Rev. Prof. Enoch Immanuel Amanor Agbozo – Leader Of Enoch Missions & Ghana Evangelical Society
Reverend Professor Enoch Immanuel Amanor Agbozo popularly known as ‘Brother Agbozo’, Founder of the Ghana Evangelical Society and Enoch Mission has been nominated to receive Ghana (National) Peace Awards on October 28, 2017 at the Banquet Hall, Accra.
Rev Professor Agbozo, Founder of the Ghana Evangelical Society being nominated for Ghana Peace Awards for creating a people of good moral life that are also making others. You are the beacon of charism in Ghana and have impacted the nation Ghana over the years.
Brother Enoch is nominated together with H.E. Former president John Agyekum Kufuor,Electoral Commissioner Mrs Charlotte Kesson Smith Osei,Coach James Kwesi Appiah,Asamoah Gyan,Mrs Akosua Dentaa Amoateng MBE .
Enoch Agbozo Family,Birth, Life And Education:
Enoch Agbozo was born on the 6th October, 1933 at Nkurakan near Odumasi Krobo in the Yilo Krobo District of the Eastern Region.
His parents were Teye Bodua (his father) and Regina Dede Agbozo (his mother). He was the first child of his mother.
According to him there was a disagreement between his father‟s family members during his naming ceremony.
According to Agbozo, his mother told him that his naming ceremony became a public fury.
This was because his father had to give him his name but his grandfather had denied his father that right because he (his father) was involved in the „worship of dwarfs‟. Dwarfs are spirit beings that are not necessarily evil. They are credited with phenomenal knowledge of medicines which they can impart to people.
His grandfather, being a staunch Presbyterian, did not want such a person to name his grandson. On the other hand, the younger brother of his grandfather was not in favour of the brother‟s position and openly disagreed with him (Agbozo‟s grandfather). This resulted in a heated argument between the two brothers.
An extended family member by name Amanor was called to settle the disagreement.
This relative decided to settle the dispute by giving his name to the child. Agbozo therefore was called Enoch Amanor. He had received the name Enoch from his grandfather and the Agbozo was his father‟s family name. In African names given to children attest to the regard society has for children. This include the identification of the child with the particular society and lineage.
Education and Social Formation:
Enoch Agbozo started his education with the Basel Infant Junior School, which later became the Nkurakan Presbyterian Junior School.
The following year he was transferred to the Somanya Presbyterian Infant Junior School to continue his primary education.
He continued from Somanya Presbyterian Middle Mixed School in 1946 where he completed his primary education at Sra Presbyterian Middle School in 1946.
He was enrolled into the Presbyterian Boy‟s Secondary School at Odumasi to start his secondary school education.
According to Agbozo he was very active while in secondary school. He was involved in the school‟s football team, and also a member of the school band.
He led his school team to play matches on national holidays such as the „Empire Day‟.
He recalls the Headmaster and Catechist of the Odumasi Presbyterian Boy‟s Secondary School at the time as Mr. Ayita, a strict disciplinarian.
The combination of the role of the Headmaster and Catechist during those days was indicative of the inseparable nature of the church and education.
This is similar to the earlier days where Ghanaian western trained missionaries played dual roles.
Such key example is Philip Quarcoo who was trained as a missionary but back at home (Gold Coast) he acted as an educationist and a missionary at the same time.
Thus pupil teachers were expected to be involved in church services and activities of the school.
Agbozo was at the time very active in church. He was a chorister and at the same time read the scriptures in Sunday worship services.
In the community at the time, the level of illiteracy was high and one of the significant things done in the Sunday church services at the time was the reading of the scriptures and hymns.
Agbozo regularly read the scriptures or recited the words of the hymn for the congregation to repeat after him or otherwise as directed by the minister.
In 1961, the young Agbozo had to leave school because his mother had stroke and could no longer continue to pay his fees. He left school for Kumasi in search of a job to enable him support his sick mother financially.
He got one as an Accounts clerk with the United African Company (UAC) in Kumasi.
