Tema, June 29, GNA - Most Reverend Emmanuel Kwaku Asante, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, has reminded ministers of the Gospel that their calling was not as a result of their spirituality or theological acumen or worthiness. Rather, he said, they should know that God, who called them, has placed them in the positions they occupied. Most Rev Asante said this at a special service at Saint Paul's Methodist Cathedral in Tema at the weekend, where he commissioned 57 ministers of the Church. Made up of 49 men and eight women, the ministers would begin three-year probation from October 1, this year. The Presiding Bishop likened the call of the probationers to that of Abraham, Father of the Jewish nation, and told them that they would be expected to move away from their "comfort zones" to wherever God would direct them. "The Methodist Ministry is an itinerant Church, and as Ministers of the Word, therefore, you should be ready to move to anywhere you are sent to," he told them.

Most Rev. Asante also cautioned: "If you are not prepared to move away from your comfort zones, then you are not worthy of your calling." He reminded them that even though their work would entail threats, estrangement, sufferings and many other problems, they were duty bound to transform their stations to attract other people. He told them that despite the numerous challenges ahead of them, God, who had called them into His vineyard, would neither forsake nor leave them. Rather, he said, God would be with them to empower, to protect and to lead them in their attempts to turn things around at their stations. Most Rev. Asante urged spouses of the ministers to always give their partners the needed support, assistance and encouragement. He said the charge their spouses had taken was theirs also. The Presiding Bishop prayed for God's strength, wisdom and understanding for the ministers to enable them to live up to expectation. Right Rev. Dr Kwaku Asamoah-Okyere, Acting Administrative Bishop of the Church, presented the probationers to the Presiding Bishop for their admission into the Ministry as ministers on trial according to the rites of dedication and commissioning. The ministers pledged to preach God's Gospel through diligence in prayers, meditation and devotion to the reading of the Holy Scriptures in order to apply them intelligently to the benefit of the congregation. 29 June 10