Methodist Presiding Bishop condemns ‘Detty’ December - Warns against associating Christmas with event’s excesses

Detty December, a concept adopted by Gen Zs in parts of West Africa for Christmas celebrations, has aroused the religious emotions of the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, who connects “detty” with “dirty” and rejects their linkage with Christ’s birth month.

Professor Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu has expressed worry about how “dirty” or “detty” could be associated with Christmas celebrations.

He said he hoped the “Detty December” celebration did not mean doing “dirty things” during the season.

“Detty” is Nigerian Pidgin English coinage derived from “dirty”, and said to signify the wild, excessive and non-stop nature of December celebrations in the populous West African nation.

In Ghana, “detty” is derived from Ghanaian entertainer, Mr Easy’s popular concert, Detty Rave.

The word was first used by Mr Eazy’s manager, Bernard Kafui Sokpe, as a promotional tool for the artiste’s concert.

Unfortunately, a greater part of the public now confuses “detty” with “dirty”.

Recently, the Graphic Showbiz published a story in which the Director of Diaspora Affairs, Kofi Okyere Darko, aka KOD, shared reservations about the term ‘Detty December’.

In that publication, he said the confusion painted the December celebration as merely a season of entertainment, limiting it to solely having fun.

Dirty

“Who decided to put the word ‘dirty’ on the month in which Jesus was born? Let's celebrate Christmas in the spirit in which it was established,” the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana advised.

Most Rev. Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said this in an interview he granted journalists after inducting connexional executives of the Fellowship of Methodist Evangelists.

Methodist evangelists are lay people who are gifted in the area of reaching out to the world for lost souls.

They are preachers and are often the ones who establish new congregations or societies, as the Methodist Church calls them.

Most Rev. Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said it was unfortunate that the Christmas season, which was supposed to be joyful, had been turned into a season of engaging in all kinds of untoward behaviour, including drinking and excessive expenditure.

Drivers

He said it was also unfortunate that drivers had also taken advantage of the increase in passengers during the season to drive without care, thereby inflicting pain on others through accidents, instead of the season being a time of joy.

“We are enjoining all and sundry to be careful. Make merry, but in moderation. Avoid behaviour that, as it were, leads to pain and misery, and let's celebrate Christmas in peace,” he said.

He asked Ghanaians not to “take Christ out of His own season”, adding that Christ’s grace would accompany the public through the coming new year.

He called on political leaders, public and civil servants to learn to be selfless, pointing out that a lot of people were self-centred, which brought about greed and pain. 

Induction

The 11-member connexional executive has Evangelist Gladys Mamtee Osabutey as the Chairperson, with Prof. Francis K. E. Nunoo as Vice-Chairman, Ebenezer Fosu Dadzie as Secretary, Chief Arku Korsah as Assistant Secretary, Emmanuel Aboagye Ayerakwa as Financial Secretary, and Nathaniel Okang as Treasurer.

The rest are Godfred K.N. Sarpong as Public Relations Officer, Nicholas Awuku-Bekoe as Ex Officio Member, with Charles Mensah, John Eshun and Dinah Ghartey as Executive Members.

Among the dignitaries that were present were a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison; a former Administrative Bishop of the church, Rt Rev. Albert Ofoe Wright; the Lay President of the church, Kwasi Attah-Antwi, and the Bishops of the Accra and Northern Accra Dioceses of the church, Rt Rev. Dr Samuel Nii Nmai Ollennu, and Rt Rev. Andrew Mbeah-Baiden.

Inducting them, Most Rev. Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said, as evangelists of the church, they were called to be worthy in character, to teach the Word of God, to lead God's people in prayer and praise and to share in the church's mission in the world.

"Yours is a responsibility rooted in the Word of God. You will bring the message of salvation to all, in season and out of season.

As you proclaim the good news and lead others to Christ, your life will be shaped and transformed.

You are required, therefore, to make a public testimony to your faith and commitment to the task," he said.

Sermon

Later in a sermon, the Presiding Bishop said the induction had coincided with what in Christendom was known as Advent, during which they remember that God came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ.

He charged the inductees to make sure that they themselves acknowledged in their hearts and lives the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in order that they could proclaim Him.

Evangelist Osabutey, who is the first female Chairperson of the fellowship since its establishment in 1994, expressed gratitude for being one of those women God had chosen to do His work.

She promised to partner God so that more people would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.