10-Year Strategic Plan 2020 - 2029pcgonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/strategicplan.pdf · FAA - Finance and Audit GA - General Assembly GAC ... IC - Implementation Coordinator

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA

August 2019

10-Year Strategic Plan

2020 - 2029

Agenda for Church Growth

2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 9 S t r a t e g i c P l a n o f t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h o f G h a n a

i

T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... i

Table of Tables ......................................................................................................................... iv

Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... v

The Committee that Prepared the Strategic Plan .................................................................. vii

Strategic Plan Technical Committee Members ..................................................................... viii

Foreword ........................................................................................................................... ix

Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... xi

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ xii

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 The Challenge ................................................................................................................ 1

1.3 The Goal ........................................................................................................................ 1

1.4 The Objective ................................................................................................................ 2

1.5 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 2

1.6 The Structure of the Report .......................................................................................... 3

1.7 Understanding this Report ............................................................................................ 3

1.8 How to use the Strategic Plan ....................................................................................... 3

1.9 Periodic Review ............................................................................................................. 4

1.10 Mission and Agenda ...................................................................................................... 4

Abridged History of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana .......................................... 5

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana.......................................................................... 6

3.1 Vision ............................................................................................................................. 6

3.2 Mission .......................................................................................................................... 6

3.3 Core Values ................................................................................................................... 6

3.4 The Structure of the Church ......................................................................................... 7

Performance Review of PCG Strategic Plan (2006 – 2016) ..................................... 9

4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 9

4.2 Process of Preparation .................................................................................................. 9

4.3 The challenges in the process of Implementation ........................................................ 9

4.4 Lessons Learnt for future strategic plans ................................................................... 10


ii

Situation Analysis of the PCG ................................................................................ 12

5.1 General ........................................................................................................................ 12

5.2 Department of Mission and Evangelism ..................................................................... 12

5.3 Department of Church Life and Nurture .................................................................... 15

5.4 Department of Administration and Human Resource Management ......................... 16

5.5 Department of Ecumenical and Social Relations ........................................................ 19

5.6 Department of Development and Social Services (DSS) ............................................. 20

5.7 Department of Finance and Audit .............................................................................. 22

5.8 Department of Education ........................................................................................... 25

Challenges from the Head Office........................................................................... 26

Inherent Qualities and Challenges of the PCG (SWOT Analysis) .......................... 29

The Strategic Plan .................................................................................................. 30

8.1 Issues for Head Office Consideration.......................................................................... 31

8.2 Mission and Evangelism .............................................................................................. 35

8.3 Administration and Human Resource Management .................................................. 41

8.4 Ecumenical and Social Relations ................................................................................. 45

8.5 Development and Social Services ............................................................................... 49

8.6 Finance and Audit ....................................................................................................... 52

8.7 Education .................................................................................................................... 55

8.8 Church Life and Nurture ............................................................................................. 58

Performance Management System (PMS) ............................................................ 61

9.1 Definition .................................................................................................................... 61

9.2 Methodology – the process of adopting the PMS ...................................................... 61

9.3 Accountable Officers for the Courts ........................................................................... 61

9.4 Monitoring and Evaluation ......................................................................................... 63

9.5 Year-End Reporting ..................................................................................................... 63

9.6 Commencement of Implementation .......................................................................... 64

Implementation Plan - Milestones ...................................................................... 65

10.1 Pre-General Assembly Approval ................................................................................. 65

10.2 Preparatory Work for Implementation....................................................................... 65

10.3 Implementation Processes ......................................................................................... 66

10.4 Annual Performance Appraisal ................................................................................... 67


iii

10.5 Noteworthy Issues ...................................................................................................... 67

Annexures 70

Annex 1: Toward Financing the Strategic Plan ....................................................................... 70

Annex 2: Trend of Church Growth, 2002 - 2018 ..................................................................... 73

Annex 3: Vision 1.5 - PCG Statement for Evangelism and Church Growth (2019-2023)........ 74

Annex 4: List of GAC members that analyzed the questionnaire responses – 4th June

2018 ............................................................................................................................ 83

Annex 5: List of GAC members that commented on the final draft: 26th Nov, 2018 ............. 85

Annex 6: Other individuals consulted outside the GAC .......................................................... 87


iv

T a b l e o f T a b l e s

Table 1: Ranked Level of Achievement per Department (2006-2016) ................................... 10

Table 2: Pattern of Church growth 2012-2016 ........................................................................ 15

Table 3: Presbyterian Church of Ghana – Financial Performance 2013 - 2017 ....................... 23

Table 4: Percentage of Expenditure per Item / Year ............................................................... 23

Table 5: Number of Ministers and % Increase (2010 – 2016) ................................................. 24

Table 6: Number of Presbyterian Public Schools / Division .................................................... 25

Table 7: Issues and Objectives for Head Office ....................................................................... 31

Table 8: Strategic Plan for Head Office Issues ........................................................................ 32

Table 9: Issues and Objectives for Mission and Evangelism .................................................... 35

Table 10: Strategic Plan for Missions and Evangelism ............................................................ 36

Table 11: Issues and Objectives for Administration and Human Resource Management ...... 41

Table 12: Strategic Plan for AHRM .......................................................................................... 42

Table 13: Issues and Objectives for Ecumenical and Social Relations ..................................... 45

Table 14: Strategic Plan for ESR .............................................................................................. 46

Table 15: Issues and Objectives for Development and Social Services ................................... 49

Table 16: Strategic Plan for DSS .............................................................................................. 50

Table 17: Issues and Objectives for Finance and Audit ........................................................... 52

Table 18: Strategic Plan for Finance and Audit ....................................................................... 53

Table 19: Issues and Objectives for Education ........................................................................ 55

Table 20: Strategic Plan for Education .................................................................................... 56

Table 21: Issues and Objectives for Church Life and Nurture ................................................. 58

Table 22: Strategic Plan for CLAN ........................................................................................... 59

Table 23: Accountable Officers ................................................................................................ 62

Table 24: End of Year Reporting Accountability ...................................................................... 63

Table 25: Pre-General Assembly Milestones ........................................................................... 65

Table 26: Schedule for Implementation Preparatory Work .................................................... 65

Table 27: Important Implementation Processes for the Strategic Plan .................................. 66

Table 28: Performance Appraisal Matrix ................................................................................. 67


v

A b b r e v i a t i o n s

AACC - All African Conference of Churches

AHRM - Administration and Human Resource Management

AO - Accountable Officer

AQT - Annual Quarterly Target

CAHRM - Committee on Administration and Human Resource Management

CCG - Christian Council of Ghana

CLAN - Church Life and Nurture

DE - Department of Education

DSC - District Session Council

DSS - Development and Social Services

EMS - Evangelical Mission in Solidarity

ESR - Ecumenical and Social Relations

FAA - Finance and Audit

GA - General Assembly

GAC - General Assembly Council

GAO - General Assembly Office

GES - Ghana Education Service

IC - Implementation Coordinator

ICT - Information & Communication Technology

KRA - Key Result Area

M & E - Mission and Evangelism

MEO - Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

NAA - North America and Australia

NGO - Non-Governmental Organization

NGO - Non-Government Organization

NUPSG - National Union of Presbyterian Students, Ghana

PCG - Presbyterian Church of Ghana

PMS - Performance Management System

PSICE - Presbyterian Students in Church Evangelism

PWC - Presbyterian Women’s Centre


vi

PYICE - Presbyterian Youth in Church Evangelism

SHS - Senior High School

SPFT - Strategic Plan Facilitation Team

SPTC - Strategic Plan Technical Committee

ToT - Training of Trainers

TYRP - Three Year Rolling Plan

WCC - World Council of Churches

WCRC - World Communion of Reformed Churches

YAF - Young Adults Fellowship

YPG - Young People’s Guild


vii

T h e C o m m i t t e e t h a t P r e p a r e d t h e S t r a t e g i c P l a n

1. Mr. F. Ohene Kwafo Convener

2. Dr. Francis Kwadade-Cudjoe Chairman

3. Mr. Alfred Kwasi Opoku Facilitator

4. Rev. Ludwig Neils Hesse Member

5. Rev. Ezekiel Larbi Member

6. Rev. Desmond Anyetei Nai Member

7. Mr. Gabriel Canacoo Member

8. Mr. S. N. Tenkorang Member

9. Mr. Enoch Narteh Member

10. Mr. Sefah Nyame Member

11. Mrs. Lydia Annan-Nai Member

12. Mr. Daniel Pabby Member

13. Mrs. Mavis Adom Member


viii

S t r a t e g i c P l a n T e c h n i c a l C o m m i t t e e M e m b e r s

This team finalized the document by incorporating changes suggested by the Presbyteries in

their response to the remission for GA to adopt the strategic plan and editing the final

document for publication.

The team was made up of:

1. Dr. Francis Kwadade-Cudjoe - Chairman

2. Mr. F. Ohene Kwafo - Director, AHRM

3. Mr. Alfred Kwasi Opoku - Facilitator

4. Mr. J. N. B. Tetteh - Member

5. Mr. Ludwig A. Hesse - Member

6. Mr. S. N. Tenkorang - Member

7. Mr. Daniel Pabby - Member

8. Mrs. Magaret Doku - Member


ix

F o r e w o r d

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) developed its first Strategic Plan in 2005 to help

her effectively carry out her mission in fulfillment of the Great Commission. The plan period

was envisaged for a duration of ten (10) years, from 2006 to 2015, with a view to reviewing

it periodically in order to respond to the ever-changing environment. The plan period was

divided into Short Term (2005 – 2008), Medium Term (2010 – 2012), and Long Term (2013 –

2015).

This is the second Strategic Plan of the Church, which was launched at the 2019 General

Assembly. It is slated for a duration of ten (10) years, 2020 to 2029. The first Strategic Plan

generated a lot of enthusiasm for the Church, as it revealed a lot of activities within the

seven (7) Key Results Areas (KRA) at the General Assembly (GA) Court, which had not been

attended to, for effective management and growth of the Church. In spite of the challenges

of the implementation of the first Strategic Plan (2006–2015), it has been able to sufficiently

generate the necessary interest to create a demand for the second Strategic Plan.

The second Strategic Plan was prepared by a Committee set up by the General Assembly

Council (GAC) in February 2018. This second Plan has been guided by an evaluation of the

first Plan and it has taken into account the recognized needs of the immediate future of the

Church.

The PCG has a vision: “To be a Christ-Centred, Self-Sustaining and Growing Church”.

The mission of the Church is: “To uphold the centrality of the Word of God and through the

enablement of the Holy Spirit, pursue a holistic ministry so as to bring all of creation to

glorify God”. The mission would be achieved through:

• mobilising the entire Church for prayer;

• improving Church growth through evangelism and nurture;

• attaining self-sufficiency through effective resource mobilisation;

• promoting socio-economic development through advocacy and effective delivery of

social services;

• upholding the Reformed Tradition; and

• cherishing partnership with the worldwide body of Christ”.

Furthermore, the Church is founded on certain Core Values that should not be compromised

in the achievement of the objectives of the second Strategic Plan. The Core Values are:

• Godly Leadership;

• Mentoring and Discipleship;

• Discipline;

• Sound Moral Principles;

• Integrity;


x

• Skills Development;

• Hard work;

• Humility;

• Unity; and

• Upholding Democratic Principles”

The Church has a mission to fulfil, and an agenda to pursue. The 10-year Strategic Plan is

branded ‘AGENDA FOR CHURCH GROWTH’. With God’s unfailing help, by 2023, the Church

population is projected to reach a target of 1.5 million, from the current membership of

947,015. Members would have also grown spiritually and become matured disciples.

The Church is highly indebted to Mr. Alfred Kwasi Opoku and his team of experts for

producing this document, and the Technical Committee members who prepared the

necessary materials. Included in the materials are the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for

the eleven (11) Committees at the District and Congregational Courts, and also

Templates/Forms, in readiness for take-off of the Plan. It therefore, behoves on us as a

Church, to give our best to make sure the objectives in the Strategic Plan (AGENDA FOR

CHURCH GROWTH), are achieved.

Rt. Rev. Prof. J.O.Y. Mante

Moderator of the General Assembly

Presbyterian Church of Ghana


xi

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t

“Thou are worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honour and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy

pleasure they are and were created” Revelation 4:11.

First and foremost, praises and thanks to Almighty God for granting wisdom, guidance and

strength to all who contributed to the crafting of the second Strategic Plan 2020-2029 for

the PCG, to guide the Church in her Agenda for Growth, Sustainability and Christ

Centeredness (Vision 1.5). We are thankful to the inspiring guidance and invaluable

contribution of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of

Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. J.O.Y. Mante, during the formulation of this Plan. He greatly inspired

the Technical Committee with valuable guidance and advice.

The entire Church is grateful to Mr. Alfred Kwasi Opoku, a member of the PCG Hope

Congregation, Sakumono who led the team set up by the General Assembly Council for over

eighteen (18) months to produce this Plan. The team included members of the Committee

on Information Management, Planning and Statistics, the Chairperson of the Committee on

Human Resource Management, and the Director and other Staff of the Department of

Administration and Human Resource Management.

Many thanks to the members of the General Assembly Council and the Directors at the

Head Office for helping to analyze the responses to the questionnaire and their comments

on the final draft during the November 2018 General Assembly Council meeting. The Church

also acknowledges the contribution of former Chairpersons, Heads of PCG Institutions,

Centre Directors, District Minsters, Lay Representatives of Presbyteries and members of

other churches who were consulted during the formulation of this Strategic Plan. The

Church is sincerely grateful to them for sharing their illuminating views on a number of

issues related to this Plan.

Special mention goes to the Technical Committee that incorporated the comments and

inputs from the twenty-one Presbyteries of the Church, and also painstakingly edited the

final work.

The Church is also appreciative to the known and unknown members who offered pieces of

advice during the planning process.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Ayete-Nyampong

Clerk of the General Assembly


xii

E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y

B a c k g r o u n d

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) is 190 years old as at 2019. This is the second

documented Strategic Plan of the Church. In spite of the challenges of the implementation

of the first one (2006 – 2016), it has generated sufficient interest to call for a second

attempt.

This document was prepared by a committee set up by the General Assembly Council (GAC)

in February 2018. Two sets of open-ended questionnaires were distributed to all

Presbyteries, selected Districts and individual Agents and the Lay. One set reviewed the

performance of the last strategic plan and the other reviewed the state of the Church and

the desires for the next 10 years. The responses were analyzed together with the GAC and

four (4) draft Strategic Plans were prepared and shared at different stages with an expanded

number of individual Agents and Lay office holders at various Courts of the Church, the

Directors and Unit Heads and again with the Council before the final copy was completed.

This second plan (2020 – 2029) has been guided by the all the criticism of the first plan and

taken into account the recognized needs of the immediate future of the Church.

T h e G o a l

The overall goal of this strategic plan is to promote the total growth of the Church – in

numbers, spiritual quality and the well-being of members. Essentially, emphasizes on the

Mission of PCG (see 3.2) and expands on the 2018 theme of PCG ‘Let the earth hear’.

T h e O b j e c t i v e s

In order to achieve the goal, the overarching objective is to take practical steps to

implement the stated mission of the PCG: “To uphold the Centrality of the Word of God and

through the enablement of the Holy Spirit, pursue a holistic ministry, so as to bring all of

creation to glorify God”. The specific objectives, therefore, are:

a) To maintain and contain the membership of the Church both spiritually and

physically.

b) To nurture the membership to develop a holistic, effective, sustainable evangelistic

and discipleship Christian mindset.

c) To improve and diversify funding sources for effective financial mobilization for the

Church

d) To seek and provide for the well-being of the membership and

e) To streamline an integrated approach in the design and construction of

infrastructural facilities for the Church.


xiii

T h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e P l a n

This plan is built around the structure of the Church as adopted in 2002, ie, the seven (7)

Departments, namely: Church Life and Nurture (CLAN), Development and Social Services

(DSS), Mission and Evangelism (M&E), Administration and Human Resource Management

(AHRM), Education, Finance and Audit and Ecumenical and Social Relations (ESR). Each

Department is analyzed with its corresponding strategies indicated.

