal of Trinity Theoretical Seminary, Prof. Asamoah Gyedu; the Krontihene and Abontendomhene of the Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area, Obrempong Gyamfi Saforo Kyereh, and Osabarima Ankomah Bempong, respectively.
Conducting the ordination service last Sunday, Most Rev. Boafo urged the newly ordained priests to sustain the sterling qualities that landed them in their positions to transform society.
He admonished pastors to preach against corruption and indiscipline, which were getting out of hand in the country.
“Corruption, a social canker in politics, workplaces and educational institutions, among others, must be eradicated at all cost by adopting stringent measures such as severely punishing perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to other bad nuts in society,” he stressed.
Good policies
Most Rev. Boafo also enjoined the government to come out with good policies and programmes to improve the lot of the people.
The Presiding Bishop implored the new pastors who had completed a six-year pastoral course, made up of three years in theory and three years of practical training, to let their training reflect in their ministries and their communities at large.
A former Presiding Bishop of the church, Most Rev. Titus Awotwi Pratt, who delivered the sermon, urged the new pastors to lead exemplary lifestyles compatible with the teachings of Christ, stressing “never fail to act as faithful shepherds of the Lord”.
He said God had a purpose for calling them into the ministry as He knew how to solve the innate problems they had.