I will preserve strong relations between the State and Church – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has assured the Church in Ghana that his administration will do everything possible to ensure that the existing strong relationship between the State and Church in Ghana is Preserved.

The President made the pledge when he addressed a delegation of the SaRang Church of Korea, led by the Senior Pastor of the Church, Rev. Dr Jung-Hyun Oh, at the Jubilee House when they paid a courtesy call on him.

Rev. Dr Jung-Hyun Oh, is in Ghana for a Discipleship Training Seminar, a programme sponsored by the SaRang Church of Korea and dubbed “Called to Awaken the Laity (CAL) Seminar”.

“We have very strong partnership in Ghana between the State and the Church. It is one of the foundations of our Republic, the relations between the State and Church and the Church in Ghana has been extremely supportive of the State in so many areas; in Education , in Health , Agriculture, and so many different areas of our national life. Apart from of course, the contribution it is making to uplift the spiritual and moral life of our people, it is also the concrete things that the church has done in this country in very important parts of social development of our country” President Akufo-Addo said.

“The relationship between the Ghanaian State and the Ghanaian Church is a very strong and fruitful one. It is one that I particularly cherish very much and we will do whatever we can to strengthen that relationship” President Akufo-Addo added.

Leader of the SaRang Church

Rev. Dr Jung-Hyun Oh on his part presented President Akufo-Addo with a “Geobukseon” a miniature iron ship from Korea. It is also known as turtle or iron ship in western descriptions, and it was a type of large Korean warship that was used intermittently by the Royal Korean Navy during the Joseon dynasty from the early 15th century up until the 19th century.

The deck of the actual ship he explained was covered with iron spikes to discourage the enemies of Korea from attempting to board the ship in times of war.

“Our gospel partnership for God is not a cruise ship but a war ship” the inscription on the gift read.

SaRang Church

SaRang Community Church is a Presbyterian Church in Seoul, Korea with over 60,000 members. SaRang, one of several megachurches in Korea, was founded in 1978 by Rev. Oak Han-heum. At Pastor Oak’s death in 2010, the church attracted 40,000 worshipers every Sunday and had 80,000 members.

In 2003 Pastor Oak announced his retirement, eschewing the Korean custom of passing a pastorship on to one of the children of the retiring pastor, Oak named Rev. Oh Jung-hyun as the new pastor. In 2007 SaRang extended its worldwide mission to Europe and the United Kingdom, announcing its sponsorship of the Wales Evangelical School of Theology.