S o m e k e y c h a l l e n g e s a s a n a l y z e d i n t h e C h u r c h

a) The Directors of the Departments are appointed without job description and this

presents a challenging situation as how they can be monitored and evaluated.

b) Much as each Director is pursuing a noble course, there is no official merger of their

activities suggesting a low supervision on their activities. This has trickled down to all

the Courts of the Church.

c) The Church adopted the Departmental structure since 2002 and has not been

evaluated. As to whether the Church is achieving the purpose for which it re-

structured itself into is not known.

d) The Legal and Properties Units have been subsumed under the Administration and

Human Resource Management (AHRM) Department. Their total input in the Church

is assumed rather than felt.

e) The evangelism outlook and performance in the Church is low as there is only one (1)

week slated for evangelism on the Almanac when the Church desires a 10% growth

rate at the end of the year.

f) Capacity building in Church Planting and Missions is quite low and there appears to

be no systematic and uniform national effort towards Church planting.

g) There is a disparity between the rate at which Reverend Ministers are being

commissioned and the rate at which Church membership is growing. For example,

between 2012 and 2016, while the number of Rev. Ministers increased by 28.9%, the

rate of growth of Church membership for the same period was 18.5%

h) Much is left undone at the end of each year as a result of lack of funds. Fund raising

sources remain traditional and limited and investment portfolios are negligible.


xiv

M a j o r S t r a t e g i c C o n s i d e r a t i o n s

a) All appointed Directors must be given job description to enable them work according

to some guidelines and must be encouraged to develop complimentary programs

b) The Church must evaluate the Departmental structure adopted in 2002 to

understand its effect on the Church growth and advice accordingly

c) The Legal and Property Units must be decoupled from the AHRM Department to

enable them to play a more frontal role in the Church

d) There is the need to develop a blueprint Church planting and mission strategy for the

Church. This should be incorporated into the curricula of the School of Leadership,

Probationary Studies, School of Evangelism and at the Lay Training Centres

e) Every District must set up and inaugurate at least two (2) Congregations within the

plan period

f) Every Presbytery must establish at least one (1) English Assembly to capture the

youth who are being attracted away from the Church after tertiary education

g) The Moderator of the General Assembly must visit at least one (1) tertiary institution

with a NUPSG in a year and it should be part of his/her itinerary whenever he/she

visits a Presbytery

h) Presbytery Chairpersons and District Ministers respectively must include in their

annual itinerary to visit tertiary and all Senior High Schools institutions with NUPSG

in their jurisdictions

i) The Districts must adopt NUPSGs in their jurisdictions and support them in welfare

matters as a means maintaining the link between them and the Church.

j) Capacity building in entrepreneurial skills at both the congregational and individual

levels must be stepped up through DSS

k) The Departments should be encouraged to raise funds, within the constitutional

mandate, from corporate and partner institutions. Amounts raised should be ring-

fenced to support its activities.

l) Appointment of Directors should be done by head hunt where specific individuals

are shortlisted and interviewed for appointment.

m) A conscious effort must be made to groom personnel to take headship positions in

the educational institutions of the Church.

n) All annual reports at all the Courts and at the General Assembly must necessarily

give account on the progress of the implementation of the plan.

o) There is the need to appoint an Implementation Coordinator/Facilitator for this plan

or at least every Presbytery must organize a Training of Trainer’s (ToT) workshop on

how to implement the plan.


xv

I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

Sections 1.7 and 1.8 presents how to understand and use this document, respectively; an

implementation plan has also been presented in Chapter 9. It is recommended that this

plan is reviewed in the mid-term, 2024, using the annual monitoring and evaluation reports

as a guide.

The implementation of this plan does not replace prayer in the Church, it rather calls for

prayer support to enable it to play a role as the Church strides confidently into the third

century of its existence.

M i s s i o n

Finally, the Church has a Mission to fulfil, and an Agenda to pursue. With God’s unfailing

help, by the middle of the planned period the Church population is projected to reach a

target of 1.5million and the members would have grown spiritually and matured disciples.

Hence this 10-year Strategic Plan is branded as ‘AGENDA FOR CHURCH GROWTH’


1

I n t r o d u c t i o n

1 . 1 B a c k g r o u n d

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana was borne in 1828. It was founded by Missionaries sent

down by The Evangelical Missionary Society in Basel in 1828. They came to preach the word

of God without establishing any particular form of Church structure. The stations they

opened were simply an assembly of Christians. The Assemblies have grown over the years to

establish a permanent structure under the name Presbyterian Church of Ghana that spans

from the Congregational to the national (General Assembly) level.

The Church prepared its first documented strategic plan which covered a 10-year period

between 2006 and 2016. It was implemented with some challenges, notably finance and low

appreciation of the concept in the Church setting. Key among them was that a good

number of the membership could not accept the fact of a man-made strategic plan to guide

the Church whose Master Planner is the Lord God Almighty Himself. They probably

overlooked the fact that God Himself followed a plan in creation and He led men like Moses,

Joshua, David and Nehemiah with a clear plan even though they were not termed as

‘Strategic Plan’.

However, because of the minimum success that was achieved, (see Table 1 for details), the

Church is awakening to the value of a strategic plan as a good guide for the direction of the

Church, hence this second strategic plan, covering 2020-2029 period.

Let us first answer this question: What is a strategic plan? As a working definition, a

Strategic Plan may be defined as ‘creating the future you want and taking the steps to get

there’. A strategic plan usually lasts for 10-years and it is subject to monitoring, evaluation

and review during the period.

1 . 2 T h e C h a l l e n g e

The Church realizes a slow growth rate, generally, and the youth who have been born and

nurtured in the Church migrate out into other Churches after tertiary education, a period

when they are most needed to help build and stabilize the Church for the future. Again, the

Church’s financial muscle is weak, and the sources remain traditional and non-diversified. It

is also noticed that the Church’s social impact at the national level is dwindling especially in

the area of disciplined upbringing which used to be the pride of Presbyterianism. There is

an increasing heresy and false doctrines in the society as the second coming is closer than

we first believed. For these reasons there is the need to look into the future over a specific

period and design the appropriate measures to create the future we want.

1 . 3 T h e G o a l

The overall goal of this strategic plan is to promote the total growth of the Church – in

numbers, spiritual quality, physical and financial well-being of members.


2

1 . 4 T h e O b j e c t i v e

In order to achieve the goal, the overarching objective is to take practical steps to

implement the stated mission of the PCG: “To uphold the Centrality of the Word of God and

through the enablement of the Holy Spirit, pursue a holistic ministry, so as to bring all of

creation to glorify God” (see 3.2). This is just a rephrase of the mandate of the Lord Jesus

Christ as expressed in Matthew 28: 18 - 19: ‘‘And Jesus came and spoke to them saying ‘All

authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth. Go therefore and make disciples of

all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ “.

The specific objectives, therefore, are:

a) To grow, maintain and contain the membership of the Church both spiritually and

physically.

b) To nurture the membership to develop a holistic, effective, sustainable evangelistic

and discipleship Christian mindset.

c) To improve and diversify funding sources for effective financial mobilization for the

Church

d) To seek and provide for the well-being of the membership and

e) To streamline an integrated approach in the design and construction of

infrastructural facilities for the Church.

The strategies to achieve these objectives have been discussed under appropriate

Departments in Chapter 8.

1 . 5 M e t h o d o l o g y

An open-ended questionnaire was sent to all Presbyteries, representative Districts from

every Presbytery, representations from the General Assembly Council, key Ordained

Ministers and Lay persons. The response to the questionnaire was however poor, only 46%

was received. Following the process, these were analyzed together at a meeting by the

General Assembly Council on the 4th of June 2018. They added to and expanded the field

data which gave the basis upon which the strategic steps were formulated. Other key

stakeholders of the Church including retired, serving Ministers and Ministers serving out of

the mainstream of the Church were also interviewed. Principal Officers of the Church and

the Directors of the Departments and Heads of Units were interviewed / consulted after the

GAC workshop.

A third draft of the Strategic Plan was passed round for broader stakeholder consultation

through the office of the Clerk of GA. Comments were received from Presbyteries and the

national leadership of Generational and Service Groups, Property Management Committee

and Legal Unit. Their comments were included in the next draft document.

The final draft document, which was the fourth, was presented at the GAC meeting on the

26th of November 2018. The comments from this meeting has been incorporated in this 10-

year Strategic Plan.

The GAC remitted the document to all twenty-one Presbyteries for adoption at the 19th

General Assembly of the Church. A Technical Committee was put together by the GAO to


3

consider all the feedback received from the Presbyteries and incorporate these into the final

document. The technical committee also undertook the final editing of the document for

publication.

1 . 6 T h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e R e p o r t

The report is arranged into nine (9) chapters; Chapter 1 is the Introduction which ends with

this section. Chapters 2&3 present the abridged history and the structure of the Church,

respectively. Chapter 4 is the review of the first Strategic Plan, the lessons from which

informed the new thinking. Chapter 5 is the situation analysis of the Departments in the

Church structure. Chapter 6 delineates the cross cutting specific challenges of the Church as

gleaned from the situation analysis. This is followed by the inherent qualities and challenges

of the Church (SWOT Analysis) as Chapter 7. The Chapter 8 is the Strategic Plan which

packages the response to issues raised in Chapters 4 and 5 in the light of Chapter 7. The last

Chapter, Chapter 9 presents the Implementation Plan. The Annexes follow thereafter.

1 . 7 U n d e r s t a n d i n g t h i s R e p o r t

It is important to read all the Chapters preceding the proposed strategies which start from

Chapter 8. The write up has been devoid of much technical language as guided by the

reviewed comments of the previous document. For example, instead of SWOT analysis

‘internal qualities and challenges’ have been presented.

Further, in the strategic plan itself the use of matrix that is usually used to present a plan of

this nature has been avoided. The matrix usually has indicators, means of verification and

responsibility and timing. These have been toned down. Instead the strategies have been

presented under derived objectives, the period of implementation; general indicators

towards an outcome and the responsible institutions for each strategic activity have all been

presented in lateral instead of a vertical form.

The value of this approach is that quarterly and annual reports on the plan should inform

the duty bearers the effect (outcome) of activities on the Church rather than the number of

activities that have been undertaken.

The uniqueness of this document is that each Department is analyzed, its problems (issues)

are summed up, corresponding objectives have been assigned and specific strategies are

outlined for each of them. In this way, it can be used at all the Courts and in every

Congregation where these Departments are established.

1 . 8 H o w t o u s e t h e S t r a t e g i c P l a n

As said earlier, each Department has been presented with its issues, objectives and

strategies for a period of ten (10) years. Each strategic statement is pregnant with ideas

that must be implemented over a 10-year period. These statements must be broken down

into Annual Action Plans at every Court which will indicate what must be done in year one,

two or three and so on.


4

Congregations and Districts are at different stages of growth; therefore, a national level

action plan has not been provided. However, a guide has been provided in Chapter 9 as to

how each District or Congregation can prepare an action plan based on its level in response

to a specific strategy. This approach will promote ownership and mass participation at each

Court.

1 . 9 P e r i o d i c R e v i e w

It is recommended that this plan is reviewed at the mid-term, 2024. The review will be

informed by the annual reports that will be submitted at the General Assembly level. Each

annual report will be evaluated against the targets set for each section of the report. The

review will enable us to know the challenges being faced and recommendation made as to

the way forward.

1 . 1 0 M i s s i o n a n d A g e n d a

Finally, the Church has a Mission to fulfil, and an Agenda to pursue. With God’s unfailing

help, by the middle of the planned –2024-- period the Church population is projected to

reach a target of 1.5million and the members would have grown spiritually and matured

disciples. Hence this 10-year Strategic Plan is branded as ‘AGENDA FOR CHURCH GROWTH’


5

A b r i d g e d H i s t o r y o f t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h o f G h a n a

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana was ‘born’ on 18th December 1828, when four

missionaries form the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society arrived at Christiansburg, Osu.

They came at the request of the Danish Crown by Major de Richelieu, Governor of

Christiansburg, who was displeased with the moral life of the Europeans in the Fort.

Within a period of twelve years eight missionaries had died. The only survivor, Andreas Riss

and his wife had then settled at Akropong but had made no convert. The Basel Mission

interpreted the series of deaths as a sign from God that Africa was not ready for the gospel,

as such the mission was to be closed down.

At the farewell ceremony of Andreas Riss in 1840, the Okuapemhene, Nana Addo Dankwa is

reported to have made a famous request on behalf of his people:

“When God created the world, He made a book of the Whiteman and abosom for the

African. But if you could show me some Africans who can read the Whiteman's book, then

we would surely follow you.”

In response, the Basel Mission sent in 25 West Indians who arrived at the Gold Coast on 16th

April 1843. They settled at Akropong and the Lord blessed their mission immensely. By

1848, schools and health facilities had been opened, and Presbyterian Training College had

been opened at Akropong, Church stations established, and the missionary work had gone

beyond Asante to the North.

In 1918, the Scottish Mission took over from the Basel Mission and organized the first Synod

(August, 1918) and elected Rev. Peter Hall as Moderator and Rev. Nicolas Timothy as Clerk,

both were indigenized second generation West Indians. The Church thus became

independent and self-governing.

At a Synod meeting at Abetifi in 1926, the name “The Presbyterian Church of the Gold

Coast” was adopted and later became “The Presbyterian Church of Ghana” at the

attainment of independence in 1957. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana upholds the

Reformed policy.


6

T h e P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h o f G h a n a

3 . 1 V i s i o n

‘To be a Christ –Centered, Self-Sustaining and Growing Church’ (Art. 2 (3) PCG Constitution 2016).

3 . 2 M i s s i o n

“To uphold the Centrality of the Word of God and through the enablement of the Holy Spirit, pursue a holistic ministry, so as to bring all of creation to glorify God” (Art. 2 (3) PCG Constitution 2016). The Mission is to be derived through:

a) Mobilizing the entire Church for prayer

b) Improving Church growth through evangelism and nurture

c) Attaining self-sufficiency through effective resource mobilization

d) Promoting socio-economic development through advocacy and effective delivery of social services

e) Upholding the Reformed Tradition

f) Cherishing partnership with worldwide body of Christ.

3 . 3 C o r e V a l u e s

The PCG was founded on certain core values that are not compromised with in the attainment of the Church’s strategic objectives and these are:

a) Godly Leadership

b) Mentoring and discipleship

c) The Centrality of the Word of God

d) Discipline

e) Sound Moral Principles

f) Hard work

g) Integrity

h) Humility

i) Unity

j) Upholding Democratic Principles


7

3 . 4 T h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e C h u r c h

The Church is governed through four Courts. It starts from, below, the Congregational

Session, District Session, Presbytery, and the General Assembly.

The Session is the government of the Local Congregation. It is made up of the Agents

(Ministers and Catechists), and Presbyters who are elected every four years and have two

continuous terms only, but eligible for re-election after four years. The Agent-in-Charge

chairs the Session meetings.

The District Session is the next Court. It consists of a number of Congregations in the

Districts. It is led by a District Minister. It deals with matters affecting the Congregations

within the District. The District Session is managed by a Council and a Standing Committee

which meets in between the District Session meetings which happens only once a year.

The next Court is the Presbytery. It is made up of four (4) District Sessions. It deals with

matters affecting the Districts in its jurisdiction. Between Presbytery meetings, the

Presbytery is managed by a Council which meets every three months. The Council also has a

Standing Committee which meets monthly. The Principal Officers of the Presbytery are the

Presbytery Chairperson and the Clerk of Presbytery.

The Church adopted the General Assembly (GA) concept in 2000 as against the Synod. The

GA is a step above the Synod as the highest decision-making body of the Church. The GA

formulates policies to be implemented by the Church. There are two (2) broad

distinguishing factors between the GA and the Synod. Under the GA, the Presbyteries have

higher level of autonomy than it was under the Synod system and representatives from the

Presbyteries to the GA are designated as Commissioners and not as delegates as it was

under the Synod structure.

The GA meets annually to receive reports from the Presbyteries. In between Assemblies, the

Church is managed by a General Assembly Council (GAC). The GAC also has a Standing

Committee which meets monthly to deal with matters requiring attention between the

meetings of the GAC.

In 2002 the administration of the Church was reorganized into seven Departments. These

are: 1) Mission and Evangelism, 2) Church Life and Nurture, 3) Administration and Human

Resource Management, 4) Ecumenical and Social Relations, 5) Development and Social

Services, 6) Finance and Audit and finally 7) Education. Each Department has a Director

who reports to the General Assembly through the Clerk of the General Assembly. The

Departments coordinates the activities of the eleven (11) Committees in the Church.

The first Synod of the Church was held at Akropong-Akwapim in 1918. At that time, the

Church was organized around eleven Central Stations comprising 200 Town and Village

Congregations. This period began the self-governing structure of the Church as all the

stations were under the supervision of 30 African Pastors and a number of Teacher-

Catechists. The Central Stations which was reorganized into Presbyteries has grown steadily


8

from five (5) in 19221 to twenty-one (21) in 20172 with a total of 294 Districts in 2017. The

number of Congregations has also increased from 200 in 1918 to 2,811 in 2017.

In 2002, when the administration of the Church was reorganized into Departments, its total

membership was 535,130. This was increased by 5.7% in 2003 and in 2010 the Church

membership again increased by 6.1%, the highest between 2002 and 2017. Ironically, in

2008 percentage increase of the Church was 0.4% and was the lowest growth rate between

2002 and 2017 (source: Church records 2002-2017).

1 Source: The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, 2016 Pg 164. The Presbyteries were Ga and Dangme, Akuapem and Anum, Agona and Kotoku, Akyem and Kwahu, Asante and Asante Akyem

2 This includes two foreign Presbyteries: North America & Australia and Europe


9

P e r f o r m a n c e R e v i e w o f P C G S t r a t e g i c P l a n ( 2 0 0 6 – 2 0 1 6 )

4 . 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n

The PCG prepared and implemented the first documented 10-year Strategic Plan that

covered a period between 2006 and 2016. The performance of the plan was first evaluated

to understand the process of preparation and implementation in order to inform the

current plan which covers the period between 2020 and 2029.

