Pui Lan: Welcome to Just Conversations our podcast of the Episcopal Divinity School. I am your host Kwok Pui Lan a distinguished scholar of the school. In this series of conversations, we will introduce the mission and leaders of different provinces and diocese of the Anglican Communion, focusing on those from the global south.
In this episode, we'll learn about the work and mission of the Diocese of Cape Coast in Ghana. Joining me today is Bishop Victor Atta-Baffoe, who is an EDS alum, graduated in 1992. Welcome to the podcast, Bishop Victor.
Victor: Thank you.
Pui Lan: uh, Bishop Victor. Uh, you graduated from EDS in 1992. And, uh, when you look back, are there some particular events or things that happened that you still recall during your years at EDS?
Victor: I must confess that being at EDS from 1990 to 92, what, for me, laid the foundation for my theological thinking and theological understanding and church polity Alas I was even, I finished St. Nicholas had been to Trinity College in University of Toronto where I finished my undergraduate, but I started my graduate studies at EDS and let me be honest with you and with all listeners that my academic life...
I give credit it for the professors that I met and the way I was welcomed. Of course, being a, an African, you know, coming from Ghana, the reception, the hospitality, amazing. Of course the fact that EDS was part of the consortium of different colleges, different schools. I mean, I had courses from Western School of Theology.
I took lessons from Boston University, Boston College, and Overheating Harvard, which was excellent. That gave me a broad spectrum of theological thinking and persuasions. EDS as my own college and where I lived, worshiping together, eating from the refractory together, being together the community was excellent.
The communal life for me enhanced my own life and dignity, that as an African believe in community and communal life, I think. I was not found wanting. Episcopal Divinity School was more, more than a, a home and a family to me. I was there when we started AGI Anglicanism globalism, a communism. And I give credit to, you know, my good friend, Bishop Douglas, professor Douglas, to Fredrica who was my mentor.
Honestly, these people. Help me to come out to bring the good out of me. Fredrica was not only concerned about my academic thinking and uh, my academic excellence, but being a faithful Anglican and how much I can contribute to the Anglican Communion. And I must say. Where I'm now, what I'm doing in the Anglican Communion, well, EDS must take the credit, must take the credit.
Worship time I would never miss I, when I look at, you know, the Episcopal Church, unfortunately, as I moved around annual three years or three and a half years in the US and wherever you say Episcopal Church welcomes you. And yet EDS was being criticized of welcoming everybody, especially people of different orientation. I was able to live where people were different from me, white, Chinese, you know, Japanese, Africans, white, you know, black, whatever, gay, straight, no one, the mosaic type of life.
We all belong to God's family. We are God's people, God's children, baptized. And yes, when I became the bishop, I decided to set up goals for myself and for the diocese. My number one value for this diocese of Cape Coast to respect the dignity, value the dignity of every human being. And that, I must say, EDS taught me how to respect the dignity of every human person regardless of race, of gender, of color, of sexual orientation that has been with me and is still with me, and I'm proud of it.
From there, I went to YDS Yale Divinity School, and interestingly, I just fit in. Straight away because I had the foundation, the background solid from EDS
Pui Lan: I'm so glad to hear that EDS, uh, Bishop has been so important for you and shaped your career. Now, as you said, we need to welcome everyone into our church. But within the Anglican Communion, there has been hit at the base, uh, regarding human sexuality, women's leadership, and ministry, and other issues. What are your hopes for the Anglican Communion?
Victor: Wow. What are my hopes for the Anglican Communion? I have a lot of hope and aspirations, but it's not easy and it's not going to be easy because as we speak, I must be honest with all my interactions, both with theologians, with church leaders, with bishops at Lambeth Conference, I've been there twice.
One, when I was a dean of Saint Nicholas, I went there in my capacity as a dean, you know, as theological advisor from Africa, and then the second one as the bishop of Cape Coast. There's no trust, to be honest. There's no trust. Even among the bishops, among the primates, there's always suspicion. They and us, we and them.
How do we build trust? How do we understand each other? I'm an Anglican, an African, a Ghanaian from the global south.
I believe that I don't only have to respect and tolerate, I must learn to celebrate the lives of people who are different from me, I must learn to celebrate the diversity of the Anglican Communion. And that is a major challenge where thankfully in Ghana we have now the women ordination issue was passed as a province, that was in the, in the eighties.
But how many bishops are willing to ordain women?
In Ghana, very few in Africa. He give thanks to God. With 12 years as a bishop, we have trained, spent money, and for us, our theological education is a diocese that pays. We have paid out of our, you know, scarcity, trained and ordained three women. I have two at the seminary that they are practicing. They are priests in the parishes that we have obtained and I'm very proud.
They are doing wonderfully well. And sometimes people will label me, oh no, you are the American trained you are the liberal I said, no, that's a reality on the women in leadership will have to come to terms with it. It something that the Global South is finding it difficult. Differences. Homosexuality, we have to deal with it.
