Religion of Tuesday, 12 January 2016

Source: GNA

Queen Elizabeth honours Archbishop Frimpong Manson

Archbishop Kwaku Frimpong Manson, a United Kingdom based Ghanaian community leader, was among recipients who were awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) by the Queen of England.

The British Empire Medal (formally British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British medal awarded for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown.

The current honour was created in 1922 to replace the original medal which had been established in 1917 as part of the Order of the British Empire.

Archbishop Frimpong Manson, Archbishop of the Apostolic Congress of Great Britain, received the British Empire Medal (BEM) for service to the community of Tottenham, London.

A brief profile obtained by the Ghana News Agency indicates that Archbishop Frimpong-Manson is the founder and director of Reconciliation International.

He has been working in the Broadwater Farm (Tottenham) neighbourhood securing better social, health, education and economic well-being for a community embracing over 40 nationalities.

His dedication, commitment and service to youth since 1987 have been well-documented and appreciated.

Highly respected and admired, his personal conviction is to transform the message of the gospel ‘to reach out to the community in a practical way to show the real strength of our Christian faith’. This, he is achieving on a daily basis.

He has been in Ministry for 25 years and carved a niche for himself as a consummate community leader, consulted by the police as well as other organisations on matters relating to the youth and community affairs.

Archbishop Frimpong Manson a native of Wiamoase in the Ashanti Region, arrived in the UK in 1987, set up the Born-Again Evangelical Ministries which became a charity in 1994 and was renamed Reconciliation International.

He moved to the Broadwater Farm Estates in Tottenham in 1991 and became the Chairperson of the Estate in 1994, serving in this capacity until 2009.

In 2002, he was ordained as a Bishop, becoming a “freestanding” Archbishop ten years later in 2012 when he was elevated.

Archbishop Frimpong Manson worked with then MP for Tottenham, Bernie Grant, and David Lammy, and other leaders of the Ghanaian and Afro-Caribbean UK community, and has helped to improve relations between police and the youth living on the BWF Estate.

Archbishop Frimpong Manson carries out his many responsibilities from his busy offices based at the Broadwater Farm Estates, providing services including Bereavement Counselling, Youth engagement, Police liaison, Pastoral care for Mental Health Services and many more, sometimes with very limited resources as funding is the biggest challenge for the organisation.

He is married to Mrs Philipina Nana Yaa Frimpong Manson with whom he has five children.

Reconciliation International is a Community Based Charity providing invaluable support to the Ghanaian and Afro-Caribbean Community in the UK.

It was founded by Archbishop Frimpong Manson, who has been instrumental in transforming the Broadwater Farm Estates in Tottenham.