Accra, Dec. 22, GNA – An eleven-member Governing Council of the Global Theological Seminary (GTS) has been inaugurated by the Right Reverend Dr Setorwu Kwadzo Ofori, Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church.
The Moderator said the significance of a Seminary was to uphold the “redemptive mandate” given to Christians to share the gospel and bring all to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
To do this, he said, the Church needed structured institutions like the Seminary to train, nurture and guide people to be able to carry out the mandate effectively.
The eleven-member Council is made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds and capacities serving specific interests on the Council.
The Global Theological Seminary currently has two campuses at Adaklu-Wumenu near Ho and Adentan in Accra.
In addition to certificate programmes, the Seminary is on the threshold of commencing a graduate programme.
“Jesus exemplified this by choosing 12 people to become his disciples. Though we are not told that Jesus established a Seminary, the processes of choosing, training, and commissioning the disciples to work, is in line with the role of the Seminary,” he added.
Rt. Rev. Dr Ofori, who is the Chancellor of the Seminary, was thankful to God that in Ghana one could preach without being licensed but a chunk of preachers did not receive the proper training to become seasoned preachers.
“As a result, several preachers are misleading people and creating chaos in the system,” he said.
The Moderator said, “But the Lord is using GTS tremendously to train and nurture people, who want to become pastors and individuals who want their ministerial gifts sharpened as well.”
The Moderator congratulated the Council members and prayed God would use them to take the Seminary to another level of growth.
He urged all to understand that “big things start small just as tertiary institutions like the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Yale and Harvard, grew and became great institutions.”
Prof. S.K. Agordzo, Chairman of the Governing Council, accepted the challenge to serve and appreciated the fact that Council members were selected from varied institutions to serve as mediators.
“It is not an easy task but we accept the challenge, hoping our ideas will be so vibrant to generate enough resources to enable the Global Theological Seminary to move a step further,” he said.
Rev. Dr Komi Hiagbe, Rector of the Seminary, said forming and inaugurating a new Council became necessary, owing to the requirements of the new statutes adopted by the Seminary.
“Significantly, some tenets of the new statutes aimed at growing the Seminary, demand certain roles and responsibilities hence the need for a new set of players in the board room,” he added.
The Rector said the Seminary under the leadership of the previous Council made very significant progress towards obtaining accreditation for the Seminary, meeting all the requirements of the National Accreditation Board except re-zoning.
“We, in the GTS community, are very excited at the prospects of having these resourceful persons as our new coaches. Our expectations are that we shall have expert advice from the Council and have Council assist in our income-generating efforts,” Rev. Dr Hiagbe said.
Mrs Christie Bobobee, the Female Presbyter on the Synod Committee Executive of the Church, said the training of seminarians was an important part of the Great Commission.
She expressed gratitude to the previous Governing Councils and people who played key roles to bring the Seminary to its current state, adding that “it is a great task so all stakeholders, including the Church, faculty and the student body, to support the Seminary.”
Mrs Bobobee asked for God’s divine favour, wisdom, and foresight for the new Council and urged the Seminary to use technology to bridge the gap between the two campuses to reduce movement to the barest minimum.
The members are Prof. S. K. Agordzo, Chairman of the Council, Rev. Dr Komi A. Hiagbe, Rector, Global Theological Seminary, Mr Eyram Atsu, Synod Committee Executive and Dr Ernestina Novieto, Faculty Member and Rev. Dr Nyuieko Avotri, President, Alumni Association.
The others are Mr Leopold Gadagoe, GTS Staff, Mr Vincent Ohene, President, Students Representative Council, Mrs Victoria Norgbey, Educationist, Mrs Jessie Hayibor, Lawyer, Dr Harry Agbanu, University Lecturer and Mr George Tokpo, Finance and Industry Expert.
GNA