Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo
The Administrative Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana has been elected the new Presiding Bishop at the church’s 10th Biennial and 48th Delegates’ Conference held at Sekondi.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo polled 223 votes out of the 353 votes cast to beat his close contender, Rev. Prof. Asamoah Gyedu, who had 104 votes.
Paul Kwabena Boafo was born at Asankrangwa in the Western Region to a Roman Catholic couple.
Profile
The Presiding Bishop elect started school at the Asankrangwa Roman Catholic Primary School in 1963.
He later enrolled in the Wa Experimental Primary School and then moved to other schools in Mangu, Kenyasi No 2, Sefwi Wiawso, and Sefwi Bekwai.
Paul Boafo entered the Wenchi Methodist Secondary School from 1972 – 1977 for his General Certificate of Education – Ordinary Level Examination.
He then proceeded to Wesley College in Kumasi to train as a teacher from 1978 to 1981. In 1977, while waiting to enter Wesley College, Paul served as a pupil teacher at the St. Peter and Paul Anglican Primary School in Saltpond.
After his professional training, he was posted to the Mpasatia Methodist Primary School in the Ashanti Region as a teacher.
Calling, Ministerial Training
Paul became an accredited local preacher after his training at Wesley College.
He was accepted into the Methodist Ministry in 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he studied at the Trinity Theological Seminary at Legon in Accra and obtained a diploma in Theology.
He was commissioned as a minister on Sunday June 8, 1986, at the Wesley Cathedral in Accra and posted to Akyem Otwereso in the Akyem Oda Circuit as the first resident minister.
He was ordained on Sunday August 27, 1989, at the Wesley Cathedral in Sunyani and posted to the Osei Tutu Secondary School at Akropong in the Ashanti Region as the school chaplain after his first degree from the University of Ghana.
From 2000 to date, Paul has been teaching in many institutions including
Trinity Theological Seminary at Legon, as an adjunct lecturer in the Wesleyan Studies and Theological Education.
He has also been teaching at the Methodist University College at Dansoman as an adjunct lecturer in Christian Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Wesleyan Studies, among others.
Outgoing Presiding Bishop
Early on, the outgoing Presiding Bishop of the church, Most Rev. Titus Awortwi Pratt, welcomed the double-track system by the government to improve upon the current pressure on the educational infrastructure as a result of the free senior high school policy.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi