By Jones Anlimah
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), Ghana, Rt. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Bliss Divine Kofi Agbeko (Rtd), has urged 18 newly ordained pastors of the church to make environmental cleanliness a central part of their ministry.
The charge was given during the ordination service at Adaklu Waya in the Volta Region, held under the theme: “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness! Keep Clean.”
Delivering his sermon, Rt. Rev. Dr. Agbeko reminded the newly ordained ministers that their responsibility extends beyond preaching the Gospel to promoting the well-being of the communities they serve.
“You must make it evident by what you do. Provide leadership beyond the EP Church congregation. Help the towns and villages clean up. Clean the gutters. Help them to weed the environment. Organise them,” he charged.
He further encouraged the pastors to work closely with traditional authorities and community leaders to advance development and sanitation.
“Collaborate with the chiefs and elders of the town. You are not only sent to the EP Church, but you begin ministry through the church with those people. May your going into any community bring blessings to them,” he said.
The Minister for Roads and Highways and Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, commended the church for adopting the theme, saying it aligns with government’s renewed focus on environmental sanitation.
“I also want to thank the church for believing in the President’s call for us to adopt cleanliness and encouraging all of us. I want all of us to be apostles of keeping our environments clean. So the church, I want to thank you very much for this,” Mr. Agbodza stated.
The Minister also reaffirmed government’s commitment to ensuring that development reaches every part of the country.
“The President is determined to make sure that his development agenda touches every community in our country. Indeed, the Volta Region is getting its fair share of his agenda on roads,” he said.
As part of that commitment, Mr. Agbodza announced that construction of the road leading to the Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education at Amedzofe would commence before the end of the year.
“Moderator, I just want to assure you that before the end of the year, we will start the construction of the road to Amedzofe to make sure that the investment made by those missionaries… can be sustained and can be made bigger,” he assured.
The ordination service brought together clergy, government officials, traditional authorities and members of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church from across the country to witness the admission of the 18 pastors into the ordained ministry of the church.