To what extent can we say they're human being or they're not human being for me, they are created in the image of God, period. What stops them from exercising their skills and their talents in the life and ministry of the church. We don't determine that we must allow God to do that. So for me in the Anglican Church, the issue of women leadership, issue of homosexuality, issue of whatever you wanna, you know, racial issues, gender issues, poverty.
It's a big challenge. It's a challenge because we don't wanna sit down and talk about it because there's no trust. For me, that is the number one issue of challenge and that is why I come to the table anytime. As an international body. I want to talk about particularly among, is it a problem both the global south and the people in the Northern Hemisphere. Not that people don't trust the Global South. Global South, don't trust them. And that is the, well, maybe they will need people like Victor who will be in the middle to say, Hey, look here. It's neither here nor there. It's about the church. It's about the mission of God.
You know, we've stopped talking about mission and ministry and now we are, what we are talking about is personal agendas. And that does not help the church. Did Jesus talked about agenda? No, he talked about mission. The Kingdom of God, the reign of God. And the reign of God comprises is bigger than the church.
It brings everybody together. That is why the Anglican Church, the Anglican Communion must start focusing on, or we need to go back and start thinking about what does it mean to talk about the reign of God or the Kingdom of God? Not about personal agendas that I'm this, I don't like this, and therefore you cannot be.
I mean, I had a bizarre experience. Honestly, it was very painful at Lambeth when I was there and when I saw the Global South people, my own brothers and sisters got sick. Who believe to be communal family community, that they will use Eucharist as a means of segregating or dividing the church that they will boycott Eucharist communion because one, the one celebrating, I don't agree with him.
He is this, she is that. She's that, no. And I told them, no, this is wrong. Again, from that north hemisphere where they want to, they'll tend to criticize the certain people that you are conservative, you are uneducated, you are not, eight doesn't, or well, we try to talk about issues that divide us. I believe strongly we should focus on issues that brings us together, that unites us, and that is the mission of God.
What is the mission? What is God calling us to do? How do we engage in the mission of God? How do we expand? How do we feed the poor? How do we clothe the naked? How do we think about the marginalized? Advocate for those with less access to medical care to help facilitate? These are the issues that the Church is called to do, but is unfortunately, so I would say as a Communion, let's continue to talk about what unites us more than what advise us.
Our strength is in what unites us and not what divides us. This one thing I'll give credit to EDS.
Pui Lan: Can you please tell something about the diocese of Cape Coast in Ghana?
Victor: Well, about the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast. Cape Coast originally was the seat of the Anglican Church in the Gold Coast. And in fact, before the capital was moved to Accra, before we got, we're still under colonial masters in the colonial church, of course, is a Church of England until we became one diocese of Accra. So Cape Coast, by virtue of the fact that the government seat was moved to Accra, everything went to Accra and Cape Coast, became a parish, and later on became a high deanery of the one diocese of Accra, which comprised of all Ghana.
Until 1981, after Kumasi has become a diocese, then Cape Coast together with four other parishes, or high deaneries were created as Diocese. Cape Coast in the center of the southern belt, Sekondi in the Western. Sunyami-Tamale in the Northern Belt and then Koforidua in the Eastern Belt. Since 81 Cape Coast has become an autonomous diocese, and I am the fourth bishop, so the first bishop, which was John Ackon, the second bishop Quarshie, the third bishop Allotey, and I'm the fourth bishop.
So Cape Coast Diocese have been in existence since 81, and we comprise of 40 parishes with about 50 active priests with about 10 retired priests in the diocese. And it covers all of central belt of the central region of the southern belt. We share borders with Accra, which is a greater Accra and Sekondi in the West, you know, which is a western region of Ghana.
So that is Cape Coast now as I speak, has a lot of potentials. This is where Saint Nicholas' Seminary is situated, and that's where I was the dean for about 12 years. And throughout my ministry, that's what I've been teaching and as a formator for almost 26 years before I was made the bishop. Cape Coast, as I said, is famous for his education in Ghana.
We have several educational institutes. We have the University of Cape Coast we have the University of uh, Winneba education in Winneba within the Cape Coast Diocese. We have the Cape Coast Technical University. All within the diocese. Several secondary schools built by the missionaries. The Methodist built the famous Mfantsipim, where you have a lot of good people from Ghana, including Kofi Annan, the former United Nations, uh, Secretary General.
A lot of elites from Mfantsipim, they had this other college by the USPG, you know, that time it was called SPG. It started as Saint Nicholas' Grammar School, preparing people for vocation ministry and then building people to serve the country. It's as famous as these other colleges is the Anglican counterpart of Mfantsipim, over a hundred years now.
