Presbyterian Church of Ghana sacks minister

A pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) at Obogu, in the Asante Akyem District, Rev Emmanuel Obah-Lateo, whose spiritual healing crusades had become a nuisance to the church and some members of the community, finally had the sack when he refused to go on transfer.

In reaction, Rev Obah-Lateo has formed a rival church, “The living Calvary Presbyterian Church with the motto “Setting the Captive Free.” Rev Obah-Lateo, who introduced spiritual healing into the Obogu branch of PCG, incurred the displeasure of the leadership when he refused an initial transfer to the Central Region.

As Obah-Lateo stood his grounds when he was again transferred to Bantama, in Kumasi. As a result, the Moderator of the Church, Rev Dr Sam Prempeh, personally went to Obogu in March to publicly announce to the congregation that Rev Obah-Lateo had been dismissed and no longer in charge of the congregation.

According to a source at Obogu, Rev Obah-Lateo introduced spiritual healing into the church and for the entire period of his administration at Obogu, the church building and its immediate surroundings became a healing centre, accommodating all manner of sick people who came there to receive spiritual healing.

The source said in the process, classes in the nearby Presby Primary and JSS were frequently disrupted with excessive noise from healing crusades during school hours, such that the Asante Akim South District Assembly had to step in.

The source said the community was exposed to possible infections from diseased people camped under very unhygienic condition, the church building was left in a deplorable state of disrepair and the congregation was sharply divided between the pastor’s loyalists and critics of the apparent misuse of church facilities.

At Obogu, Pastor Obah-Lateo, who is at the centre of the dispute, was busily having prayer sessions in his newly establishing church, when The Mirror got there. In an interview, he said his intention was not to establish his own church but to respond to the call of the of the Lord to “heal the sick and set those in bondage free to ensure that members have the needed salvation.” Pastor Obah-Lateo started his ministry at Tepa, in Asante region in 1984, and had been to Nkroranza, Bolgatanga, before being transferred to Obogu.

He said he had a vision in which the Lord spoke to him and said, my servant, all of you want go to the cities and who will take care of the poor children in the village? My work for you in this village has not come to an end; I want you to stay here for a while, if you obey I will bless you and make you great.”

According to the pastor, since I cannot disobey the Lord, I responded to the call but I made intention known to the senior members of the congregation who agreed to my request to establish the prayer group.” He said after some time, he saw that many members were receiving salvation because the sick were being healed and those who were afflicted with numerous problems had their burdens taken away through intercessory prayers.

This, he said, made it possible for many people to join the church. Pastor Obah-Lateo said as the church grew, he decided to expand it by constructing a place where the sick would be accommodated at his own expense.

He said it was at this point that he requested that the synod should bring a new pastor to take care of the Presbyterian Church while he concentrated on the prayer group, a request which he said “was granted and a new pastor was posted to Obogu to take care of the church for me to concentrate on work that the Lord has given me.

He said he a few months after the new pastor arrived he received a letter from the synod asking him to precede on transfer with immediate effect. He said he became alarmed, “because since my prayer group was growing, my transfer would collapse the work of the Lord so I pleaded with the synod to allow me to stay and nurture the group but it was turned down, he lamented.

He said he also went to the Very Rev I. H. Frimpong, a former Moderator of the church for counseling, when the synod refused his request and he proposed that “in order not to disobey either the church and what I claim to be the voice of the Lord I should apply for a two year leave of absence or be allowed to continue serving the members of Obogu without salary but both requests were refused.”

He said the last straw that broke the camel’s back was when the Moderator of the PCG, Dr Samuel Prempeh, came to Obogu in march, this ear, and announced to the congregation that “I had been dismissed from the church and that none of the members should have anything to do with me again.

He said under normal circumstances, “the Moderator should have consulted me personally to know my side of the story but he disgraced me before my own congregation, most o f whom have received salvation from the Lord through my leadership.”

He said just after the announcement, he was made to leave the Mission House and ordered not to use the projects he had initiated “so I had no choice but to leave but when I left some of the members followed me so I now have about 300 members about 170 of whom were former members of the Presbyterian church, he explained.

On whether he would return to the church if the Moderator asked him to come, he said “I have to pray over it if that request comes from the Moderator.” He said he is not worried about the incident because men of God like Martin Luther, John Wesley among others, suffered a similar fate when they received the call and prayed that peace that peace would prevail in the long run to enable him continue with his mission.”

We are not serving any man but serving the Lord so I won’t never react negatively to any of these accusations or insinuations because I know that in the; long run the truth about my mission would be established.”

The Senior Presbyter of the Obogu Presby Church, Mr Victor Oteng Brefo, refused to comment on the incident when the Mirror contacted him. He said in the Presbyterian Church it is the General Assembly, which is responsible for such comments and not ordinary members like him.

Efforts to contact Rev David Fianko Gyan, District Minister of the Presbyterian church at Konongo proved futile as he was said to have traveled and would not be back till next week.