4 . 2 P r o c e s s o f P r e p a r a t i o n

The general view is that the stakeholder input in the planning and preparation was not

broad enough and, especially, the validation of the final draft should have been sent to

presbyteries and all Departments in the Church for their comments, but it was not. As a

result of this, the majority of the stakeholders claim little knowledge of the strategic plan:

while many have not heard about it, few, on the other hand, have either seen or have little

knowledge of the contents.

4 . 3 T h e c h a l l e n g e s i n t h e p r o c e s s o f I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

The key challenge in the implementation of the strategic plan was the fact that there was a

general disagreement of the concept of a strategic plan for the Church as God Himself is the

owner and Master Planner for the Church. The document nearly experienced a still-birth in

the minds of many. Others described it as being too technical, academic or abstract.

Nevertheless, some level of success was achieved in the implementation. This was

accounted for by the initial positive euphoria; relevant capacity building, some financial

resources made available and the high level of involvement by leadership.

However, the success could not be sustained for long as interest in the strategic plan waned

due to lack of sustainable funding, poor supervision and monitoring, lack of ownership of

the document due to lack of mass participation in the preparation and inadequate copies

for all Congregations.

The overall performance evaluation by the respondents showed a low achievement rate in

all the Departments, as presented in Table 1. Respondents were asked to rank the

Departments in terms of performance and in their view, what level of percentage did each

Department achieve in its performance. The collated response shows that the

Administration and Human Resources Department had a better performance and Mission

and Evangelism was ranked fifth (5th) out of the seven (7) Departments.


10

Table 1: Ranked Level of Achievement per Department (2006-2016)

Rank Department Collated scores (%)

1 Administration and Human Resource Management 71

2 Finance & Audit 64

3 Church Life & Nurture 62

4 Development and Social Services 59

5 Mission & Evangelism 58

6 Education 56

7 Ecumenical and Social Relations 51

Source: Field Data from Stakeholders, 2018

4 . 4 L e s s o n s L e a r n t f o r f u t u r e s t r a t e g i c p l a n s

Lessons learnt are presented in two subheadings: general and specific lessons.

4 . 4 . 1 G e n e r a l L e s s o n s

a) The stakeholder participation during the preparation of the plan must be broadened

to include Presbyters’ Conference, Ministers’ Conference, Generational and Non-

Generational Groups, Property Management Committee, Legal Unit, Catechists’

Conference, General Assembly Council. Representations from these bodies must

participate in the preparations at all levels.

b) There must be massive awareness creation, education and capacity building in order

to appreciate and to sustain the interest during the period of implementation. A

Training of Trainers approach may be used to extend capacity building to the

congregational level.

c) Annual appraisal for the performance of the plan must be built into the system in

order to track the progress of the implementation.

d) Agents must be trained to be disciplined in respect of the plan implementation and

their performance in Mission and Evangelism must be appraised on annual basis.

Good performance must be rewarded.

e) Fund mobilization must be diversified and improved and prioritized expenditure

policy must be adopted and skewed towards Mission and Evangelism.

f) Programs from the lower Courts are presented to the Departmental Directors as a

matter of information but not for appraisal or approval.


11

4 . 4 . 2 S p e c i f i c L e s s o n s

a) Ecumenical and Social Relations (ESR): The Department lacked the resources to

respond promptly to social issues at the national level such as unemployment,

divorce rate and indiscipline.

b) Development and Social Services (DSS): The Department must be enabled to

increase its contact at the lower Courts for more entrepreneurial effect.

c) Finance and Audit (FAA): The Finance Department must advice on prioritize

expenditure policies while the paperwork (budget and financial accounting) is

properly handled, supervision and monitoring must improve especially at the lower

Courts. Income sources are not diversified enough.

d) Mission and Evangelism (M&E): The evangelism and discipleship consciousness of

the Church appears low. This is reflected in the expenditure ranking and from the

assessment of the respondents. There is little coordination among the Departments

towards evangelism and Church growth.

e) Church Life and Nurture (CLAN): Not every Congregation has a Counselling

Committee. NUPSG coordination is weak as it has not been identified as one of the

Generational Groups in the Church which serves as a focal point for Christian

education (The Third Schedule (1)). This must be rectified.

f) Administration and Human Resource Management (AHRM): The AHRM Directors at

the various Courts could have done more in supervising and coordinating the

implementation of the plan.

g) Education: The moral impact of the Church is not greatly felt in the schools and the

Church must rearrange itself to play a role in the moral life of the schools.


12

S i t u a t i o n A n a l y s i s o f t h e P C G

5 . 1 G e n e r a l

The Church under the Synod system have been run from the Head Office organized around

Desks offices such as Missions and Evangelism Desk, Women Fellowship Desk and Children

Desk. In order to run the Church more efficiently, the administration of the Church was

reorganized in 2002 into seven Departments. This came as a matter of course, two years

after the adoption of the General Assembly Concept. The re-organization into the

Departmental structure was modeled after a business enterprise which operates efficiently

under Departments headed by directors who report to the governing board. Article 29 of

the Constitution states the type and number of Departments that would be established in

the Church and the corresponding Committees at the Presbytery and Congregational levels.

The Departments are:

a) Mission and Evangelism

b) Church Life and Nurture

c) Administration and Human Resource Management

d) Ecumenical and Social Relations

e) Development and Social Services

f) Finance & Audit and

g) Education

The situation analysis or the state of the Church is discussed around the seven Departments

(the key results areas) focusing on their mandate, performance, achievements and

challenges. The summary of their challenges would be the summary of the challenges of the

Church. Based on Article 30 of the Constitution, Directors shall be appointed for each

Department and their qualification and role have been specified, the Committees the

Directors would work with have also been specified and presented below.

5 . 2 D e p a r t m e n t o f M i s s i o n a n d E v a n g e l i s m

5 . 2 . 1 T h e R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e D i r e c t o r

a) Encourage evangelistic programs by advising on methods of evangelism for use by

Congregations, groups and individuals in the Church

b) Encourage and guide the activities of the Bible Study and Prayer Group in the Church

c) Formulate policies/guidelines for the operation of prayer centers, schools/campus

ministry and other specialized ministries

d) Organize seminars, training, workshops, etc. to enhance the efficient operation of

the ministries


13

e) The Department coordinates the work of the:

o Committee on Evangelism;

o Committee on Global Mission; and

o Committee on Specialized Ministries

5 . 2 . 2 S u m m a r y o f G e n e r a l A c t i v i t i e s

The achievements of the Department recounted below dates back to 2002 when it was

established as the sixth Department until then the CLAN Department was responsible for

evangelistic activities of the Church. Among the achievements are:

a) Production of evangelism materials

Among others the Department has produced the following evangelism materials: Share the

Life; Rooted in Christ; Operation Philip; Steps to Salvation; Prayer Bulletin; (Church Planting;

Church Growth leaflets). These are summarized in bits and designed in the annual

Evangelism Week brochure and distributed into the Church as tools for evangelism.

Other policy documents such as the NOP Handbook (to guide the Northern Outreach

Program); Dorcas Project (on reaching out to “Commercial sex workers”); Prayer Centers’

Guide and Chaplaincy Handbook have been produced and are in use.

Besides these the School of Evangelism has been instituted to equip leadership of the

Church towards achieving the growth target of the Church.

b) Global Mission

The Department has led the establishment of a number of Congregations in countries

outside Ghana. Currently, the Congregations have been grouped into Districts under two

Overseas Presbyteries.

c) Specialized Ministries

o Prayer Centers Retreat

The Department coordinates the over thirty (30) Prayer Centers of the

Church and has been organizing annual retreats for the leadership of the

Centers.

o Television ministry

The Department run the “Channel of Hope” ministry on television networks

from 2007 but this was suspended later by the General Assembly Council due

to financial constraints.

o Campus ministry

The Department coordinates what is termed as Presbyterian Students in

Church Evangelism, P-SICE. In this program, Presbyterian Students visits

selected communities for evangelism activities during the long vacation.


14

o Empowerment

The Department has and continues to organize and facilitate trainings,

seminars and retreats for the leaders of the Church at all Courts.

d) Informal specialized Ministries

There are a number of other specialized ministries in the Church which be classified as

‘Informal Specialized Ministries.’ These include the Blue Cross, Northern Outreach

Program/Ministry (NOP/M), Police Cells, Prisons, Market, Hospital, Sports, Garages, Ghetto,

Palace, Commercial Sex workers (Dorcas Project), Artisans, Beauticians, Street Children,

Widows and Single parents, and Ministry to the Physically Challenged Persons. These

ministries are recognized and supervised by the Church.

5 . 2 . 3 T h e R e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e D i r e c t o r a t e w i t h t h e L o w e r C o u r t s

The GA formulates policies and the Directors operationalize them into Annual Plans for

implementation by their respective Departments at the lower Courts through the

Presbyteries. The Directors also issues “newsletters” outlining upcoming events through the

Presbyteries to the lower Courts. Major decisions from the statutory Committees of the

Departments are also sent to the Presbytery Coordinators for implementation at the lower

Courts.

In effect, the Directors have no formal oversight relationship with the rest of the lower

Courts beyond the Presbytery level. For example, annual plans prepared by the lower

Courts reach the Head Office through their Presbyteries only for information and study but

not for appraisal or approval by the Directors who operationalized the policies of the GA.

5 . 2 . 4 T h e P a t t e r n o f C h u r c h G r o w t h ( 2 0 1 2 – 2 0 1 6 )

The Church has grown in terms of total membership, number of Congregations and number

of Agents as presented in Table 2. Between the period 2012 and 20163 Church membership

increased by 18.45%. During the period the highest increase was 5.0% recorded between

2013 and 2014.

In terms of the number of Congregations, the Church experienced 10.46% increase during

the five (5) year period of 2012 and 2016. The highest year by year increase of 7.0%

occurred between 2014 and 2015.

With reference to the Agents, their number increased cumulatively by 28.9% between 2012

and 2016, the highest year on year increase of 13.7% occurred between 2013 and 2014.

In 2012, there was an average of 292 members per Congregation, but this increased to 313

members per Congregations in 2016. In corresponding terms, the ratio between Agents and

Congregations members was 1: 876 in 2012 and in 2016, it was 1: 805.

3 This was the period where comparative figures were available in the three categories


15

In summary it is not appropriate to draw a straight-line graph between the increase in the

number of Ministers and Church growth. On the other hand, the slow rate of the Church

growth as analyzed above cannot be blamed on lack of Ministers; because in percentage

terms the intake of Ministers has increased above Congregational growth rate and the

Agent /membership ratio has reduced.

Table 2: Pattern of Church growth 2012-2016

Year Church

Membership

%

Increase

No. of

Congregations

%

Increase

No. of

Agents

%

Increase

2012 739,548 - 2,533 - 844 -

2013 773,504 4.6 2,515 0.71 883 4.6

2014 811,807 5.0 2,573 2.3 954 13.7

2015 846,222 4.2 2,754 7.0 1,045 10.4

2016 876,010 3.5 2,798 1.5 1,088 4.1

Total % Inc. 18.45 10.46 28.9

Source: AHRM, PCG 2018

5 . 3 D e p a r t m e n t o f C h u r c h L i f e a n d N u r t u r e


a) Commission graded suitable study material to be prepared for ministry to children,

youth, young adults, adults and the aged;

b) Organize retreats, seminars, workshops and training courses for the leaders of the

Generational Groups in the Presbyteries;

c) Facilitate lay training in the Church;

d) Advise the General Assembly on how to remedy factors in the socio-cultural life of

the country that endanger and hinder the proper status and welfare of women and

children;

e) Promote the work of the Generational Groups as instruments of the Church for

ministry among children;

f) Formulate guidelines to encourage the functioning of Church choirs, singing bands

and other recognized musical groups in the worship life of the Church;

g) Arrange the periscope and Almanac of the Church;

h) Advise and keep under review the liturgy for various services in English and the local

language.


16

i) The Department coordinates the work of the:

o Committee on Christian Education

o Committee on Worship

o Committee on Ministry: Training & Scholarship

o Committee on Counselling & Family Life and

o Committee on Heritage and Doctrine

5 . 3 . 2 C o m m i t t e e o n C h r i s t i a n E d u c a t i o n

Currently, the National Committees for all the Generational Groups are no longer in

operation in the Church. They have representations on the National Committee on Christian

Education. This Committee is responsible for producing the Bible Study material for the

whole Church and also for each of the Generational Groups. Among other tasks, the

National Committee on Christian Education is expected to:

a) Work out a mechanism for providing members of the Church with Christian

Education.

b) Organize courses, conferences and retreats for teachers and leaders of Church

Groups.

c) Develop manuals for use by the various Generational Groups in the Church.

d) Supervise and promote the work of the Generational Groups.4

The above effectively means that the same Committee is responsible for the production of

the Bible Study material for the Church and the Generational Groups. This is expected to

ensure that materials used in the Church for Bible Studies and in the Groups have a common

focus.

5 . 4 D e p a r t m e n t o f A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d H u m a n R e s o u r c e

M a n a g e m e n t

5 . 4 . 1 T h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e D i r e c t o r

a) Organize personnel administration and supervise the work of the staff at the Head

Office

b) Organize and periodically update statistics, personal records and staff lists of the

Agents of the Church

c) Be responsible for acquisition of goods and the general maintenance of property of

the Church

4 Manual of Order, p115


17

d) Be responsible for logistics, administrative systems and procedures and the efficient

functioning of general support services

e) The Department coordinates the work of the:

o Committee on Human Resource Management

o Committee on Property Management and Logistics

o Committee on Information, Statistics and Planning and

o Committee on Legal and Constitutional Matters

5 . 4 . 2 S u m m a r y o f a c t i v i t i e s

a) Administration

The Department organizes programs and events for the General Assembly and engagement

of personnel on behalf of the Church including awards, ordination services and the

preparation of strategic and action plans;

b) Human Resource Management

The Department is in charge of Human Resource Planning; this includes employment

processes for both Lay and Ordained, capacity building (local and foreign), entry into the

ministry, staff welfare and organizes Church statistics.

c) Property Unit

This is a unit under the AHRM Department to manage all properties of the Church beginning

with acquisition, documentation, maintenance and custody of properties and documents. It

advices Congregations on the choice and acquisition of land procedures. The unit acts as a

member and advisor to the registered trustees of the Church on all property matters.

In spite of the numerous legal cases on property issues that confronts the Church at all

Court levels the unit just provide advisory services while Congregations and individuals seek

professional advice at a cost from private individuals. As a Unit it is understaffed, under

resourced and under budgeted.

The Unit can be of much value to the Church if it is decoupled to provide policy direction.

For example, some Congregations have a 10-bedroom unit manse; the size of signages for

some Congregations are of no economic or spiritual value, some chapels are constructed

without the future growth of the Church such as JY Hall, ICT Cubicles and Infirmary. This is

because there is no prototype design of structures by which Congregations can have a guide

to develop appropriate structures for Church growth.

d) Legal Unit

The Unit under AHRM facilitates gazetting of Ministers, provides legal advice on landed

property registration, handles legal and litigating issues, drafting of legal documents,

undertakes legal education and the formulation and review of policies.

As a unit, the legal sector functions only in an advisory capacity. Meanwhile individual

members of the Church, and the various Court levels occasionally end up in court either as


18

plaintiffs or defendants in a matter affecting the acquisition of a property or individuals with

civil cases. Congregations or individuals who find themselves in these awkward situations

do rely on private legal practitioners at very high cost. Because of the cost involved some

cases are not pursued and are therefore lost. As at now, not every Presbytery or a District

has a direct access to a legal officer even though they require their services very regularly.

As a unit, it has to channel its request through the parent Department ie. AHRM. The Unit

can do more by decoupling it into a Department and engaged in commercialization for the

Church and other interested individuals.

This will require a constitutional ‘grant’ and the Church is urged to look into this seriously.

See section 8.1.1 (a)

e) Public Relations Unit

The unit is the public relations arm of the Church, coordinating between the Church and the

State, media engagement and informing Management of the socio-political trends in the

country.

The mission of this unit is to serve as the vehicles to advance the communication initiatives;

collaborate with other Departments, units and Presbyteries to communicate relevant news

to Church membership; drive conversation and member engagement to increase the value

of PCG members.

Communications Goal of the Church is to:

o Utilize communication channels to increase professional pride within the

Presbyterian Church of Ghana membership,

o Generate greater visibility for the Church through comprehensive public relations

activity plan that not only keeps the membership informed about the Church’s

activities, but also elevates the understanding of the value of the PCG and its

activities

o Develop and implement a public relations strategy that will influence public opinion

regarding initiatives of the PCG and create more goodwill for it among its major

stakeholders, including Church members, non-members, ecumenical bodies, and the

worldwide communion at large.

o To improve the overall success as well as enhance the communication, public

relations and media relations of the PCG.

o To maintain relevance and effectiveness, this plan should be reviewed and modified

as needed annually.

f) ICT Unit

Advises the Church on best ICT practices, manages information flow, monitor, maintain and create access to technology use at all levels of the Church.