Now the Catholics have sent to Augustine's College, and then the Zion people means Zion has Aggrey Memorial. So Cape Coast is very famous for all these things. And then the Premium Methodist Church is in Cape Coast. The Catholic minor basilica is here in Elmina and then of course the Anglican Church in Cape Coast.
Pui Lan: Thank you very much, Bishop.
Last year I had the opportunity of visiting Ghana and I went to Cape Coast and um, the group went to see the Cape Coast castles. Can you share with us the history of slavery related to Cape Coast?
Victor: Well, that's very interesting. Talking about a castle, which is just across the street from the Christ Church Cathedral, which is the Anglican cathedral.
Where my seat is, I sit in the, in the cathedral, in my throne, overlook the ocean, and across the street I see the castle, which the church was built initially as a garrison church for the castle, and that is where Reverend Thomas Thompson, the first missionary sent by the SPG in 1751 came and worked. That is the same place that Philip Quaque, the first non-European, or if you like, the Black priest to be ordained in the Anglican Communion was also sent from Cape Coast and he came back to minister to the natives and he lived there because that is, that was the seat of the governor.
Cape Coast Castle as a Ghanaian, it comes with mixed feelings and as an Anglican particular in terms of post independence, post-colonial issues when you talk about that, because the castle was the seat of the government at that time. That is where the church started, which is a Anglican church, but that's where they traded the slaves.
So as church was going on celebrating the Eucharist upstairs, first floor underneath, they were trading slaves. Which was very bizarre. As I say, it's mixed feelings because it brings a lot of memories, which sometimes might not be pleasant to us, that that was the Church perpetrating this kind of atrocities. You go to the dungeon and you what they call the Door of No Return, and that's where they will come and park the slaves.
A dungeon that could take maybe a hundred or 50 people, they can park 500 people. So talking of sanitation, hygiene, everything, and it's so dark you don't see anything. It is between you and your God. What you have to do is to wait for the next boat to come and take you to the Americans or to the Caribbeans.
People died. All that they do, they dump you in the water, in the ocean. If it would take you three months for the ship to come, you are there alone. Feeding was very difficult. Sanitation. Hygiene, nothing. That is the most bizarre, most painful part. They're all chained. You cannot be, you cannot move around. So you just lie down, see the how people were dehumanized and once the gate, the door is open, you just see the ship.
So if 500 people are there, by the time the ship will come, will be about 300 people. What happens to the 200 dead? They just throw them into the ocean, then they carry the rest. That is how it was, and for me as an Anglican priest and bishop, we go there once a year to pray and it is very hard. It is very hard to say the least.
Pui Lan: This is a very painful history and we must not forget, and thank you for helping us to understand the relationship between the Anglican Church and the slave trade, and this we must keep in mind as we continue the mission of the Church. Now, you have been a bishop in this diocese since 2014. What are some of the joys and challenges that you have faced?
Victor: My training and my ministry for almost 25, 26 years was in the seminary teaching and forming priests and pastors. So my whole ministry before I became a bishop was nothing but classroom reading and research and teaching. For 12 years I was a dean, which again, took me somehow out of the classroom to do administration, managing and well being a dean of the seminary, in addition to your teaching and administration, you were like the fundraiser going around looking for money to keep the seminary going.
So when I was elected a bishop. I was elected in 2013 and then and throwned as a diosesan in 2014. The joy was that now I deal with the realities on the ground. Apart from talking and teaching. Now you meet the people, you sit down with, the people, people who may not know anything about theology. People who may not know anything about Greek or Hebrew, now you have to talk to them, deal with them, with the realities of life.
And for them, the realities of life is how to put food on the table, how to take care of the kids. having no healthcare and everything. So as I traveled around and started talking to people. It gave me a new perspective, a new dimension of life. That life is more than what you do from your office and what you do from the classroom.
So here, how do you bring the theory and practice together? How do you combine the two? How do you tell people God loves you in the face of scarcity, in the face of poverty? In the face of, in the midst of abuse, how do you handle these things? For me, that has been the joy. All I'm saying praxis, how do I bring my understanding of God and witness to God's love to the doorstep of my people who have no water, good drinking water.
Their concern is how do I put food on the table? That was one joy. Challenges. Okay. I left couple of joys. You know, apart from the being, the fact that I don't do administration at a seminary anymore, now I have time to be with the people. I have time to be with my family. Because being a dean, I was traveling all around, all around.
Now time to be with the people, but there are a couple of challenges. What, what are some of the challenges apart from physical and material? One, conceptualization.
The challenge that we have, what we've inherited from the colonial masters or colonial government, from the missionaries, from the Church of England. What they taught us and our ancestors, what I have been criticized in the classroom. Now how do I bring that? How do I put that? You know, in effect, in the life of the congregation issue of liturgy, how do you contextualize our liturgy?
