Government has added a Bible Museum and Biblical Garden to the ongoing National Cathedral project; aimed at transforming the country with about 70% the population being self-proclaimed Christians, making it a major centre of Christianity in Africa.
This was announced by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he delivered the “Museum of the Bible’s Inaugural Africa Lecture,” yesterday, at the Museum of the Bible (MOTB) Washington, D.C., in the United States Of America.
According to President Akufo Addo, the National Cathedral addresses a missing link in Ghana’s architecture by providing a formal space for the religious activities of the state.
He averred that the National Cathedral provides an interdenominational space for worship, and would serve to put God at the centre of nation building efforts, hence integrating a Bible Museum and Biblical Garden as part of the project is ideal.
“Dubbed the Bible Museum of Africa, and Biblical Gardens of Africa, they extend the National Cathedral project, which will transform Ghana, over seventy percent (70%) of whose population are self-proclaimed Christians, into a major centre of Christianity in Africa,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo also mentioned that the work of the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens is being led by Cary Summers, the indefatigable founding President of the Museum of the Bible, and the world-class project team that worked on the Museum, which would represent a key development in African Christianity.
“Seeking to replicate what is here, it explores the history, narrative and impact of the Bible. However, its distinguishing character would be its special thematic focus on “Africa, and Africans, in the Bible”, and “The Bible in Africa’. It will help illustrate the neglected role of the centrality of the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Christian Church in Ethiopia in the early development of global Christianity,” he noted.
The President also said, “It will also provide the history of the Church in Africa as well as in the African Diaspora. For the African Diaspora, it will tell the redemptive history of the misuse of the Bible to dehumanize the African and justify his or her enslavement, and the paradoxical deployment of the Bible as a redemptive tool to build community and leadership for the civil rights movement in the Americas. The history, roles and impact of the Black Church would also be told, offering the Diaspora a pathway – mediated by faith – to reconnect with Africa, fifty percent (50%) of whose population, i.e., six hundred and fifty million (650 million) people are Christians.”
He also indicated that the National Cathedral of Ghana and the Bible Museum of Africa will also serve as a convening platform for National, African, and Global conversations on the role of the Christian faith in contemporary times.
Elaborating further on the features of the Cathedral, the President said the Cathedral “{will have an auditorium space of five thousand (5000) expandable to 17,000; chapels, prayer rooms, banquet halls, and will include a three hundred and fifty (350) seater “biblical restaurant”, whose menu will be inspired by celebrated chef Todd Gray, who runs the Manna restaurant here at the Museum. The National Cathedral and Bible Museum of Africa are, thus, being developed as Ghana’s gifts to the Christian community worldwide. That is a “safe space” to organize key National, Regional, and Global Christian activities. For instance, we envisage alternating the Museum of the Bible’s Africa Lectures between Washington and Accra.”
He said “The construction of the National Cathedral and Bible Museum of Africa is also linked directly to our overarching vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid. The vision seeks to transform Ghana into an aid-free country, and lays due emphasis on the “software” underpinnings of development – values, mindset, attitudes and behaviour of citizens.”
He asked for support in helping to bring this transcendental project to fruition, saying that the construction of the project should not be a burden on the State.
“That is why we are mobilising the Christian community, home and abroad, and other well-meaning persons, to join us in partnership to raise the needed resources to complete the project. We seek to build this partnership on the rich history of the Church’s involvement in Ghana’s development. Ultimately, the goal is to build an international coalition in support of the project. This will be a historic coalition, and the names of its supporters will be “
He also noted that being a lawyer has always come with its own pressures, which mount when you are a person of faith; but the pressures are far greater for a politician who is a person of faith.
“I am a Christian who is in politics, and is unashamed of asserting my Christian faith as part of my political calling, and I freely admit that my vision for my country, and Africa’s transformation, is heavily influenced by the Bible.”
Nana Akufo-Addo said Ghana’s march to a brighter future is underpinned by its firm attachment to a governance system that respects human rights and individual liberties, the rule of law, and the principles of democratic accountability and that “This faith is also the motivation for one of the major projects, which I have described as a priority of priorities, that we are undertaking in the country. This is the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana, which first brought us to this venue three years ago, in February 2019.”
By Frank Amponsah
