Thirteen newly Commissioned Pastors of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana were at the Church headquarters in Ho to sign EPCG’s Code of Professional Discipline and Ethics for Pastors.
The ceremony was supervised by the members of the Standing Committee, Moderator of the General Assembly, Rt. Rev Dr Senyo Seth Agidi, Clerk of the General Assembly, Rev Dr E.A.K. Amey and the Presbyter Executive, Pr. Jonas Gershon Dzodzodzi.
After a careful study of the document the Commissioners agreed its contents and thus appended their signatures with witnesses being some of the EPCG Programme Officers at the Headquarters and other Reverend Ministers present at the ceremony. The Standing Committee members also signed their respective portions.
The Commissioners each took a copy of the signed document away while a second copy was placed on their personal files at the Church administration.
This is the first time that newly Commissioned Pastors were painstaking taken through and made to sign the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana Code of Professional Discipline and Ethics for Pastors.
By this, the newly commissioned Pastors have the full authority by the EPCG to administer the sacraments and to perform other pastoral duties of the Church, including baptism, confirmation, the Holy Communion, burial, pastoral counselling and visitation. However, as Commissioners, they are barred from officiating marriages under the Ordinance until after their probationary period and subsequent gazetting.
The document enjoins the Pastors to preach the “inspired truth of the Holy Scriptures” as the “sole authority, terms of reference and yard-stick” for their personal conduct and professional ethics throughout their lives. They are also enjoined among other things to maintain a high standard of probity, avoiding all sorts of debased life and licentiousness and debauchery as well as maintain a high level personal appearance.
By agreeing to sign the Church’s Code of Professional Discipline and Ethics for Pastors the Probationers have given their consent to accept transfer to any station and at any time should the need arise. Failure to do so will result in suspension without pay and or being debarred from performing any functions as a Pastor of the Church.
The document further outline the various stages of disciplinary action and sanctions to be employed in case of the flouting the regulations outlined to govern the professional ethics of the Reverend Ministers of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.