How do we make people feel at home when we celebrate the Eucharist? How do we translate the whole liturgy into vernacular for the people to understand? How do we bring God to the people in the midst of their situations? That has been one issue that I have to grapple with as a matter of fact for the 14 years, and I'm still, there have been successes, but there are still issues that we have to deal with because for people, change is not easy.
And I will tell you, this is what we've learned 50 years ago, 60 years. You see now what we know as Anglicans is to look up to Canterbury, is to look up to England. So why are you not coming to tell us? Let's understand God, in our own context, it becomes difficult. So these are some of the issues, the issue of contextualization, oration, and not just the liturgy, but theology.
When you talk of governance, how do we talk of governance? You know, in terms of our context, it's got a serious question we are people that will believe in communal, you know, consensus building. In decision making. Now the church will tell you, uh, the constitution, one man, one vote, one woman, one vote. So bring them to synod, let them vote.
So it is the elite, the group that comes to synod that takes decision for the rest, and that becomes problematic. And I have to navigate my way through that is some of the issues. And of course, like any other African churches, poverty still stands, youth employment, abuse, issues of women inequality, a church of talking about 70% women.
You go to council or synod, what Americans will call convention. You go to convention and a church that has 70, 75% of women members of convention women will constitute only 15 or 10%. That discrepancy is also a challenge. So how do you expect female dominated church being controlled by male? 30% male, 70% women, the women are being controlled.
Decisions are being made for the 30% because you go to those who take that decision, are in the minority that is a man. You don't have enough women. You don't have enough youth. So always we have to learn to balance. Sometimes I have to come out of my own way. It's okay, let's bring more women, more youth to join us.
And this how we are trying to navigate our way through.
Pui Lan: Is wonderful. Thank you very much for your commitment to bring forward the women and the youth's voices. I know that recently you assumed the leadership of the Commission for Theological Education for the whole Anglican Communion. Can you, uh, share with us what are some of the challenges for theological education, not only in the diocese, but around the world, especially for the Global South?
Victor: Well, thank you very much. That is a very important issue because the Anglican Communion, as we all know, is a fellowship of churches that comes together. We respect each other and people come from different backgrounds, different contexts, and theological education cannot be factored in a straitjacket, at least for us in Ghana.
Let me talk of Ghana, then I come to the international community. Having been at a seminary, almost 26 years out of 12 years I was a dean. Our curriculum was nothing, but to be honest, that which was started by the British and you're dealing with a seminary that doesn't have, like most Africans, we don't have a charter by our own, most of us, including Saint Nicholas.
Though we may have the accreditation, we have accreditation by the government of Ghana. We are affiliated to and with the University of Cape Coast. So the Cape Coast University becomes our mentors and they moderate our curriculum and our programs, and they grant the certificate for us, our candidates.
What would they say? Well, talking about formation. They may not understand formation, they may not know issues with the church, but it's a secular investing, so they are more interested in what they call the core curriculum. What are the core subjects that you want to teach? Philosophy, theology, biblical studies, church history, ethics, all these things that is okay.
We have to argue away that as a church-based seminary preparing people for leadership in your day ministry and then in the lay leadership, it goes beyond just learning philosophy and theology based on European and American concepts. How do we form our people that they'll tell you what we are not? We don't know because we cannot moderate that.
We cannot examine that because we might not have the technical know-how. So that becomes a challenge. So one of the things that we sought to do was, again, in addition to the Diploma in Theology, that the investing will award and the Bachelor of Theology that the investing will award. We have to come up with what we call Diploma in Ministry, where we do a lot of formation, contextualization issues of, you know, decision consensus building.
How do you run a parish in a rural area that people will not understand all the aristocratic philosophy and ethics. These were the issues. Being practical. What do you call the practical theology? How do you deal with contemporary issues? How do you deal with segregation? How do you deal with abuse? How do you deal with people who are different from you?
How do you deal with the diversity of issues? These are the issues that we so much, and that is what I come with me to the Anglican Communion. As part of the Commission for Theological Education and now being the chairman, is to appreciate the context that we all coming from and how do you do theology in our context and encourage people not to feel ashamed of their background, of their own context.
That to help and encourage to celebrate with them. That no matter where you coming from, no matter your orientation, no matter your handicap, whatever you want to call it, I want to believe that in the Anglican Communion, we are diverse people. We cannot have one uniform way of life. One uniform liturgy, one uniform form of governance.
Every province, every church, every nationality has its own dynamics. How do you live out our Christian faith in this context? And how do you come to the table not only to respect or tolerate, but to celebrate with people who are different from us?
Pui Lan: Thank you very much. Uh. For your very prophetic leadership and your broad vision for the whole Anglican Communion. Thank you so much for joining the podcast, embraced it on your leadership for theological education in the whole Anglican communion and the work of your diocese. Thank you all. Goodbye.
