The Presbyterian Church of Ghana has accepted the resignation of its immediate past moderator, Very Reverend Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso.

This development means that Rev. Frimpong-Manso forfeits all rights, titles, privileges and protocols that he would have otherwise enjoyed as immediate past moderator of the General Assembly of the Church.

The church has therefore written a letter to its members to announce this.

In the letter, the church stated that its leadership was saddened by the action taken by the former Moderator.

“This unprecedented action taken by a former Moderator and the ensuing debate on the airwaves, saddened the leadership and the entire membership of the church greatly and so became the subject of intense prayer and supplication while some senior members of the church appealed to him to reconsider his decision,” it stated.

The church also stated in the letter that it invited Very Rev. Frimpong Manso for an exit interview but he requested that the clerk of the GA meet him in New York rather.

“In accordance with this policy, the Clerk of the GA wrote to the Very Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, inviting him to meet with the Clerk in Accra for an exit interview. The church offered to provide him with a return ticket for purposes of the said interview. In a letter dated November 25, 2015, Very Rev. Dr. Frimpong-Manso declined the invitation to travel to Accra for the interview and instead requested that the Clerk of the GA travels to New York to meet with him there.”

The church has therefore stated its acceptance of the resignation after meeting with the former Moderator.

“The acceptance of his resignation was formally communicated to him by the GA Clerk’s letter dated 21st March, 2016, in which it was stated that as a consequence of his resignation, he ceases to be a Reverend Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana effective 16th March, 2016,” it said.

Background

In October, 2015, Rev Frimpong-Manso renounced his membership of the Presbyterian Church after what he referred to as a ‘disrespect to his person and ministry.’

This was after the Presbyterian Church of Ghana declared their intentions to sever ties with the pro-homosexual Presbyterian Church of the United States of America.

The current Moderator of the church, Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey then wrote a letter to Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso asking him to return to Ghana latest by December 31, 2015.

Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso, however, said in an interview that the General Assembly did not accord him the needed respect before taking the decision to recall him from the USA. He added that he “cannot serve two masters so I will stay here (USA), do the work of God and win more souls for Christ.”

He is currently serving with the Emmanuel Presbyterian Reformed Church of the Presbytery of New York in the United States of America.