Since the National Cathedral Board of Trustees was formed, I felt a strong urge to call one of the board members and ask them how many times they have collectively sought the face of God on the progress of the church. There was a moment. projects; how often do they collectively attend prayer retreats?
In the wake of the Okuzet Ablakwa bombing incident, I reread the book of Nehemiah. How did he deal with the opposition of Geshem, Sanballat, and Tobias?
Who is providing the mud that Ablakwa hurled at key figures connected to the cathedral? Has the board as a whole been satisfied that everything the councilor has been claiming is false? Once satisfied, has the board ever attempted to meet with members of Congress?
Did all board members agree with the president on the choice of location for the project, including the need to demolish a historically significant building and pay significant compensation to property owners? Did you have any trouble choosing the site? Would any of them have tried to explain it to the president? This was very important because it was one of the causes of deep opposition among many who felt that the project was wasteful.
As God’s senior men and women (actually only one woman), revered for their closeness to God and recognized as deep thinkers and counselors to the masses, Otabil, Doug Heward, fights over these trivial issues. It’s a sad and perhaps strange thing to have. The resignations of Mr. Mills and now Mr. Duncan Williams and Mr. Eastwood Anaba could not be resolved in the name of Jesus.
True or false, the perception among Ghanaians over the past year has been that such a sacred project is mired in corruption. So, I ask you, respected directors, have these allegations been investigated? Were they 100% satisfied about the innocence of the member in question?
What about the news that the President and the Minister of Finance were trying to secretly put numbers into the national budget for Congressional approval? This does not mean that God approves of all methods for achieving this.
I believe that if Akufo-Addo had not presented it as a personal commitment to God, the national cathedral project would not have encountered the greatest opposition this country has ever seen. I am. Even a totally nonpartisan Ghanaian like me told myself that a βpersonalβ pledge to God could not be funded by the state budget. Even the Washington National Cathedral in the United States was entirely privately funded.
Having presented it to Ghanaians as a personal dream, the minority was understandably concerned that it would affect the political fate of the nuclear power plant.
Is all hope gone? Without support from the national budget, it is questionable where Mr Akufo-Addo will source the hundreds of millions of cedis needed to complete the project by the end of his term.
If a cathedral were to be built by Christians in the future, some of the financial support from Christians of that color would be lost due to the resignation of the (previous) clergy due to neo-Pentecostal (charismatic) persuasion. The fear of being robbed becomes a reality. Archbishop Nitsch, Bishop Doug, Reverend Otabil, and Reverend Eastwood will stand in the pulpit and plead for funds, just as the charismatics we know do fundraising and religious acrobatics. Or?
But all of the above is not so fatal to the project if God’s hand is on it. In that case, it will not be by force or force, but by the Spirit of God. God has a remnant. If the rest of the Church feels led, the Pentecostal Church with 25,694 congregations in 151 countries and a population of nearly 4 million people worldwide, the Catholic Church with over 3 million members in Ghana, Presbyterians. A denominational, Methodist or Anglican church, not to mention two populous Sisters of the Apostles, should be able to receive GHc100 a month from their congregation for a year using Nehemiah’s method.
But these statistics don’t take into account a very disturbing variable: politics. The challenge for Christians is that a significant portion of them belong to political parties whose leaders have expressed opposition to the project.
Christianity in Ghana is at the saddest stage of its existence. It is hard to believe that powerful men of God, who are known or believed to be of one word (integrity) and have moral influence, could not agree on the truth over an audit.
I also empathize with the feelings of Ghanaians. It’s tough right now. Not only that; next year, 2024, is an election year. Is that a reason to abandon the project? Communication is key. A big press conference and an explanation from the pulpit will make Ghanaians understand that we are not abandoning the cathedral project. We are only tactically retreating in order to move forward.
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