Churches differ in style of worship; national cathedral unnecessary – John Ghartey

The General Secretary of the Assemblies of God, Ghana Rev. Dr. John B. Ghartey has given his personal opinion on the yet-to-be constructed Ghana National Cathedral saying that “it is not necessary”.

Speaking to Abena Dufie Aboagye on Atinka TV’s Ghana Nie on Tuesday, he said that he wished not to have commented on the subject of building a national cathedral for the country, however, his personal view has been necessitated.

He was of the view that the various denominational churches in Ghana are characterized by a peculiar way of worship and have non-similar practices and that it would be inappropriate to build a national cathedral that seeks to house these distinct churches.

To this, he said: “I wished not to comment on the issue of the national cathedral…I’m not speaking on behalf of the Assemblies of God Church, this is my personal take on the development …I think that building a national cathedral is not necessary”

“The various churches in Ghana have distinct ways of worship, Assemblies of God’s way of service differs from that of the Methodist Church, likewise the Church of Pentecost has a distinct way from the Catholic Church, how then do you say that you want to build a cathedral where all these churches could gather and worship? He quizzed

Speaking further, Rev. Ghartey said that instead of building a national cathedral, government should rather facilitate the provision of lands for churches to build their own structures.

The National Cathedral of Ghana is a planned interdenominational Christian cathedral scheduled to be built in Accra, Ghana’s capital, as part of Ghana's 60th anniversary celebrations. The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, in March 2018.

The cathedral will have an auditorium capable of seating 5,000 as well as the requisite chapels, and a baptistery. The site will also house a music school, an art gallery, and a museum dedicated to the Bible.

The architect for the project is the British-Ghanaian, Sir David Adjaye who Adjaye was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honors for services to architecture.