Victor: Well, thank you very much my sister. And thank you to all the listeners and to all EDS sisters and brothers. I greet you all and I say, God bless you all. Amen.
In this episode, we'll learn about the work and mission of the Diocese of Cape Coast in Ghana. Joining me today is Bishop Victor Atta-Baffoe, who is an EDS alum, graduated in 1992. Welcome to the podcast, Bishop Victor.
Victor: Thank you.
Pui Lan: uh, Bishop Victor. Uh, you graduated from EDS in 1992. And, uh, when you look back, are there some particular events or things that happened that you still recall during your years at EDS?
Victor: I must confess that being at EDS from 1990 to 92, what, for me, laid the foundation for my theological thinking and theological understanding and church polity Alas I was even, I finished St. Nicholas had been to Trinity College in University of Toronto where I finished my undergraduate, but I started my graduate studies at EDS and let me be honest with you and with all listeners that my academic life...
I give credit it for the professors that I met and the way I was welcomed. Of course, being a, an African, you know, coming from Ghana, the reception, the hospitality, amazing. Of course the fact that EDS was part of the consortium of different colleges, different schools. I mean, I had courses from Western School of Theology.
I took lessons from Boston University, Boston College, and Overheating Harvard, which was excellent. That gave me a broad spectrum of theological thinking and persuasions. EDS as my own college and where I lived, worshiping together, eating from the refractory together, being together the community was excellent.
The communal life for me enhanced my own life and dignity, that as an African believe in community and communal life, I think. I was not found wanting. Episcopal Divinity School was more, more than a, a home and a family to me. I was there when we started AGI Anglicanism globalism, a communism. And I give credit to, you know, my good friend, Bishop Douglas, professor Douglas, to Fredrica who was my mentor.
Honestly, these people. Help me to come out to bring the good out of me. Fredrica was not only concerned about my academic thinking and uh, my academic excellence, but being a faithful Anglican and how much I can contribute to the Anglican Communion. And I must say. Where I'm now, what I'm doing in the Anglican Communion, well, EDS must take the credit, must take the credit.
Worship time I would never miss I, when I look at, you know, the Episcopal Church, unfortunately, as I moved around annual three years or three and a half years in the US and wherever you say Episcopal Church welcomes you. And yet EDS was being criticized of welcoming everybody, especially people of different orientation. I was able to live where people were different from me, white, Chinese, you know, Japanese, Africans, white, you know, black, whatever, gay, straight, no one, the mosaic type of life.
We all belong to God's family. We are God's people, God's children, baptized. And yes, when I became the bishop, I decided to set up goals for myself and for the diocese. My number one value for this diocese of Cape Coast to respect the dignity, value the dignity of every human being. And that, I must say, EDS taught me how to respect the dignity of every human person regardless of race, of gender, of color, of sexual orientation that has been with me and is still with me, and I'm proud of it.
From there, I went to YDS Yale Divinity School, and interestingly, I just fit in. Straight away because I had the foundation, the background solid from EDS
Pui Lan: I'm so glad to hear that EDS, uh, Bishop has been so important for you and shaped your career. Now, as you said, we need to welcome everyone into our church. But within the Anglican Communion, there has been hit at the base, uh, regarding human sexuality, women's leadership, and ministry, and other issues. What are your hopes for the Anglican Communion?
Victor: Wow. What are my hopes for the Anglican Communion? I have a lot of hope and aspirations, but it's not easy and it's not going to be easy because as we speak, I must be honest with all my interactions, both with theologians, with church leaders, with bishops at Lambeth Conference, I've been there twice.
One, when I was a dean of Saint Nicholas, I went there in my capacity as a dean, you know, as theological advisor from Africa, and then the second one as the bishop of Cape Coast. There's no trust, to be honest. There's no trust. Even among the bishops, among the primates, there's always suspicion. They and us, we and them.
How do we build trust? How do we understand each other? I'm an Anglican, an African, a Ghanaian from the global south.
I believe that I don't only have to respect and tolerate, I must learn to celebrate the lives of people who are different from me, I must learn to celebrate the diversity of the Anglican Communion. And that is a major challenge where thankfully in Ghana we have now the women ordination issue was passed as a province, that was in the, in the eighties.
But how many bishops are willing to ordain women?
In Ghana, very few in Africa. He give thanks to God. With 12 years as a bishop, we have trained, spent money, and for us, our theological education is a diocese that pays. We have paid out of our, you know, scarcity, trained and ordained three women. I have two at the seminary that they are practicing. They are priests in the parishes that we have obtained and I'm very proud.
They are doing wonderfully well. And sometimes people will label me, oh no, you are the American trained you are the liberal I said, no, that's a reality on the women in leadership will have to come to terms with it. It something that the Global South is finding it difficult. Differences. Homosexuality, we have to deal with it.
