The Methodist Church Ghana has kicked against the approval of same-sex marriage by the Methodist Church in Britain.
On Wednesday, 3 July 2019, members at a Methodist Conference in Birmingham, United Kingdom, voted in favour of a policy that could lead to the church embracing same-sex unions.
The motion, which was passed by 247 votes against 48, agrees, in principle, to the marriage of same-sex couples on Methodist premises.
However, the vote does not automatically mean same-sex weddings are permitted, since a proposal was made to vote on a second time at a conference in July 2020.
The Methodist Church is the UK’s fourth-largest Christian denomination, with around 180,000 members.
Reacting to this at a press conference in Accra on Friday, 19 July 2019, the Methodist Church Ghana said it is an autonomous church and homosexuality is against its biblical principles and core values.
The Methodist Church Ghana, therefore, said the decisions of the Methodist Church in Britain have no binding effect and influence on the church in Ghana.
The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Most. Rev. Dr. Paul K. Boafo, who addressed the press, said the church in Ghana has not amended its principles that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
He said: “The Methodist Church Ghana is an autonomous conference with its own leadership. We have been independent of the British Methodist church conference since 1961. However, historically, we’ve maintained the working relationship with the British conference as the mother church that gave birth to the Methodist Church Ghana.
“It is for that reason that the Methodist Church Ghana and that of the British participate in each other’s conferences and other activities. We share this heritage with the Methodist churches in other parts of West Africa including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Benin and several others. This historical relationship notwithstanding, being an autonomous conference means that the Methodist Church Ghana is not bound by the decisions of the British nor any other conference anywhere. We are very aware of our Wesleyan heritage and what it entails and as an autonomous conference we resolve to defend tenaciously the biblical faith that was once delivered unto the saints, especially as it affects all areas of human life and our relationship with God in Christ Jesus.”
Dr Boafo said the Methodist Church Ghana “does not hate homosexuals but we do not believe that it is possible to opt for that lifestyle and be Christian according to the teachings of the Bible.”
“On that note, I wish to assure the people called Methodists and by extension all other members of the body of Christ that the Methodist Church Ghana remains unashamedly a church that believes in the authority of the Bible. We stand on the Wesleyan teaching on scriptural holiness. We believe that marriage is ordained by God and as our liturgy on weddings declares, it is not to be thought of likely or savagely but in the fear and love of God. The Methodist Church Ghana has not amended her position on marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman and neither do we permit co-habitation by unmarried couples nor encourage divorce by Christians. That is what we believe and that is what we ask our ministers, our lay preachers, evangelists and other church agents to preach and hold on to…
“Same-sex relations are neither supported by biblical teachings nor can the Bible’s position be revised to support it. The Methodist Church Ghana rejects any revisionist interpretations of the Bible that seek to make same-sex relationships permissible…”
Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com/91.3FM