While in Kumasi working with UAC, his grandmother in 1962 sent a message to him that she had money to send him back to school, so he should return to Odumasi to continue his secondary education.
When he got back to Nkurakan to his surprise, his grandmother had only four (4) pounds which she felt could send him back to school.
For a typical African community, the sense of family is expressed in every facet of life as in the gesture of his grandmother.
It is not strange for any member of the family to take care of another‟s educational career or needs.
This behavior underpins and guides the social behavior and attitude among University of Ghana
individuals in the community.
Though the four pounds could not take him to school, it demonstrated love and support from the family.
Fortunately for Agbozo he had a new job as a Pupil Teacher at Nkurakan Presbyterian Middle School and did not need to go back to work for the UAC in Kumasi.
Unknown to him, the headmaster of the Presbyterian Boy‟s Secondary School had secured a government scholarship for him to continue his education.
Thus, when he came back to Nkurakan and took on the job as a Pupil Teacher, the headmaster asked him to report back to school immediately.
According to Agbozo, apart from his academic performance, which was good, he found out that he had the scholarship based on fact that the Agbozo family was highly recognized in the Presbyterian Church at the time.
For example, his uncle Teye Agbozo, was at the time a senior member in the Presbyterian Church.
Agbozo thought that he might have influenced the headmasters‟ decision regarding the scholarship.
In 1963 he went back to the Presbyterian Boy‟s school at Odumasi to continue his secondary education, and instead of continuing from form three he was taken to form four.
While in the Middle School, Agbozo took active part in church activities such as reading the scriptures during church services and reciting the words of the chosen hymns to the congregations especially those who were not literate enough to read the hymns.
When he completed his secondary education he decided to go to the College of Arts, now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), to pursue a degree in law.
His application was turned down because in the secondary school he did not do the course in Latin which was a requirement for enrolment in the Law School.
He then decided to go and do Secretarial and Administrative Studies at the University of Ghana.
He came to Accra to sit for the entrance examination.
While in Accra studying and waiting to write the entrance examination, he got a job as a Clerk with the Ministry of Trade.
Therefore, he chose to work for a while to accumulate enough funds before going to the University.
Life in the University:
Agbozo entered the University of Ghana in 1962 as a mature student at the age of 39. Prior to his admission at the University of Ghana, he had worked as a Public Officer with several years of working experience in the Government Service and also in foreign companies in Ghana like the United Africa Company and Shell Ghana Limited.
In the first year, his courses were Economics, Political Science and Africa Studies.
He recalls names like Mr. S.K. Appiah of the Institute of Economic Affairs and Mr. Selasi Mensah, a former minister during the Rawlings‟ regime as some of his mates at the University.
Agbozo‟s background as a civil servant for many years enabled him to freely associate with the lecturers who were at the time expatriate with socialist background.
In his words, „when I went to Legon, I was a senior civil servant; I had two cars; I was a big man in my own right‟. This background placed him in a position where he was able to successfully earn the respect of his colleague students and also enjoyed the confidence and friendship of some of his lecturers.
During this period, political activities were at its heights on the campuses of the various Universities, especially the University of Ghana.
It was the period when activities of opposing political party were very active.
Dr. K.A. Busia being an academic and having been a lecturer at the University of Ghana enjoyed huge support from both lecturers and students on Legon campus.
This made the University of Ghana campus one of the target areas of Nkrumah‟s political antagonism.
It raises the political conditions which make Nkrumah to become a dictator.
It was within this political climate that Agbozo rose to become the Junior Common Room (J.C.R.) President of the Legon Hall.
According to him, he was invited by the students‟ body in the hall to be the J.C.R. president though at the time the younger students disliked the fact that older students usually became the presidents of the JCR.
They had already formed a party, which was called the „Students‟ Party‟. On the ticket of the Students‟ Party he contested and won the elections to become the President of the Legon Hall in 1963 and later the secretary to the Student Representatives Council in the same year.
