Delivering a goodwill message to the diocese at Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality recently on the theme: “Discipleship: Living the transformed life in Jesus Christ”, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, the Most Rev. Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, asked Christians to lead transformed lives to depict their spiritual calling.

Adding that Paul’s admonition to Christians for total consecration and transformation was possible in this 21st century with all its technology and pervasiveness, Most Rev. Boafo stressed that “every aspect of our Christian life must experience a spiritual transformation which was the hallmark of the early Methodists.”

He said to help the members of the church to understand the text: Romans 12: 1-2 and the theme for the year, the church selected the Methodist Hymn 400 by Francis Ridley Havergal “Take my life and let it be” and prayed every Methodist to memorise the text and the hymn as part of this year’s study.

“I direct that the text must be recited at the end of every church service before benediction for further emphasis,” the presiding bishop said.

Infrastructure gap

He said as part of his responsibility as the presiding bishop of the church, he went on some pastoral duties/rounds to a number of dioceses in the country in both rural and urban areas and saw a number of the churches springing up and growing, as well as completed manses, chapels and other facilities that were dedicated and opened for use, which he described as a feather in the cup of the church.

“On the other hand, there were a number of projects such as chapels, manses, school blocks and church halls that are uncompleted which are of great concern to me. Some of these projects have been standing for years and there seem to be no plans by the societies, circuits and the dioceses of completing them soon,” he stated.

The presiding bishop said an audit of Methodist Chapels by the Evangelism Mission Renewal (EMR) revealed that there were over 1,000 societies without places of worship, while there could be more of such societies which had ministers but had no manses.

“This is what I call infrastructure gap which has adverse implications for the church’s growth and must be addressed at the diocesan levels and reports submitted to be discussed in July this year at the General Purposes Council, he said.

COVID-19 protocols

The Bishop of the Somanya Diocese, the Rt Rev. Moses K. Jackson, said for the past two years, COVID-19 had had a devastating toll on humanity including members of the church. He said it was all joy when the restrictions were eased.

He, however, cautioned the members not to lose their guard, as the pandemic was still lingering and any carelessness with the safety protocols would be disastrous to the church and the community at large.

As part of the 2022 synod of the Somanya Diocese, two retired teachers who served the Ghana Education Service in the Methodist Schools, Asafoatse Tetteh Huadzi VI and Josephine Abla Tsagli, were honoured for their dedicated services to the church, the community and the country.