ACCRA DIOCESAN LAY MOVEMENT COUNCIL HOLDS 21ST AGM
Posted on Monday June 27, 2022Story: Emmanuel Ashong, Accra
The 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Accra Diocesan Lay Movement Council of The Methodist Church Ghana has been held in Accra from June 25 - 26, 2022.
The Meeting which was hosted by the Dansoman South Circuit was held at the Bread of Life Methodist Chapel, Dansoman on the theme "Discipleship: Living the Transformed Life in Jesus Christ".
In a speech read on his behalf at the official opening of the AGM on June 25, 2022, the Methodist Bishop of the Accra Diocese, the Rt Rev Emmanuel Borlabi Bortey noted that “AGMs offer us an opportunity to take stock of our activities at the end of a given year and to make projections for the future. Speaking through the Very Rev Victor B. B. Boyetey, the Accra Diocesan Synod, Bishop Borlabi Bortey described the Lay Movement as an embodiment of the Church and charged them to “facilitate the active witnessing activities of the Organisations in the Church by encouraging them to undertake training programmes for active personal and group witnessing”.
Being her last AGM as Accra Diocesan Lay Chairman, Sis Agatha Nana Ama Ennin Osei thanked members for “the honour done me and for the trust reposed in me to lead you in my capacity as the Lay Chairman for these three years serving in the Lay Movement Council and the Church in general”. She expressed her delight in seeing “how far the Lay Movement has come in the Accra Diocese and the various developments and growth that have been taking place”, adding nonetheless, “there is still more room for improvement”.
The Lay Chairman affirmed the Church’s mission to evangelise and reechoed John Wesley’s proclamation that “We as Methodists have no other business than to win souls”. She noted that “as part of our evangelism drive, we have to ensure that we organise efforts to spread Christianity to new converts everywhere which is also in line with our strategic plan entitled ‘An Agenda for Revival and Growth’”.
In a keynote address, Bro Prof Ato Essuman, a past Lay President of The Methodist Church Ghana who was representing the incumbent Lay President, Bro William Orleans Oduro (Esq) prayed for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit “to effectively coordinate the activities of the various [Church] Organisations for the growth of the Church spiritually and materially”. Touching on the theme for the AGM, which is also the theme for the entire Church for 2022, the Lay President noted that “Transforming our lives to enable us live like Jesus Christ is possible” adding “we cannot remain the same having believed, listened, preached to, and read so much about Jesus”.
The two-day AGM ended with a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, June 2022 at the Bread of Life Methodist Chapel Dansoman.
The Methodist Lay Movement is made up of all lay members of the Church and is recognised by Conference as a body whose aim is to mobilise lay persons to assist in the implementation of the Church’s decisions at the various levels of the Church namely Conference, Diocese, Circuit and Society levels and to coordinate the work of the various organisations within the Church.
