Rev. Chris Baah Nartey: The good stewart

On Sunday 8th September, 2024, the Zimmerman cathedral at Odumase-Krobo was filled to capacity. The congregants, clad in their various interest and genealogical group uniforms, had congregated for the glorious send-off service for Rev. Chris Baah Nartey, the minister in charge of the Zimmermann congregation who doubled as the District Minister of the Odumase District of the Dangme-Tongu Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG).

What was supposed to be a purely festive occasion saw many worshippers openly shedding tears but the reason was not difficult to fathom – the pain of separation from the Man of God, the Good Steward, was actually what was manifesting in the balls of tears that rolled down the cheeks of a cross-section of the church members unbidden.

Even from afar, one could see that the eyes of the Man of God were misty too. When he could no longer resist the urge, he reached for his handkerchief and mopped the tears that had welled up in his eyes. Such was the mood that characterized the church service that wrapped up the fourteen-year impactful ministry of Rev. Chris Baah Nartey on Krobo land.

In September 2021, Rev. Nartey, popularly referred to as Rev. CBN, was transferred from the Bethel congregation of the Presbyterian Church, at Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality (in the same Presbytery) to lead the Zimmermann congregation and the Odumase district.

Before then, he had served as the Minister in charge of the Hebron congregation at Nuaso, where he made a profound impact right after his commissioning. His transfer to Odumase to head the District was therefore a promotion that spoke volumes about the church leadership’s confidence in him, having performed creditably at his first two stations from where he has been serving since his ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in 2010.

At Zimmermann, he hit the ground running, crafted and set in motion what came to be known as the game-changing plan that would later transform into the noticeable and enduring legacies that he left behind after nearly three years of distinguished service to the congregation, the district, the Krobo community and the church as a whole.

The Legacies

i. The Growth of the Church: Available and verifiable data have shown an impressive increase in the membership of the Zimmermann church and its finances and these are attributable, in large part, to his dynamic approach to worship, fundraising, the administration of the church and his uncommon charisma.

Under his leadership, the Zimmermann congregation rolled out numerous soul-winning initiatives in rapid succession including what has come to be known as Market Ministry, an initiative that saw him and his ‘army’ of gifted and enthusiastic youth embarking on a mission to evangelize on the popular and densely populated Agormanya market on main market days.

The energy and excitement that usually characterized this exercise and the general response from the traders were better experienced than described in words.

Other initiatives that have become core parts of the church’s lineup of programmes include the Road to the Cross, Recharge Conference, Next Level Summit and Prayer Festival. These programmes have not only succeeded in creating platforms for a more regular fellowship but contributed a great deal in reactivating the spiritual lives of the majority of the congregants and even non-Presbyterians who continually patronize the programmes with an uncommon zeal.

The programmes also made the church remarkably vibrant and created lots of fundraising opportunities, the proceeds of which were ploughed back into the church and its activities.

In addition to the above, he continually organized retreats for Presbyters and leadership seminars for leaders across the various strata of the church to better equip them to excel in their roles.

ii. Introduction of a third service: Through his ingenuity, the Zimmermann congregation began a two-hour third Sunday Church service targeted principally at a segment of the youth in the Odumase community who were hitherto classified by many as irredeemable and a nuisance to the community, and left to their fate.

These youth who had fallen prey to the menace of substance abuse, lurked in the church cemetery and adjoining thicket daily and engaged in all sorts of illicit acts that had proven detrimental not only to themselves but to society.

But through the targeted third service, about forty (40) of them started fellowshipping with the congregation and have been undergoing a form of rehabilitation, a novelty and deliberate intervention to reintegrate them into society and also win them back into the church and for Christ.

iii. Construction of Children’s Chapel: Long before he took over the headship of the church, the leadership at the time converted the basement of the chapel, which used to house the Children's Service, into a conference hall.

The children had to be relocated, segregated into groups and distributed into relatively smaller classrooms at the Presbyterian Primary School for their regular services. The adverse effects of that exercise on the Children's Service were noticeable and without a doubt, detrimental.

This and similar considerations informed his decision to lead a fundraising effort – upon his assumption of office – to build a more convenient place of worship for the children, the bedrock of the church.

By the time he was leaving, a significant amount had been raised and sod cut for the commencement of work, an unprecedented act in the history of the Zimmermann congregation.

iv. Philanthropy

His Widows and Orphans' Welfare Project, one of the humanitarian interventions associated with his name and brand expanded tremendously in the past three years. Thanks to this initiative, about eighty members of the congregation and the environs of the church including widows, widowers, the needy and orphans from the Nectar Home at Nuaso, continue to smile because of his unending acts of philanthropy.

v. Empowering the youth of the Church: Rev. Nartey’s natural gift of identifying talents in the youth and honing their skills made it possible for him to recruit, train and equip a number of the youth in the church with audiovisual (photography and videography) skills to form a vibrant media team which currently covers and transmits the church’s services and programmes live on the internet (social media) to help extend their reach to a wider audience in keeping with modern trends.

During the same period, he took a serious interest in mobilizing Presbyterian youth and students on various campuses of the secondary and tertiary institutions in the district. As a result, the Akro Senior High Technical School, Krobo Girls’ Senior High School and the Odumase Nursing and Midwifery Training School now have more effective chapters of the National Union of Presbyterian Students, Ghana (NUPS-G).

It is worth emphasizing that very little was done in this regard until Rev. Nartey’s arrival on the scene and this, together with the numerous other feats he has achieved, attest in no mean measure to his resourcefulness and give clear indications about the transformation that awaits the Trinity congregation at Kutunse in the Ga West Presbytery where he begins yet another chapter of his already glorious and inspirational ministry.