19

5 . 5 D e p a r t m e n t o f E c u m e n i c a l a n d S o c i a l R e l a t i o n s


a) Advise the General Assembly Council on policy matters affecting the relations of the

Church with international and local ecumenical bodies such as, the World Council of

Churches (WCC), the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), the All-

Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), the

Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Ghana Pentecostal Council, and other recognized

Christian bodies;

b) Resource and facilitate the direct partnership relationships between Presbyteries

and overseas Churches and institutions;

c) Maintain close contact with the Inter-faith/Inter-Church Committee of CCG and to

advise the Church on its relations with people of other faiths;

d) Organize programs/fora on issues of international and ecumenical interest

e) The Department shall coordinate the work of the:

o Committee on Ecumenism and Relations with People of Other Faiths; and

o Committee on Church and Society

5 . 5 . 2 S u m m a r y o f G e n e r a l A c t i v i t i e s – 2 0 0 9 t o D a t e

a) PCG Partners Consultation 2009

PCG Partners’ Consultation is a business meeting held biennially by all PCG Partners in

Europe, Asia, Africa and other places. Partners basically meet to discuss issues of common

interest, challenges, aspirations and fulfillments of their common vision and missions.

The last PCG Partners’ Consultation was held at the Presbyterian Women’s Centre, Abokobi

from 27th to 31st October 2009 under the theme ‘Current Global Challenges: Implications

for the Church’s Mission’. A total of sixty (60) persons from member countries participated.

b) Public Forum for a Peaceful Election

The Department of ESR organizes Public Forum during Election year. In 2011 a public forum

was organized on 8th November under the theme ‘Putting Our House In Order for a

Peaceful Election in 2012’ at the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Resurrection Church. About

300 participants attended the Forum. The Guest of Honour was Hon. John Akologa Tia,

Minister of Information.

The Department organized a peace walk on 19th November 2016 under the theme ‘Peace

for Our Motherland’ to create awareness towards maintaining peace during and after the

December 2016 elections.


20

c) 200 Year Anniversary of the Basel Mission

The Department of ESR organized a number of activities to celebrate the 200th anniversary

of the Basel Mission. The theme for the celebration was: Mission Moves: (“Not by might

nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty” Zachariah 4:6). A Public Lecture,

Symposium, Exhibition and Drama were organized to commemorate the anniversary.

d) EMS International Bible Workshop

The ESR hosted the International Bible Workshop of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity

(EMS) from 16th to 21st April, 2017 at the Presbyterian Women’s Centre (PWC), Abokobi.

The Workshop was part of an intercultural Bible Reading Project initiated by the EMS to

connect groups and individuals from different countries and cultural backgrounds to study

the Bible together. About twenty-two (22) people from Germany, Cameroon and Ghana

participated in this workshop.

e) Relationship with the Lower Courts and Supporting Committees

ESR organizes annual workshops for the Directors at the lower Courts. During the

workshop, the lower Courts present their reports and receive the required information from

the Department. The lower Courts present their annual plans to the Department at the

annual workshops for information and not for approval. It also works with the assigned

Committees, but they are financially handicapped and therefore unable to meet three times

in the year as mandated.

5 . 6 D e p a r t m e n t o f D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S o c i a l S e r v i c e s ( D S S )


a) Advise on the determination of the overall policy for the running of the health

institutions, i.e., the mobilization, allocation and management of resources-human,

financial, physical, etc., and the creation of new units;

b) Expose Church members to entrepreneurial skills and rudimentary business

management methods to encourage viable self-employment among the youth;

c) Advice the General Assembly on matters concerning agricultural programs; and on

the determination of the overall policies for the running of such programs;

d) Organize workshops, seminars and training courses on issues relevant to health,

entrepreneurship and agricultural programs.

e) In order to carry out its mandate, the directorate is to coordinate the work of three

Committees namely:

o Committee on Health and Environment

o Committee on Entrepreneurship

o Committee on Agriculture


21


a) Health and Environment

DSS has updated the HIV / AIDS policy and is in use. It collaborated with the Church of

Scotland (Ministers’ Spouses) to organize workshops on HIV/AIDS prevention and behaviour

change. A total of 2,528 women and 6,989 in-school youth benefited from the program.

In 2010, under the Healthcare for Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Groups program, 4,788

adults (mainly women) and 1,607 children benefited from medical screening from diseases

such as Hepatitis B, Diabetes, Hypertension and Malaria. The beneficiary communities

included Nana Benin, Ampedwea, New Asuoyaa, Anum, Boso Nkwakubiu, Duga, Glefe,

Toseng, and Nanyor.

From 2011 to date the Church has increased its health facilities from 46 to 53. The most

recent ones include an eye-care centre (Hospital) at Bolgatanga and Bawku, a nursing and

midwifery training college at Dorma Ahenkro and the mid-wifery college at Duayaw

Nkwanta.

b) Entrepreneurship

The NGO policy document on entrepreneurship has been developed. Guided by this

document, DSS has collaborated with Simavi (Netherlands), OSIWA and others to run

programs such as Sustainable Economic Empowerment for Women, Poverty Reduction

through Economic Empowerment of Rural Women and Rural Enterprise to build capacities

of women in small-scale enterprises including fish farming, soap/detergent making and

grasscutter rearing. An agro-processing center has also been established at Asante Akyem,

Domeabra with support from Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS), Germany.

c) Agriculture

The following administrative procedures have been completed.

o The National Agricultural Committee has been re-constituted.

o A strategic plan for the development of Tease has been.

o New Managers have been appointed to head the Tamale, Lanbgensi and Sandema

Agricultural Stations.

o Partnership agreement has been signed with Dakoma Ventures to produce Kenaf for

export.

Under the agricultural sustainability programs, 15,450 farmers are working as farmer-based

organizations whose cereal yield has increased from 300kg to 1200kg per acre. This has

reduced the hunger gap from 6 months to 1 month in the Garu area and a new variety of

sorghum that would yield 5,000 metric tonnes yearly is being planted to be supplied as raw

materials to Guinness Ghana Limited.

The Agriculture Coordinating Unit has a total investment of GH₵ 600,000.00 and a 14-seater

Toyota Bus that transports Agents and Generational Groups in the North to attend meetings

in the Church.


22

The Church is working in collaboration with the USA Millennium Challenge Account Compact

1 in Walewale. By 2020, the project, which is worth GH₵ 1,500,000.00 on a 10-acre piece of

land will be fully handed over to PCG for ownership and management.

Among others, the Agric Unit supported the construction of a 1,500 sitting capacity chapel

for UDS, Nyankpala campus, which is near completion.

d) Other programs - Relieve services

The Department has provided boreholes for Presbyterian Senior High School in the Volta

Presbytery, provided support to flood victims in 2010 in Agona West, Agona East, Gomoa

East and Ashaiman. In the 2016 floods in Accra, 10 communities in Ga South District

received relieve items which included rice, mosquito nets and blankets. About 350 people

have been trained as Disaster Volunteer Groups in flood prone areas.

Humanitarian assistance was extended to 32,295 refugees from Cote D’Ivoire residing at

Fetentaa, Brong Ahafo Region. Items donated included bibles, mattresses, detergents,

sports equipment and cassava grater machine.

5 . 7 D e p a r t m e n t o f F i n a n c e a n d A u d i t


a) Advise the General Assembly on mobilization and investment of funds

b) Explore new areas of investment

c) Advise the General Assembly in formulating policy on those who qualify to be

members of the Pensions scheme and those who should join the Social Security and

National Insurance Trust scheme

d) Advise the General Assembly in formulating policy guidelines for the effective

operation of the Welfare Committees at the Congregational level

e) The Department shall coordinate the work of the:

o Committee on Accounts & Budget and

o Committee on Projects and Investments

5 . 7 . 2 F i n a n c i a l P e r f o r m a n c e o f P C G : 2 0 1 3 – 2 0 1 7 5

5.7.2.1 Budget and Actuals

The financial performance of the Church for the past five years has been presented in Table

3. During the period, the Church has been able to raise above 80% of its annual budget. For

example, in 2013 the Church was able to raise 83.91% of its budget, in 2016 it raised 85.55%

and in 2017 the percentage went up to 90.22%.

5 Data before 2013 is not immediately available after the Church moved to the New Office at Osu


23

Table 3: Presbyterian Church of Ghana – Financial Performance 2013 - 2017

Year Budget Actual % Paid % Point

Increase

2013 9,623,358.00 8,075,420.00 83.91

2014 11,946,118.00 9,578,479.00 80.18 (3.63)

2015 15,052,110.00 12,659,737.00 84.11 3.93

2016 16,555,000.00 14,162,627.00 85.55 1.44

2017 19,038,250.00 17,177,260.00 90.22 4.67

Source: Finance Office, PCG 2018

Besides 2014 where it experienced a drop-in percentage points of 3.63, there has been a

steady growth in the income levels of the Church.

Table 2 further shows the budget of the Church has increased from GH₵9.62m in 2013 to

Ghc19.04m. This may reflect the growing needs of the Church resulting from either

expansion, growth or the needs of the Church. Notwithstanding, the fact remains that the

Church has never raised 100% of its budgeted income in the last five years. It is obvious that

the Church is unable to honor all its obligations in any particular year since 2013 to date.

5.7.2.2 Expenditure Pattern

The expenditure pattern of the PCG between 2013 and 2017 has been presented in a

descending order in terms of expenditure value in Table 4. There are eight items in all over

which expenses were made in the last five years. Salaries and allowances have consistently

been the major expenditure item for the period under discussion, over 70% on average

every year. This is followed distantly by General Administration Expenses which, on the

average, is 11.22%.

Table 4: Percentage of Expenditure per Item / Year

Expenditure Items 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Average

Salaries & Allowances 69.46 70.36 69.83 72.54 72 70.84

General Adm. Expenses 12.51 10.49 11.69 10.49 10.93 11.22

Scholarship & Ministerial

Training

5.78 5.19 4.49 5.04 6.02 5.3

Adm. Travel & Motor

Vehicle Expenses

4.43 4.55 3.64 2.92 3.76 3.86

Departmental Expenses 3.15 3.96 4.32 3.15 1.07 3.13

Utilities 1.02 1.37 1.74 2.67 3.86 2.13

Property Upkeep 1.69 2.23 1.97 2.32 2.12 2.07


24

Expenditure Items 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Average

Evangelism expenses 1.96 1.85 2.32 0.87 0.54 1.51

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Finance Office, PCG 2018

On the other hand, Evangelism expenses are the least covering 1.51% on the average in the

last five years. This anomaly, where a Church is spending more on Salaries and Allowances

than Evangelism, may not necessarily be a deliberate policy. To unravel this a number of

questions can be raised:

a) At which level of the Church structure do evangelism activities and its associated

expenditures take place?

b) Is the Head Office only an office for the development of policies and does not make

any expenditure on implementation of its policies?

If evangelism as an activity take place at the lower Courts and the Head Office is only a

policy formulation Court, then the expenditure pattern as in Table 4 is justified. On the

other hand, if this is not the case then the structure must be looked at again and strategize

appropriately to pay attention on evangelism expenditures at the Head Office level.

From Table 5 the number of Ministers has increased from 844 to 1,088 (28.9%) in five years.

Specifically, in 2014 the number of Ministers increased by 13.7% over the previous year and

in 2015 there was an increase of 10.4% over 2014. This may partly explain the growing of

the overall budget (Table 3) and specifically the increase in Salaries and Allowances

expenditure item in the budget (Table 4).

Table 5: Number of Ministers and % Increase (2010 – 2016)

Year No. of Ministers % Increase

2012 844 -

2013 883 4.6

2014 954 13.7

2015 1,045 10.4

2016 1,088 4.1

Source: AHRM, PCG 2018

The reality facing the Church is that it has never been able to raise 100% of its annual

budget requirements during the period under consideration.


25

5 . 8 D e p a r t m e n t o f E d u c a t i o n

5 . 8 . 1 T h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e D i r e c t o r

a) Advise the Church on general education matters and

b) Ensure the implementation and evaluation of the education policy

c) The Department shall coordinate the work of the:

o Committee on Non-formal Education

o Committee on Basic and Secondary Education and

o Committee on Technical and Vocational Education

There is no Committee that coordinates the activities for the tertiary education with the

Department. This must be corrected.


The Department works in close collaboration with Ghana Education Service to manage all

Presbyterian Schools. It advices the Church and the Ghana Education Service in the

appointment of Regional, District and Local managers to help in the administration of the

schools. The District managers are usually ordained Ministers of the Church.

As at 2018, the Department with its working Committees are managing a total of 2,453

Presbyterian public schools in the following divisions.

Table 6: Number of Presbyterian Public Schools / Division

Division No.

Kindergarten 814

Primary School 1,027

Junior High Schools 571

Senior High Schools 32

College of Education 5

Vocational Education 3

University 1

Total 2,453

Source: PCG Department of Education


26

C h a l l e n g e s f r o m t h e H e a d O f f i c e

a) All the Directors derive their job description from the Constitution. It provides

them with a general frame from which they should operate. An individual is left to

craft his own specific annual performance targets. In that case, it is difficult to

evaluate any Director by any standard. This presupposes that the supervisory

regiment over the Directors is lacking.

b) The Directors have no direct oversight responsibilities of the Department at the

lower Courts beyond the Presbyteries. After policy guidelines have been developed

at the National level, the Presbyteries carry out the implementation and report to

the General Assembly Council and the General Assembly. The Directors receive

information of implementation and impact of the policies from the Presbytery levels.

There is therefore no direct link between the Directors and their Departmental

coordinators at the lower Courts.

This lack of oversight responsibilities of the Department over the lower Courts raises

three (3) fundamental questions:

o Do the Directors perform administrative function only on the lower Courts?

o Are the Directors not permitted by the GA concept to perform pastoral roles

as well over the lower Courts? or

o Are they limited by the General Assembly concept to remain as policy

formulators and not to appraise its implementation?

If the responses to all the three (3) issues above is ‘Yes’, how are they helping the

growth of the Church? On the other hand, if the responses are in the negative, how

long must this be perpetuated? Whichever way there is the need to evaluate the GA

system to ensure that effective Church growth structures are developed and

implemented.

c) There is a challenge with the Bible Study material prepared by the Church. The

Generational Groups mainly the Men and Women Fellowship and some Inter-

Generational Groups such as the Bible Study and Prayer Group are effectively

supervised by the National Committee on Christian Education to prepare their own

Bible Study material. The groups prefer and consistently use their material at their

group meetings and conduct competition based on the material. Who then is the

target of the Bible Study material prepared for the Church by the Church? It is

possible that this may be a contributing factor that Bible Study Programs organized

at the Congregational level is least patronized.

d) The link between the Department of Development and Social Services and the

lower Courts can be improved. Currently, the Department receives proposals from

Congregations seeking for support or direction to implement one project or the

other in their locality. In an attempt to diversify and expand the income generation

base of the Church, it can be made mandatory for every District to propose a project


27

for implementation. Based on the receipts from the Districts, the Department can

re-group them and seek for external support as may be directed by the GA. Training

programs can also be organized based on the evaluation of the proposals received.

The Department can also give direction to the Church as to where donor funding

projects may be implemented based on the number of requests received from the

District.

e) There is a financial challenge for all the Departments. None of the Departments is

able to complete its mandated activities in the course of the year due to financial

challenge. This is because the Church is able to raise only eighty percent (80%) of its

annual budget and spend about 70% of the amount raised on salaries and

allowances.

In a bid to broaden the base of resource mobilization, the Directors must be guided

by the Church to raise funds from the partner organizations and spirited

philanthropist. However, the amount raised must be ‘Ring-fenced’ to support the

operations of the particular Department.

f) Mission and Evangelism does not receive the required emphasis. M&E has only one

week of celebration in the course of the year in spite of the Mission of the Church.

‘Asempatrew’ which was used as a vanguard to start new Congregations is no longer

the case. It also found that evangelism as a subject is studied as a one semester

course at the Trinity Theological Seminary. The challenge is that it cannot be tailored

to suit Presbyterian criteria since it is multi-denominational institution. The

Evangelism School for the Church at Bunso is by invitation making entry restrictive.

The summary is that capacity building in M&E in the Church is limited in its impact

and influence.

g) The Education Department liaises between the Ghana Education Service and the

Church and provides technical advice for mutually beneficial relationship between

the two institutions. It works with Regional and Local Managers of schools who are

at the Courts of the Church. The challenge here is that the role of the Department in

ensuring discipline in the schools is reduced because it does not have full control of

the administration of the schools such as insisting on the religious background of the

teachers posted to the schools and the one who heads the school. There is the

need to train the Christian teachers to lead ‘morning devotions’ in the schools.

h) The Church recognizes and runs Informal Specialized Ministries (Section 5.1.2 d Pg.

