By Francis Ntow
Accra, June 17, GNA – Very Rev Solomon Tetteh Nortey, Superintendent Minister of the Airport East Circuit of the Methodist Church Ghana, has called for the incorporation of prophetic and evangelism ministry into the church’s liturgy.
He made the recommendation in his doctoral research study titled “An Evaluation of Renewal in the Methodist Church Ghana (1914–2022): Towards Formulating the Church’s Contemporary Ministry in Its Liturgical Tradition.”
“Over the years, people with certain gifts have found the church to be hostile to their expressions and you can’t legislate on everything that is pneumatic in orientation or that is spiritual in orientation. So, there must be a balance where in the church’s bid to control excesses does not put in scumbling block,” he said.
The study, successfully defended on June 15 at the South African Theological Seminary under the supervision of Rt Rev Dr Francis Omondi, examined nearly a century of renewal within the Methodist Church Ghana.
It highlighted challenges in retaining young people, many of whom are drawn to more structured, charismatic worship styles.
Rev Nortey explained that adopting evangelism and prophetic ministry was relevant in framing the church’s prophetic voice, ensuring that ministry spoke directly to the lived circumstances of believers.
He noted that outreach and sharing of God’s word were key indicators of renewal taking root across the church’s structures.
On welfare, Rev Nortey drew from the Book of Revelation, urging leadership to respond to the socioeconomic and geographical realities of congregants.
“If you have a member who dies in a congregation of 500 hundred or seven hundred people and you give the person 700 cedis or 1,000 cedis as a welfare package. What have you done?” he quizzed.
“The church is supposed to be first about people before it is about projects. We need to take a second look at it so that at the local levels when we do our harvest and all that where we have the chunk of the money, we can put a greater part of it into our welfare. So, that we take care of people very well,” he said.
Rev Nortey also proposed the development of key performance indicators as monitoring and evaluation systems to help leadership assess the work of ministers and ensure alignment with renewal goals.
He noted that consultation processes had already generated strong engagement at the diocesan level, with an upcoming presentation involving the Presiding Bishop and other church leaders.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Francis Ntow
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