As the JCR president of Legon Hall, he was automatically introduced to students‟ and the National Politics at the time.
The interest of Agbozo in politics was seen in his ministry where he often invited politicians to his programmes.
According to him, his initial political affiliation was the Convention People‟s Party (CPP), which was the government in power and led by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
His political affiliation however changed due to what he described as the „arrogant and tyrannical tendencies of Nkrumah‟.
For instance, the Convention People‟s Party led by President Kwame Nkrumah had decided to invade the campuses in 1963 due to perceived subversive activities of the opposing United Party led by Dr. K. Busia on the campuses.
The invasion further deepened the antagonism between the Nkrumah regime and the students.
According to Agbozo, he was a staunch supporter of President Nkrumah while in secondary school but withdrew his support for him and the CPP in 1961.
According to Agbozo, while he was working at the Ministry of Trade, he heard a radio broadcast in which the presenter was criticizing Nkrumah.
Through this he also concluded that President Nkrumah was unpopular in the country.
He inferred from that broadcast and a series of events that Nkrumah was emerging as a dictator.
Though he was flung at Independence by Gbedemah, Kojo Botsio and others during the declaration of Independence in 1957, in 1961 within four years, he had announced the removal of both Gbedemah and Kojo Botsio from his government.
Also in 1962, at the CPP congress held in Kumasi, Kwame Nkrumah made a statement on the platform and described a group of people as „Budget Politicians‟.
He dismissed Gbedemeh as the Minister of Finance and brought in Gokah apparently because Gbedemah had raised some objections during the Budget Preparation.
Nkrumah had brought the first budget, which the opposition United Party felt was too harsh for the citizenry, and had raised objections against its use.
This led to many agitations. Nkrumah at the congress in the light of agitations said „we shall use the power of the state, the power of the government, the power of the party to chase the budget politicians to their inevitable doom‟.
This view made Nkrumah to appear as a dictator and it was one of the factors that led to his overthrow in 1966.
Agbozo felt such utterances revealed Nkrumah‟s dictatorial personality. It was Anti-parliamentary and Anti-democratic.
He therefore withdrew his support for the CPP and President Nkrumah by the time he became involved in student politics.
And this was evident in his dealings on campus. It has been suggested that, Agbozo‟s later involvement in addressing political issues as a religious leader could be attributed to his earlier involvement in student‟s politics.
Agbozo recalled that during his university days he faced several challenges and what he described as temptations but due to his strong conviction in the Christian faith he was able to overcome them.
According to him both his student colleagues and some of his professors in Economics, a course he offered at the university were amazed at his intellect and maturity especially based on the contributions he made during class discussions.
Some of his lecturers invited him for social meetings and discussions after lectures.
It must be noted that this was during the Nkrumah regime and he had brought in a lot of socialist professors, thus Agbozo was in this meeting with people who were Marxists, some of whom did not believe in the existence of the Christian God.
He recalled one Dr. Green, then a Hall Tutor of the Commonwealth Hall, as one of those in the meeting. But to the surprise of the professors at the meeting Agbozo proved himself to be a student who lived by Christian values.
Though according to him, he was not a strong religious fundamentalist during his university days, he was guided by his Christian inclinations in making moral and other decisions.
Adubofour indicates that the experience, which Agbozo describes as his personal „encounter with Christ‟ and subsequent experience of Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred in a Pentecostal prayer group.
Such prayer groups, according to Omenyo placed considerable weight on the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Agbozo stated that though he had been involved in religious activities back in elementary school, he never experienced a phenomenon he described as a „conversion experience‟.
According to him it was in a pentecostal fellowship led by Boadi in 1967 in which he had the experience of what he described as the Holy Spirit working in his heart to convert him.
After the fellowship, he developed a personal relationship with Christ through his desire to live for Christ and obey the biblical teachings.
He later developed a strong desire for evangelism and baptism of the Holy Spirit which can be described as Pentecostal.
