EP Church has made significant contributions to national development - Bawumia.
Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President The Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana celebrated its 175th anniversary on Sunday, recognizing its enormous contributions to national development.
He described the Church as a dependable, trusted, and formidable agent of social transformation, civilisation, and progress.
The theme of the year-long celebration is "A Journey of 175 Years in Ministry: Achievements, Challenges, and the Way Forward."
Vice President Bawumia hoped that the celebration would strengthen their faith in God and reposition the church as a significant contributor to the moral, spiritual, and socioeconomic well-being of the people and humanity in general.
"The gains we have made as a nation in moral, spiritual, and socioeconomic development before and after independence could not have been entirely possible without the keen involvement of the church," Dr Bawumia stated.
"Indeed, no mention of the church's monumental contributions to nation-building would be complete without mentioning the role of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana. Prior to Ghana's independence in 1957, the church was founded on November 14, 1847, through the missionary efforts of the North German Mission Society (Bremen Mission) "He continued.
The Vice President emphasized the importance of the Church in the emergence and development of formal education in the country.
He stated that the pioneer missionaries, for example, established clinics, hospitals, schools, and agricultural stations, among other things, to supplement the work of the Colonial Administrations in developing the nation.
Dr. Bawumia observed that the EP Church Ghana's 175-year history was worthy of celebration, especially given the enormous sacrifices made by pioneer missionaries such as Rev. Lorenz Wolf, Quinuius, Daeuble, and Pleasing to bring the light of the gospel to Africa and Ghana.
The Vice President praised the church's educational initiatives, which include over 500 basic and tertiary institutions such as Mawuli, Mawuko, EP Senior High Schools in Hohoe, Saboba, and Tatale, as well as Vocational and Technical Schools and Colleges of Education.
"You have also earned the enviable distinction of establishing the Volta and Oti Regions' first university, the Evangelical Presbyterian University College."
"Your health centers in Wapuli, Ho, Dambai, and Blajai, among other places, along with your numerous relief and development projects in agricultural development, climate change advocacy, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programs, and so on, have added to your never-ending list of achievements over the past seventeen and a half decades," Dr Bawumia said.
The Vice President praised the church for devoting parts of the celebration to reflecting on its challenges, emphasizing the need for all well-meaning Ghanaians to pool their resources to rebuild the economy, which had been devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
"The challenges that have bedevilled our world in recent decades and now, such as COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine War, have spared no institution, and the EP Church Ghana is no exception."
"As you, therefore, reflect on strategies for overcoming your challenges and strategizing for the way forward in the decades ahead," Dr Bawumia advised.
He urged the Church to expand its socioeconomic interventions, such as its water production business, which will be launched on Thursday, August 18, 2022, to create jobs and contribute to the nation's overall gross domestic product (GDP).
"The EP Church should also consider rolling out interventions that would create opportunities to develop the nation's human capital, particularly the teeming youth who have benefited from free education and are thus in desperate need of work opportunities to contribute their quota to our nation-building quests," the Vice President said.
Dr. Bawumia urged the Church to be concerned about the building of a peaceful nation, noting that the recent Global Peace Index ranked Ghana as the second most peaceful country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He stated that such a remarkable feat must be guarded jealously and without compromise because both the Bible and the Quran place a high value on peace.
The Reverend Dr Setri Nyomi, Council Chair of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College at Ho, stated that the EP Church has had a significant impact on the nation in a variety of ways, including providing educational facilities, potable water, and resolving ethnic conflicts.
He stated that the Church had been a voice for the marginalized and vulnerable people in society, and he urged members to continue upholding discipline, hard work, and responsibility as the Church's hallmarks, and to refrain from any acts of mediocrity in both public and private life.
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