Anglican Church members urged to sacrifice to increase membership

Sunyani, Dec. 4, GNA - Professor Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, immediate past Rector of Sunyani Polytechnic, on Saturday said sacrifice, financial and material resources and total devotion were necessary to improve on the dwindling membership of the Sunyani diocese of the Anglican Church. He said structural reform, unity, patriotism and commitment constituted the requisite essentials of the Anglican Church "to propagate the gospel, rescue the perishing and win souls for Christ". Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah was speaking on the theme: "Let Us Rise and Build," to climax a five-day programme and fund-raising to mark the first anniversary of Rt. Rev. Dr. Festus Yeboah Asuamah, third Bishop of the Anglican diocese of Sunyani.

The fund-raising was aimed at procuring an official vehicle for the Bishop and acquire seed money to commence work on the official residence. Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah said Christians must apply the principle of giving despite the current difficult socio-economic circumstances to grow the church in strength to positively impact on the lives of the people. He said the members had the responsibility to "build an Anglican Church that is sound in faith and ready to rescue the perishing, spiritually organised to meet the material and spiritual needs of the congregation". Bishop Asuamah recounted the achievement of his Episcopacy within the period and mentioned that the diocese had made inroads in evangelism and missionary activities and that the Church now had a branch at Nsoatre. He added that in the area of human resource development and infrastructural projects, the diocese had seen an improvement, citing capacity building courses for some of the clergy and lay members within and outside the country. He said a new eye clinic with the potential to become a fully-fledged hospital solely for the diocese was under construction at Penkwase in Sunyani.

Very Reverend Daniel Owusu-Ansah, Dean of St. Anselm Cathedral, in a welcoming address, said the Bishop had an onerous task and responsibility as the chief apostle of the church in the diocese. He therefore lauded the Bishop for sacrificing his job as lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to take that responsibility. He called on the people to play their part to make the Bishop achieve his vision and mission for the benefit of all. 4 Dec. 10