17). However, those involved in these ministries have no formal training. They

operate per their "calling and desires." They are neither appointed nor selected by

the Church, but they are officially accepted to start work after they have introduced

themselves to the Church. They are then monitored for a period of time after which

they are given the official recognition. They remain as voluntary workers who do not

receive any formal training nor allowances from the Church. The exception is the

"Evangelist" who is paid by the head office. There is the need to take a second look

for purposes of discipline by training them and offering allowances.


28

i) The Church has the Legal and Property Units subsumed under the AHRM. This is an

important unit that must be separated and play a more frontal role in the

administration of the Church. For example, the Legal Department could accept

commercial cases from Church members and even the general public at a lower fee

and ring fence the amount for use in the Department. The Property Unit could also

provide designs and guidance to infrastructure development at all the Courts to

ensure structures that symbolize the identity and effective use by the Church.

Conclusion

The Church has operated around the Departments since 2002. As has been realized from

the above analysis, there are both operational challenges and advantages and this must be

carefully studied. It is recommended that the role of the Departments in the administration

of the Church must be evaluated to inform future directives of the Department.


29

I n h e r e n t Q u a l i t i e s a n d C h a l l e n g e s o f t h e P C G

( S W O T A n a l y s i s )

Strength

a) The Church is well structured into

four Courts: National, Presbytery,

District and Congregation. It

provides a disciplined route for

information flow.

b) There is a uniform format for

preparing Congregational accounts

which are packaged through the

Courts to the National level.

c) The Church has a guild of

professionals who are called upon to

render services to the Church as and

when needed.

d) The Christian educational growth of

the Church is streamlined through

the use of an Almanac and a Bible

Study outline.

e) The Church encourages generational

group memberships which nurtures

the spiritual and physical needs of its

membership.

Weakness

a) The disciplined structure of the Church

creates its own bureaucracy that slows

down information flow and creates some

disconnect between the National level and

the lower Courts.

b) The financial source of the Church remains

traditional – offertory, tithing etc. lesser

number of projects than expected are

completed each year.

c) The professionals in the Church have not

been fully mobilized and used.

d) There is inadequate knowledge and practice

of biblical truth/principles in respect to

modern religious challenges.

Opportunity

a) Access to Christian growth materials

in the country through the media,

books and technology is quite high.

b) There are a number of Churches and

chapels that makes it easy for people

to select and attend Church service

on Sundays.

c) There is freedom of association of

worship in the country and people

can attend Church service at any

hour of the day and at any location.

Threat

a) The environment is so polluted with

religious heresies that tempts away people

from the true gospel.

b) Other Churches bait the youth with

simplistic messages and positions/titles

away from the established Churches.

c) Apostasy is growing as a result of dwindling

impact of the Christian faith at the national

level


30

T h e S t r a t e g i c P l a n

IN RESPONSE TO ISSUES

(HEAD OFFICE AND DEPARTMENTS)


31

8 . 1 I s s u e s f o r H e a d O f f i c e C o n s i d e r a t i o n

8 . 1 . 1 I s s u e s a n d O b j e c t i v e s

There are crosscutting issues which have been already discussed and being summed up with corresponding objectives around which strategies

are developed are presented in Table 7. They are to be handled administratively at the Head Office.

Table 7: Issues and Objectives for Head Office

Summary Issues raised Objectives

a) Low evangelism outlook and performance in the

Church

o To improve the effectiveness of Directors of Departments by

2029

o To improve the evangelism consciousness in the Church by

2029

o To properly situate the role of Catechist in Church Planting,

discipleship and nurturing of preaching points into full

Congregations

b) High level of autonomy among the Generational

Groups

c) Directors derive their job description from the

constitution without specific performance targets

d) Low visibility of the Directors at the Courts

e) There is little formal interrelationship among the

Directors

f) Much is left undone every year as a result of lack of

finance

g) The role of Catechist is not well defined and their

impact in Church growth not acknowledged


32

8 . 1 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n R e s p o n s e t o t h e H e a d O f f i c e I s s u e s

Table 8: Strategic Plan for Head Office Issues

Objective with strategies Year Indicator Outcome Responsibility

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To improve the effectiveness of Directors of Departments by 2029

a) Evaluate the Departmental structure of the

Church to improve its effectiveness

All reports,

quarterly or

annual,

should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken

are leading to

achieving the

outcome

Directors can

be monitored

and

effectiveness

at lower

Courts

improved

Clerk of the

General

Assembly,

Presbytery

Chairpersons

b) Assess the possibility of decoupling the

Legal and Property units from the AHRM

and commercialize them

c) Design a procedure to appoint Directors by

head hunt

d) Prepare annual targets within the confines

of the constitution for all Directors on

appointment

e) Directors should work with an approved

annual work plan

f) Conduct annual evaluation for Directors

based on the work plan


33


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

g) Allocate slots on the PCG website for all

Directors to post their Annual Action Plans

and Programs that can be accessed by the

lower Courts

2) To improve the evangelism consciousness of the Church by 2029

a) Organize quarterly meetings among

Directors to strategize for total evangelism

at all Court levels

All reports,

quarterly or

annual,

should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken

are leading to

achieving the

outcome

Church

members will

receive a

boost towards

Mission and

Evangelism

Clerk of the

General

Assembly,

Presbytery

Chairpersons,

District

Ministers

b) Incorporate Mission and Evangelism targets

in every activity of each Department at all

Courts

c) Permit Directors to appraise

plans/programs from the groups and the

Courts with Mission and Evangelism lens

d) Prepare a composite budget on annual

basis to ensure adequate support for

Departmental activities


34


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3) To properly situate the role of Catechist in Church Planting, discipleship and nurturing of preaching points into full Congregations

a) Upgrade Catechist training to include

Church Planting and Discipleship

Same as

above

Catechists are

rendering

effective

ministerial

services in the

Church

Clerk, GAC and

GA

b) Organize refresher courses to build the

capacities of Catechists for effective

delivery

c) Increase and acknowledge the role of

Catechist in the Church hierarchy


35

8 . 2 M i s s i o n a n d E v a n g e l i s m


The specific issues already discussed is summed up and the corresponding objectives under Mission and Evangelism are developed and

presented in Table 9. The Mission and evangelism aspect will be tackled in two fronts; internal and external. At the internal level, the Church

intends to build a brigade branded as Young Missionary Movement. By this the Church will pursue programs that will seek to capture,

nurture, maintain and sent forth to lead the Church in evangelism and expand territory of the Church for the future.

The external front will be to train the Church as a whole to go out and evangelize as a mandate of the Church and the goal of this strategy.

Table 9: Issues and Objectives for Mission and Evangelism

Summary of Issues Objectives

a) There is emigration out of the Church especially the youth o To retain, increase and maintain the youth in the

Church by 2029

o To increase the membership growth at the national

level by an annual average of 10% annually

o To improve the exercise of spiritual gifts and its

impact in the Church from 2020

o To increase resource (financial) allocation to M&E

from 2021

o Informal Specialized Ministries must be

mainstreamed

b) Membership of the Church is growing in reverse order in

relation to the number of Ministers (see 5.1.4)

c) There is apparent lack of the exercise of spiritual gifts as

members in the Church seek prayer support from outside

the Church

d) Actual expenditure on Mission and Evangelism is among

the lowest in the key results areas

e) Informal Specialized Ministries operates on behalf of the

Church with minimum official input


36

8 . 2 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o M i s s i o n a n d E v a n g e l i s m i s s u e s

Table 10: Strategic Plan for Missions and Evangelism


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To retain, increase and maintain the youth in the Church by 2028

a) M&E should liaise with CLAN Department to train NUPSG in all secondary and tertiary institutions

All reports, quarterly or annual, should indicate how close the activities undertaken are leading to achieving the outcome

The knowledge of the youth and their interest in the Church would increase and with the right teaching, they will remain in the Church

Missions and Evangelism Director, Chaplain, Moderator, Chairpersons and District Ministers

b) The Moderator of the General Assembly should visit at least one tertiary institution with a NUPSG every year

c) The Moderator of the General Assembly should visit the tertiary institution with a NUPSG when he visits a Presbytery

d) The Chairperson of every Presbytery should visit at least two tertiary institution with NUPSG in his Presbytery every year

e) Every District Minister should visit at least two times, every secondary school with a NUPSG in his District every year

f) Every Congregational Minister should visit a secondary school with NUPSG in his locality


37


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

g) Every Congregations must raise support for the NUPSG members within its locality

h) Establish in every Presbytery at least one International Assembly

i) Encourage responsible youth to take up positions at all levels of the Courts in the Church

j) Parents should support the Church to encourage and inspire their children to remain in the Church

2) To increase the membership growth at the national level by an annual average of 10% annually

a) Develop a Blueprint for National Church Growth and Evangelism Agenda


Agents and Members would be equipped to evangelize and disciple new members

Clerk, M&E and CLAN Directors at all Courts, District and Local Ministers, Session and Group Executives

b) Organize capacity building workshops on the Blueprint at the Probationary studies, School of Leadership, School of Evangelism and at the Catechist Training Institutes

c) Increase the number of Mission and Evangelism week on the Almanac from 1 – 4 designed for outreach programs

d) Set targets for M&E in every program of all generational and service groups


38


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

e) Increase capacity building programs of M&E at the Congregational level

f) Establish two fully fledged Congregations in every District in every ten (10) years. Newly posted District Ministers must complete Congregations in progress before new ones are started

g) Appoint an evangelism coordinator for every District to lead all M&E activities.

h) Districts and Congregations should budget a minimum of 10% of total expected income for direct evangelistic activity

3) To improve the exercise of spiritual gifts and its impact in the Church from 2020

a) Select and train Agents in the miracle mission of the Church

All reports, quarterly or annual, should indicate how close the activities

Spiritual gifts manifestation will increase to meet the needs of members

M&E Director, all Agents

b) Increase the number of Prayer Centers headed by trained Agents of the Church


39


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

c) Institute annual fasting and prayer weeks alongside the M&E week on the Almanac

undertaken are leading to achieving the outcome

d) Institute teaching services on the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the Congregational level at least two times in a year led by the Agents or members so gifted

e) Set up and operate District level prayer teams to offer prayer needs at the local level

4) To increase resource (financial) allocation to M&E from 2020

a) Accept M&E as a priority item on the expenditure budget


Church growth would be enhanced

Agents, Session members and Group Leaders, Property Mgt. C’ttee and Finance Coord. at the District Levels

b) Prepare annual M&E Action Plan with the budget for the authorizing body for approval at all Courts

c) Diversify and increase fund mobilization avenues through the DSS at all Courts (see annex 1)

d) Prepare Church Planting Budget at the beginning of the year

e) Organize teaching services on giving beyond harvest days


40


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5) Informal Specialized Ministries must be mainstreamed

a) Informal Specialized Ministries volunteers should be formally trained after being recognized by the Church

Just as above

Informal Ministries are streamlined and accountable

Clerk of General Assembly and M&E Director

b) They must be given periodic financial support for effective operations

c) The M&E Director should report on them at GAs


41

8 . 3 A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d H u m a n R e s o u r c e M a n a g e m e n t


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under AHRM are developed and presented Table 11.

Table 11: Issues and Objectives for Administration and Human Resource Management


a) The coordinating role of the AHRM is more at the National than the

lower Courts

o To improve the visibility and effectiveness of AHRM and

its units at the lower Courts and the general public

o 2) To ensure value for money in development at all the

Court levels

b) The Public Relation Unit must be developed and used more

effectively

c) The properties unit can function better than it is now if it is

appropriately positioned

d) The Legal Unit is not being utilized to serve a full purpose for the

Church


42

8 . 3 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o A H R M

Table 12: Strategic Plan for AHRM

Objective with Strategies Years Indicator Outcome Responsib

ility 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To improve the visibility and effectiveness of AHRM and all the Departments at the lower Courts by 2029

a) Create a central website with slots for all

the Departments at the national level

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken

are leading to

achieving the

outcome

Uniform

and

coordinate

d activities

would be

carried out

from the

national to

the local

level of the

Church

AHRM

and all the

other

Departme

nt from

the

national

to the

local level,

Chairpers

ons of

Presbyteri

es and

District

and Local

Ministers

b) Facilitate the linkage of the Courts to the

national website

c) Build the capacities of the lower Courts in

accessing the internet and the linkage to

the national website

d) Upload all the annual action plans, policies

and protocols of every Department on the

site

e) Upload the annual action plans of all the

Courts to the site

f) Ensure that all the action plans of the

lower Courts are linked to the national

action plans of each Department


43


ility 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

g) Orientate AHRM Directors at the lower

Courts to partner the M&E Director in

organizing, mobilizing and executing

Mission and Evangelism activities

h) Explore the use of social media to reach

specific and targeted individuals, both

Agents and Lay on occasions such as

birthday and special anniversaries

i) The PRO Unit to conduct interactive social

media campaigns around the following key

initiatives: PCG membership renewal,

annual meeting and advocacy activities

j) Communicate and refresh the PCG

leadership, staff, and all group leaders in

the course of the ecclesiastical year the

theme of the year as a way of sustaining

interest.

k) Establish and preserve the integrity of the

PCG brand and logo through monitoring of

signage and posters etc.


44


ility 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2) To ensure value for money development in the Congregations

a) Property Department to design module

housing and Church structures for

Congregations to select and develop

b) Educate Congregations to factor in

future needs of a growing Church e.g.

children service and JY meeting rooms,

ICT cubicles etc.

c) Educate Congregations to adopt

common signage for the Church


45

8 . 4 E c u m e n i c a l a n d S o c i a l R e l a t i o n s


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under ESR based on which strategies are developed

have been presented below.

Table 13: Issues and Objectives for Ecumenical and Social Relations


a) The rate of response by the Department to national

social issues such as unemployment, divorce rate and

indiscipline is slow

o To scale up the relevance of the Church at the

national level

o To promote disciplined and corrupt free Christian life

in the Church

o To enhance the ecumenical presence at all levels of

PCG

b) The reported cases of corruption and drug abuse in

the Church is on the increase

c) Ecumenical presence at the various levels of PCG is

low


46

8 . 4 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o E S R

Table 14: Strategic Plan for ESR

Objective with Strategies Years Indicator Outcome Responsibility

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To scale up the relevance of the Church at the national level by 2029

a) Assemble data on socio economic issues

such as unemployment, divorce rate, level of

indiscipline, environmental degradation and

state of cleanliness both at the local and

national levels

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

The

position of

the Church

is known

on social

issues at

the

national

level and in

the levels

of the

Church

ESR, Finance

Department,

Presbyteries,

Districts,

Church

partners, eg:

EMS, Gov’t

and all other

Departments

at all the

Courts

b) Seek alliances with NGOs, Ministries and

Agencies in areas of great concern to

provide solutions

c) Organize public discussions on topical issues

of national importance both at local and

national level through FM stations and

Information Centers

d) Engage in public discussion on relevant

national issues either on television,

newspaper publication or radio discussion

e) Set up and equip the research unit to

monitor and evaluate issues of national

interest for effective participation in national


47


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

affairs

f) Liaise with all the Departments especially

M&E at all the Courts to factor in Mission

and Evangelism targets

g) Organize fora - seminars, workshops – to

educate Agents on topical issues in order to

educate members at all levels through the

pulpit and the Channel of Hope media

h) Christian Messenger editions should publish

topical national issues

2) To promote disciplined and corrupt free Christian life in the Church

a) Educate Agents on the effects of corruption

on the Christian community

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

The

position of

the Church

is known

on social

issues at

the

national

level and in

the levels

ESR, Finance

dept,

Presbyteries,

Districts

Church

partners, eg:

EMS, Gov’t

and dept at all

the Courts

b) Institute and implement punitive measures

to both Agents and congregants on

corruption practices

c) Educate the Agents on ToT basis in order to

educate the Congregations on the menace

of drug abuse


48


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

d) Liaise with experts and rehabilitation centers

to organize seminars and talks in the Church

on drug abuse

of the

Church

3) To enhance the ecumenical presence at all levels of PCG

a) Promote inter-faith training and teaching at

all levels of the Church

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

Team work

on national

issues

achieved

Presbyteries,

Districts and

Local Levels


49

8 . 5 D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S o c i a l S e r v i c e s


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under DSS are developed and presented Table 15.

