Akufo-Addo to clergy: Bear up Ghana in prayer
President Nana Akufo-Addo has called on Anglican Church leaders and the entire Christian leadership in Ghana to make it a point to bear the country up in prayer continually as the government works to get the nation out of its current economic setback.
Akufo-Addo made this call when he addressed clergy and congregants at the second annual presidential New Year church service in the Banquet Hall of Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday (10 January 2023).
“Even though we are presently confronted with difficulties in our economic performance, I do not doubt our collective resolve, as I said on 6 January [in a presidential Constitution Day address to Ghanaians], to work our way out of these challenges and put our nation back on to the path to progress and prosperity,” Akufo-Addo said.
“Let me plead strongly with the Church to bear the nation, and me, continually up in prayers.
“As God’s children, we may be tempted to allow struggles to define our worth. However, our ultimate victory is guaranteed. We may stumble along the way, but we will always, as Romans chapter 8 says, ‘be more than conquerors’,” the president added.
Anglican conference
In his address, President Akufo-Addo announced that the International Anglican Consultative Conference will take place in Accra this year and that Justin Welby – the Archbishop of Canterbury, senior bishop, principal leader of the Church of England and ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion – will be in attendance.
He assured the leaders of the Anglican Church in Ghana that he will attend the opening ceremony for the conference, as well as grant Archbishop Welby an audience in his office at Jubilee House.
Faith in God
Most Reverend Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, the Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa and Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana, led the congregation at the service.
He assured the congregants and the nation at large that even though Ghana is facing obvious economic challenges, God’s faithfulness to the country remains unchanged and unwavering.
National Cathedral
Most Reverend Ben-Smith said that President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to building the National Cathedral is sufficient testimony of his devotion to God and that “no matter the naysayers, the construction and completion of the National Cathedral will happen”.
“Like you and other world leaders,” he said, addressing the president, King David faced similar challenges: the murmuring of the people and the lamentation from the crowds, the abuse and the lack of understanding of the issues that are clear to all.
“Yet David stood resolute in his conviction in the midst of opposition. And he says in Psalm 46, ‘God is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble,’” Most Reverend Ben-Smith said.
“Therefore, David says, ‘We will not fear, though the earth be moved and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the welling thereof. Selah. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge,’” he said.
Most Reverend Ben-Smith urged the president not to grow weary but to remain steadfast in his resolve to develop the country and make the economy rebound.
