The newly elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Professor Cephas Narh Omenyo, has been inducted into office at a church service in Accra.
Rev. Prof. Omenyo, who is 57 years old and the Provost of the College of Education of the University of Ghana, succeeds Very Right Reverend Professor Martey who served as moderator for five years.
He was elected in August 2016 at the 16th General Assembly of the church at Abetifi in the Eastern Region, after serving as a minister of the church for 31 years.
Rev. Prof. Omenyo went into the contest unopposed after Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, the President of the Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra, and Rev. Herbert Anim-Opong, the Chairperson for the North American Presbytery of the church, stepped down after the nomination.
At the nomination stage, Rev. Prof. Omenyo secured 116 votes, Rev. Prof. Mante (60 votes) and Rev. Anim-Opong (27 votes) as the top three nominees.
Rev. Prof. Mante and Rev. Anim-Opong later bowed out. leaving Rev. Prof. Omenyo as the sole candidate for the election.
Induction Service
The induction service was graced by the Vice-President of Ghana, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, and his wife; the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper; the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party ( NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his wife and a leading member of the NPP, Mr Alan Kyerematen.
Very Rt. Rev. Prof. Martey performed the induction ceremony and counselled Prof. Omenyo to work hard to enhance the work done by his predecessors to ensure that the Presbyterian Church grows from strength to strength.
He also charged the new moderator to continue the church’s works of “lifting high the cross of Jesus and rescuing the perishing for the second coming of the saviour.”
Very Rt Rev. Prof. Martey congratulated his successor and urged him to seek the face of God always.
He further appealed to the members of the church to offer the needed support and cooperation to Rev. Prof. Omenyo in the discharge of his duties.
In his address after his induction, Rev. Prof. Omenyo expressed gratitude to the leadership and members of the church for the confidence reposed in him.
He expressed the belief that his election was a confirmation that he had been chosen by the almighty God to serve the church.
“I walk into this office convinced that the Sovereign Lord has chosen me to work to glorify His name and that is exactly what I will do. I appeal to all Presbyterians to join hands with me to work to enhance the church and glorify God,” he said.
Rev. Prof. Omenyo said the first five years of his leadership would focus on church missions, renewal, discipleship, social justice and safeguarding the integrity of the nation, among other thematic areas.
He expressed gratitude to his predecessors for the solid foundation they had laid for the church, upon which he had been given the opportunity to build, and promised to work hard with the help of God to boost their achievement.
Biography
Rev. Prof. Cephas Narh Omenyo was born in 1959 and hails from Somanya in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
He is a Professor in the Department for the Study of Religions of the College of Education, University of Ghana, with extensive experience in teaching, research and administration.
He was commissioned into the Ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1985 and was ordained in 1987 in Tamale.
The new moderator obtained his first degree in Sociology and Religion from the University of Ghana and Master of Philosophy from the same university and a PhD from Utrecht University in Holland.
He has served on a number of boards and committees both in the church and the university, and until his elevation was the Head of the Grace Presbyterian Church, West Legon. He is married with three children.
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