Agbozo attributes the origin of his present Pentecostal emphasis and ethos to the experience he had in the prayer meeting organized by Boadi.
According to Larbi, fellowships like that led by Boadi contributed to the foundation of Charismatic movement in Ghana.These fellowships were non-denominational.
They have also been the training grounds for many charismatic leaders today. Typical example of a charismatic leader apart from Agbozo who has been trained at this fellowship is Mensah Otabil, the founder and leader of International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).
The 30/70 anniversary was a commemoration of 30 years in ministry and 70th birthday of Rev. Agbozo
At a time there were sub-groups or clubs in the schools and prior to his absence, he had been a member of the Debater‟s Club where he developed his eloquence.
He also joined the Evangelical Outreach Club and as part of the activities of the Club; they went out of the school on Sundays to preach in the nearby villages.
He later became the secretary of the Club, a position he held until he completed form five (5).
The experience which Agbozo recalls as an indication of the call into full time ministry happened when he was chosen as a representative of the school and the Evangelical Club to attend a Youth Conference at the Achimota School organized by the Training Colleges and Secondary Schools in the country.
Each school was supposed to select two participants as representatives. He felt that God was preparing him for something great.
Agbozo recounted another experience during an anniversary143 speech as a final Call and Mission Charter of Ministry in the followings words; „May I mention in this respects that when the Lord called me, He called me as a Moses for the country.
This, by definition, places the Mission for the redemption of Ghana and leading nation and people to the Promised-land and being the future of God‟s chosen nation and people holy unto God squarely on my shoulders‟.
It is this sense of responsibility to lead the country from what he called satanic domination to the liberty in Christ that motivated the various activities embarked upon by Agbozo and the GES that he founded.
The organization that epitomized the ministry of Agbozo and which formed the umbrella organization under which all his religious, social and prophetic activities took place is the Ghana Evangelical Society (G.E.S).
It is a non-denominational Christian organization or fellowship located in Accra. This was the ministry he initiated in April 1973 at the Labone Secondary School in Accra with five (5) people as a non-denominational evangelical fellowship.
For a period of one year the group met regular for prayers. Prior to this, he had served in the Apostolic Church at Bubusahie in Accra for a while as the Church Secretary.
According to Agbozo the formation of the G.E.S. was prophesized while he was serving in the Apostolic Church for which he was duly prayed for, before the entire church, by the leadership of the church.
The eventual formation of the small prayer group at Labone in 1973 was to serve as the nucleus that committed themselves to prayer for the realization of the mandate of the G.E.S.
On 30th October, 1977 at the Liberation Circle, the G.E.S. was formerly inaugurated as a non-denomination Pentecostal Fellowship, dedicated to the service of God and Humanity.
The inaugural address of Agbozo during the formal inauguration set off the tone for the scope of the operations of G.E.S.
The G.E.S was to consider itself as a chosen group by God to redeem the country from what was termed as „the bondage of sin and death, from the power of Satan and forces of evil into the Light, Liberty and Love and Life in Christ Jesus‟.
The G.E.S was to be God‟s instrument to establish Ghana as „God‟s Kingdom Glory, as the Redeemed of the Lord, Beulah Land, God Kingdom Glory State and Star of Africa‟.
Thus Agbozo considered himself as the „Moses‟ and he used the G.E.S as the vehicle to realize a mission which he considered as divine.
As a characteristic feature of Charismatics, he put much emphasis on the existence of evil spirits and Satan as opposing the God and Holy Spirit and this creates constant battle between Satan and God.
This was the pre occupation of Agbozo hence the vision of the G.E.S was in line with this belief. The vision of the G.E.S is generally expressed in the following statements;
Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements.
1. The Evangelization of Ghana, Africa and the World.
2. The Revival and Unity of the Church.
3. The Rebuilding of the broken walls of Ghana. Spiritual and social transformation of the society.
Agbozo thus, viewed Ghana as a country that needed revitalization of its systems.
