A new church building for the St Augustine’s Anglican at Bonkrong under the Asante Mampong Anglican Diocese of the Church of Province of West Africa has been dedicated to the glory of God.
The project was funded by the Chairman of Justmoh Group of Companies, Dr Justice Amoh to give the Anglican Community a befitting place to worship God. This follows an appeal by the church for a bigger space to accommodate the ever-increasing congregants and the subsequent elevation of the church to the status of a Parish in April 2012.
The Most Reverend Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Asante Mampong who dedicated the church building in his homily said, “this should be a place where the Gospel of salvation shall be shared through the ministry of God’s word and where Christian lives shall be developed toward spiritual maturity through Christian fellowship.
He urged the congregants not to only awed by the beauty of the church and the facilities in it. “Rather, focus on impact of the various activities that will take place here and how it will improve lives as Christians”.
The Most Reverend Ben Smith reminded Christians of their role as agents of change and stressed the need to let all their endeavours glorify the Almighty God. He commended Dr. Justice Amoh and his family for keeping with the church and showing commitment to the seed he sowed for a new church.
Justice Amoh
The Chairman of the Justmoh Group of Companies, Mr. Justice Amoh said he takes inspiration from Nehemiah who mobilized the people to rebuild Jerusalem. “I see myself as Nehemiah who has led his family to contribute to the church building to serve God and I give all the glory to God for the realization of this project”. According to him, “during my interactions with my late in-law, it came across that he desired a spacious church building where the people could worship and there and saw it as befitting legacy for the late Attakora Yeboah. “My humble appeal to the church and the diocese of Asante Mampong is to put in an effective maintenance culture to ensure the preservation and longevity of this great edifice.
History of the Church
The seed for the St Augustine’s Anglican Church was sowed in 1905 by a group of nuns from St Monica Convent, Mampong who during an outreach at Bonkrong were rendering various services to the farming community such as basic healthcare. They had some converts and decided to establish the Church – the English Church Mission with Opanyin Kofi Nyame, Opanyin Kofi Kuma, Opanyin Yaw Mensah, Opanyin Kwakye, Opanyin Atakora Yeboah, Opanyin Paul Kobina, Madam Yaa Mposua and Nana Abraham Aboagye ( the Chief). A parcel of land was released by the Chief for a church building (mud house) and named after St Augustine. The mud building gave way to cement during the tenure of the then Reverend Father Daniel Yinkah Safo. The challenge of space was an issues and plans were set in motion for the construction of a bigger church.
Seed for new church
It was however during the funeral thanksgiving service of one of the pioneers of the St Augustine’s Anglican Church, Mr Emmanuel Attakora Yeboah, who is the father in-law of Mr Justice Amoh, that he pledged and sowed the seed to build a modern church in honour of his father in-law. The foundation stone was laid on June 11, 2017 and the fully furnished church completed this year.
