The Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral project have challenged all Christians and Ghanaian churches across the country to support the building of the project to the glory of God.
The Trustees, made this known at a press conference held on June 29, to officially launch the 2022 National Cathedral Week long celebration slated on July 4 to 10, 2022, in Accra.
Addressing the press, the Board Chairman of the Trustees of the National Cathedral, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, said the Trustees consider the Cathedral, with the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens, as a blessing not only to Christians in Ghana but also across the world.
“As Trustees of the National Cathedral Project, we want to appeal to the leaders of the Church in Ghana not to forget this purpose of the National Cathedral project, as we seek to answer some of the critical questions being asked. We need to focus on the mission of God. The Lord will like us to stand up to the challenge. We must not run away; we must not let it appear that the President has made a mistake by promising to put up a building to the glory of God.”
“The Cathedral, with the Bible Museum and Biblical Garden has many facets including youth centre, children centre, restaurant, meeting halls and theaters,” he stated.
The National Cathedral he mentioned, is a partnership between the state and the Ghanaian Christian community as proposed by President Akufo-Addo saying, initially, the thought was that the government had some money somewhere else to put up the cathedral but, they have come to know that it wasn’t the issue. “Just as in the Bible and in Church history, the people of God funded such projects, so also now the church must mobilise themselves to raise funds to fund the project. We must take up the challenge.”
Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah on behalf of the Trustees, appealed to the heads of various churches to mobilise the church through means that are comfortable with their particular tradition and raise funds for the Cathedral project adding that, without it they cannot build the project.
“It will be one of the symbols of the presence of God in the world, just as the Lord told Moses to build a Tabernacle as a sign of him dwelling among the people of Israel (Exodus 25:8). In addition, the Cathedral will be a symbol that epitomises the great work of the missionaries who toiled not only to bring Christ to the Africans, but also engaged in social services including medical mission, opened schools and disseminated education, and developed the writing of African languages.”
He revealed that since 2017, a number of fundraising activities have taken place and that, the official launch of the partnership took place on December 2018 in Accra, February 2021 in Washington DC, and in Kumasi on January 2020.
The plan he stated, was to follow up immediately but then Covid-19 happened to delay the roll out of the fundraising.
“However, a further specification of the fundraising strategy was developed during the Covid-19 period in 2020, to operationalize this state-church partnership envisaged by the President for the development of the National Cathedral”.
The four strategy used he averred comprises; Mass Mobilization Strategy, (GH¢100-club), which seeks to mobilize a million Ghanaians able, and willing, to give GH¢100.00 a month to the project.
The second strategy he indicated has to do with church mobilization including statutory budgetary support from the churches, and a National Cathedral Week, which is slated for July 4-10.
The next is the Private Sector Strategy, a business roundtable to mobilize Christian businesses, and Christian businessmen and women, to financially support the project.
Also, the International Fundraising strategy, includes Ghanaian Diaspora churches, and other international actors who support the vision of the National Cathedral Project.
He expressed gratitude to all those who contributed to the National Cathedral Project especially, President Akufo-Addo and the state by appointing the Architect, providing the land and its preparations, setting up of a Secretariat, and providing Seed Money. “We are also grateful to the individuals and the churches that have supported the project, so far.”