To him, as the prophet Nehemiah repaired and reformed society (Judah) at his time so Agbozo, comparing himself with the prophet Nehemiah, sought to do the same for Ghana.
He perceived Ghana as not in line with God‟s standard but as a country with a „broken wall‟ that needed to be restored.
Agbozo used several biblical and Christian images in describing his quest.
Some of them include „Ghana/Africa for Christ, the world for God, Ghana as a new church, a new people, Tribe and Nation for Christ‟, „Ghana/Africa free‟, „The Kingdom of God as social reality on Earth – Peace Righteousness, Justice, Equity and Joy, one God for all Nations; Jesus Christ for church and Nations‟, „Presenting Jesus Christ back to the church‟.
Though Agboso did not give detailed and concrete explanations to these images his frequent use of them made the G.E.S a fundamentalist in orientation, seeking to create a Christian-centered society for all without a consideration of the variations in religious institutions or the pluralistic nature of Ghana.
As typical of many charismatic churches, the awareness of the reality of the existence of evil features prominently in their theology150 As such Agbozo with the G.E.S sought to create a new people and a new nation free from physical and spiritual evil.
This to Agbozo would be realized through what he described as the „redemptive‟ activity of the G.E.S, which was captioned „Ghana Redemption Mission‟.
Agbozo strongly believed that the Ghana Redemption Mission was a necessity.
He said this due to what he referred to as the free reign of satanic and idolatrous forces, anti-Christ and anti-church philosophies, traditional religion and culture and the re-direction of the nation and people via the pervading philosophical, political and ideologies of the era such as Marxism-Leninism, socialism, Humanism and Nkrumaism.
According to Agbozo, during the leadership of Nkrumah the church was not just marginalized but it also came under political and religious captivity.
One can deduce from the above view of Agboso that he clearly disliked Nkrumah‟s leadership and all that he stood for as the president of Ghana and the leader of the Convention People‟s Party.
Thus, though Nkrumah and the CPP were not in governance at the height of Agbozo‟s evangelistic ministry he was preoccupied with getting rid of Nkrumah‟s political and social philosophies.
This was one of the main bases for his quest to save and redeem Ghana from satanic forces.
One may be right in concluding that Agbozo‟s strong aversion for the Socialist and Marxist‟s ideologies was an indication that through his evangelical ministry he was pushing capitalism as an economic model which also has its pros and cons for Ghana.
This clearly indicates the complexity of Agboso‟s evangelistic ministry through the activities of the GES.
The G.E.S is a bunch of various forms of activities geared towards the realization of its vision and mission as stated above. The following are some of the major programmes of the society:
Rebuilding the Broken Walls of Ghana
The name for the above programme was borrowed from the biblical story of Nehemiah and his mission to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem.
As has been stated earlier Agbozo compared the biblical story to Ghana‟s situation hence the G.E.S. was established to „rebuild the broken walls of Ghana‟.
Agbozo perceived the political, social and economic situations from the Nkrumah‟ era through the military regimes of 1966 and 1972 as making Ghana an insecure country figuratively, with „broken walls.‟
He also considered the rebuilding of „Ghana broken walls‟ the divine mission of the G.E.S. The scope of rebuilding included cultural transformation, social righteousness and the evangelization of Ghana among others.
The Kingdom of God Crusades:
The Evangelistic Mission dubbed „The Kingdom of God Crusades‟ was meant to undertake vigorous crusades to towns and villages by the preaching of the word.
These evangelistic activities became fundamental to the operations of the G.E.S. One of the beliefs in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit among evangelical Christians is that after one receives the Holy Spirit, one develops the desire to share the word of God with others and this leads to evangelism.
The society, with this belief, engaged in rural and urban evangelism in various forms, under various titles.
The message for these crusades was the Evangelical Pentecostal message of „ye must be born again and be baptized in the Holy Spirit‟153.
Adubofour records that the first crusades of the society outside Accra were in 1978, at Kwahu Abetifi. Kwahu is described by the society as associated with the activities of witchcraft, thus the choice of Kwahu by the society was to destroy the power of witchcraft in that area.
