REPORT ON THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA (PCG) AND THE PROTESTANT (LUTHERAN) CHURCH IN AUSTRIA (EKiÖ) 2008

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1 REPORT ON THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA (PCG) AND THE PROTESTANT (LUTHERAN) CHURCH IN AUSTRIA (EKiÖ) 2008 Thank God I have another opportunity to present my report for the year I am also grateful to God for the good working relationship we have enjoyed with all the stake holders in our partnership. The report will review activities of the Ghanaian Methodist/Presbyterian congregation; Activities at the Evangelische Arbeitskreis fur Weltmission (EAWM); activities with some of the Austrian Congregations; support to some projects in Ghana, and some personal observations and comments; and some notable events. GAHANAIAN CONGREGATION The Presbyterian/Methodists congregation at the beginning of the year reviewed its activities and decided to meet two times in the month. The first Sunday of the month was scheduled for Church service and Holy Communion and the third Sunday for Bible studies. This went on very well. An attempt to meet every Sunday as a church could not materialize, but I hope we will be able to meet every Sunday if we call ourselves a full fledged church. Elders The following are the Elders of the Church: 1. Rev. Timothy Ernest Annoh - Minister Telephone number: Agnes Aziahomey - President Stephen Opoku Takyi - Vice President John Ampia-Addison - Secretary Nana Oppong Appraku - Asst. Secretary Seth Koranteng - Treasurer James Cobbina - Asst. Treasurer The Address of the Congregation is as follows: Ghana Protestant Congregation Braunhubergasse 20 A-1110 Wien Telephone: Children We have about seven children in the congregation. A separate service is always organized by Mrs. Comfort Annoh whenever we have church service for the Children. The children have always demonstrated what they learnt perfectly to the adult congregation each time they meet. They are doing very well. The first infant baptism was held on Christmas Day for the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Ampia- Addison. Youth The youth in the congregation are students whom we miss during school sessions. They have always been active in the church as they help in reading the bible and leading songs of praise during worship. 1

2 Revival In the first quarter of the year, we had a three-day revival meeting on the theme: God will surely visit you. Attendance was not very encouraging but it had the needed spiritual impact on those who availed themselves. Prayer meeting We continued to meet every Thursday for Bible studies from 19:00 to 20:00. Attendance to this programme too was encouraging. The Lord has been faithful in answering our request and petitions. Membership The membership of the congregation has not been stable. So far we have had many people visiting but they have not officially registered with the congregation. Our average attendance of church service is 25 members. We were privileged to have two visits form Rev. Dr. S. Ayete-Nyampong, one in July and the other in October Even though all the visits had been short and not falling on Sunday, the members had made time to interact with him. He took time to brief the congregation on events in Ghana and other parts of Africa. It was a very helpful interaction. His visits have been occasioned by a discussion on the need to review and restructure the Ecumenical partnership between the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and The Protestant Church in Austria. EAWM ACTIVITIES I continued to serve on the board of EAWM during the course of the year. With that I was privileged to participate in all board meetings and the Annual General council of Mission 21, which was held in Basel from June 21-24, We had the opportunity to meet many fraternal workers who had taken part in missionary work in Ghana and other parts of Africa and other parts of the world. The Missions fest of EAWM was held from 4-5 October in Lutheran Church in Am Tabor, under the theme, That they all may be one. Activities and programmes were dedicated to Ghana. It was a time for reunion, cultural exchange and self-expression. Strategies were adopted for the coming year. The programme was also attended by the Ghana Minstrel Choir. Departure of Gottfried Mernyi During the year Mr. Gottfried Mernyi who had served EAWM for seventeen years resigned. His successor will begin work in February

