HODA Newsletter Feb 04 p1

Bishop Matthias of Ho

Sunday 17th August began bright and early in Ho, with a procession of youth organisations and band through town beginning at 7.30am, meeting up with the choir, clergy and Bishops assembled for the Consecration and Enthronement of Matthias Medadues-Badohu as the very first Bishop of Ho Diocese.

A congregation of around 2,000 guests, comprising many visiting dignitaries, representatives from other Churches and members of congregations from the new Diocese and beyond, filled the seating arranged in the forecourt of St George’s Church.

Thus began a very moving service comprising the Consecration and Enthronement, set within the Holy Eucharist. The music varied from traditional hymns and Merbecke’s Gloria, to songs in Ewe accompanied by drums and much dancing. In a great feat of organisation, the service allowed most of the Ghanaian Bishops to participate, with Archbishop Robert Okine presiding and Bishop Thomas Brient preaching a moving sermon, translated into Ewe by the hardworking Vicar General, Ven. Simon Ablorh.

Bishop Matthias at his consecration as Bishop of Ho

The enthronement in St George’s Cathedral Church finally brought the mammoth service to an end around six hours after it started!

Photographs were taken, greetings were exchanged before the Bishops and invited guests went to the Celebration Buffet.

Amazingly, St George’s forecourt was cleared as quickly and as efficiently as it was set up. Congratulations to all who worked so well in organising the occasion.

On the evening Bishop Matthias came to see us where we were staying, together with Lucy and Archdeacon Simon. As they both struggled to keep awake, Matthias was full of joy and energy. Such is the power of Grace.

2. On Saturday, June 7, was the second one which has brought us this far. It was the day of our Election as the 1 st Bishop of the new Diocese.

It was on the day of Election that a definite date was chosen for the Episcopal Ordination and Consecration – 17th August, 2003. I really felt the intensity of prayers that many faithful of you said for me in your Parishes, at Holy Shrines, and individually. There were times, I myself wept in private prayers because of some of the negative things going on. Indeed, God has remained ever faithful! Thank you for the wonder of your prayers.

1. PREPARATIONS: There were a lot of anxious moments trying to get all my Episcopal Vestments ready for the D-Day. When all my efforts to get support from friends failed, HODA came to my rescue by sending me £1,000 as a timely intervention.

2. SECRETARIAT DUTIES: Because funds are not available for secretarial duties, I volunteered to do the programme for the Consecration and Enthronement to save some money.

3. RETREAT: The five days Ordination Retreat I had was not only to prepare me spiritually, it also served as time of rest for the body.

4. SPECIAL GUESTS: There were special Guests from the U. K. and other places that made the whole consecration programme looked not only Ghanaian, but "GLOBAL". From the U. K. we had The Revd Canon T. G. Grigg, Dr. Mary E. Baird and Dr. Cliff Jones, (all from Cottingham); The Revd Paul Peverell, Peter & Pauline Titchmarsh, (all from Great Ayton); and Father Bernard Dagnall, (from Newbury). In fact, the visit of these personalities heightened the whole atmosphere for the occasion.

5. THE D-DAY: The number of people from all walks of life assembling here for the occasion was enough to move me to shed a silent tear, as revealed by some of the shots taken on the day. The consecration and enthronement services took about 8 hours, followed by another two hours for the reception. To cut the story of a very long and happy event short, I will say here that the feeling of that day will never erase from my memory.

6. RETURN OF SPECIAL GUESTS: On Wednesday, three days after the consecration, there was a Holy Communion Service specially organised for the Guests to say a word or two to the people of St. George’s. Though the congregation was not very large, the feel of that togetherness in the House of God was very overwhelming. Later on in the evening, the Cottingham group once again parted company with us at the Airport for England. On Thursday, there was a short visit to Kpando with the rest of the Special Guests, to attend the Synod of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Visits were made to few of the outstations of Kpando to give a feel of what goes on there. On Friday, the remaining group was given another chance of visiting two other Parishes, Agbozume and Penyi. Later on that evening, this group of four, led by Father Paul Peverell bade us farewell at the Airport, leaving us all with mixed feelings.

So far, I have made my maiden visits to Agbozume, Kpando, and Worawora. Penyi, Jasikan, Dzoanti, Hohoe and the outstations are yet to be visited. This has been made much harder by the unreliability of my car which has broken down on each occasion and I had to gain a lift with someone else to avoid total disappointment.

I held my first Synod of the new Diocese from Friday, December 19 to Sunday, December 21, at Kpando, with the theme: "In the beginning, God" (Gen. 1:1) to deliberate upon and to come out with a Strategic Plan for the new Diocese. On Sunday, 21st, the first Ordination of the new Diocese took place in a very colourful ceremony. My greatest disappointment came, when on my way to the Synod, my car broke down again within a non-network coverage area, holding everyone who was present anxiously waiting for me for three hours. In the end I was vindicated by a Minister of one of the Churches who said in his fraternal greetings to Synod that, with the theme for Synod, what else could one expect apart from reliving biblical experiences when in the beginning, there was chaos before God brought order.

The Rector of Cottingham, Canon Grigg who retires from active ministerial duties at the age of 70 on 17th January, 2004 has generously thrown an invitation to me as one of the boys he single-handedly raised money to train some years back. This invitation is timely and very special to me because I will use the opportunity to visit many of you as I can in order to renew friendship and solidarity. I will be in England for at most six weeks from the 6th of January till the middle of February.

As a way of expressing our profound gratitude to the REVD CANON TERRENCE G. GRIGG, Rector of Cottingham, THE REVD PAUL PEVERELL, Vicar of Great Ayton, THE REVD FR. BERNARD DAGNALL, Rector of Newbury and THE REVD FR. PHILIP GRAY, Chaplain to the Bishop of Blackburn, for their immense contributions towards the creation of the new diocese, and their similar contributions in the ministerial formation of the 1st Bishop, the Diocese has unanimously endorsed the proposal by the Bishop to honour them alongside the Ven. Simon K. Ablorh, the present Archdeacon of Kpando as the FIRST CANONS of the ST. GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL, HO. Subject to their acceptance of the offer, a date will be fixed for their installation. I congratulate them warmly for this deserved honour.