Abstract:
The Church of Pentecost (CoP), in Ghana employs prophecy in
contemporary times to appoint people to higher offices, transfer Church
workers, and give direction generally. These functions have sometimes caused
hatred, divisions, envy, insecurity, embarrassment and social incoherence due
to its unchallenged powerful presence. Notwithstanding, prophecy identified
and nominated Prophet M. K. Yeboah and Apostle M. K. Ntumy as Chairmen
in 1988 and 1998 respectively averting states of confusion that would have
ensued in the Church. There is therefore a debate as to whether to use or not to
use prophecy.
Since the inception of the Apostolic Church (AC), the CoP's precursor,
there has been a shift in the understanding of prophecy. Initially, prophecy was
acknowledged as divine in origin and infallible. Currently prophecy is viewed
as a divinely inspired message but that it passes through the theological lenses
of the one speaking. To forestall confusion, prophets are thus graded to
determine who can or cannot give direction to the Church via prophecy.
Phenomenological methods were employed to investigate the merits
and demerits of using prophecy in the CoP. Observations, interviews, as well
as the use of archival material generated by the CoP and its American and
British antecedents were used to arrive at conclusions. Even though prophetic guidance has been helpful to the CoP, this work concludes that different methods could also be employed rather than making a given method the norm. Finally, the CoP, as a denomination needs to choose a governmental system most satisfactory and realistic as the occasion demands.
