DON'T WAIT FOR GOVERNMENT TO DO EVERYTHING - REV DR JOYCE ARYEE

Story: Sarah Naa Merley Mensah & Emmanuel Ashong, Accra

The Founder and Executive Director of the Salt and Light Ministries, the Rev Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee has admonished Christians to not wait for government to do everything.

Speaking at a lecture organised by the Connexional Lay Movement Council of The Methodist Church Ghana held at the Wesley Cathedral, Accra, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, the recently appointed chairman of the ‘Appiatse Support Fund’ noted that, “There are some things we can do as individuals in our own way. I mean you living in a place,…it should never take the Regional Minister to tell you that your gutter is dirty. When the mosquitoes come, they will not go and find the Regional Minster, they will come straight at you”.

Rev Dr Aryee, who was speaking of the theme “Living The Transformed Life: Implications For National Development”, encouraged Christians to adopt enlightened self-interest in doing “the right thing”, explaining, “Enlightened self-interest is that you take the self-interest that benefits others but benefits yourself as well”.

Dubbed the S. H. Amissah Memorial Lectures, the annual Lecture is named after the first Vice President of The Methodist Church Ghana, Sir Samuel Hanson Amissah, who served from 1977-1979 and it is aimed at honouring Past Vice Presidents of the Church.

The twelfth edition was hosted by the Accra Diocese in honour of Mrs Naomi Elizabeth Korlekie Okine, the last Vice President and first Lay President of the Church. Mrs Okine, who was also a one-time General Director of the Board of Social Responsibility and Rural Development of the Church, was presented with a plaque for her “Immeasurable and unparalleled contribution to the Church”.

In a brief remark, Mrs Okine appealed to the leadership of the Connexional Lay Movement Council to “start thinking” about the founders of the Lay Movement, noting “If they had not started it, we wouldn’t have had the Lay Movement Council”. She pledged to furnish a new Methodist Chapel being constructed by the Lay Movement in Damango with chairs and appealed to members of the Church to assist the Lay Movement in mobilising additional resources towards the completion of the project. 

Sharing his reflections on the occasion, the immediate Past Presiding Bishop of The Methodist Church Ghana, the Most Rev Titus Kofi Awotwi Pratt described Mrs Okine as a dedicated woman whose singular effort saw to the revival and growth of the Methodist Book Depot during her time as a member of the company's Board. He urged the audience to “remember your history is firmly built on devoted men and women of the past”, adding, “Add your bit to it and make our Church what it should be for today and for tomorrow”.

The event which was attended by representatives of the various Dioceses of the Methodist Church was chaired by the Lay President of The Methodist Church Ghana, Bro William Orleans Oduro Esq. Also present were the Administrative Bishop of the Church, the Rt Rev Michael Agyakwa Bossman, the Methodist Bishop of the Accra Diocese, the Rt Rev Emmanuel Borlabi Bortey, the Lay Chairman of the Accra Diocese, Sis Agatha Ennin Osei, the Synod Secretary of the Accra Diocese, the Very Rev Victor B. B. Boyetey as well as past and serving clergy and Lay leaders of the Church across the connexion.