METHODIST CHURCH HOLDS 7TH ANNUAL SYNOD AT WENCHI (GRAPHIC NSEMPA, PAGE 15, JUNE 7, 2010)

By Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah,  Wenchi

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Yaw Osei Agyei has observed that, the establishment and operation of the most efficient credit unions as well as loans and savings schemes in various parts of the country have positively turned around, the lives of many of their members and non-members.
He also noted with satisfaction that, some of the religious bodies had set up schools at all levels, including Kindergarten, Primary, Junior and Senior High as well as Universities which according to him, were good contributions towards the growth of the economy and a relief to the government.
“In Ghana today, our churches have gone into education, trading, transportation, medicine and all sorts of businesses, that make them assume the total development of the human being. In the area of medicine, the least said about it, the better, as Mission hospitals are dotted all over the country, which has had a big impact on Ghanaians, since they are able to meet their health needs’’, Mr Agyei further noted.
The MCE made the observation when he addressed the 7th Annual Synod of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana, which was on the theme ‘‘Oneness in Diversity’’.
In the Wenchi township itself, Mr Agyei admitted that, the Methodist Church was rubbing shoulders with the Municipal Assembly and for that matter, the government, saying, ‘‘We cannot talk about our health without mentioning the famous Wenchi Methodist Church and our secondary school. You have capped your efforts with a university’’.
Indeed, the MCE stressed that the church was a force to reckon with in the municipality, not only in its achievements but also in other areas that were numerous to mention, emphasising however that, the assembly on its part, had also constructed schools, clinics, provided water and markets among other initiatives, to ensure a decent living for the people,
Mr Agyei explained that, the church sought the spiritual uplift or welfare of the person, while the state concerned itself with the physical development of the people. He said, recent developments had however shifted those positions, with the church having taken upon itself some gigantic physical development of the person, while the state had embarked on programmes to dignify the individual.
He further pointed out that, the state had crossed into the spiritual realm by ensuring that Ghanaians had the peace of mind to go about their normal duties without any fear whatsoever, adding that, the government had provided sound security for the people which he said, had ensured healthy minds in healthy bodies.
The government, the MCE said, had again ensured that democracy and the rule of law thrived in the country, stressing that, ‘‘Ghanaians are happier today and are living and walking about peacefully’’.
Mr Agyei said, in spite of the numerous achievements of the church and the state, there were still more to be done, since more people continued to engage in crimes and other immoral activities, and therefore, used the occasion to advise both Christians and Moslems not to relent in their efforts but to pray for God’s divine intervention.
The Rt Rev. Sampson Yamoah in his sermon spoke against divisionism in the church and implored the congregation to remain as one people in Christ, pointing out that, ‘‘Oneness in diversity underscores the acknowledgement and maintenance of individual uniqueness or difference and still remaining in unity of purpose’’.