At ordination: Moderator charges pastors to shepherd with care, justice.

This was during the ordination of the Assistant Pastors into the Ministry of the Word and Sacrament.

The ceremony took place at the Presbyterian Church Kumba-Town. He advised the new pastors to be good examples in their pastoral work and assets to the Church.

Other senior pastors of the PCC also witnessed the ordination. Others who accompanied the Moderator in the ordination rites were; the Synod Clerk, Rev Ayuk Solomon Eta; the Secretary Committee of the Ministry the Rev Emmanuel B Masok; amongst a host of pastors.

Christians and family members of the pastors lived the vent. The Moderator christened the batch platinum. Christians from all congregations across the Presbytery attended the event.

The man of God in his preaching, drawn from Ezikiel 34, on the theme: “Shepherd the flock with justice and care”, told the Christians to be proud Presbyterians anchored in a heritage of scripture, order, and disciplined discipleship.

Those ordained to serve, he said, is a “privilege that one may say surpasses all which is the privilege of being a pastor in the church of Jesus Christ. And beyond that, the privilege to be an ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon”.

The Moderator described the PCC as “a church whose influence stretches right from our villages to the towns and cities, from our local congregations to the global fellowship of believers”.

He reminded them that the ordination brings them to the level of honour which can’t be measured by any earthly scale. He said the hands laid on the Assistant Pastors was not to elevate them above God’s people but to bury them “deeper in the house of God”.

Speaking later after the ritual, the Moderator expressed delight to have been opportune to ordain the Assistant Pastors. Before Wednesday’s event, he said the pastors were authorized to administer the Sacraments of Word.

Three years on, he said the fresh ordination means they have been consecrated with renewed strength, empowerment to live up to the billing as labourers in God’s vineyard.

The Moderator said all the Assistant Pastors were each handed a symbolic tool which will equip and fortify them for the mission in winning souls for Christ throughout their pastoral ministry. 

‘True shepherding’ 

The Moderator also noted that “true shepherding holds justice and care together. Healing the broken without challenging the broke or healing the broken without challenging what broke them is not true shepherding. Preaching the gospel while tolerating corruption, tribalism, exploitation, and dishonesty is not true shepherding”.

The Chief Shepherd of the PCC told the pastors to lead with humility, integrity and compassion. On the other hand, he asked congregations to respond with love, accountability and genuine partnership in rebuilding what has been scattered, heal what has been wounded.

He reiterated to the pastors that “let it never be said of you that you wounded where you were sent to heal, you scattered where you were sent to gather, or that you fed yourself where you were sent to serve. The church does not need celebrities, manipulators, spiritual merchants but needs Christ shaped shepherds who are stewards, not owners”.

The Moderator further challenged them to “stand where Christ stands, beside the broken, weary, wounded, poor, overlooked, and also the rejected and outcast”.

He reminded them to look up to Jesus Christ if ever they “feel weak or overwhelmed by the work you have been given…”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3653 of Friday December 12, 2025