Leaders of Accra West district within the Accra Apostle Area treated the topic of Holy Baptism with water for over 40 ministers within the district who gathered at the Accra Central Church auditorium on Sunday 11th August 2019. This was part of the regular monthly meetings organized for ministers in the district.

This initiative, which began months ago, is geared towards equipping, reminding and complementing the knowledge that ministers of the Accra West District have about the Church, its doctrine and any changes that come about.

After an opening prayer and three hymns, District Elder Arhin invited District Evangelist John Hammond to treat the topic of Baptism with water. District Evangelist Hammond based his teaching on the extensive explanation of the execution and liturgical texts concerning Holy Baptism with water as treated in the 2017 edition of the Divine Service Guide and the Ministers’ Guide.

District Evangelist Hammond explained that ministers are to explain the value of children to parents during the baptism of children. Ministers are to remind parents that children are gifts from God. Thus, it is the responsibility of parents to raise the child in Christian faith as observed in the New Apostolic Church. Baptism is the first and fundamental act of grace from the Triune God and bestowed upon a human being. Ministers are to explain to parents that through baptism with water original sin is washed away. The person baptized is incorporated into the church of Christ. For baptism of adults, ministers are to explain to them the meaning of baptism, its effect and the security that comes with it.

District Evangelist Hammond encouraged the ministers to learn and understand the liturgy so they can interpret it well into their local dialects in their respective congregations.

The session ended with questions from some ministers and answers from the district leaders. The session lasted for 30 minutes.