Men’s Fellowship
HISTORY OF UGCC MEN’S FELLOWSHIP
The UGCC Men’s Fellowship was formed in 1996 at the Holy Trinity Bethel Presbyterian Church, Rockland, PA by Bob Ansah and Mr. John Ofori. The group had problems and it did not survive. Several attempts were made to revive the group to no avail.
In 2006, when Dr. William Ofosu-Appiah joined UGCC, Elder Paul Appiah asked him to be president of the Men’s Fellowship. He prayed over it and said Lord, this time failure is not an option. The scripture that came to his mind and inspired him was Matthew 16: 18 “ And I tell you, you are Peter and this rock I will build my church and the gates of hades will not prevail against it”. We are building the Group on the rock who is Jesus Christ so how can we fail. If we built the group on a shaky foundation of sand, then we would fail.
In that same year, we formed an interim committee to revive the group.
Under the leadership of the interim executive committee, our numbers increased. The Interim Executive Committee Members were:
President —–Dr. William Ofosu-Appiah
Vice-President — Dr. Edward Acheampong
Secretary — Mr. Joseph Amo
Vice Secretary — Mr. Isaac Baah
Treasurer – Mr. Eric Boafo
Financial Secretary – Mr. Felix Agyemang
Organizing Secretary – Mr. Charles Ntiamoah (Mr. CNN)
Assist. Organizing Secretary – Mr. Victor Osei-Boakye
Chaplain – Mr. Emmanuel Oppong-Agyare
Over the years, due to many life’s pressures, the fellowship went through many changes in the Executive Committee membership. The late Mr. Victor Osei-Boakye served as Secretary for many years and handed the position over to Mr. Robert Tokornoo when he was in failing health. The Fellowship is so grateful to late Mr. Victor Osei-Boakye for his dedication and hard work. May his soul rest in perfect peace. God being faithful, he has giventhe President some committed, dedicated core believers who are passionate about the Men’s Fellowship who are still with him to this day. The current membership serving the fellowship are as follows:
President —–Dr. William Ofosu-Appiah
Vice-President — Mr. Ernest Aning
Secretary — Mr. Ato B. Asamoah
Vice Secretary — Mr. Kwasi Asiedu Danquah
Treasurer – Mr. Eric Boafo
Financial Secretary – Dr. Kwabena Owusu-Banahene
Organizing Secretary – Mr. Jones Ofori-Sarpong
Assist. Organizing Secretary – Mr. Isaac Addo
Chaplain – Mr. Robert Tokornoo
The Fellowship is grateful to the past Executive members (Charles Kusi-Appouh and Hayford Baidoo) and current Executive members for their dedication and sacrifice in doing God’s work.
Achievements:
By God’s grace the group grew in the early days judging by the number of people who attended meetings and other fellowship activities.
On May 20, 2007 we inaugurated the Fellowship with 60 active members on record. There was a tremendous enthusiasm about the fellowship and its mission. Unfortunately, many of the members quickly became inactive members due to several reasons.
Currently, our active membership is 30. For the past 2 years, we had 3 new members join the Men’s Fellowship. They are Dr. Kwabena Owusu-Banahene, Kwasi Asiedu-Danquah, Prof. Joseph Kumi.
In 2007, the Fellowship established an award fund for high school senior freshman college-bound kids where we gave awards to defray the cost of college expenses. To date, we have given 59 awards. This year (2019) we gave 9 awards to freshman college-bound kids.
The Men’s Fellowship contributed to church growth by promoting activities that attracted men into church membership.
The church had many needs and the Men’s Fellowship continued to help wherever they could. In 2013, the group purchased a refrigerator for the church kitchen and painted the rooms in the basement to enhance the interior appeal of the old rooms. We also did general cleaning around the church and organized picnic activities.
In November 2013, Men’s Fellowship organized the church harvest and did a stellar job raising $50,000.
In 2014, The Men’s Fellowship gave an award of $1,100 to an aspiring student to attend the National Student’s Leadership meeting in Engineering in Washington, DC. This gesture shows the importance the fellowship attaches to education.
On October 11-13, 2014, we hosted the national conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America Men’s Fellowship meeting and it was a resounding success.
In 2017, we knew that the choir was suffering as it got hot in their seating area upstairs and wearing the black robes did not help. The Men’s Fellowship purchased air conditioner for the choir. The choir was very appreciative for the kind gesture.
The group has good relationship with all groups in the church, especially the Women’s fellowship where we meet every year to discuss a popular topic of “Issues that men and women should know about each other in order to promote peace and tranquility in the Christian home. We have also teamed up with the Women’s Fellowship to organize trips to Sight & Sound where Bible stories on creation etc. are made alive through actors. We will plan to do a retreat with the YAF members.
The fellowship also played important role at the National level where 3 of our members, Dr. Gbomita, Frankie Boham and Ato Botsio Asamoah were elected Vice President, Financial Secretary and Assistant Secretary, respectively, of the National Men’s Fellowship of the conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America in 2017-18.
MISSION STATEMENT OF THE FELLOWSHIP
The mission statement of the Men’s Fellowship is Bringing Together Men of All Ages To Grow In Relationship With Jesus Christ; Encouraging Each Other To Be Servant Leaders In Our Families, Church and Communities. To that end, we want to generate spiritual growth through Bible studies and Prayer meetings thereby fostering Christ-centered living (Ephesians 4: 1-3).
GOALS OF THE FELLOWSHIP
- Continue with the membership drive – the objective is to ensure all men in the church become members of the fellowship
- To promote brotherly love among the members so as to attract more men to join the group
- Continue to seek contributions/donations to our educational fund
- To promote spiritual growth through bible studies, prayer meeting, retreats, and field trip to religious establishments like Sight & Sound. The bible says at Hebrews 10:25: not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- Continue educational programs on men’s health, financial retirement and investment planning and immigration issues
Conclusion
The Men’s Fellowship has come a long way. God has been good to us as we continue to face many obstacles especially in active participation by the members. God is interested in faithfulness not in numbers.
It is my prayer that God will continue to use the men in the church in a special way as we continue to know Christ and make him known to others. Throughour deeds and actions as spirit-filled Christian men, we will serve as moral role models for our children and the entire members of the church.
Finally, it is our prayer that the men would continue to study the bible, pray and fast so that we can continue to resist the temptations and traps that the devil sets for us every day of our lives and be role models for our children both at home and in the church. May God bless us all. MUNSURO!!