Anglican Church in Ghana consecrates two new Bishops
The Anglican Church in Ghana has consecrated two Bishops in Kumasi to lead the Tamale and the Dunkwa-on-Offin Dioceses of the church.
The consecrated Bishops are Venerable Canon Dennis Debukari Tong for the Tamale Diocese and Rev. Canon Paul Appiah-Sekyere for the Dunkwa-on-Offin Diocese.
The principal consecrator and celebrant was the Archbishop and Primate of West Africa, the Most Rev. Dr Jonathan Bonaparte B. Hart, with other Bishops of the Church of the Province of West Africa as co-consecrators and celebrants.
The Archbishop per the traditions of the church, demanded the mandate for the consecration of which was read out by the Registrar of the Church of the Province of West Africa, and the constituent of legal teams of the two Dioceses presented the legal instruments for the two Bishops elect.
Preaching the sermon, the Most Rev. Josiah Idowu- Fearon, General Secretary of the Anglican Church, noted that ambitions for leadership when not spiritually guided by God, has the tendency to breed corruption.
He told the Bishops elect that their desire must be to evangelise and do mission work with utmost seriousness, adding that, “Bishops are not traditional rulers, they are servants and must burn with the desire to serve and not be content with titles.”
He emphasized on the need for them to be keenly involved in evangelism and be at the forefront in evangelism and mission. “Mission without proclamation is dumb and proclamation without mission is waste,” he added.
The Most Rev. Idowu-Fearon said “If your priests are happy, you will be happy, if your congregation are happy you will be at peace. As Bishops, you must be willing to teach, what elders need to have is the ability to teach. It is the only non-character position in the church, which you must adopt”.
He further charged them to be abreast with the teachings of Christ, saying, “As Bishops, you must seek to know and have sound doctrine, and help others to understand these doctrines”.
According to the Bishop, Paul in his evangelism duties, directed the congregation to choose men who can disciple the people of God in sound doctrine and told the new Bishops that they were “not being consecrated to become maintenance officers, but evangelists and missionaries”.
He said as Bishops, their relationship with other people, including non-converts, Muslims, traditional worshippers and other Christian groups must be cordial to foster peace, love and coexistence. “Discipleship is what you can give to your congregation and community”.
He charged them to lead and teach the flock to be unique and be admired by other members of the community to attract them to the church to convert them and foster the peace that every community needs.
The Most Rev. Idowu-Fearon, cautioned the new Bishops against the work of the devil and said as strategic leaders, they were targets for the devil, and charged members of the Anglican Communion to pray for their Bishops and priests to be able to resist the temptations from the devil.
The Bishop drew the attention of members of the congregation to Daniel, John and Paul and said they preached and still kept their work.
Source: GNA