Ghana Presbyterian Church celebrates in Australia The immediate past Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Very Rev Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, has entreated Christians to show by their deeds that the Christian spirit is centre-stage in their day-to-day lives. Delivering a sermon in Sydney, Australia, the Very Rev Frimpong-Manso reminded Christians that the Holy Spirit is central to their belief, and that it should always be the guiding light in whatever they do.
As in any human endeavour, he said, problems inevitably crop up, but he said such problems and divisions among God’s people “should give way to communality of faith and love for one another,” he told the large congregation.
Very Rev Frimpong-Manso said it was no accident that Ghanaians in the Diaspora had initiated and begun worshipping God in their own churches.
“Yes, it is true that European and other foreign missionaries brought us the Christian faith; now, we are in these foreign lands that brought us Christianity to preach the Gospel to them as well and help spread the Christian message,” Very Rev Frimpong-Manso added, calling the trend “reverse evangelism. “The relevance of the Ghana Presbyterian Church in Sydney is to preach the gospel here in Australia,” and strive to build unity and fellowship within the congregation and in the wider Australian and Christian communities as enshrined in the church’s motto “That They All May Be One”.
He urged the various Ghana Christian denominations around the world to pray for and support one another because, he said, if anyone of them should hit troubled paths it was all of God’s people who would suffer. “As a revitalised community, you must all endeavour to promote the truth and deal ruthlessly with sin,” he added.
The Ghana Presbyterian Church held its first service in Sydney in October 2000, and in 2008 Rev Frimpong-Manso, then Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana visited Australia to officially inaugurate the congregation. He paid tribute to sons and daughters of Ghana Presbyterian Church who had the foresight to sow another seed of the church in Australia more than 10 years ago. The service was to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the congregation’s inauguration, and the week-long event was themed “Empowered by the Holy Spirit: With God all things are possible”. The date of the April 10th function was significant as it was also “Presbyterian Sunday” on the church’s almanac, and fell on the 5th Sunday in Lent. The Caretaker (head) of the Ghana Presbyterian Church in Sydney, Mr Isaac Osei-Kumah, thanked God for his grace and help in helping to build a branch of Christ’s own church in Sydney.
“It has not always been smooth sailing, but our God is a God of Grace who will always stand by his people, and this is how far He has brought us”, he said. Mr Osei-Kumah thanked the Ghanaian community in Australia for its support, and prayed that the love of Christ, community and country would grow as the years went by. Rev Mike Wilson of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in the state of New South Wales told the gathering that the Christian community in Australia had been enriched by the vibrant form of Christianity shown by migrants from Ghana and other foreign lands. On Friday 8 April, the GPC Sydney hosted a music night at the church hall that drew in large section of the Ghanaian community as well as many others from the general Australian populace.