To what extent can we say they're human being or they're not human being for me, they are created in the image of God, period. What stops them from exercising their skills and their talents in the life and ministry of the church. We don't determine that we must allow God to do that. So for me in the Anglican Church, the issue of women leadership, issue of homosexuality, issue of whatever you wanna, you know, racial issues, gender issues, poverty.
It's a big challenge. It's a challenge because we don't wanna sit down and talk about it because there's no trust. For me, that is the number one issue of challenge and that is why I come to the table anytime. As an international body. I want to talk about particularly among, is it a problem both the global south and the people in the Northern Hemisphere. Not that people don't trust the Global South. Global South, don't trust them. And that is the, well, maybe they will need people like Victor who will be in the middle to say, Hey, look here. It's neither here nor there. It's about the church. It's about the mission of God.
You know, we've stopped talking about mission and ministry and now we are, what we are talking about is personal agendas. And that does not help the church. Did Jesus talked about agenda? No, he talked about mission. The Kingdom of God, the reign of God. And the reign of God comprises is bigger than the church.
It brings everybody together. That is why the Anglican Church, the Anglican Communion must start focusing on, or we need to go back and start thinking about what does it mean to talk about the reign of God or the Kingdom of God? Not about personal agendas that I'm this, I don't like this, and therefore you cannot be.
I mean, I had a bizarre experience. Honestly, it was very painful at Lambeth when I was there and when I saw the Global South people, my own brothers and sisters got sick. Who believe to be communal family community, that they will use Eucharist as a means of segregating or dividing the church that they will boycott Eucharist communion because one, the one celebrating, I don't agree with him.
He is this, she is that. She's that, no. And I told them, no, this is wrong. Again, from that north hemisphere where they want to, they'll tend to criticize the certain people that you are conservative, you are uneducated, you are not, eight doesn't, or well, we try to talk about issues that divide us. I believe strongly we should focus on issues that brings us together, that unites us, and that is the mission of God.
What is the mission? What is God calling us to do? How do we engage in the mission of God? How do we expand? How do we feed the poor? How do we clothe the naked? How do we think about the marginalized? Advocate for those with less access to medical care to help facilitate? These are the issues that the Church is called to do, but is unfortunately, so I would say as a Communion, let's continue to talk about what unites us more than what advise us.
Our strength is in what unites us and not what divides us. This one thing I'll give credit to EDS.
Pui Lan: Can you please tell something about the diocese of Cape Coast in Ghana?
Victor: Well, about the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast. Cape Coast originally was the seat of the Anglican Church in the Gold Coast. And in fact, before the capital was moved to Accra, before we got, we're still under colonial masters in the colonial church, of course, is a Church of England until we became one diocese of Accra. So Cape Coast, by virtue of the fact that the government seat was moved to Accra, everything went to Accra and Cape Coast, became a parish, and later on became a high deanery of the one diocese of Accra, which comprised of all Ghana.
Until 1981, after Kumasi has become a diocese, then Cape Coast together with four other parishes, or high deaneries were created as Diocese. Cape Coast in the center of the southern belt, Sekondi in the Western. Sunyami-Tamale in the Northern Belt and then Koforidua in the Eastern Belt. Since 81 Cape Coast has become an autonomous diocese, and I am the fourth bishop, so the first bishop, which was John Ackon, the second bishop Quarshie, the third bishop Allotey, and I'm the fourth bishop.
So Cape Coast Diocese have been in existence since 81, and we comprise of 40 parishes with about 50 active priests with about 10 retired priests in the diocese. And it covers all of central belt of the central region of the southern belt. We share borders with Accra, which is a greater Accra and Sekondi in the West, you know, which is a western region of Ghana.
So that is Cape Coast now as I speak, has a lot of potentials. This is where Saint Nicholas' Seminary is situated, and that's where I was the dean for about 12 years. And throughout my ministry, that's what I've been teaching and as a formator for almost 26 years before I was made the bishop. Cape Coast, as I said, is famous for his education in Ghana.
We have several educational institutes. We have the University of Cape Coast we have the University of uh, Winneba education in Winneba within the Cape Coast Diocese. We have the Cape Coast Technical University. All within the diocese. Several secondary schools built by the missionaries. The Methodist built the famous Mfantsipim, where you have a lot of good people from Ghana, including Kofi Annan, the former United Nations, uh, Secretary General.
A lot of elites from Mfantsipim, they had this other college by the USPG, you know, that time it was called SPG. It started as Saint Nicholas' Grammar School, preparing people for vocation ministry and then building people to serve the country. It's as famous as these other colleges is the Anglican counterpart of Mfantsipim, over a hundred years now.
Now the Catholics have sent to Augustine's College, and then the Zion people means Zion has Aggrey Memorial. So Cape Coast is very famous for all these things. And then the Premium Methodist Church is in Cape Coast. The Catholic minor basilica is here in Elmina and then of course the Anglican Church in Cape Coast.
