Kwabena Opuni Frimpong | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Ghanaian |
Academic background | |
Education | |
Thesis | Theological Construction of Akan Chieftaincy In Contemporary Ghana: Perspectives on Christian Leadership |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Study of religions |
Institutions | |
Ecclesiastical career | |
Church | Presbyterian Church of Ghana |
Offices held | General Secretary,Christian Council of Ghana |
Kwabena Opuni Frimpong is a Ghanaian academic and Presbyterian minister who served as the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG),equivalent to the chief executive officer of the ecumenical organisation. [1] [2] He is also a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). [1] [3]
An ethnic Asante native,Kwabena Opuni Frimpong received a diploma in theology from the Trinity Theological Seminary,Legon. [1] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and the study of religions at the University of Ghana,Legon. [1] He studied for his master of theology,concentrating in Christian education at the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond,Virginia,where he wrote his thesis on "The relevance of Paulo Freire’s humanization education theory on the youth ministry of the Presbyterian church of Ghana" [1] He was awarded a joint PhD in African Christianity by the University of Natal,Pietermaritzburg in South Africa and Akrofi-Christaller Institute in Akropong,Ghana,and wrote his doctoral dissertation on "Theological Construction of Akan Chieftaincy In Contemporary Ghana:Perspectives on Christian Leadership." [1]
Opuni Frimpong was commissioned a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) in 1991 and ordained in 1993. He has served as a church minister at the following stations:the Christ Presbyterian Church,Akropong,Trinity Congregation Kwashieman,Christ Congregation Darkuman,Nantomah Memorial Congregation Kanda,Covenant Congregation Dzorwulu,Ascension Congregation North Legon,Christ Congregation KNUST Kumasi,Oforikrom Congregation Kumasi,and Trinity Congregation Kutunse. [1]
He was also the General Youth Secretary of the Presbyterian church and coordinated the student and youth ministry. In this role,he was a member the Synod Committee and Synod Committee Executive Committee. He was a member of the following committees National Christian Education Committee,National Worship Committee and the Project Manager of the HIV/AIDS Project,an initiative started by the Presbyterian church. [1] He was the General Secretary of the National Ministers’Conference. An advocate of interfaith dialogue,he served as Travelling Secretary of Scripture Union in the Ashanti Akim Area and later,the National Executive Committee of the Scripture Union Ghana. [1]
Opuni Frimpong was elected the Presbytery Chairperson of the Asante Presbytery in charge of 51 Districts,776 churches,124 pastors and 113,680 congregants. He officiated at the consecration ceremonies of church agents and catechists. [1] Under his leadership in the Asante Presbytery,the district count increased from 29 to 51. The Asante South and the Sefwi Presbyteries were carved out of the Asante Presbytery during his tenure. [1]
As chairperson,the Presbytery's Bookshop and Sales Depot,Guest House were refurbished. A new secondary school,the Pakyi Presbyterian Senior High School and a medical clinic,the Mesewam Presbyterian Clinic were also built. He initiated the "Mission to the Palace" program which was an evangelism effort targeting traditional rulers and royal courtiers in the palaces. [1]
He was appointed the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG),founded on 29 October 1929. He oversaw operations and supervised 41 employees. The CCG has 31 independent churches under its membership. [1] At the CCG,he partnered with several international development organisations,Bread for the World,Christian Aid,UNDP,WHO,UNICEF,UNFPA,DANIDA,UNHCR. [1] In addition,his areas of advocacy include HIV/AIDS,governance,human rights,elections,violence against women,ecumenical relation,migration and child trafficking. [1]
Since 2005,he has been a lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies at the KNUST. [1] At the university,he has served on a few statutory boards such as the University Academic Board,College of Art and Social Sciences Board,Faculty of Social Sciences Board,Department of Religious Studies Board,and Chaired the Post Graduate Admissions Interview Committee of the department. [1] He was instrumental in the introduction of Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies program. Some courses he has taught include public theology,religion and public policy in Africa,Christianity and African culture,religion and media,African indigenous knowledge systems and Christian missions and Christian education. [1]
As a visiting fellow,Opuni Frimpong taught theology-related courses at the University of Natal,Pietermaritzburg and at the Stellenbosch University,both in South Africa. [1] He is an adjunct lecturer at the Pentecost University College,Accra,Trinity Theological Seminary Legon as well as a Moderator of the Department of Biblical Studies at the All Nations University College,Koforidua.
