The Bible Society of Ghana for many years has been in active partnership with the churches in Ghana to promote the Word of God. This partnership started in the year 1964 when series of meetings were held by representatives of the churches in Ghana with the purpose of ascertaining the need for an autonomous Bible Society and how such a Society should be organized to ensure the support of the whole Church in Ghana and yet be the servant of every individual Church.
Every year, the Church joins in the celebration of Bible Week, a week set aside to thank God for the gift of the scriptures and admit the relevance of the Bible in our daily lives. The week is additionally celebrated to raise funds for Bible Work in Ghana. The doors of many churches are opened to us, as we join to celebrate together with them, thanking God for this gift and promoting unity in diversity among churches.
The Church in its relations with the Bible Society of Ghana also makes modest donations to the work of the Bible Society of Ghana every year. These donations have gone a long way to help make the Word of God available and affordable all over the country.
Furthermore, the Bible Society of Ghana has received immense support from the Church in the work of Bible Translation in that they support us with experts in Bible work and theologians who aid in the careful translation of the Bible and eventual publishing. The Church has gone ahead to allow its members, including some Heads of churches, to make up our Council and Committee members. These have, over the years, given good counsel to the Society.
The participation of Heads of Churches and their members in our Annual General Meetings held in August (previously May) every year has been an encouragement to us and goes a long way to convince us that the Church is interested in the work we do as a Society.
The Bible Society of Ghana marked her Golden Jubilee Anniversary in 2015 with a number of Church leaders warmly receiving us and coming together in the various regions to celebrate 50 years of Bible Work. At the service for the grand launch of the Golden Jubilee Anniversary in February 2015, were six Heads of churches to support the BSG and its operation.
During the African Biblical Leadership Initiative Forum (ABLI), hosted in Ghana in the year 2014, the Bible Society of Ghana saw immense participation from the Church and Local Council of Churches. This forum was organized to promote Biblical leadership principles & practice in Africa.
In February this year, the Ministry of Finance requested the assistance of the Bible Society of Ghana to arrange an interactive session with the leadership of Churches in Ghana with the objective of briefing them on the state of the Ghanaian Economy. This meeting recorded a massive participation of 103 Church leaders amongst whom were five Heads of Churches.
The presence of the Church was even bigger at the Final Thanksgiving Service in September, 2015, to climax the Anniversary celebrations.
The BSG and the Church are united by a common interest and that is the BIBLE. We believe the Word of God has the power to transform and shape lives.
Church leaders, over the years have encouraged us to play a prominent role in uniting the front of the Church, to bring churches together for the purpose of a common understanding and also speak with one voice.
The Church’s expectation is that the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) will do a bit more. It is reassuring that the BSG is careful not to move away from her core mandate of making the Word of God available and affordable to all and encouraging its use to transform lives.
The Society has come a long way in achieving its mandate, and this has been, in no small way, possible through the immense support of the Church. The BSG cannot be grateful enough. However, in our mutual quest to make the Bible relevant in our time and for generations to come, we pray for an even greater involvement in Bible Engagement and Bible Advocacy Programmes.
“The Lord reward your labour in the vineyard. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Rev. Erasmus Nii Bonne Odonkor
General Secretary
The Bible Society of Ghana