Pui Lan: Thank you very much, Bishop.
Last year I had the opportunity of visiting Ghana and I went to Cape Coast and um, the group went to see the Cape Coast castles. Can you share with us the history of slavery related to Cape Coast?
Victor: Well, that's very interesting. Talking about a castle, which is just across the street from the Christ Church Cathedral, which is the Anglican cathedral.
Where my seat is, I sit in the, in the cathedral, in my throne, overlook the ocean, and across the street I see the castle, which the church was built initially as a garrison church for the castle, and that is where Reverend Thomas Thompson, the first missionary sent by the SPG in 1751 came and worked. That is the same place that Philip Quaque, the first non-European, or if you like, the Black priest to be ordained in the Anglican Communion was also sent from Cape Coast and he came back to minister to the natives and he lived there because that is, that was the seat of the governor.
Cape Coast Castle as a Ghanaian, it comes with mixed feelings and as an Anglican particular in terms of post independence, post-colonial issues when you talk about that, because the castle was the seat of the government at that time. That is where the church started, which is a Anglican church, but that's where they traded the slaves.
So as church was going on celebrating the Eucharist upstairs, first floor underneath, they were trading slaves. Which was very bizarre. As I say, it's mixed feelings because it brings a lot of memories, which sometimes might not be pleasant to us, that that was the Church perpetrating this kind of atrocities. You go to the dungeon and you what they call the Door of No Return, and that's where they will come and park the slaves.
A dungeon that could take maybe a hundred or 50 people, they can park 500 people. So talking of sanitation, hygiene, everything, and it's so dark you don't see anything. It is between you and your God. What you have to do is to wait for the next boat to come and take you to the Americans or to the Caribbeans.
People died. All that they do, they dump you in the water, in the ocean. If it would take you three months for the ship to come, you are there alone. Feeding was very difficult. Sanitation. Hygiene, nothing. That is the most bizarre, most painful part. They're all chained. You cannot be, you cannot move around. So you just lie down, see the how people were dehumanized and once the gate, the door is open, you just see the ship.
So if 500 people are there, by the time the ship will come, will be about 300 people. What happens to the 200 dead? They just throw them into the ocean, then they carry the rest. That is how it was, and for me as an Anglican priest and bishop, we go there once a year to pray and it is very hard. It is very hard to say the least.
Pui Lan: This is a very painful history and we must not forget, and thank you for helping us to understand the relationship between the Anglican Church and the slave trade, and this we must keep in mind as we continue the mission of the Church. Now, you have been a bishop in this diocese since 2014. What are some of the joys and challenges that you have faced?
Victor: My training and my ministry for almost 25, 26 years was in the seminary teaching and forming priests and pastors. So my whole ministry before I became a bishop was nothing but classroom reading and research and teaching. For 12 years I was a dean, which again, took me somehow out of the classroom to do administration, managing and well being a dean of the seminary, in addition to your teaching and administration, you were like the fundraiser going around looking for money to keep the seminary going.
So when I was elected a bishop. I was elected in 2013 and then and throwned as a diosesan in 2014. The joy was that now I deal with the realities on the ground. Apart from talking and teaching. Now you meet the people, you sit down with, the people, people who may not know anything about theology. People who may not know anything about Greek or Hebrew, now you have to talk to them, deal with them, with the realities of life.
And for them, the realities of life is how to put food on the table, how to take care of the kids. having no healthcare and everything. So as I traveled around and started talking to people. It gave me a new perspective, a new dimension of life. That life is more than what you do from your office and what you do from the classroom.
So here, how do you bring the theory and practice together? How do you combine the two? How do you tell people God loves you in the face of scarcity, in the face of poverty? In the face of, in the midst of abuse, how do you handle these things? For me, that has been the joy. All I'm saying praxis, how do I bring my understanding of God and witness to God's love to the doorstep of my people who have no water, good drinking water.
Their concern is how do I put food on the table? That was one joy. Challenges. Okay. I left couple of joys. You know, apart from the being, the fact that I don't do administration at a seminary anymore, now I have time to be with the people. I have time to be with my family. Because being a dean, I was traveling all around, all around.
Now time to be with the people, but there are a couple of challenges. What, what are some of the challenges apart from physical and material? One, conceptualization.
The challenge that we have, what we've inherited from the colonial masters or colonial government, from the missionaries, from the Church of England. What they taught us and our ancestors, what I have been criticized in the classroom. Now how do I bring that? How do I put that? You know, in effect, in the life of the congregation issue of liturgy, how do you contextualize our liturgy?
How do we make people feel at home when we celebrate the Eucharist? How do we translate the whole liturgy into vernacular for the people to understand? How do we bring God to the people in the midst of their situations? That has been one issue that I have to grapple with as a matter of fact for the 14 years, and I'm still, there have been successes, but there are still issues that we have to deal with because for people, change is not easy.