He served as an advisor at the Ghanaian presidency. He was a member of the Presidential Debate Committee for the 2016 General Elections and the Advisory Committee of “Winner Takes All”,both sponsored by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA),a think-tank in Accra. [4] He also served on the boards of several Kumasi-based educational institutions:Prempeh College,Ramseyer Vocational and Technical Institute,Atwima Kwanwoma Presbyterian Senior High School,Pakyi and Presbyterian Girls Senior High School,Kyiriapatre. [1]
Opuni Frimpong and his wife,Abigail have five adult children;Daniel,Abigail,Miriam,Emmanuella and Mary. [1]
Some of his published books include: [1]
The Presbyterian University,Ghana is a partially private &public university with multi- campuses and its headquarters located at Abetifi-Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It is one of the new universities in Ghana granted accreditation by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission –GTEC. It was established by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) on 23 November 2003 and inaugurated on 27 March 2004 by the former president of Ghana in that republic,John Agyekum Kufuor.
Francis Amenu (born ?) is a Ghanaian metallurgical engineer who also trained and ordained as a minister. He served in the Evangelical Presbyterian (E.P.) Church,Ghana. In 1999,he was assigned to serve Ghanaian congregations in London,United Kingdom. There in 2003,before returning to Africa,he founded the E.P. Church,UK.
Emmanuel Evans-AnfomFRCSEd FICS FAAS FWACS was a Ghanaian physician,scholar,university administrator,and public servant who served as the second Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from 1967 to 1973.
The Anglican Senior High School,Kumasi,is a co-educational public high school situated in Asem,a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Founded in 1973,the present headmaster is Rev. Canon Senkyiri.
The Trinity Theological Seminary is a Protestant seminary located on a 70-acre campus in Legon,Accra. As an ecumenical theological tertiary and ministerial training institution,it serves students in Ghana and the West African sub-region. The focus of the curriculum is pedagogy,guidance,counselling,and fieldwork to adequately prepare students for careers in Christian ministry. The school has charter status,offers certificate,diploma,and degree programmes,and is accredited by the National Accreditation Board of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education.
The Presbyterian College of Education,Akropong,is a co-educational teacher-training college in Akropong in the Akwapim North district of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It has gone through a series of previous names,including the Presbyterian Training College,the Scottish Mission Teacher Training College,and the Basel Mission Seminary. The college is accredited by the National Accreditation Board of the Ministry of Education,Ghana as a Degree Research Institution affiliated to the University of Education,Winneba.
Johann Gottlieb Christaller was a German missionary,clergyman,ethnolinguist,translator and philologist who served with the Basel Mission. He was devoted to the study of the Twi language in what was then the Gold Coast,now Ghana. He was instrumental,together with African colleagues,Akan linguists,David Asante,Theophilus Opoku,Jonathan Palmer Bekoe,and Paul Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Akuapem dialect of Twi. Christaller was also the first editor of the Christian Messenger,the official news publication of the Basel Mission,serving from 1883 to 1895. He is recognised in some circles as the "founder of scientific linguistic research in West Africa".
The Christ Presbyterian Church,formerly known as the Basel Mission Church,Akropong, is a historic Protestant church located in Akropong–Akuapem,Ghana. It is the first Presbyterian Church to be established in Ghana. It was founded in 1835 by Andreas Riis,a Danish minister and missionary of the Basel Mission who was the only congregant at the time. After years of dormancy,the church began to flourish after the arrival of the Moravian missionaries from the West Indies in 1843. The Basel missionary,Johann Georg Widmann was appointed the minister-in-charge of the Akropong church in 1845. The Jamaican missionary,John Hall,who had served as an elder in his home church in Irwin Hill,Montego Bay,became the first Presbyter of the church while Alexander Worthy Clerk became the first Deacon. Liturgical services are conducted in English and the Twi language.
The Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology,Mission and Culture (ACI),formerly known as the Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology,is a tertiary,postgraduate research and training institute located in Akropong-Akuapem in Ghana. The institute was set up to study and document Christian religious thought,history and theology through the lens of culture,historiography and life in Ghanaian society and Africa as well as scholarship on ecumenical relations between the continent and the rest of the world.
David Asante was a philologist,linguist,translator and the first Akan native missionary of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. He was the second African to be educated in Europe by the Basel Mission after the Americo-Liberian pastor,George Peter Thompson. Asante worked closely with the German missionary and philologist,Johann Gottlieb Christaller and fellow native linguists,Theophilus Opoku,Jonathan Palmer Bekoe,and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.
Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku was a native Akan linguist,translator,philologist,educator and missionary who became the first indigenous African to be ordained a pastor on Gold Coast soil by the Basel Mission in 1872. Opoku worked closely with the German missionary and philologist Johann Gottlieb Christaller as well as fellow native Akan linguists,David Asante,Jonathan Palmer Bekoe,and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.
The Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church,originally named the Basel Mission Church,Kumasi and later the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Adum in Kumasi,the capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The church is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. It was founded in 1896 by Fritz Ramseyer,a Swiss-born Basel missionary who was captured by the Asante in 1869. The stone church house was built by the early Basel missionaries led by the technical staff member and building technologist,Fritz Ramseyer as well as the missionary-architect,Karl Epting in 1907. Liturgy is conducted in English and the Asante Twi language.
Friedrich Augustus Louis Ramseyer also Fritz Ramseyer was a Swiss-born Basel missionary,who was captured by the Asante in 1869 in colonial Ghana,together with his wife Rosa Louise Ramseyer,Basel mission technical staff,Johannes Kühne and French trader,Marie-Joseph Bonnat. Ramseyer was later released in 1874 and pioneered the Christian mission in Kumasi and the rest of Asante. Additionally,he spearheaded the planting of churches in Abetifi. Apart from his evangelism,Ramseyer was instrumental in the expansion of opportunities in the fields of education,artisan industry training,land acquisition for building design and manpower development in the areas he lived and worked in.
Paul Kwabena Boafo is a Ghanaian theologian and minister who was elected as the twelfth Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana in 2018. He previously served as the Administrative Bishop of the Church. He is the first ordained minister to serve in both capacities in the episcopal history of the Ghanaian Methodist Church. Boafo also served as the Protestant Chaplain of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Samuel Ayete-Nyampong is a Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister who was elected the Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) making him the chief ecclesial officer of the church. The role is equivalent to the rank of executive secretary or secretary-general of the national church,serving from 2012 to 2019. He is also the Vice President of the World Communion Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) based in Hanover,Germany,and the Theological Consultant to the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) based in Stuttgart,Germany. He is a Lecturer in Pastoral Care and Counselling at the Trinity Theological Seminary,Accra-Ghana.
J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu or Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu is a Ghanaian scholar of African Pentecostalism.
Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante also known as J.O.Y. Mante is a Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister who currently serves as the 18th Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG),equivalent to the chief executive officer or managing director of the national church organisation. Prior to his appointment as moderator he served as the President of the Trinity Theological Seminary,Legon for 7 years. In August 2018,Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante was elected the new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG),to succeed Cephas Narh Omenyo,the then incumbent,who had been ill for over a year and the General Assembly had to take a decision to declare the moderator seat vacant to allow new leadership.
Yaw Frimpong-Manso is a Ghanaian theologian,Biblical scholar,and Presbyterian minister. He served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church of Ghana from 2004 to 2010.
Hilliard Kwashie Dela Dogbe is a Ghanaian clergyman and bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. He currently serves as the Bishop of the Western West Africa Episcopal District,which encompasses Liberia,Côte d'Ivoire,Ghana and Togo.