The Methodist Church Ghana is standing firm by their earlier decision not to support same-sex marriage after Methodist Conference in Birmingham, United Kingdom, voted on Wednesday, July 3, 2019, in favour of a policy that could lead to the church embracing same-sex unions.
At a news conference on July 19, 2019, in Accra, presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana Reverend Dr Paul Boafo stated that the Methodist Church in Ghana is autonomous and not bounded by the vote of delegates in the Conference in UK.
"We are all saddened by the decision and this will amount to the reversal of the Christian belief on marriage and sexuality and the normalization of moral behaviour which is being rejected"
"I wish to state with some emphasis that the Methodist Church Ghana is an autonomous body"
He also stated that the Methodist Church Ghana has not amended her position on marriage.
"The Methodist Church Ghana has not amended her position on marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, neither do we permit cohabitation by unmarried couple nor encourage divorce among couples," he added
The Methodist Bishop was confident that their Ghanaian representatives in the UK will not forgo their Christian principles to accept same-sex marriage in the church.
The decision is yet to be finalized and is likely to come into effect in the year 2020 if voted for.
The Methodist Church in Accra, Ghana has many branches. The church has a total membership of over 500,000. It has a total of 15 dioceses, over 3,000 societies, over 1,000 pastors and over 15,000 local preachers. With over 2,000 churches in Ghana it’s one of the strongest churches based on faith.
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