The Kwahu crusade marked the beginning of series of countrywide crusades involving spiritual warfare against alleged witches.
Agbozo, however, indicated that the concept of the Kingdom of God Crusades became intense in 1984 when G.E.S. converted its Easter convention into a special Easter Evangelistic and Revival Mission to town and cities outside Accra beginning from Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital.
The concept, which was later, dubbed „Operation Rural Electrification‟ in which young people in pairs were given a destination to go, starting form Accra in a modern day missionary journey with only food and little funds.
These young people were expected to preach in every town and village en route to the designated destination and back.
The message on this crusade was „repent and be born again and be baptized in the Holy Spirit‟.
According to Agbozo the message was to help break the chains of nominalism, syncretism, occultism and spiritism.
The ultimate aim is to liberate people from vices and to set the believers on „fire‟, that is, make the believers spiritually alert and strong.
The National Holy Spirit Conference:
The National Holy Spirit Conference was initiated by the society in 1984. It is basically, an annual Pentecostal Convention which lasted between four and seven days.
The programme, which comprises mainly lectures, seminars and worship focused on the significance of the Holy Spirit in the Christian ministry and the life of the believer.
The participants engaged in prayers and sometimes fasting. These activities were aimed at stimulating their Pentecostal experiences.
In 1985, under the general theme „The Holy Spirit in Action‟, the conference addressed issues such as:
i. The Holy Spirit: His Person and Ministry
ii. The Holy Spirit and the fivefold Ministry.
The conference, which was complemented by evangelistic activities concentrated on the issue of „Power in service‟.
According to Agbozo, the conference was well attended and the huge participation was due to the renewed interest of Christians in the concepts of „power‟ which was associated with the Pentecostal/Charismatic resurgence in the 1980.
The conference, which was held once every year, was associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
According to Agbozo, in the 1985 conference the Holy Spirit authenticated his presence with spectacular experiences of power; „The speaker who had mounted the platform to speak on „ye shall be endued with power‟, had no need to speak.
The Holy Spirit Himself gave a physical demonstration of the endowment with power as He „slayed‟ down many, filled many, caused many hearts and mouth to cry out loud under deep conviction of his presence and raised many to higher threshold of power and spiritual experience.
Adubofour records that the 1986 conference, which was described as „noteworthy‟ by Agbozo had a large concentration of Christian from various churches and was graced with the presence of Mrs. Aana Enin, then a civilian member of the Provisional National Defense Council, led by Jerry John Rawlings.159 The nature of the participant, coming from various denominations emphasizes the fact that the G.E.S. is non-denominational.
The West African Holy Spirit Conference (WAHSCON)
The idea of a West African Holy Spirit Conference (WAHSCON) was conceived by Agbozo in 1988 to serve as a public forum to equip and challenge Christians and confront issues relating to the Christian mission in West Africa.
Unlike the National Holy Spirit Conference, the WAHSCON presents a more academic platform for discussing religious themes. According to Adubofour „the Pentecostal identity of the West African Holy Spirit Conference is derived from the belief in the Holy Spirit as the name may suggest‟.
The conference aims at exploring issues of Christian interest ranging from religion to politics. This is due to the fact that these two fields are inseparable.
The Agenda for these conferences is determined by Agbozo‟s programme sheet for WAHSCON in 1988 which covered such broad issues as the Church and the Christian faith, the Church and the Spirit world, the Church and the religious world, political and economic, as well as the socio-cultural world.
These issues underscore the programmes in the Christian faith in a pluralistic religious context and the relation of the church and the political, economic and the socio-cultural milieu.
The aim was to make the Christian faith wholistic but not to delineate it from other systems of society.
It also acknowledged the interrelations between the religious faith and other systems.
The Religious Music Festival (RMF) Part of the G.E.S mission of social transformation is the pursuit of cultural transformation.
This is based on the assumption that some elements of the Ghanaian culture traditional music can be appropriated for Christian worship.
