The world is on a drive to transition to the digital space of sharing and interacting with one another. In this direction, The Church of Pentecost is moving towards such transformation as it trains its ministers and administrative staff to be abreast with the technological systems for faster communication.
To facilitate this agenda, the Information Technology Department at the church’s General Headquarters has organised an Office 365 training workshop for 53 ministers in La and the Teshie-Nungua areas in the Greater Accra region.
This took place on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at the Sophia McKeown Temple (SMT), at La, in Accra.
In a welcome address, the La Area Head of the church, Apostle Dr. Dieudonne Komla Nuekpe, disclosed that the training was in pursuance of the digital transformation agenda of Vision 2023 of the church.
“The most neglected area of digitalization in the church today is the internet, and to enable ministers effectively use the internet as a church, they must be trained,” Apostle Dr Nuekpe said.
He added: “We cannot grow as a church if we neglect this aspect of evangelism.”
Facilitating the training, the IT Manager of the church, Pastor Paul Odai Laryea, took participants through a series of cybersecurity education, where they were advised on cybercrimes, the importance of cyber-security as against The Church of Pentecost (CoP) digitalization agenda, and managing security threats.
“To ensure a strong system security in support of the CoP digitalization agenda, ministers should practice effective password management, effectively updating your device, backup, lock up devices and use anti-virus software,” he stated, urging the clergy to avoid using public networks and train their area and district employees.
Participants were further taken through practical sessions on creating and sending new emails; replying, forwarding, and attaching files in Outlook. They also had hands-on training on Microsoft Teams and Share Point, all within the Office 365 platform.
The General Secretary, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, encouraged the ministers to find time to practice what they have been taught, charging them to migrate to the new digital platforms being introduced to have seamless productivity in ministry.
“In these days, activities cannot be done without technology. Therefore, leadership has invested in this IT infrastructure. Let’s migrate to the new world system so that the youth does not leave us behind,” the General Secretary urged.
With the advent of propagating this digital agenda, new accounting and enterprise resource planning system, an online store, a digital music store, church maps, and many more have been added to simplify activities in the church.
Also participating in the training were Apostle Wilberforce Nkrumah-Agyeman (Teshie-Nungua Area Head) and Apostle Lt. Col. Benjamin Godson Kumi-Woode (Resident Minister, Burma Camp Worship Centre).
PENTECOST NEWS.