CENTENARY ANNIVERSARY LAUNCH (P.30) 09-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

THE St Mary The Virgin Anglican Church in Accra has launched its centenary anniversary with the ambition of undertaking a school project to commemorate the occasion.
The project involves the reconstruction of the primary and junior high school blocks of the church in Accra Central into a two-storey building to accommodate the increasing number of pupils.
The Consular of the Swedish Embassy, Nii Amarkai Amarteifio, has pledged GH¢10,000 to support the first phase of the project and also gave a promise to bear the cost of roofing it on completion.
The Anglican Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa, the Most Rev Dr Justice Offei Akrofi, launched the centenary anniversary at a special church service in Accra on Sunday.
He also inaugurated a library complex built by the church at a cost of GH¢15,000 to commemorate the centenary celebration.
The project was jointly sponsored by a past parish priest of the church, the Rev Fr Vincent Shamo, the Managing Director of Noble Shipping Agency in Accra, Mr Barbinton Borquaye and the Legal Secretary of Ecobank, Ghana Limited, Mr Daniel Abban Lanquaye Lamptey,
Dignitaries at the special church service included the Gbese Mantse, Nii Okaidja III, who represented the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III, the Ngleshie Alata Mantse, Nii Kojo Ababio IV, and the Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Mr Jonathan Nii Tackie Komme.
The Most Rev Dr Akrofi, who is also the Anglican Bishop of Accra Diocese, said 100 years was a long journey in life, and lauded the forebears of the church for their immense contribution to its growth over the years.
He urged the present congregation to also contribute their quota to making the church grow bigger, and urged them to be united in all their endeavours.
The Most Rev Dr Akrofi said the church did not belong to any individual or tribe, but to God, and so they should live as brothers and sisters.
On the December election, he called on all Ghanaians to ensure peace during the electioneering period.
To that end, he asked all peace lovers to join the congregation of the St Monica Anglican Church in Accra for a five-day special prayer, beginning Monday, to invoke God’s mercies for peace to prevail during the electioneering period.
The priest in-charge of the church and Archdeacon of Accra West, the Venerable E. M. Tetteh, reminded members of the church of the great works that lay ahead and urged them to rise up to the challenge so that they would be fondly remembered at the turn of another century.
In a message delivered through Nii Okaidja, the Ga Mantse advised members of the church to practise the lessons they received from sermons.
That, he said, would help promote progress in their own lives, the community in which they lived, and the nation as a whole.
Nii Okaidja unveiled a plaque to mark the inauguration of the library, and the centenary anniversary cloth for the celebration.
The anniversary launch was preceded last Saturday by a float through some principal streets of Accra.
Other activities lined up for the occasion are football matches and quiz competitions.
The activities for the anniversary celebration will be climaxed with a special church service in February 2009.