Table 15: Issues and Objectives for Development and Social Services


a) Many of the activities such as capacity building, agriculture

and health and relief services are mostly donor driven

o To facilitate the development of entrepreneurship at the local

level to promote diversification of income generating sources

both at the Congregational and individual levels

b) Not many Congregations have developed income generating

activities


50

8 . 5 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n R e s p o n s e t o D S S

Table 16: Strategic Plan for DSS


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To facilitate the development of entrepreneurship at the local level to promote diversification of income generating sources

both at the Congregational and individual levels

a) Create a file at the national level to

receive mandated applications from the

lower Courts on proposed projects

All reports,

quarterly or

annual,

should

indicate

how close

the

activities

undertaken

are leading

to achieving

Individuals

and Court

level

groups

would be

opened to

business to

raise

income

both for

themselves

DSS, ESR and

M&E

Departments,

District and

Local

Ministers

b) All Districts/Congregations should

develop at least one project and submit

proposals to the DSS within the plan

period

c) Organize capacity building workshops

for applicants by project groups

d) Determine location of projects when

foreign support is received from the list

of applications in the project file in the

national project file


51


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

e) Manage at least one project at the

national level to serve as a case study

for all projects at the lower Courts

the

outcome

and for the

Church

f) Facilitate the setting up and running of

individual or group enterprises

g) Liaise with the M&E Department to

factor in mission and evangelism

impacts in all activities

h) Report to the GA implementation

progress of all submitted applications

i) Develop an appraisal mechanism

framework to monitor businesses to

determine their level of functioning in

order to profer technical advice


52

8 . 6 F i n a n c e a n d A u d i t


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under Finance and Audit are developed and presented

below.

Table 17: Issues and Objectives for Finance and Audit


a) There is no structured format for financial reporting

from the lower Courts

o To prudently manage and maintain a healthy financial

balance of the Church in order to finance the needs of

the Church

o Expand the mobilization base of financial resources of

the Church

b) Actuals are always below budgeted accounts of the

Church

c) The income and expenditure of the Church are

growing in reverse directions


53

8 . 6 . 2 8 . 6 . 1 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o F i n a n c e a n d A u d i t

Table 18: Strategic Plan for Finance and Audit


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To prudently manage and maintain a healthy financial balance of the Church in order to finance the needs of the Church

a) Prepare a reporting outline to be used by

all the lower Courts

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken

are leading to

achieving the

outcome

Healthy

financial

balance and

record

keeping for

the Church

Finance

Department,

all other

Departments

and all Court

levels

b) Organize training courses for all treasurers

at the lower Courts and the Agents

c) Financial reports from the lower Courts

must be supervised by the next higher

Courts before it reaches the head office

d) Request submission of periodic financial

reports from the lower Courts

e) Liaise with the AHRM Department to audit

the staff strength of PCG administrative

staff and ordained Agents and advice on

the value-for-money number of staff for

the Church

f) Liaise with M&E to factor evangelism

needs in the expenditure budget


54


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2) Expand the mobilization base of financial resources of the Church

a) Advice the Directors within the Church

Constitution the means of fund raising

beyond the traditional structures

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken

are leading to

achieving the

outcome

Financial base

of the Church

widened and

improved

Finance

Department,

all other

Departments

and all Court

levels

b) Create and advice on the use of ring

fence account for the Church

c) Sell pages of publications such as bible

study materials, conference reports of

Generational Groups

d) Liaise with the DSS Department to run

entrepreneurship courses for Districts

and individuals who have submitted

project proposals for funding


55

8 . 7 E d u c a t i o n


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under Education are developed and presented below.

Table 19: Issues and Objectives for Education


a) Discipline among the youth in the Church has

deteriorated in spite of the number of schools the

Church operates

o To ensure discipline and improve academic

performance among the youth and staff in our

institutions

o To develop a base for an effective succession plan for

Directors of Education b) The Church has little control over the appointment of

Heads and staff of Schools. It is the prerogative of

the Ghana Education Service

c) There is no Committee for tertiary education


56

8 . 7 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o E d u c a t i o n

Table 20: Strategic Plan for Education

Summary of Issues Years Indicator Outcome Responsibility

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To ensure discipline and improve academic performance among the youth and staff in our institutions

a) Develop strong lobbying procedures

involving the Principal Officers of the

Church to get the right persons to be

posted into our schools

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

To improve

Christian

discipline

among the

youth in the

Church

CLAN, M & E

and Education

Directors

b) Strict disciplinary measures to be

enforced in the schools

c) Develop the Presbyterian staff in the

schools to run devotional services in the

schools

d) Provide financial and material resources

to support teaching and learning in the

schools


57


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2) To develop a base for an effective succession plan for Directors of Education

a) Identify and consciously groom people

with Presbyterian principles to fill

vacancies in the educational sector as and

when they occur

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

Effective

succession

plan

implemented

Education

Director and

Principal

Officers

b) Create a Committee to advice the Director

on tertiary education and its impact on

the Church


58

8 . 8 C h u r c h L i f e a n d N u r t u r e


The specific issues already discussed are summed up and the corresponding objectives under CLAN are developed and presented in Table 21.

Table 21: Issues and Objectives for Church Life and Nurture


a) Not every Congregations has a Counseling

Committee.

o To improve counselling and discipline and spiritual

growth along the generational group structure in the

Church

o To improve discipleship training and nurturing in the

Church

b) NUPSG coordination is weak as Ministers in charge

are poorly resourced.

c) The autonomy of the Generational Groups is too

strong.

d) Discipline among the youth (YPG) in the Church is

weak.

e) Discipleship training is least emphasized.

f) There is little coordination between the M&E and

CLAN Departments in Evangelism and Discipleship

training.


59

8 . 8 . 2 S t r a t e g i e s i n r e s p o n s e t o C h u r c h L i f e a n d N u r t u r e

Table 22: Strategic Plan for CLAN


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1) To improve counseling and discipline and spiritual growth along the generational group structure in the Church

a) Establish, support and strengthen NUPSG

in all secondary and tertiary educational

institutions

All reports,

quarterly or

annual, should

indicate how

close the

activities

undertaken are

leading to

achieving the

outcome

The level of

discipline and

the spiritual

quality of the

youth in

particular will

improve

CLAN and all

other

Departments

at all the

Court levels

b) Set up counseling Committees in all

Congregations

c) Liaise with the education Department to

develop a devotional guide for staff in the

Presbyterian schools for devotion

d) Appoint a chaplain for every Presbyterian

Senior High School, either an Agent or a

committed Christian teacher.

e) Liaise with school chaplains and the other

Departments to improve the spiritual and

discipline nurture of students in the

schools.


60


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

f) Increase the role of the Department in the

affairs of the Generational Groups

especially in the preparation and use of

their plans and bible study outlines.

g) Organize Bible Study competitions among

Generational Groups based on the central

bible study outline at all the Courts.

2) To improve discipleship training and nurturing in the Church

a) Liaise with the M&E Department to

develop discipleship manuals

Same as above

The level of

discipleship

training

nurturing

improved

CLAN, M&E

and Catechist,

Dept. at all

Courts b) Organize discipleship Training of Trainers

(ToT) workshops at the Presbytery levels

c) Districts and Congregations should include

Discipleship Training in all their outreach

programs


61

P e r f o r m a n c e M a n a g e m e n t S y s t e m ( P M S )

9 . 1 D e f i n i t i o n

Performance Management system is the principle of setting SMART (Specific, Measurable,

Achievable, Realistic and Time bound) Objectives. It underpins the management axiom

which states that ‘what gets measured gets done’. This means that if you cannot measure

something you cannot do it.

In the context of this 10-year strategic plan, AGENDA FOR CHURCH GROWTH, the

Performance Management System will mobilise the entire organisation made up of all the

four Courts of the Church (the General Assembly , Presbytery Session and District Session

and Congregational Session) to focus on the Thematic Issues expressed in the Strategic Plans

and extracted into Court specific plans, covering all Departments and Committees of the

Church at all the Courts. It is expected that all the Courts will take ownership for their plans

and this will form the basis of the successful implementation of the plan.

To take ownership of the plan means that each Court must allocate resources for the

implementation of the plans; the resource can be financial, human or a material such as a

property that can advance the course of the implementation.

9 . 2 M e t h o d o l o g y – t h e p r o c e s s o f a d o p t i n g t h e P M S

At the beginning of each year, the Courts will develop Three-Year Rolling Plans (TYRP) and

Annual Quarterly Targets (AQT) plan based on the 10-year strategic plan. Each Department

will have its own action plan as presented in the strategic plan. For each objective and its

strategies, ACCOUNTABLE OFFICERS shall be appointed at various levels of the Court who

will have PRIME RESPONSIBILITY in carrying out the Plan with the support of the various

Councils/Session/Committees as the case may be.

9 . 3 A c c o u n t a b l e O f f i c e r s f o r t h e C o u r t s

Accountability shall be exercised as provided in Table 23 at each of the Courts.


62

Table 23: Accountable Officers

Court Accountable Officer Monitoring &

Evaluation (Reviewing)

Officer

Facilitated By

General

Assembly

Clerk of General

Assembly

General Assembly

Council

GAC Strategic Plan

Facilitation Team (SPFT)

Directors of

Departments

Clerk of General

Assembly

GAC Strategic Plan


Staff in General

Assembly Office

Directors of respective

Departments

Not applicable

Presbyteries Chairperson of

Presbytery

Clerk of the General

Assembly

GAC Strategic Plan


Clerk of Presbytery Chairperson of

Presbytery

Presbytery Strategic Plan


Directors of

Departments

Clerk of Presbytery Presbytery Strategic Plan


Staff in Presbytery

Office

Directors of

Departments

Not applicable

District District Ministers Chairperson of

Presbytery

Presbytery Strategic Plan


Agents in Charge District Ministers District Strategic Plan


Conveners of

Committees

District Minister District Strategic Plan


Staff in District Office District Officer Not applicable

Congregation Conveners of

Committees

Agent in Charge Congregational Strategic

Plan Facilitation Team

(SPFT)

Staff in Congregation Agent in Charge CAHRM


63

At the beginning of each year, the GAC provides the priority areas of the Church. These

priority areas will inform the Courts which activity requires much attention (weight) in their

plans. The Courts would know the activity to which much resources should be allocated,

and they will easily know which Accountable Officer is to be in charge of that particular

activity.

Since everyone knows the priority activity on the Action Plan and sufficient resources has

been allocated to it and an Accountable Officer has been assigned to it, it will be easy to

access the performance of the officer and the officer can also perform self-assessment at

the end of the year.

9 . 4 M o n i t o r i n g a n d E v a l u a t i o n

The Accountable Officers will issue quarterly and annual reports. These reports will be used

as a monitoring and evaluation tool. At each level of the report, it is expected to find the

progress being made towards achieving the priority area as determined by the GAC

directives to which much resources have been allocated. Reasons must be assigned as to

why progress is being made or otherwise so that decisions are made to improve upon the

performance at the end of the operational year. Scores, in percentage terms, can be

assigned to the progress made on each activity at the end of the year.

9 . 5 Y e a r - E n d R e p o r t i n g

Annual Reviews of performance in terms of implementation of the Annual Quarterly Targets

(AQT) will be compiled and presented at each Court by the Accountable Officer. The report

will be compiled and presented as shown in Table 24.

Table 24: End of Year Reporting Accountability

Court Accountable Officer Audience

General Assembly Clerk of General Assembly GAC/General Assembly

Presbytery Clerk of Presbytery PSC/Presbytery Session

Chairperson of Presbytery Clerk of General Assembly

District District Clerk DSC/District Session

District Minister Chairperson of Presbytery

Congregation Session Clerk Session/ Congregational Forum

Agent in Charge District Minister

Each Court is placed in a position to compile Consolidated League Tables – this will be

extremely helpful in determining how each Congregation/District/Presbytery is faring for

each Objective and eventually the overall scores.


64

Centres of Excellence will thus be identified, and Presbytery can use this productivity index

when making appointments in specific areas or getting various Districts to seek support

and/or assistance from the centres of excellence.

The Church will thrive – mission sustainability is the goal.

9 . 6 C o m m e n c e m e n t o f I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

Implementation of the 10-Year Plan will commence from January 2020. There are however

several activities that must be put in place to make the process ready for take-off in January

2020.

The Plan Is formulated on the basis that End of Year Appraisal is done latest by September

(for practical reasons) ahead of the formulation and completion of the following year’s plan.

Each Accountable Officer must be properly assessed for performance during his/her period

of stay at a post/ station.

The process as far as possible is not expected to straddle two Ministers. However, it is

possible that as result of Agents movements that may not be the case. In such a situation

the Reviewing Officer shall review the performance of the Accountable Officer before the

latter moves to the new station/post. This will form part of the Handing over process.


65

I m p l e m e n t a t i o n P l a n - M i l e s t o n e s

1 0 . 1 P r e - G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y A p p r o v a l

An ad-hoc Strategic Plan Technical Committee (SPTC) will be set up to review comments on

the strategic plan received from the Presbyteries and finalize the document to be presented

to the GAC and subsequently to the General Assembly for adoption. The milestones and

status are provided in Table 25.

Table 25: Pre-General Assembly Milestones

Milestone & Tasks Timeline Responsibility Status

ASPTC puts together comments from

Remissions from Presbyteries and updates the

Strategic Plan

Jul-2019 Clerk of General

Assembly

Completed

Adoption of Strategic Plan by General Assembly Aug-2019 Clerk of General

Assembly

Completed

1 0 . 2 P r e p a r a t o r y W o r k f o r I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

The SPTC will continue to prepare a road map for the implementation and advise the GAC

Standing Committee accordingly. This initial work shall be coordinated by the Clerk of GAC.

It is expected that implementation of this road map will commence October 2019.

Table 26: Schedule for Implementation Preparatory Work

Milestone & Tasks Deadline Responsibility

Prepare a Strategic Plan Implementation Framework for

the attention of GAC Standing Committee

Sept-2019 Clerk of General

Assembly

Publish the Strategic Plan Sept-2019 Clerk of General

Assembly

Undertake Strategic Plan dissemination activities for all

Courts

Dec-2019 Clerk of General

Assembly

Design and setup operational system and infrastructure Feb-2020 Clerk of General

Assembly

Undertake training activities for implementation of the

Strategic Plan for all Courts

Jun-2020 Accountable Officers for

each Court

All Courts Prepare of the first compliant Three-Year

Rolling Plan (TYRP) and Annual Quarterly Plans (AQP)

Sept – Dec

2020

Accountable Officers for

each Court


66

1 0 . 3 I m p l e m e n t a t i o n P r o c e s s e s

The implementation processes have been presented in steps for ease of reference. The

MEOs should take this seriously to ensure effective implementation of the plan otherwise

future strategic plans will not be popular in the Church. The main processes are detailed in

Table 27.

Table 27: Important Implementation Processes for the Strategic Plan

Milestone & Tasks Timeline Responsibility Comments

Communicate to Presbyteries priority areas for implementation of the strategic plan

September Annually

Clerk of General Assembly

Critical for the preparation of the Three-Year Rolling Plans (TYRP) for the Courts

Sign annual performance targets with:

o Chairpersons of Presbyteries; and

o Director of the GAO

October Annually

Clerk of General Assembly

Tabled before the General Assembly Council for noting

Communicate to Districts and Congregations priority areas for implementation of the strategic plan

September Annually

Chairperson of Presbytery

Include both national and Presbytery priorities and break these down under the eleven Committees in the Congregation


o Clerk of Presbytery; and o District Ministers

October Annually

Presbytery Chairperson

Tabled before the Presbytery Session Council for noting

The Clerk signs with the Directors

Communicate to Congregations priority areas for implementation of the strategic plan

September Annually

District Minister

As received from Presbytery together with any District specific priority


o Agents-in-Charge; and o District Conveners of

Committees

November Annually

District Minister

Tabled before the District Session Council for noting

All Courts Submit Their TYRP and AQT

September – December Annually

AO for each Court

Approved by Court and Communicated to the MEO for noting

Quarterly Reports Quarterly Schedule

AO for each Court

The Clerk reports to the Court and AO reports to the MEO

Annual Reports Annual Schedule

AO for each Court

The Clerk reports to the Court and AO reports to the MEO


67

1 0 . 4 A n n u a l P e r f o r m a n c e A p p r a i s a l

Annual performance appraisal of the Accountable Officers (AOs) have been incorporated to

ensure that annual performance targets are agreed with the MEO and these are appraised

periodically and at the end of the year.

Table 28: Performance Appraisal Matrix

Court Timeline Monitoring & Evaluation

(Reviewing) Officer

Accountable Officer

General

Assembly

October GAC Clerk of General Assembly

Clerk of General Assembly Directors of GAO

Directors Conveners of Committees

Staff

Presbyteries October Presbytery Chairperson Presbytery Clerk

District Ministers

Presbytery Clerk Directors of Departments

Directors Conveners of Committees

Staff

Districts October District Minister Agents-in-Charge

Conveners of Committees

Staff

Congregation October Agent-in-Charge Agents-in-Charge

Conveners of Committees

Staff

1 0 . 5 N o t e w o r t h y I s s u e s

1 0 . 5 . 1 S t r a t e g i c P l a n I m p l e m e n t a t i o n C o o r d i n a t o r s

The Courts must appoint Implementation Coordinators (IC) supported by a technical team

to support the Accountable Officer to facilitate the dissemination, training, planning and

monitoring and evaluation of strategic plan.

