The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) on Sunday marked the centenary celebration of Children Service in the Church.
The Service was organized in all the Congregations both home and abroad, as children led the liturgy, recited Bible verses, poems, bible reading, and choreography among others.
At the Eben-Ezer Congregation of the PCG at Osu in the Ga Presbytery where the national celebration was held, people from all walks of life attended the historic service.
The celebration was on the theme: “100 years of children’s service and beyond: Christ our example”.
Preaching the Sermon, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, encouraged parents to inculcate Godly values in their children to deter them from engaging in social vices.
According to him, the service would consciously develop children into church leaders, adding: “It is obvious that children are the leaders of the church tomorrow. In view of this, we will create more opportunities for them to lead in some activities in the church.”
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante said training children comprised intellectual, the heart, spiritual and moral upbringing, in line with the Presbyterian education philosophy which is training of the Head, the Heart and the Hand.
“In the current hi-tech world controlled mostly by digital media, the content of some of the things that our children see on social media cannot be trusted and so we have to be very much alert as parents by having a digital mentality and a digital approach to parenting,” he added.
The President of the National Children’s Service Teachers’ Fellowship of the PCG, Mr Stephen Forkuor Kwarteng, also urged parents to invest more in the upbringing of their children to enable the children to attain their full potential.
Pioneer and long service teachers of the children department were honoured with citations, and an anniversary cake cut for the celebration.
The Children’s Service was started in 1921 by the Ebenezer Congregation in the Ga Presbytery through the collaborative effort of some of the congregants.
Based on the success of the experiment, the church adopted it as a classified group, paving the way for it to be formed in its other congregations across the country.
The service has since made progress, particularly in the training of teachers, the publication of its manual worship guide, among others.