A total of 92 newly trained ministers of The Church of Pentecost have been commissioned to begin their ministerial practice, after successfully going through a full year ministerial formation at the School of Theology, Missions and Leadership (STML) of the Pentecost University. 87 of the students are from Ghana, one each from Cameroon, Nigeria, and Madagascar, and two from Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the commissioning service at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the Chairman of the Church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, who also doubles as the Chancellor of the University, congratulated the students for successfully going through the first phase of the training.
“You have been chosen at a time like this from among many of your contemporaries, to serve the Lord in full-time ministry. What a great privilege this is!
“I challenge you to work and live your life as true servants of the One who has called you and be diligent to serve His purpose both in the church and the world,” he stated.
He added: “You are being commissioned at a time when the world is looking for authentic Christianity. So, it is not many more ministers of the Gospel that the world desires; they are looking for authentic Christian leaders and ministers who will serve the purpose of God in the world; ministers who will be intentional in equipping their members and unleashing them to transform every sphere of society with the values and principles of the Kingdom of God.
“Brothers, the dynamics of the world is inducing many wrong ideas, atheistic agenda, and erroneous ministerial ethics, but a pure life centered on Christ Jesus is truly transformational and infectious. Let us, therefore, strive to become the catalyst that facilitates the agenda of God in our world as we possess the nations together.”
Commending the management and staff of Pentecost University for impacting the students for the field, the Chairman entreated Area Heads, whom the new ministers will work under, to continue with the training, especially their practical and spiritual development.
“I appeal to all Area Heads to show special interest in them while they are on the field. They should share with them their experiences; guide and nurture them to become good ministers of the Gospel. I will also appeal to them to be patient with these young men as they go about their ministry and be real spiritual fathers and mentors to them. If we all support them, they will escape the pitfalls of ministry and shine as co-workers in the common vineyard of our Lord,” he said.
According to the Chairman, Vision 2023 enjoins the church “to strive to become a church whose members go to possess or take the nations by influencing every worldview, thought and behaviour with the values and principles of the Kingdom of God, thereby turning many people to Christ.”
To effectively do this, he stressed the need for the church to thoroughly equip and strengthen its ministerial training, saying, “Since our pastors and elders are at the frontline of the ministry, the Vision 2023 agenda seeks to adequately prepare them to become ‘workers who do not need to be ashamed and who correctly handle the word of truth’ (2 Tim. 2:15).
“It is for this reason that the Vision has made provision to enroll all our current ministers-in-training to our BA Theology programme and to also run certificate and diploma courses in Christian Ministry for our elders. These trainings will enhance the work of our ministers and elders and equip them to do more for the Lord.
In his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Apostle Prof. Kwabena Agyapong-Kodua, charged the new ministers to contribute their quota to possess the nations for Christ.
He indicated that the commissioning ceremony was not a completion of their training, thus not a graduation ceremony since they are all enrolled in the four-year BA Theology programme and they would be back to complete other sessions before their final graduation in 2025.
“You have worked hard in your preliminary training at our School of Theology, Mission and Leadership. Besides the core theological education we have provided you, as part of your ministerial formation, we have had moments of waiting on God together, praying and fasting to receive clarity in the purpose of God for your lives. We have also explored your contributions to the realisation of the Possessing the Nations agenda.
“We are confident that these spiritual exercises will not go waste, instead as you get revealed through today’s commissioning, you will indeed become heaven’s gift to humankind; ministers with high spiritual receptivity; those who impersonate the Gospel; throw themselves to the salvation of many; those broken by God in their closest and ministers who do not only teach or talk about prayer but their congregation is prayerful because the congregation has encountered a minister who prays,” he charged them.
The Kasoa Area Head of the church, Apostle Ekow Badu Wood, in a sermon on the topic, “The Selfless Minister” based on Genesis 3:6, Luke 9:23, among other scriptures, said that ministry is service to God, mankind, and denial of self, saying, “If you combine these three your story will be nice.”
The ceremony which was attended by the Chairman of the University Council, Pastor Prof. Williams Otoo Ellis, and the immediate past Chairman of the Church, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, also attracted some members of the Executive Council, Ministry Directors, and senior members of the University community.
PENTECOST NEWS.