CONGREGATION SPLITS INTO TWO
The administration of the sacraments – baptism, communion and marriages among a few others were major issues that warranted a Presbyterian ordained minister to lead the fast growing Fellowship. The other objective for requesting a pastor from Ghana was to help establish a permanent link with our mother church, and to enhance the experience of Pastors from Ghana through such bilateral arrangement. However, a misunderstanding arose among the congregation over the issue of requesting an ordained Minister from Ghana. The congregation therefore split into two on Sunday July 2, 1995, and about two-thirds of the congregation moved to worship in a rented sanctuary at 39 Knox Avenue (Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church). The Presbyterian Church of Ghana Head Office in Accra, which had been informed about the birth of our church, was soon told about a split in the congregation. A formal request was then made for an ordained PCG Pastor to lead the congregation.
Thereafter, Wofa Yaw Nyarko, Alex Barning, Faustina Asare and Emmanuel Asare met with Rev. Rick Fee at the Presbyterian Church in Canada head office in Toronto to discuss the possibility of affiliating with the Presbyterian Church in Canada. However, upon advice by Rev. Fee, a formal request was sent to first affiliate with the Presbytery of West Toronto through Rev. Andrew Duncan of the Pine Ridge Church. The Presbytery responded that an ordained Pastor was a pre-condition for formal membership of the Presbytery. A formal affiliation was necessary in order to enhance the ties between PCG and PCC, and to forestall any tendency to divert our young church from its original Presbyterian tradition.