And I will tell you, this is what we've learned 50 years ago, 60 years. You see now what we know as Anglicans is to look up to Canterbury, is to look up to England. So why are you not coming to tell us? Let's understand God, in our own context, it becomes difficult. So these are some of the issues, the issue of contextualization, oration, and not just the liturgy, but theology.
When you talk of governance, how do we talk of governance? You know, in terms of our context, it's got a serious question we are people that will believe in communal, you know, consensus building. In decision making. Now the church will tell you, uh, the constitution, one man, one vote, one woman, one vote. So bring them to synod, let them vote.
So it is the elite, the group that comes to synod that takes decision for the rest, and that becomes problematic. And I have to navigate my way through that is some of the issues. And of course, like any other African churches, poverty still stands, youth employment, abuse, issues of women inequality, a church of talking about 70% women.
You go to council or synod, what Americans will call convention. You go to convention and a church that has 70, 75% of women members of convention women will constitute only 15 or 10%. That discrepancy is also a challenge. So how do you expect female dominated church being controlled by male? 30% male, 70% women, the women are being controlled.
Decisions are being made for the 30% because you go to those who take that decision, are in the minority that is a man. You don't have enough women. You don't have enough youth. So always we have to learn to balance. Sometimes I have to come out of my own way. It's okay, let's bring more women, more youth to join us.
And this how we are trying to navigate our way through.
Pui Lan: Is wonderful. Thank you very much for your commitment to bring forward the women and the youth's voices. I know that recently you assumed the leadership of the Commission for Theological Education for the whole Anglican Communion. Can you, uh, share with us what are some of the challenges for theological education, not only in the diocese, but around the world, especially for the Global South?
Victor: Well, thank you very much. That is a very important issue because the Anglican Communion, as we all know, is a fellowship of churches that comes together. We respect each other and people come from different backgrounds, different contexts, and theological education cannot be factored in a straitjacket, at least for us in Ghana.
Let me talk of Ghana, then I come to the international community. Having been at a seminary, almost 26 years out of 12 years I was a dean. Our curriculum was nothing, but to be honest, that which was started by the British and you're dealing with a seminary that doesn't have, like most Africans, we don't have a charter by our own, most of us, including Saint Nicholas.
Though we may have the accreditation, we have accreditation by the government of Ghana. We are affiliated to and with the University of Cape Coast. So the Cape Coast University becomes our mentors and they moderate our curriculum and our programs, and they grant the certificate for us, our candidates.
What would they say? Well, talking about formation. They may not understand formation, they may not know issues with the church, but it's a secular investing, so they are more interested in what they call the core curriculum. What are the core subjects that you want to teach? Philosophy, theology, biblical studies, church history, ethics, all these things that is okay.
We have to argue away that as a church-based seminary preparing people for leadership in your day ministry and then in the lay leadership, it goes beyond just learning philosophy and theology based on European and American concepts. How do we form our people that they'll tell you what we are not? We don't know because we cannot moderate that.
We cannot examine that because we might not have the technical know-how. So that becomes a challenge. So one of the things that we sought to do was, again, in addition to the Diploma in Theology, that the investing will award and the Bachelor of Theology that the investing will award. We have to come up with what we call Diploma in Ministry, where we do a lot of formation, contextualization issues of, you know, decision consensus building.
How do you run a parish in a rural area that people will not understand all the aristocratic philosophy and ethics. These were the issues. Being practical. What do you call the practical theology? How do you deal with contemporary issues? How do you deal with segregation? How do you deal with abuse? How do you deal with people who are different from you?
How do you deal with the diversity of issues? These are the issues that we so much, and that is what I come with me to the Anglican Communion. As part of the Commission for Theological Education and now being the chairman, is to appreciate the context that we all coming from and how do you do theology in our context and encourage people not to feel ashamed of their background, of their own context.
That to help and encourage to celebrate with them. That no matter where you coming from, no matter your orientation, no matter your handicap, whatever you want to call it, I want to believe that in the Anglican Communion, we are diverse people. We cannot have one uniform way of life. One uniform liturgy, one uniform form of governance.
Every province, every church, every nationality has its own dynamics. How do you live out our Christian faith in this context? And how do you come to the table not only to respect or tolerate, but to celebrate with people who are different from us?
Pui Lan: Thank you very much. Uh. For your very prophetic leadership and your broad vision for the whole Anglican Communion. Thank you so much for joining the podcast, embraced it on your leadership for theological education in the whole Anglican communion and the work of your diocese. Thank you all. Goodbye.
Victor: Well, thank you very much my sister. And thank you to all the listeners and to all EDS sisters and brothers. I greet you all and I say, God bless you all. Amen.
