The Ghana Baptist Convention (GBC) has ordained 92 ministers, including eight women, paving the way for them to serve God, the church and humanity.

The ordination ceremony, held last Saturday, August 29, 2026, formed part of the 63rd annual session of the church, which took place at the Baptist Women’s Retreat and Resource Centre at Ejura in the Ejura Sekyedumase Municipality in the Ashanti Region.

The five-day session was held under the theme: “Revived to reach out: Proclaiming Christ in every community” (Romans 10:14-15).

The ordination process was started by the Vice President of the GBC, Rev. Charles Oppong-Poku, who spelt out the ministerial journey within the GBC.

He said after candidates had received a calling into the ministry and been affirmed by their respective local churches, they underwent theological training in institutions approved by the convention.

After their training, candidates go through interview and endorsement processes, during which they are vetted through a formal interview conducted by the Ministers’ Conference on behalf of the church’s presidency to ascertain their readiness and doctrinal soundness.

The entire ministerial journey involves three main stages: licensing, endorsement for full membership of the Ministers’ Conference, and ordination, which sets them apart for lifelong ministerial functions.

The Executive President of the GBC, Rev. Enoch Nii Narh Thompson, assisted by Rev. Oppong-Poku and the President of the Ministers’ Conference, Rev. Victor Brew, laid hands on the candidates, prayed and anointed them, and presented a certificate to each of them to complete the process.

Charge

Delivering the sermon on the topic, “Be a faithful steward of God’s flock” (Acts 20:28), the Accra Coordinator of the Ghana Baptist University College (GBUC), Rev. Dr Felix Owusu, charged the new ministers to ensure that the doors of their churches remained open to believers and non-believers and to reduce the attrition rate.

He urged them to be mindful of their personal spirituality in the performance of their ministerial responsibilities, saying, “You must take the Word of God and all spiritual disciplines of your faith seriously to the glory of God.”

“Watch over your personal spirituality” is a call to have a habitual association with God. It is intended to cultivate a consistent and deep relationship with God through prayer and the study of Scripture, he said.

He said the goal of such a habitual association was “to learn from Christ, live like Him and represent Him effectively in whatever we do in our ministry”.

Personal conduct

Dr Owusu advised them to be careful about their personal conduct, always guard their integrity and ensure that they lived above reproach for the growth of the ministry.

“I call on you to live by example and serve as a positive moral compass and spiritual model for the church and the community. Whatever positive attitude you exhibit in the church must reflect in the home and workplace,” he said.

He also entreated them to take care of their health because of the demanding nature of ministerial work, saying, “Do not try to be Messiah but rather delegate others to assist you in your ministry.”

Personal relationship

For his part, Rev. Thompson urged them to be conscious of their personal relationship with God and study the Scriptures, saying Christianity could not be practised based on one’s feelings but on God’s teachings.

“I charge you to love everyone who is seeking to know Christ and to follow Him and the larger community because we believe that the gospel of our Lord Jesus is the answer to the world’s problems,” he stated.

He said governments would do their best, but the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ was what gave young people hope and prevented them from turning to drugs and alcoholism, as well as corruption and other wrongdoing in society.

In an interview, some of the new ministers described their ordination as a great honour and pledged to justify the confidence reposed in them by working effectively to advance God’s ministry.