He said the Church had been a reliable, trusted, and formidable agent of the transformation, civilisation and progress of society.

The year-long celebration is on the theme: "A journey of 175 years in ministry: Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward."

Vice President Bawumia believed that the celebration would strengthen their faith in the Lord and reposition the church as a great contributor to the moral, spiritual and socio-economic wellbeing of the people and humanity in general.

"The gains we have made as a nation pre- and post-independence in moral, spiritual and socio-economic development could not have been entirely possible without the keen involvement of the church," Dr Bawumia stated.

"Indeed, we cannot mention any monumental contributions of the church to nation-building without recognising the role of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana. Before Ghana attained independence in 1957, the church had already been birthed on Sunday, November 14, 1847, through the missionary effort of the North German Mission Society (Bremen Mission)," he added.

The Vice President noted that the Church had played a vital role in the emergence and development of formal education in the country.

He said, for instance, the pioneer missionaries rolled out several socio-economic initiatives such as clinics, hospitals, schools and agricultural stations, and many others that complemented the work of the Colonial Administrations in developing the nation.

Dr Bawumia observed that the 175 years in the life of the EP Church Ghana were worth celebrating, especially considering the huge sacrifices that the pioneer missionaries like Rev. Lorenz Wolf, Quinuius, Daeuble and Pleasing, had had to make to bring the light of the gospel to Africa and Ghana.

The Vice President acknowledged the numerous educational establishments undertaken by the church, including over 500 basic and tertiary institutions such as Mawuli, Mawuko, EP Senior High Schools in Hohoe, Saboba, Tatale, plus Vocational and Technical Schools, as well as Colleges of Education.

"You have also earned the enviable reputation of establishing the first university in the entire Volta and Oti Regions-the Evangelical Presbyterian University College.

"Your health centres in Wapuli, Ho, Dambai, Blajai, inter alia, coupled with your numerous relief and development projects in the areas of agricultural development, climate change advocacy, HIV/AIDS & TB Programmes, among several others, have added to your endless list of achievements over the past seventeen and half decades of your existence," Dr Bawumia stated.

The Vice President lauded the church for dedicating parts of the celebration to reflect on its challenges and thus, underscored the need for all well-meaning Ghanaians to pool their resources together to rebuild the economy, ravaged by the Coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The challenges that have bedevilled our world in the past decades and the present such as COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine War with their concomitant effects have spared no institution, and the EP Church Ghana is no exception.

"As you, therefore, reflect on the strategies to surmounting your challenges and strategising for the way forward in the decades ahead, may we all pool together our collective and nationalistic efforts to rebuild our nation and recover from the internal and external devastations that have hit our economy very hard," Dr Bawumia advised.

He entreated the Church to roll out more socio-economic interventions like its water production business, which would be commissioned on Thursday, August 18, 2022, to create jobs and contribute to the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation.

"The EP Church should also consider rolling out interventions that would create opportunities to develop the human capital of the nation, especially the teeming youth who have benefitted from free education, and thus are in urgent need of work opportunities to contribute their quota to our nation-building quests," the Vice President pointed out.

In addition to economic and development issues, Dr Bawumia urged the Church to be concerned about building a peaceful nation, noting that, the recent Global Peace Index placed Ghana as the second most peaceful country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He said such a remarkable feat must be guarded jealously without any compromises since both the Bible and the Quran placed much emphasis on peace.

The Reverend Dr Setri Nyomi, Council Chair, the Evangelical Presbyterian University College at Ho, said the EP Church had impacted the nation in so many ways including providing educational facilities, potable water and resolving ethnic conflicts.

He said the Church had been a voice for the marginalised and vulnerable persons in society and urged the members to continue upholding discipline, hard work and responsibility as the hallmark of the Church and refrain from any acts of mediocrity in both public and private life.