1 0 . 5 . 2 A v a i l a b i l i t y a n d u s e o f t h e S t r a t e g i c P l a n

Each Congregations and Preaching Point must have a copy of this Strategic Plan. The three-

year rolling plan and annual quarterly plans at every level of the Courts must be derived

from this central document and enhanced with local content. This will promote synergy in

the growth of the Church and will ease monitoring and evaluation.


68

1 0 . 5 . 3 S t a t u t o r y R e p o r t s f r o m t h e C o u r t s

All reports from all Courts either by Generational Groups, service groups or Congregations

should be fashioned along the administrative structure of the Church and must be based on

the outcomes as stated in this document. For example, the report should not just

enumerate the number of activities undertaken but the effect of the activities on the

Church.

1 0 . 5 . 4 R e w a r d S y s t e m s

The Church should institute an appreciation and recognition systems for Congregations or

Districts that would increase its Church membership on annual basis. Individual efforts

must also be acknowledged at all the Court.

1 0 . 5 . 5 E v a l u a t i o n

This plan must be evaluated after 5 years of implementation. However, GAC through, the

Clerk of General Assembly shall monitor and report on progress made with the three-year

and annual plans and present a comprehensive Report annually at the General Assembly.

1 0 . 5 . 6 P r e p a r a t i o n o f A c t i o n P l a n s

This Strategic Plan did not provide a blueprint action (annual) plan. This is because, the

starting points of all the derived actions proposed will differ from one Presbytery/District to

the other. Examples of such derived actions include: every District should at least

inaugurate two Congregations within the planned period, District Ministers should visit all

SHS with NUPSG in their jurisdiction, Districts should submit project proposals to the office

of DSS.

In all these, the Districts are not at the same level. While some Districts have Preaching

Points to be developed into full Congregations, others are now going to search for a new

location to start a Preaching Point; further while some Districts already have SHS with

NUPSG, others are now going to establish the NUPSG, both will start from a different angle.

For instance, to establish a Preaching Point from the scratch, the District must answer the

following questions systematically.

a) What are we expected to achieve in the plan period?

b) What resources do we need and where do we get them?

c) In which locality would the project or plan be implemented and when?

d) What role would each Congregation, Department and Generational / Service Group

play?

e) For each specific player, what is their current capacity in relation to the project and

what training would they require?

f) Who will coordinate the program?

Let the District answer these questions on paper, tag every action with starting and

completion dates, assign responsibilities for each action and show when progress reports


69

would be made. As these are documented, the plan implementation has begun, and all

progress reports should indicate how close they are towards achieving the outcome –

Church growth. By this approach, the process will be locally owned, ensuring mass

participation.


70

Annexures

A n n e x 1 : T o w a r d F i n a n c i n g t h e S t r a t e g i c P l a n


A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything

(Ecclesiastes 10:19). This plan acknowledges the power of the Holy Spirit to advance the

cause of the Church. Somehow, we need finance to move from one strategy to the other

towards obtaining the objectives and the goals of the plan. Analysis of the Church finances

in the plan shows a greater challenge in achieving the goals of the Church on yearly basis.

This section of the plan attempts to suggest and formalize funding sources and typologies

beyond the traditional practices (notably Sunday offerings). It gives the different ways a

Church may adopt to raise funds for its projects.

F u n d r a i s i n g A p p r o a c h e s

While there are Biblical principles and commands that speak into this, the practical models

are open-handed and deserve some thinking through. Four of such models are presented

for consideration:

a) The Fund Drive Model

Gifts may be presented to targeted individuals or events may be organized to attract donors

into the Church for donation and fund raising.

Advantage: Heavy group participation can build awareness and interest in the Church

project.

Disadvantage: The disadvantage may be that the cost of the gift and the effort put into the

events may be higher than the amount raised at the end of the event. In this case, the

balance sheet is negative.

b) The Large Donor Campaign Model.

This approach seeks an initial lump sum, and it’s often driven by pursuing large donors. It’s

modelled on the business investment/venture capital view of the world.

Advantage: If successful, you can gamble by putting a lump-sum into a project or something

pretty and win a big dividend.

Disadvantage: Can be tougher to pitch than you think. Investors like to invest in known

quantities with proven results and tight accountability. And fixed amounts run out quickly if

applied to on-going costs.

c) The Bi-Vocational Model

We need money, so the Church starts a business on the side and each of the members is

encouraged to work bi-vocationally to pay for our ministry work. The bi-vocational approach

avoids fundraising by trying to leverage market forces for individual employment and even

business-as-mission.


71

Advantage: Built-in community engagement for gospel relationships. Church leaders are a

witness in their secular workplaces, and/or Church-based businesses (e.g. bakery, cafeteria,

event space) may contribute to the local community and economy

Disadvantage: Certain jobs are not well-suited to this, and Church planters may need the

right career training or education to get the right ones. A full-time demanding job, a growing

family, and a growing Church can sometimes feel as if “bi-vocational” has grown into 3 or 4

or 5 vocations!

d) The Missionary Support Model

This is the Campus Crusade Model. In an era of falling Church investment in evangelism, the

individual missionary support model, which would seek commitments from 50 to 100

individuals in a local Congregation to give regular monthly amounts.

Advantage: This “small-donor” model can raise a surprising amount of money over time,

because the request is for an on-going amount, not a one-time gift. The giving tends to be

stable through economic and ministry downturns. Once established, this can support

multiple Church ministries, and is much easier to maintain than build the first time. An

outside team’s on-going commitment invests them in the Church’s ministries not only

financially, but prayerfully.

Disadvantage: Missionary style support can take 6-12 months of focused, full-time work to

complete, much like starting up a small business. This makes it better for ongoing ministry.

B e q u e a t h m e n t

The Church may develop a policy that supports and encourages members and Christians in

general to leave and pass their properties on to the Church for missionary work by way of

Wills. This is common in the West.

F i n a n c i n g C o m m e r c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t P r o j e c t s

Corporate partnership or Joint Venture arrangements present options for funding the

Church’s commercial development projects (lands) through equity and debt financing.

A S t r a t e g y f o r C h u r c h F i n a n c i n g – A n E i g h t - S t e p A p p r o a c h

How can a ministry come up with a plan to finance land and buildings when financing is

necessary?

The following is an eight-step approach which may be used to discern an acceptable method

of financing our ministry so that growth would not be hindered. This eight-step approach is

not canonical nor is it the Biblical way. God has not ordained a method for Churches to

finance (or not to finance) land and buildings, projects and missions and ministries. The

Bible teaches that freedom is to be exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit where

no clear scriptural command is given.

There is no clear scriptural command given to prohibit churches from borrowing money.

Also absent in Scripture are any indications that financing Church buildings and missions is

less than God's best. Therefore, the seven-step approach is an option to be considered as a


72

means of determining what a Church should do when faced with the dilemma of taking out

a loan, issuing bonds, or waiting for the cash to be raised.

We may have to only trust God for the provision of the needed money without taking out a

loan. This, however, is one possibility. There is nothing wrong with this method as an option

for each Church to consider. But to say it is God's only way, or the spiritual way, is

inaccurate. When a ministry faces the decision of whether or not to finance its land,

buildings, projects, etc. the following steps are recommended:

1. Know what God's Word says – Acts 17:11 (the example of the Bereans)

2. Be sensitive to the circumstances – Rev. 22:18-19; Gal 5:16-26

3. Seek godly counsel – Proverbs 11:14

4. Fast and pray – Matthew 6:16-18

5. The peace of God – Philippians 4:7

6. Is there unity? – 1 Corinthians 14:33

7. Teaching on biblical giving other than annual harvest days

8. Consider your options – e.g. Denominational agencies, endowment insurance

policies, loan brokers, Church bonds, bank loans

C o n c l u s i o n

Money is going to matter for mission. It can capture and focus the efforts of many into

building the Church. The Church planter’s challenge is to discern how its use affects the

mission.


73

A n n e x 2 : T r e n d o f C h u r c h G r o w t h , 2 0 0 2 - 2 0 1 8

No Years Church (Total

Membership)

% Increase No. of

Presbyteries

No. of

Districts

No. of

Congregations

1 2002 535,130 6.8 13 187 1,812

2 2003 565,637 5.7 14 189 2,181

3 2004 578,727 2.3 14 199 2,202

4 2005 612,337 5.8 14 206 2,160

5 2006 615,391 0.5 14 213 2,171

6 2007 622,609 1.2 14 215 2,267

7 2008 624,890 0.4 14 222 2,217

8 2009 652,083 4.4 15 223 2,347

9 2010 691,949 6.1 16 227 2,392

10 2011 721,599 4.3 16 245 2,443

11 2012 739,548 2.5 16 252 2,533

12 2013 773,504 4.6 17 264 2,515

13 2014 811,807 5.0 19 275 2,573

14 2015 846,222 4.2 20 278 2,754

15 2016 876,010 3.5 21 290 2,798

16 2017 910,732 4.0 21 294 2,811

17 20186 947,015 4.0 21 303 2,828

6 The 2018 data was added after this report had been finalized and does not reflect in the discussions in this report.


74

A n n e x 3 : V i s i o n 1 . 5 - P C G S t a t e m e n t f o r E v a n g e l i s m a n d C h u r c h

G r o w t h ( 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 2 3 )


The quantitative growth of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has been a major concern for

all the past and current leadership of the Church. This concern guided the Church to take a

decision in 2005 that “all Presbyteries should work towards increasing their membership by

at least 10% every year in the short term.” In spite of the strategies outlined by the

leadership of the Church, the average percentage growth since the decision was taken is

3.6%. This, obviously, calls for reflection on the part of the current leadership

The vision of the current Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri

Yeboah Mante, in his reflection on the abysmal growth rate of the Church is to increase the

membership to at least One Million, Five Hundred Thousand (1.5 million) by 2023. This

vision has now come to be known as “Vision 1.5.”

The Moderator in May 2019 met with all the three Committees of the Department;

Committee on Evangelism, Committee on Global Mission and Committee on Specialized

Ministries; at a three-day Workshop in Kumasi to brainstorm on practical steps towards

achieving this goal. This document; Vision 1.5: PCG Statement for Evangelism and Church

Growth (2019-2023) is the outcome of the Workshop. This document was endorsed by the

June 2019 General Assembly Council at Abokobi.

The document focuses on four key result areas.

i. Youth and Campus Ministry

ii. Global Mission

iii. Specialized Ministries

iv. General Evangelism

It is our hope that the entire Church will adopt and work with this document to the glory of

God and to ensure that the Church grows quantitatively and qualitatively.

1 . 0 O b j e c t i v e s

i. Achieve 1.5 million membership within 5 years;

ii. Set up administrative structures to promote and sustain growth;

iii. Design a comprehensive fundraising strategy to mobilize support to fulfill the set

objectives; and

iv. Institute appropriate monitoring mechanism to regularly review, monitor and

evaluate progress.


75

2 . 0 S l o g a n

“Operation 5.1.2”

The Operation 5.1.2 is a Disciple-making principle of multiplication.

i. Five (5) people win at least one (1) soul and disciple him/her within 2 years

ii. Five (5) Districts plant at least one (1) Church and nurture it into a full Congregation

in two (2) years

iii. Five (5) city Districts or Congregations identify one (1) rural Congregation outside

their Presbyteries and support it for two (2) years

iv. Five (5) endowed Presbyterians should construct a chapel for one (1) rural

community in two (2) years

v. Five ministry Groups select 1 rural community for mission and support for 2 years

3 . 0 K e y R e s u l t s A r e a s

i. Youth and Campus Ministry

ii. Global Mission

iii. Specialized Ministries

iv. General Evangelism

3 . 1 . Y o u t h a n d C a m p u s M i n i s t r y

3 . 1 . 1 T a r g e t

The target is to increase the youth population (13-30 years) by 20% annually.

2018 Year 1

(2019)

Year 2

(2020)

Year 3

(2021)

Year 4

(2022)

Year 5

(2023)

Total

JY 153,695 184,434 221,321 265,585 318,702 382,442 228,747

YPG &

NUPS-G

172,706 169,247 203,094 243,716 292,459 350,950 181,703

Total 326,401 429,618 515,615 618741 742,489 890,986 410,450

A total of 410,450 youth are expected to be added to the membership of the Church by

2023.

3 . 1 . 2 M e t h o d o l o g y

A. Youth in Sports: Getting the youth to participate in sports can help the Church to

achieve the target of increasing the youth by 20%. By this, it is recommended that

Congregations, Districts and Presbyteries can organize sporting activities like soccer

and volleyball in their communities, which would bring the youth together. This will

create the chance for the Church to evangelize to the town folks. Also,


76

Congregations can result to telecasting live football matches at vantage points.

Congregations, through their youth can help telecast some matches (Champions

League, Europa etc.). This will draw more youth to the arena and as such, an avenue

will be created for the word to be shared. Outside the cities, Congregations can

create Recreational Centers where indoor games like table tennis, ampe, etc. can go

on to bring more youth around. After this, it is expected to add 5% more figures to

the youth.

B. Student Ministry Outside Campus: Creating a student ministry outside campus that

will absorb the NUPS-G when they vacate or complete school. International Worship

Centres and first services will help keep the youth in the Church.

C. Transport Ministry to the Youth: Congregations that are surrounded by schools can

adopt this strategy where they can organize buses to convey students (day students/

non-residents) to and fro campus. Tracts can be shared to them and also invite them

to the Church services. A 2% increase in the number of the youth is expected with

this method.

D. Agents must be in charge of JY: This is the time the youth make up their mind to

leave or stay in the Church when nurturing doesn’t go through well. Since youth can

be good witnesses, when they are given proper care from these agents, they would

go and witness to their colleagues; a 20% increase is envisaged in this. Training

should be given to personnel. The personnel to be trained should be given specific

task of being in charge of the JYs

Also, the JY and Children Service must be resourced, in terms of worship places,

instruments etc.

E. Campus Impact: The Church must have an interest to make a massive impact on

Presbyterian and non-Presbyterian students at the various campuses. Just like the

Charismatic Churches have been doing at the tertiary campuses, it is being

recommended that the PCG also takes interest in doing such. This will help increase

the number of the youth on the campuses by 30%.

F. Hostel Ministry: Hostel ministry is another method recommended. Presbyteries,

Districts and Congregations which have the resources can build, buy or rent hostels

and intend rent them out to students at a discount. Devotions should be conducted

at these hostels by the leadership of the sponsoring Courts.

G. Capacity building. The Church is encouraged to runs programs for the youth in the

Church to build their capacity. Also, mentorship must be intensified at the

Congregations. Agents and Presbyters must try and mentor the youth when they

realize a potential in them to keep them in the Church. After doing this, it is expected

that the number of youth in the Church grows by 2% through this method.

H. Youth in mission outside the country: The youth in the Church can be trained and

resourced so that they can be sent as Missionaries within and outside the country.

The Presbyterian Young Missionary Movement (PYMM) model can be adopted.


77

I. Scholarships: As much as possible, scholarships should be given to the youth who

are in need in the Congregations. These people will always have the Church at heart

and will do their best to help the Church.

J. Balanced Ministry: Ministers/Coordinators must not always concentrate only on YPG

at the expense of the NUPS-G.

3 . 1 . 3 F u n d i n g

The funding for this course is expected to come from all the Courts of the Church.

3 . 1 . 4 R e s u l t s

There must be quarterly reports from the various Courts to the Head Office. The General

Assembly Council should monitor to ensure proper implementation.

It is expected that the focus on the youth and campus ministry should give a one-third of

the Vision 1.5 target.

3 . 2 G l o b a l M i s s i o n

3 . 2 . 1 T a r g e t s

A. North America / Australia Presbytery

– As at 2017, their statistics stood at 4,442

– Compounded 10% annual growth for the next 5 years = 7,149

– 5 years variance will be 2,707 which may mean 541 approx. 600 yearly growth

B. Europe Presbytery

– As at 2017 had a membership record of 5,642

– Compounded 10% annual growth for the next 5 years = 9,087

– 5years variance will be 3,447 which may mean 690 approx. 700yearly growth

C. Ukraine

– Increase the membership record to 250.

3 . 2 . 2 M e t h o d o l o g y

A. Leadership

Train ministers and equip them with "cultural and exigencies package"

Generally, in 2017, there were 22 Ministers in the North America / Australia Presbytery. The

ratio of Minister to member(s) then was 1:201. Whereas in the Europe Presbytery there

were 20 Ministers. The ratio of Minister to member(s) then was 1:282.

Should this statistic be applied after 5 years, it would realise that more Ministers (from 22 to

40) in NA/A Presbytery; 20 to 40 in Europe Presbytery will be needed to take care of the

Congregants (1:179 for NA/A Presbytery; 1:227 for Europe)


78

More Congregations will need to be opened and train 4 Ministers per year for 5 years in the

both Presbyteries and:

• Empower Ministers - Presbyters - membership relationship

• The Ministers should be empowered to tailor their teaching, preaching and

healing to meet the expectations of the Congregants whilst not losing sight of the

Centrality of the Word of God.

• Post matured leaders whom Congregants can identify with.

• Train and send leaders to new grounds/ frontiers.

