Reverend Stephen Yenusom Wengam, the Lead Pastor of the Cedar Mountain Chapel, was installed as the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Ghana during a colorful event that was attended by hundreds of worshipers, clergymen, family members, friends, and other stakeholders.
Visitors from Ghana and outside attended the professionally run introduction ceremony, which also served as the occasion for the commissioning of the new Executive Presbytery Officers of the Assemblies of God, Ghana.
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The Accra International Convention Centre (AICC) Grand Arena was unable to hold everyone due to the large number of participants, therefore the organizing team had to set up seating outside and install massive screens so that everyone could participate in the service.
Following in the footsteps of predecessors like Rev. Nyamela Panka, Rev. Simon B. Asore, William W. Dontoh (all deceased), and Moses S. Sumaila, Rev. Wengam succeeds Rev. Professor Paul Frimpong-Manso and becomes the seventh General Superintendent of the church. The new Presbytery Officers were elected on August 5 of last year.
Rev. Dr. Gordon Tito Agyei, Assistant General Superintendent; Rev. Dr. Ernest Birikorang, General Secretary; and Rev. Dr. Simon Abu Baba, Treasurer, are the new Executive Presbytery Officers of the Assemblies of God in Ghana.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, a member of the Council of State and former Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood (both church members), the Archbishop of the Perez Chapel International, Charles Agyinasare, the former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr. Opoku Onyina, as well as queenmothers and church members are just a few of the notable people who attended the event.
Rev. Dr. Wengam and the Executive Presbytery Officers were sworn in by Rev. Barnabas Mtokambali, president of the Africa Assemblies of God Alliance.
In his inaugural address as General Superintendent, Rev. Dr. Wengam stated that the new administration would carry on the work of its predecessors with a divinely inspired plan to shift, expand, and reform the church, based on Micah 4:1.
He claimed that the strategy will be supported by a plan with the “Six Rs” as its core: “Reach, Rebuild, Restore, Reform, Reposition, and Rebrand.”
According to Rev. Wengam, the church would actively disciple the nation and unreachable nations while giving the welfare of the poor and rural pastors top priority.
The tremendous growth of infrastructure and human capital is another aspect of this goal. The development of an iconic, cutting-edge Assemblies of God Centenary Village (an international conference center) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Assemblies of God Church in the nation will be the focus.
Rev. Wengam discussed what he claimed were the country’s ongoing issues with corruption, illicit mining, environmental ruin, despair, dishonesty, and other types of indiscipline and suggested holiness as a remedy.
He said, “Citizens steeped in holiness will not tell blatant lies, inflate prices of goods and services, falsify procurement figures, steal state funds, pollute water bodies, litter their surroundings, disparage their neighbors, assassinate the character of their political opponents, do shoddy work, laze around during working hours, or exploit their workers.
He extended an invitation to all churches on behalf of the church to participate in a campaign to infuse holiness into every aspect of national life since this was the best way to address societal disintegration and the increasing problems on all fronts.
According to Rev. Wengam, the church supports demands for a bipartisan and multi-stakeholder strategy to address the nation’s current economic problems.
That stance, he claimed, was supported by the reality that God, in His infinite wisdom, did not designate any person, group, or political party as a repository of knowledge.
Plans fail without counsel, but with many advisors, they flourish, according to Proverbs 15:22 of the Bible, which is our ultimate source of knowledge and our infallible rule of conduct, he stated.
Rev. Wengam, who comes from Bunkpurugu Paknatik in the North East Region, commented on the incident in Bawku and said the church was concerned because it “is potentially damaging to Ghana’s status as the most peaceful nation in West Africa and second in all of Africa.”
He emphasized that every effort should be made to limit the extremely delicate and complex situation, which threatens to snowball into security issues of unimaginable proportions.
Former President Mahama, who was the event’s special guest of honor, urged clergypeople to speak with balance no matter which administration is in power.
He advised them not to speak up when one government was in charge and remain quiet when a different one was.
The former President stated that in order to succeed, clergy members must constantly speak the truth to the administration that is in power. “We must be seen to be balanced, be non-partisan,” the former President added.
The church, according to the former president Mahama, exists to provide advice and counsel to leaders as well as to pray for them.
The church is a part of society, and as a result, it is impacted by what happens in society, he insisted.
Mr. Mahama pointed out that, for instance, church congregations all over Ghana were impacted by the current economic crisis that Ghanaians were going through.
So, it was essential for the church to keep speaking up whenever it felt that anything wasn’t right.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) was praised by the former president for its letter to the government with recommendations for how to handle the nation’s economic crisis.
Mr. Mahama urged Christians to get involved in politics, run for government, and do so in order to give the nation a sense of direction for growth and prosperity.
In his sermon on the topic “One Big Step for the Assemblies of God, Ghana,” Rev. Mtokambali identified three different types of steps: baby steps, regular steps, and giant leaps, with the last being the most significant.
He stated that he thought the church had progressed through the years from taking “baby steps” to taking “ordinary steps,” and that under the new leadership, he could see the church taking “a huge step,” in his spirit.