3 ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER GROUPS AND CONGREGATIONS OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AUSTRIA Induction The year started with Dr. Michael Bünker being inducted as the new bishop of the Evangelische Kirche in Österreich A.B. and Mag. Karl Schiefermair was also inducted into office as the Ecumenical Relations officer and also in charge of Schools. During the year my family and I visited a number of Lutheran congregations in Krems, Graz, and Salzburg. Our activities in these congregations included; exhibition of Ghanaian artefacts and pictures of places of historical importance. We also shared with our audience the cultural and religious life of the people of Ghana. Mrs. Comfort Annoh had the privilege to demonstrate how to cook various Ghanaian dishes. In May we participated in Gustav Adolf fest in Rust. An amount of 2.693,96 was raised in support of the Kindergarten project in Asakraka. I was a part of a programme organized by the Pastors Association in Mistelbach in remembrance of the Jews who were killed during the war. We visited some sites where these incidents occurred and saw monuments raised in honour of these fallen heroes. The pastor s association had their annual retreat at Weissensee in the fall from th September Another interesting activity was the participation of Confirmation lessons with candidates in Simmering. I had the chance to encourage the young people to be serious with their studies and make God the pivot during their formative years. Observation It was observed in all the congregations we visited that the youth were not in Church. It is only the old ladies and a few old men who keep the daily activities of the church going. This creates a dark future for the Church. This is in sharp contrast to the time when the youth were at fore front of missionary activities to Africa and other parts of the world. It will be recalled that the oldest of the missionaries who came to the then Gold Coast in the 18 th Century was 22 years and the loss of such enthusiastic youth in the Church is very worrying. Discussions we had with the confirmands who were being given lessons indicated that the adult service was boring and not planned with their interest and involvement. 3

4 May I therefore take the opportunity to suggest the following: - That a separate service is organized every Sunday for both children and youth. The planning should be done with the active participation of the youth. - Once a month there should be a family worship where parents, children and youth worship together with the youth leading in music. - After confirmation all the young ones in the dioceses may be brought together for fellowship, where they could plan activities of interest and the word of God taught to them. - Once a year there should be bible quiz competition among students and those who excel awarded. The church should seriously find solution to the situation where the youth come back to the church only when they are wedding, baptizing their children or coming for confirmation. This is very important because the youth are the future of our congregations. NOTABLE EVENTS a. Dr. Michael Bünker was inducted as the new bishop of the Lutheran Church in Austria b. Mag. Karl Schiefermair was also inducted into office as the Ecumenical Relations officer of the Church. c. Rev. Dr. Samuel Ayete-Nyampong paid a working visit to Austria. d. Mr. Gottfried Mernyi resigned from EAWM after seventeen years of service. e. An amount of 3.189,69 was donated in support of Kindergarten in Asakraka. f. The pastors Association of Austria continued to support Abokobi women s centre on the Programmes for retired ministers of the PCG. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & CONCLUSION I thank God for giving me the opportunity within the ecumenical fellowship to explore the richness of the Gospel in a setting very different from my own. This is helping to restore the distorted image of Africa that may already exist in these communities and to advance and strengthen Christian understanding of people of other living faiths and ideologies. It is my belief that God calls men, women and children from every place together, rich and poor, to uphold the unity of the Church and its mission, so that the reconciliation to which Christ has called us could be visible in our world. It is my prayer that this partnership which is based on equality, mutuality, solidarity and unity will foster our interdependency rather than relationship that create dependency, and domination. Let us all continue to co-operate with commitment to our set goals. On behalf of my family I wish you successful New Year. Submitted by Rev Timothy Ernest Annoh 4

5 Distribution 1. The Director Ecumenical and Social Relations PCG, Accra 2. The Clerk of General Assembly, PCG- Accra 3. The Moderator of General Assembly, PCG- Accra 4. The Bishop, Protestant Church in Austria 5. The President of Synod, Protestant Church in Austria 6. The Superintendent, Diocese of Vienna 7. Members of the EAWM-Executive Board 8. The Minister-in Charge Protestant Church, Braunhubergasse 20, A-1110 Wien 9. The Senior Presbyter Ghanaian Congregation Braunhubergasse 20, A-1110 Wien 5