AME Zion Church unveils its strategic vision under Bishop Lartey
Accra, Nov 26, GNA – The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has unveiled a five-major point vision for the next four to eight years aim at transforming the organization into a more vibrant body ready to contribute meaningfully to national development efforts.
The vision, being spearheaded by Bishop Seth Lartey, who was recently appointed as the 100th Bishop for the Western West African District Office of the church, focuses on education, health, evangelism, expansion and economic empowerment.
The vision was presented in Accra at the weekend at a special business forum, which brought together bishops, pastors, lay members and business men and women of the church within the Western West African District.
Explaining the purpose of the forum, Reverend Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe, Chief of Staff/Protocol of the Church, said the idea was to create a business consultative group that would develop a business directory for the Church and promote networking among members.
“It will be like having a chamber of commerce for the church.” Presenting the details of the vision, he said, the Church would embark on an educational expansion within its institutions in the Western West African District in Togo, Ghana, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire to increase school enrollment by 100,000 in the next four to eight years.
He added that 10,000 persons would also be educated in adult literacy.
As a long term development strategy, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion, he said, would establish a teacher-training college and a University alongside introducing technical and education trainings.
In the area of evangelism, Rev Dr Dogbe said the Church aimed at reaching one million people with the gospel within the period.
In addition it would also “empower its evangelists at all our conferences in Ghana, Togo, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire and encourage congregation as well to embrace the ministry of evangelism and missions.”
He said it would expand its tentacles to open up new congregations – targeting 500 congregations by venturing into new territories where the gospel had not reached. “There are areas in Ghana today where the gospel has not been reach.
The gospel never runs dry and we will need to get to all the unreached areas,” Rev Dr Dogbe said. On health care, he said, Bishop Lartey’s vision aimed at establishing a major health facility in every Episcopal area and a clinic in each Presiding elder district.
Rev Dr Dogbe said the economic empowerment, which had begun with the business forum, would develop an economic plan that would make the church in Western West African District self-sufficient.
Economic activities that would be generated and promoted include fish farming, micro financing, revamping the shea butter factory business, expanding kente weaving venture in the north, poultry industry, fruit procession, gas station, bottled water production, power generation and radio and TV ministry.
“These have to be strategically placed and resourced in order to achieve them,” Rev Dr Dogbe said. In a speech read for her, Trade and Industry Minister Ms Hannah Tetteh lauded the initiative of the Church, especially in the area of economic empowerment and said the Church’s prerogative should not only be spiritual development.
She noted: “This is because there are several instances where the Bible talks about businesses and entrepreneurship development. Business people are found in almost every church.”
The Minister said because many people were ignorant of the many business opportunities, the local market had become saturated with the same or similar products, which created problems for patronage and profitability.
“It is good to pray for our business but there some basic principles to successful business, which entrepreneurs should know and apply,” she noted.
The Church will launch the construction of its state-of-art headquarters building project in March 2013.
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