The Church of Pentecost worldwide grew by 7.3% in 2018, putting the global overall membership to 3,257,943.
The Church which currently operates in 101 nations including Ghana has impressive representation in Ghana, its headquarters, with 2,759,642 membership, constituting 84.7% of the worldwide total membership.
The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, disclosed this in the 2019 State of the Church Address (SOCA 2019) at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC) at Gomoa Fetteh, near Kasoa on Wednesday, May 8, 2019.
According to the Chairman, during the year under review, a total of 251,763 souls were won with 185,224, representing 73.6%, baptised in water. “To the glory of God, the church over the period witnessed the opening of 1,098 new assemblies worldwide and the creation of 128 districts,” he added.
He stated that the external branches recorded an overall total membership of 194,029; an increase of 3.7% over the previous year, which represented 15.3% of the Church’s worldwide membership.
The Chairman disclosed that the Church’s 2.7million plus membership in Ghana constitutes approximately 9.3% of the total estimated 2018 Ghanaian population of 29,614,337.3. This, he said, also constituted approximately 13.1% of the total Christian population in Ghana, which is estimated to be 71.2% of the Ghanaian population.
“Reflecting on these statistics affirms the urgent call on us as a Church to transform every sphere of our society with the values and principles of God as a means of possessing the nations for Christ,” he stated.
A further disaggregation of the data, he opined, shows that the youth membership is composed of 57% young adults and 43% teens. “This calls for the continuous need to effectively balance youth programmes to cater for both categories,” he noted.
The Chairman further said the overall analysis implies that 73% of Church’s membership in Ghana is made up of children and youth (up to 35yrs), an improvement over the previous years. “This continues to give an indication that The Church of Pentecost is a youthful church, a factor that projects a brighter future for the Church.
“It is therefore important for leadership at all levels to continue to give significant attention to nurturing these young people for leadership responsibilities, both within and outside the church. They remain a great force in our quest to possessing the nations for Christ,” he stressed.
Apostle Eric Nyamekye further said that, the total number of ministers of the Church in Ghana as at 2018, stood at 1,476. This, he said, represents a 5.9% increase over the previous year.