Ga Presbytery is 90 years

The Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is 90 years old and has scheduled activities to mark the anniversary, Rev. Dr. Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor, Chairman of the Presbytery, said on Tuesday.

He said at a press conference to outline events for the celebration that the presbytery’s unique characteristic of having a multi ethnic mix with membership drawn from every region had earned it the accolade the “Rainbow Presbytery.” “For example, for well over 22 years we have operated a special ministry for reaching out to migrants from the northern part of the country who have relocated to Accra known as the Northern Outreach Programme (NOP),” Rev. Dr. Odonkor said.

He said as a matter of policy, no congregation in the Ga Presbytery was permitted to use only one language because the church valued and respected all the language groups and as such every member was important and had a place in the “Rainbow Presbytery.”

The Ga Presbytery, he said, had intensified its mission and evangelism outreach and had instituted special ministries namely the Dorcas project which targeted commercial sex workers, the Market Ministry and other projects targeted at the fisher folks, garage operators and inmates of police cells.

Rev. Dr. Odonkor mentioned a number of initiatives that the Presbytery is involved in, including the establishment of a retreat and prayer centre at Danfa, off the Aburi-Ayi Mensah road and noted that when the centre becomes operational it would host a prayer and meditation green, a worship pavilion and a residence for the Director as well and to facilitate clients and visitors in addition to a sport facility.

The Presbytery also has a French-speaking service in the Shiashie Faith Congregation and has decided to start an English speaking only congregation at Legon. Rev. Dr. Odonkor said. The English speaking fellowship would be known as the Presbyterian Worship Centre and operated as a Presbyterian congregation in the true sense.

“It will be a Reformed, Charismatic and innovative to complement the existing traditional congregations in the presbytery and pave the way for other similar fellowships in the other parts of the country,” he added.

The Ga Presbytery Chairman said the 90th anniversary celebrations had scheduled activities and events till May 2012.

Among the major events are prayer sessions, children’s day, youth rally, blood donation, fun games, breakfast meeting, a “chris-zonto” praise and worship service to be climaxed with a thanksgiving service to be hosted by the Immanuel Congregation at Madina.

The Ga Presbytery currently has 170,884 members, 28 pastoral districts overseeing the work of 336 congregations.