When members of various Methodist Societies in Accra began settling in Dansoman, they continued to worship in their mother Societies with their children. Mount Olivet Methodist Society thus started with the continued relocation of Methodists from other Societies to Dansoman.
The children of these families could not attend Sunday Schools in the afternoons as they used to do in their mother churches because of the distance and transportation challenges at the time. In order to give these children the necessary Christian Education, Bro. J.K.J Quansah and his wife, Sister Rose Quansah, organized the first Sunday School at their house, House Number D 229, Sahara, on 15th November 1973. The commencement of the Sunday School was a big relief to the parents. Brother Quansah, who was a Sunday School teacher at Calvary Methodist Society, organized the children so well that the numbers increased within a short time. Methodist and Non-Methodist children alike attended on a regular basis. In a matter of four weeks, over 30 children had joined the Children’s service.
In order to effectively minister the Word of God to them, Mr and Mrs Quansah divided the children into three groups according to their ages. These groups were handled by Brothers J. K. J Quansah and James Ocran, and Sister Rose Quansah. As the numbers further increased, other Sunday Schools were started at the residences of Mr. & Mrs D. D Nunoo, now Rev’d D. D Nunoo at Ham, Mr & Mrs S. K Annim at Control and also at the Wesley Grammar School.
Children from the various Sunday Schools moved to the Saint Martin de Porres School premises when Mount Olivet Society was established to form the nucleus of the Children’s Service.
Some of the teachers who handled the Children’s Service in its early years were: Brothers Francis Cudjoe, James Ocran and Sisters Sabina Nunoo, Elizabeth Baisie and many other people. Brother Dennis, Christiana Armah, Sis Hagar Monnie, Bro. Francis Kudjo, Bro Dan Seedah and Mr and Mrs Abossey etc were all very instrumental to the growth of the Mt Olivet Children’s Ministry.
Sister Grace Boahene started a Children’s Service in her house. She was made the Sunday School Superintendent due to her commitment to the Children’s Ministry coupled with the fast rate at which the Ministry was expanding. When the Sakaman Nursery Society was formed, Brother Obu, of blessed memory, took charge of the Children’s Service there.
In September 1991, Sister Sophia Blankson became the next Sunday School Superintendent during the time of The Very Rev’d Prof. Ben W. Garbrah. During her first appeal for teachers of the Sunday school, many people turned up and were subsequently trained and given centres to oversee. During the era of Rev’d Davis, he initiated the Children’s Week Celebration which is celebrated annually.
Sister Sophia Blankson worked tirelessly to make sure every Children’s Service centre was effectively imparting the Word of God to the children.
Sister Grace Vivian Bentum succeeded Sis Sophia as the Children’s Service Superintendent in 2000. She with the help of her team of selfless teachers has continued the good work until now. The numerical strength of the children from 2001 has been constantly above 1,000. We, however, noticed a trend from 2011 till now. When a year group due for the Youth Service left, it had a dwindling effect on the numbers. It was pronounced in these years because the children in the Sunday School who belong to the year groups promoted in these years were many. This decrease prompted the Committee on Ministries to task the Circuit Sunday School Council to submit a report on how to improve numbers and keep the Children’s Service vibrant at all times.
The Annual Children’s Week celebrations and Harvests have contributed to building talents for the Ministry and nurturing the children to develop the skills of giving. MECHIGUST camp (Annual camp meetings for children) meetings have also been a real blessing to the children. The commitment of the current crop of teachers to the Ministry and the Children cannot be overemphasized. They give absolutely everything to ensure that the Children are brought up in the way of the Lord.