• Move from the migrant Churches to the indigenous people (International Worship

Centres)

• Plant at least three (3) Congregations per year per Presbytery

• Adopt the “Guests Service” where people are invited to attend service

• The PYMM model should be included in the Global Mission report.

• Considerations should be made to extend our boundaries to other West African

countries like Niger and Mali.

B. Breaking Boundaries

• Strengthen language proficiency to break the language barrier

• Strengthen phone and social media ministry (groupings or cells)

• Strengthen the hostel ministry

• Presbyteries promote good networking

• Deliberately train interested members in media evangelism or bring together

professionals in the media circles to champion the course

• Mobilize to own properties e.g. Church auditorium, manse and conference halls

• Young Missionaries should be sent to Ukraine to help grow the Ukrainian

Fellowship to a Congregational Status.

• Engaging in Intentional Evangelism geared towards Church Growth

C. Motivation

• Provide scholarship packages for further studies with the aim of promoting

evangelism

• The Church should keep contact with Presbyterians who will be studying abroad,

by organising a send-off party for them. These people can be identified by the

Local Ministers.

• To launch and strengthen NUPS-G Global


79

D. Financial Mobilization

• Encourage members in the diaspora to contribute to sustain the evangelism

agenda

E. Future

a. Togo

Total estimated Church membership is presently about 100. Must grow to 300 within next

five (5) years, making it 40 yearly over the period. This will result in opening more Churches

and assigning 2 more Ministers with the right requisite with reference to language (Ewe and

French).

b. South Africa and Lesotho

Enter new territories and breaking grounds with at least 250 members within the 5-year

period. Train 4 Ministers within the 5-year period with the requisite language proficiency.

c. Côte d’viore

Enter new territories and breaking grounds with at least 150 members within the 5 years

period. Train 2 Ministers within the 5-year period with the requisite language

proficiency (French and a local language).

3 . 2 . 3 S U G G E S T I O N

Focusing on establishing Churches in other countries, it is proposed that the name,

“Presbyterian Church of Ghana” is reconsidered. Special orientation should be given to

Overseas Chairpersons on this agenda.

3 . 3 S p e c i a l i z e d M i n i s t r y

3 . 3 . 1 M e t h o d o l o g y

Every Congregation should identify at least one area of specialized ministries and focus on.

District Session should coordinate the Congregations. Congregations should focus more on

Street Child Evangelism, thus evangelizing to the children outside the Church. During Group

Conferences, more attention must be given to the specialized ministries when going out for

evangelism. E.g. During PSICE, PYICE, YAF Conferences etc.

3 . 3 . 2 T i m i n g

Every Congregation should identify her area of specialization by September 1st (thus at the

beginning of the ecclesiastical year).

3 . 3 . 3 T r a i n i n g

Resource persons should be invited to various Presbyteries based on their area of

specialization to train the congregants. Training sessions will be organized or conveyed by

the Presbyteries. Training should be done before December 31st.


80

3 . 3 . 4 M o n i t o r i n g

The monitoring will be done by the Presbytery and the District Mission and Evangelism

Directors and Coordinators respectively.

`3 . 3 . 5 R e p o r t i n g

There should be a comprehensive quarterly report presented by the Congregations to the

District and Districts to the Presbyteries and finally to the General Assembly Council.

3 . 3 . 8 O t h e r S u g g e s t i o n s

• Ushers should be well trained to receive new members in all Congregations

• In other to raise the awareness of embarking on ministry for Celebrities, the Church

should organize a mega national program inviting Celebrities for a night of praise

which can be fused with evangelical messages. This can be dubbed as Guests Service.

• Church service in all Congregations should be experiential in nature.

• All Children service teachers should be trained in child evangelism and each

recognized and appreciated for the number of children brought into the Church.

• At least all Districts head stations be encouraged to operate Blue Cross. Individuals

must be trained, resourced and request for quarterly report. Blue Cross Coordinators

should be appointed at the District level.

• District Session Council Standing Committees should ensure that, Congregations

adopt nearby schools for chaplaincy activities – Both private and public schools, from

Crèche to tertiary schools. Specific Church members be appointed and trained for

this assignment and periodic report made to Session.

• Agent in Charge of all the Courts should be made accountable for the success or

otherwise of the Specialized Ministries.

3 . 4 G e n e r a l E v a n g e l i s m

3 . 4 . 1 . M e t h o d o l o g y

A. Revivals

All Congregations should embark on activities such as revivals. Congregations should

organize revivals in their locals so as to revive the Church members in order for them to be

able to go out and win souls. Revival services should also aim at discipleship and evangelism

(to the old members and the new entrants.) Fund raising should not be the sole focus for

revival services.

B. Crusade and other Outreach Activities

Crusades, personal evangelism, street and tract distribution evangelism and other forms of

outreach should be organized by the Church. Representatives from the various Groups

should be well trained by the Agents or persons who are well vexed in evangelism on how to

follow up and keep the souls in the Church. Group leaders are encouraged to include


81

outreach programmes/activities in their Conferences, anniversaries and annual meetings at

all Courts.

C. Discipleship

Discipleship which is a strong tool to Church Growth should be intensify at the various

Courts. Outreach and Inreach programmes without discipleship would not lead to the

growth of the Church. Conscious efforts should be made to disciple the converts and other

members of the Church. Rooted in Christ and other materials on Discipleship should be

used. Rooted in Christ is strongly recommended for use by all newly planted Churches

before any other Bible Study material can be used or before preaching with the Church’s

lectionary.

D. Church Planting

Church Planting should be mandatory. Every District must at least plant and nurture a

Church in two years. Proper survey should be conducted before embarking on Church

planting. The Presbyterian Young Missionary Movement (PYMM) model would be used for

such purposes. The P-YICE, P-SICE and the PYMM must be tasked to lead in the Church

Planting. Follow up teams should be set up by Mission and Evangelism Coordinators in the

Districts and the Congregations. These follow- up teams must be well resourced for effective

execution.

Districts which for obvious reasons cannot plant Churches in their jurisdictions are

encouraged to cross borders to other Presbyteries to plant and nurture the Churches.

Districts in such situations can adopt and strengthen other weaker Churches outside their

Presbyteries. Twinning is also recommended.

3 . 4 . 2 . S o u l W i n n i n g T a r g e t f o r P r e s b y t e r i e s

Presbytery Target by 2023

Ga 180,000

Asante 125,000

Ga West 100,000

Akuapem 25,000

Brong Ahafo 24,000

Western 13,000

Akyem Abuakwa 13,000

West Brong 12,000

Dangme Tongu 12,000

Sekyere 12,000

Asante Akyem 11,000

Central 11,000

West Akyem 11,000


82

Presbytery Target by 2023

Asante South 7,000

Kwahu 7,000

Volta 7,000

Northern 6,000

Sefwi 6,000

Upper 6,000

Europe 1,000

North American/Australia 1,000

Total 590,000

3 . 4 . 3 T i m e l i n e

The Districts and the Presbyteries should use their monthly Standing Committee’s and

quarterly Council meetings as an opportunity for monitoring and evaluation.

3 . 4 . 4 O t h e r S u g g e s t i o n s

i. Evangelism Committees within the Courts should spearhead implementation of the

Vision 1.5

ii. Operational guidelines should be provided by the M&E Directorate.

iii. Orientation be run at Presbytery levels for all District Committees on evangelism.

iv. With regards to monitoring; Evangelism Consultation must be organized every mid-

week.

v. The Courts will be used for supervision and monitoring

The above set target will require an amount allocated to the Presbyteries from the two

million Ghana Cedi target set for the Vision 1.5.

4 . 0 C o n c l u s i o n

In conclusion, all Presbyteries, Districts and Congregations are entreated to help the Church

in its quest to achieve the Vision 1.5 in the proposed years. As Paul said, “I can do all things

through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13. It is believed with God’s strength, all

these can be done to the glory of God. Amen

Note: The financial component of this document is under consideration.


83

A n n e x 4 : L i s t o f G A C m e m b e r s t h a t a n a l y z e d t h e

q u e s t i o n n a i r e r e s p o n s e s – 4 t h J u n e 2 0 1 8

1. Rev. Hebert Anim Opong - Chairperson, N. America & Australia

2. Rev. Dr. Samuel Ayete-Nyampong - Clerk General Assembly

3. Mrs. Getrude Tetteh-Ametefe - Lay Rep Sefwi Presbytery

4. Rev. Alex Owusu-Addo - Chairperson, Central Presbytery

5. Rev. I.D. Asare - Chairperson, Akuapim Presbytery

6. Rev. Kofi Nyarkoh - Chairperson, Europe Presbytery

7. Mrs. Stella Amofa Doodoo - Lay Rep, Central Presbytery

8. Rev. Fei Hyeamang - Chairperson, West Brong Presbytery

9. Mr. Paul Julius Asiama -

10. Ansah Anoboah S. G. -

11. Mr. Stephen Opoku-Mensah -

12. Rev. G Kwame Acheampong - Chairperson, Kwahu Presbytery

13. Rev. Daniel A. Nyarko - Chairperson, Ga West Presbytery

14. Rev. Dr. Seth Kissi - Chairperson, Akyem Abuakwa

Presbytery

15. Mrs Randa Asare - Lay Rep, Western Presbytery

16. Rev. Dr. William Ofosu Addo - Chairperson, Brong Ahafo Presbytery

17. Rev. Ernest Odame Asare - Chairperson, Sekyere Presbytery

18. Mr. Frank Annor - Lay Rep, Dangme Tongu Presbytery

19. Rev. Dr. Oko Abbey - Acting Moderator & Chairperson, GA

20. Mr. Stephen Atua Oppong - Lay Rep, Brong Ahafo Presbytery

21. Mr. J. N. B. Tetteh - Lay Rep, Ga Presbytery

22. Mad. Alice Oforiwa - Lay Rep, Asante Akyem Presbytery

23. Rev. Timothy Ernest Annoh - Chairperson, Western Presbytery

24. Rev. E. B. Atami = Chairperson, Upper Presbytery

25. Mr. Daniel Kobila = Lay Rep, Northern Presbytery

26. Mr. Kwaku Saviour Woanya - Lay Rep, Volta Presbytery

27. Rev. Emmanuel Asare Amoah - Chairperson, Asante South

28. Mr. David Boakye Kessie - Lay Rep, Asante Presbytery

29. Mr. R.G. Adu Mantey - Lay Rep, Akuapim Presbytery

30. Rev. Samuel Atteh Odjelua - Chairperson, Dangme-Tongu Presbytery

31. Rev. Daniel Opong Wereko - Chairperson, Volta Presbytery

32. Rev. Anokye Nkansah - Chairperson, Asante Akyem

33. Mr. Joseph Mensah Diawuo - Lay Rep, West Brong Presbytery

34. Rev. Osafo Kantanka - Chairperson, Asante Presbytery


84

In Attendance

1. Rev. Kwaku Bio Kyeame - Director, CLAN

2. Mr. Festus Ohene Kwafo - Director, AHRM

3. Rev Daniel Edmund Kofi Asante - Director, DSS

4. Rev E. N. A. Ashitey - Director, ESR

5. Rev. Felix Akresu- Anim - Director, M&E

6. Mr. Alex De-Graft Hanson - Director, Finance

7. Rev. David Aboagye Danquah - Properties Manager

8. Rev. Ezekiel George Larbi - Public Relations Officer

9. Rev Frank Kissi - Personal Assistant to Clerk of

GA (Recorder)

10. Rev. William Ameka - Personal Assistant to Moderator of GA

(Recorder)


85

A n n e x 5 : L i s t o f G A C m e m b e r s t h a t c o m m e n t e d o n t h e

f i n a l d r a f t : 2 6 t h N o v , 2 0 1 8

N A M E POSITION

1 Rev. Dr. Victor O. Abbey - Ag. Moderator & Chairperson, Ga

2 Rev. Dr. S. Ayete-Nyampong - Clerk of G.A.

3 Rev. I. D. Asare - Chairperson, Akuapem

4 Mr. R. G. Adu-Mante - Lay Rep, Akuapem

5 Rev. Dr. Seth Kissi - Chairperson, Akyem Abuakwa

6 Rev. Dr. B. I. Adu-Okoree - Chairperson, West Akyem

7 Mr. Kumi Brobbey - Lay Rep., West Akyem

8 Rev. Dr. W. K. Ofosu-Addo - Chairperson, Brong Ahafo

9 Mr. Stephen Atua Oppong - Lay Rep., Brong Ahafo

10 Rev. Samuel Atteh Odjelua - Chairperson, Dangme Tongu

11 Mr. Frank Yaw Annor - Lay Rep, Dangme Tongu

12 Rev. Daniel Opong-Wereko - Chairperson, Volta

13 Mr. Saviour K. Woanya - Lay Rep., Volta

14 Mr. Maxwell Akandem - Lay Rep, Upper

15 Rev. Alex Owusu Addo - Chairperson, Central

16 Ms. Stella Amofaa Doodo - Lay Rep., Central

17 Mr. J. N. B. Tetteh - Lay Rep., Ga

18 Rev. Daniel A. Nyarko - Chairperson, Ga West

19 Mrs. Sarah Mildred Addo - Lay Rep., Ga West

20 Rev. Dr. Anokye Nkansah - Chairperson, Asante Akyem

21 Mad. Alice Oforiwa - Lay Rep., Asante Akyem

22 Rev. Ernest Odame Asare - Chairperson, Sekyere

23 Ms. M. Afranewaa Appiah - Lay Rep., Sekyere

24 Rev. G. K. Akyeampong - Chairperson, Kwahu

25 Rev. Timothy Ernest Annoh - Chairperson, Western

26 Mrs. Randa Asare - Lay Rep., Western

27 Rev. Fei Hyeamang - Chairperson, West Brong

28 Mr. Joseph Mensah-Diawuo - Lay Rep., West Brong

29 Rev. Osafo Kantanka - Chairperson, Asante

30 Mr. David Boakye Kessie - Lay Rep., Asante

31 Rev. Michael C. Otu - Chairperson, Sefwi

32 Mrs. Gertrude Tetteh Ametefe - Lay Rep., Sefwi

33 Rev Emmanuel Asare Amoah - Chairperson, Asante South

34 Mrs. Doris Frempoma Aniagyei - Lay Rep., Asante South

35 Rev. Herbert Anim Opong - Chairperson, N. America and Australia

36 Dr.Alex Boateng - Lay Rep., North America and Australia

37 Rev. Peter Kofi Nyarkoh - Chairperson, Europe

38 Dr. Yaw Ohene - Abuakwa - Lay Rep, Europe

39 Mr. Alfred Appiah - Youth Rep. (Male)

40 Ms. Cecilia Afra Acheampong - Youth Rep. (Female)


86

In Attendance

1 Rev. Kwaku Bio-Kyeame - Director, CLAN

2 Mrs. Rosamund Amoako-Apenteng - Director, Education

3 Mr. F. Ohene Kwafo - Director, AHRM

4 Rev E. N. A. Ashitey - Director, ESR

5 Rev. Felix Akresu- Anim - Director, M&E

6 Mr. Alex De-Graft Hanson - Director, Finance

7 Rev. David Aboagye Danquah - Properties Manager

8 Rev. Ezekiel George Larbi - Public Relations Officer

9 Rev Frank Kissi - Personal Assistant, Clerk of GA

10 Rev. William Ameka - Personal Assistant, Moderator of GA


87

A n n e x 6 : O t h e r i n d i v i d u a l s c o n s u l t e d o u t s i d e t h e G A C

1. Rev. Dr. Effah Ababio - Former Chairperson (retired)

2. Rev. Dr. B.Y. Quarshie - Lecturer- Akrofi-Christoler Inst

3. Rev. Gideon Puplampu - Abetifi Training Institute

4. Rev. Dr. Erasmus Odonkor - Bible Society, Ghana

5. Rev. E. Obeng Ntow - Sakumono District Minister

6. Rev. S.K. Mensah - Grace Congregation, Buoho, Kumasi

7. Rev. K.K. Sarpong - Minister-in-Charge, Gbawe Congregation

8. Rev. Frederic K. Ashaley - Hope Congregation, Sakumono

9. Rev. Sylvia Ofori-Amoako - Hope Congregation, Sakumono

10. Rev. Martin Obeng - Lecturer, Trinity Theological Seminary

11. Rev. Kofi Owusu - Methodist Church, Ghana

12. Dr. Edmond Atuahene - Former Lay Rep. GA Presbytery

13. Dr. Stephen S. Yirenkyi - Former Lay Rep. Western Presbytery

14. Mr. David Mireku - Former Sakumono District Director, ESR

15. Mrs. Patience Arthur-Baidoo - Former Director, Dept. of Education

16. Mr. Alex Afari - Sakumono District CLAN Director

17. Mr. Elijah Danso - (Consultant & Society Steward, Methodist

Church)

Documents

10-Year Strategic Plan 2020 - 2029pcgonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/strategicplan.pdf · FAA - Finance and Audit GA - General Assembly GAC ... IC - Implementation Coordinator