Methodist Church Ghana initiates moves to ensure rev ministers do not use 'unearned doctoral' titles

The Methodist Church Ghana, has initiated moves to ensure that reverend ministers and lay persons in the church do not use unearned doctoral titles.

The church has consequently directed all active ministers holding doctorate degrees up to the end of September 2025 to submit copies of their certificates for cross-checking and verification with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

Lay persons with doctorates working with the church who want their doctoral degrees listed in the church's records have also been asked to comply with the directive. 

The Presiding Bishop of the church, Most Rev Professor Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, announced this today [August 21, 2025] in Cape Coast, at the ongoing 13th Expanded General Purposes Council (EGPC) of the church.

He, has accordingly directed all the bishops and Synod Secretaries of the church to take the directive to their members in the dioceses.

He explained that the directive was to prevent the church from being embarrassed in any form.

"This is not witch hunting. This is making sure that we are on track. We don't want to wait until we are embarrassed as a church. I'm very serious about this because not only are we accepted as a nation but this is a claim to academic qualification," he explained.

GTEC is on a campaign to prevent the use of unearned academic titles in Ghana and enforce the law as there is an increase in the abuse of academic titles in Ghana in recent times.

A number of high profile personalities in Ghana have recently been named in the GTEC campaign and directed to stop using the unearned titles.

The Assemblies of God Church in Ghana has similarly instructed all its ministers of the gospel to refrain from using unearned academic titles in accordance with GTEC regulations. 

Most Rev Professor Asamoah-Gyadu commended the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Rev Dr Stephen Wengam, for that bold move.

Expanded GPC

The EGPC of the Methodist Church Ghana serves as an extension of the General Purposes Council (GPC), the highest decision-making body of the church between conferences.

It has been instituted to enhance strategic planning, policy oversight and administrative efficiency in response to the growing needs of the church in a rapidly changing social and spiritual landscape.

This year's EGPC coincides with the grand durbar celebration of the church's 190th anniversary.