A delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) met yesterday with the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, in a private meeting at the presidential offices in the country’s capital, Accra.

In welcoming the 13-member delegation, Mahama noted that churches can “spark hope and a positive attitude” so that people will help in the efforts to turn things around in the country and in Africa.

“Here in Ghana the social security net needs to be expanded to support the poor and needy. There is also concern for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in northern Ghana. We are hoping it won’t spread,” the President said. “In all these efforts, WCRC can be a partner and a worthy one.”

The meeting with the President came at the conclusion of meetings of WCRC’s executive committee that wrapped up Wednesday in Dodowa, in the Greater Accra Region.

WCRC President, Jerry Pillay, from South Africa, presented Mahama with copies of WCRC’s Accra Confession and São Paolo Declaration. Both documents present church concerns for a just economic system, respect for women’s rights, and care for the environment. In his presentation, Pillay spoke about leading with justice and righteousness and giving special attention to the needs of the poor.

The church leader told the President that the Accra Confession got its name when it was adopted at a global assembly of a WCRC predecessor organization in the city in 2004. Since then the statement has been widely discussed in ecumenical circles and, because of its name, has “trademarked” Accra as the birthplace of a seminal reflection on social justice, Pillay said.

WCRC General Secretary, Setri Nyomi, presented WCRC’s delegation to the president. The delegation included senior representatives from both WCRC’s Ghanaian member churches: Seth Agidi of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG) and Solomon Sule Saa and Kofi Amfo-Akonnor of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana (PCG) as well two Ghanaian members of WCRC’s executive committee, Lydia Adajawah and Salome Twum. Others in the group were WCRC Vice-President Yvette Noble-Bloomfield (Jamaica and the Cayman Islands) and Peter Borgdorff of the Christian Reformed Church, North America (United States).  Nyomi’s brother, Selete Nyomi, CEO of Coastal Television, was invited to join the delegation to represent the family.

In his remarks to the President, Pillay noted that WCRC’s general secretary is Ghanaian and called Nyomi “a gift to global ecumenical leadership” and “a worthy son of Ghana.”

Noble-Bloomfield of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands gathered the group in a circle for prayer at the conclusion of the meeting.

“We pray that under the President’s leadership, Ghana will continue to be free and peaceful and a great nation,” Noble-Bloomfield said in prayer.