This is the basic philosophy behind the annual Religious Music Festival of G.E.S. The traditional notion and attitude among Ghanaian Christian is to shy away from the use of traditional drums and musical instruments because it is considered to be associated with traditional worship and the traditional cults.
This was due to the attitudes of the earlier missionaries towards African culture. Many of the orthodox churches at the time eschewed anything believed to be associated with the indigenous religion.
The attempt was to separate the African from his identity so as to embrace the western form of Christianity.
This method made many of the African Christians view their own traditional musical instruments as „devilish‟ and this made to embrace western musical instruments.
This attitude led to the churches adopting western musical instruments in their church services especially the Charismatic Churches.
The festival, which was initiated in 1978, had the objective to promote a healthy transformation of Ghana‟s cultural and musical heritage into the worship and service to God.
To allow for the participation of non-Christian groups, the events were dubbed “Religious Festival” and not “Christian”.
The festival first took place at Labone in Accra and the participating groups included the Wulomei.
The position of Agbozo was that the Wulomei could produce music for Christian worship.
This position raised a lot of agitations within the Christian community and in G.E.S. Some of the leaders of G.E.S. disagreed with Agbozo on the issue. In 1985, the festival was held in Kumasi at the National Cultural Centre, in an effort to give it a national outlook.
The festival attracted cultural groups from Brong Ahafo, and various church choirs. The G.E.S. as a way of demonstrating its belief in the use of cultural musical instruments adopted the use of the Atumpan drums for use in church services.
163 This is an attempt to indigenize Christianity or make Christianity appealing to the African traditional religion.
Christian Movement for Social Reformation (CMSR):
This was formed to address issues of social concern. What led to the formation of the CMSR was the socio-economic crisis associated with the drought and the repatriation of a million Ghanaian from Nigeria in 1983/84.
This brought to the fore the issue of evangelical social action and responsibility.
The Leadership of the G.E.S felt the need to bring the church to an awareness of its responsibilities towards the transformation of society through the CMSR.
The Christian Movement for Social Reformation was launched in 1984. As part of this awareness creation, Public Lectures and Symposia aimed at generating Christian awareness on economic and socio-political issues affecting the Nation were discussed.
The first of such symposia was organized in December 1985. The Topic was „Factors Responsible for high Transport Costs and the Effect on the Economy‟.
This was followed by a Public Lecture by Agbozo in 1986. The Topic was „The Revolution, The Church and the People‟.
This was a reflection of the political revolution in terms of the military rules from the time of independence.
This ideology according to Asamoah-Gyadu is reminiscence of the political revolutions.
According to Adubofour a subsequent CMSR programme engaged Muslim and Christian speakers and were significant in projecting matters of common interest in Christian-Muslim relation in Ghana.
It also reflects the need for meaningful inter-faith dialogue for peaceful religious co-existence and practice.
In 1987 Agbozo undertook a CMSR mission to the Universities and Institutions of higher learning in the country.
It was Agbozo‟s conviction that critical to the whole issue of social transformation and the ultimate goal of making Ghana a nation of God‟s people is responsible and dynamic leadership.
The theme for the lecture was „Thy Kingdom Come.‟
According to Agbozo the aim was to manage a critical analysis of relationships between God, Man and Society, laying a basis for sound Christian Leadership.
He argues that worldly philosophies of social organization, materialism and technology have failed to produce the harmonious earth that was once proclaimed. Thus, he presents the Bible as the means to a harmonious, peaceful and prosperous society.
This is a reflection of how the Bible plays central role in the religious lives of the Pentecostal. As such they are at times described as bible-carriers not necessarily because they carry Bible around but interpret the Bible to address every social phenomena.
Polity and Organization of G.E.S.
