Reverend Dr Lt. Col. (Rtd) Bliss Kofi Agbeko, Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian (E, P) Church Ghana, has commissioned a modern complex for the Church in the Dzolo Gbogame community in the Ho West District of the Volta Region.
The 1,000-capacity chapel has become the second to be built for the 112-year-old Sitsofe Congregation, whose establishment heralded the introduction of formal education in the area.
The project was realised through a rigid levying system of members of the Church and was heavily boosted by individuals – natives of the Dzolo community both at home and abroad.
Community members and various Christian faith denominations in the area, on Sunday joined a procession to the new edifice, where the Moderator consecrated and dedicated it before officially opening it for use.
The Moderator proceeded with a prayer of dedication, asking God to “equip the House of His spirit,” and during the sermon, said the dedication should encourage the dedication of the individual mind, spirit, and body to the Lord.
The ceremony was attended by leadership of the EP Church, political and non-political heads of the government, leaders of professional bodies, and old student groups in the area.
Rev Dr. Dzanku, Clerk of the General Assembly, said the dedication was a joyous event as it rewarded the toils of the project and would serve as an attraction to adepts of the Christian faith in and out of the area.
He commended all who supported it and hoped the same commitment would be extended to all other activities of the Church.
Bremen missionaries, who established the E. P Church, prioritised the area for formal education campaigns, and the first Christian converts were baptised in 1912.
Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, Member of Parliament for Ho West, said the Church continued to bear recognition for the role of education in the development the Dzolo community, which was among the most resourceful localities in the district.
Mr Ernest Appau, District Chief Executive, said the completion of the edifice signaled the community’s strength in collective development and appealed that the Assembly’s various agricultural development initiatives should be taken up by the Church.
Mr. Sam Okudzeto, a Member of the Council of State, and who connects to the community through marriage, chaired a fundraiser targeting GHC 300,000 for the completion of ancillary works, including landscaping, washrooms and other sanitary facilities, and to provide pews for the auditorium.
Mr Blessed Numetu, a member of the community, who helped rally locals in the diaspora around the project, appreciated the over 700 individuals, who aided, and said the community must build on the unity the Church had upheld.
Businessman Godswill Letsu-Grey, who also hails from the community, pledged with the aid of another, to fund the GHC80,000 cost of providing a befitting PA system for the auditorium.
Other donations and pledges of support both in cash and in kind were made at the event.
Faith Bissi, a member of the planning committee, said the Church continued to support education in the area, having recently renovated a teachers’ bungalow, while plans to facelift the basic school received the needed approval.
The Church had also initiated the establishment of the community clinic.