The G.E.S., like most of the non-denominational organizations of the time is governed by a simple leadership structure. Unlike the historic churches that have a well- developed and well- structured system of leadership, the GES is governed by its Executive Council (EC) which is headed by Rev. Agbozo. All decisions concerning the
operations of G.E.S. are made by the EC and communicated to the various heads of the many divisions such as the Evangelism or Music divisions for implementation. It must however be stated that due to the religious authority wielded by Rev. Agbozo and the heavy reliance on prophecy, most of the decisions on the nature of activities to be embarked upon were made by him. Sometimes decisions were arrived at by resorting to the interpretations of his prophecies. The E.C. only helped with the modalities of the implementation of what he had decided on. His authoritative leadership style made it possible for him to be accused, especially by members of the E.C., of being autocratic. If the members of the E.C. disagreed with him he arbitrarily dissolved the council and appointed his favourites167 especially those who did not question his decisions.
The House of Worship
The Ghana Evangelical Society since its inception in 1973 has operated mainly as a non-denominational Pentecostal fellowship. However, Agbozo asserted that in 1979 by divine direction, he started the House of Worship as a model church. According to Agbozo the House of Worship was to serve as a model for the worship of God. However, some of the members of G.E.S. did not accept his reasons for setting up the House of Worship because they saw it as a plan of constituting the GES into a local church and eventually taking them from their churches to join his. Consequently, some of the members who already belonged to other churches disassociated themselves from the G.E.S.
The Contribution of G.E.S. to Charismatic movement in Ghana:
Like the YAFCA, the Ghana Evangelical Society has contributed immensely to Ghana‟s charismatic movement especially in raising Christian leaders who are now well known in the Charismatic circles.
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams who is one of the pioneers in the Charismatic movement in Ghana and also known as „the Apostle of Strategic Prayer and Warfare‟, attests to the fact that his association with Agbozo was one of the major influence in his prayer ministry.
The Archbishop has on many occasions eulogized the influence and impact of the ministry of Rev. Agbozo on his life and ministry. According to the Archbishop, his concern on political and economic issues in the country is an influence from Rev. Agbozo.
Like Agbozo he also invites top political figures to his programmes and boldly speaks his mind on social and political issues. He is the general overseer of the Christian Action Faith International, the first Charismatic Church in Ghana.
The founder and leader of Perez Chapel, Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare, were among a group of youngsters Rev. Agbozo who recruited to tour the country and organize prayers and crusades under what was known as “Operation Redeeming the Land”.
It is interesting to note that Bishop Agyin-Asare picked up the habit of organizing prayers and crusades from his mentor Agbozo and since then he has been noted as a man of crusades around the country.
He believes that the influence of Agbozo on his life and ministry is strong.
Rev. Agbozo did not only influence people who became leaders in the Charismatic circles but also in the mainline churches.
A typical example of such is Rev. Dr. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana who is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana.
He stated that his association with Rev. Agbozo has greatly influenced him. In his own words he stated that „I remember, Bro. Agbozo, our days of prayer and fellowship at Apra House.
He was a very zealous and dynamic brother.‟ These persons mentioned above are only a sample of evangelical Christian leaders who have testified to the influence of Rev. Agbozo‟s ministry in their own ministry.
Conclusion:
The above chapter discussed the life of Rev. Enoch Agbozo, the activities of G.E.S. and the contributions of G.E.S. to the evangelical and charismatic movements in Ghana.
It also discussed the formation of the G.E.S which was Agbozo‟s instrument in carrying out his ministry. The religious activities of G.E.S. led to significant impact on the lives and ministries of some contemporary Charismatic leaders.
Similarly, Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare, leader and General Overseer of the Perez Chapel and Rev. Collins Asante, a senior minister of the same church and Principal of the Word Miracle Ministerial College, are classic examples of leaders who developed their leadership talents through the evangelical fellowships.
According to Rev. Asante, in an interview with the researcher, the G.E.S. was the training ground for the leadership roles that they find themselves in today.
The G.E.S. was therefore the crucible in which their present leadership roles in Ghanaian charismatic Christianity were formed.
Source: GhanaChurch.com – Churches in Ghana News Portal
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