ODE TO THE VERY REV. PROF. JOSHUA NARTEH KUDADJIE

We bless the name of God for a beautiful celebration of eight decades and one, of His love, mercy, goodness, grace and favour to His son, the Very Rev. Prof. Joshua N. Kudadjie, a distinguished scholar, an exem­plary gentleman, a patriot, our patriarch and a true and humble servant of God and Country.

The V. Rev. Kudadjie had been a member of the Rev. Ernest Bruce Memorial Methodist Church (EBMMC) as far back as his youthful days. Being a pioneering member of the Youth Fellowship, he was in the able company of a smart team of boys who were focused and grew up to be disciplined and highly responsible men: the Right Rev. Ashitey, N.M. Coffie, E.C. Adjebu, J.C. Martey and others, all of blessed memory. Elderly members of the church could faintly recall the unassuming, neatly dressed, humble young Kudadjie in the 1950s whose brilliance was exceptional in the way he handled the Bible, and as a youth, he was, to many, a prayerful gentleman par excellence.

Reports accessed from some church elders - Bro. Ben Tagoe and S.T. Lartey, a nonagenar­ian - revealed that the Sunday School in the 1950s was strictly observed and such was its importance that it involved the whole church. For one to qualify as a full-fledged Methodist, one has to be able to read the Ga Bible with its total nuances and cadences; those were the days when the Ga Bible had numerous diacrit­ical marks and therefore, made it a herculean and complex task even for true Ga-Dangmes to read. The whole exercise of reading the Ga Bible started with “Aaa Bɛɛ Dɛ…” – the Ga Alphabet – and then one moved on to the next stage of putting letters together to form Ga words. Once one was promoted to a higher class based on one’s performance, one was expected to read passably. At the final class, only the proficient readers were certificated and considered worthy of being Sunday School teachers. Very Rev. Kudadjie, the report said, excelled every step of the way and rose to join the enviable and competitive Bible Class.

In 1989, at the Rev. EBMMC and under the Superintendency of the late Rt. Rev. V.B.T. Nartey-Tokoli, the V. Rev. Kudadjie candidated. After his commissioning, he was assigned to the Kwabenya A and B Atomic Society until 1999. He was later stationed at Amasaman as the first minister where he brought massive infrastruc­tural development to that society.

To say that he had an immense passion for the Lord’s work will be an understatement, for throughout his life, both in the Rev. EBMMC pulpit and other pulpits, he indefatigably dis­played a hot pursuit for the redemption of the ‘lost soul’ and this can easily be traced from the themes of his sermons. His assiduity to work, commitment, willingness and enthusi­asm for the Lord’s Vineyard endeared him to many, including those who do not share the same Christian faith. The teacher in him would always make him deliver his sermons with aplomb and being blessed with extensive vocabulary and a huge amenity for language, he would often veer off his prepared text to artistically present a well-woven tapestry of a blend of Ga-Dangme and English to bring sermons to the doorstep of all.

When the brochure was being compiled for the celebration of EBMMC’s 100th milestone, the V. Rev. Kudadjie recalled how the late Rev. J.T. Clegg punctiliously handpicked some of them to form what he referred to as the FIG – Fellowship In God. The FIG, according to him, met very often at the top of the old church building and prayed fervently and ceaselessly so as to further improve the value and quality of the spiritual domain of the Rev. Ernest Bruce church. This was graciously and markedly added to the content of the Rev. EBMMC’s bro­chure and obviously brightened and deepened the historical narrative, all of which culmi­nated in the huge success chalked during the Centenary celebration of EBMMC exactly a year ago. He is still remembered on that day, September 1, 2019, with his wife by his side, exchanging conviviality with colleagues and all, and participating fully in the celebration of EBMMC’s 100 years of existence.

His priestly sojourning throughout Ghana and beyond may not have brought him back to his ‘original base’ – EBMMC, as a resident minis­ter, but he was still known and remembered, and at the mention of his name, even in his absence, members, especially the elderly, liter­ally stand up in reverence; he is usually touted as a ‘true priestly gentleman.’ His last-but-one visit to the Ernest Bruce Society was, together with his wife, to receive bountiful blessings at the hands of the V. Rev. Dr. Nana K. Bart- Plange, the then Superintendent Minister, for 50 years in holy matrimony.

We are here today to bid farewell to one of the most phenomenal priests Ghana has produced, the V. Rev. Prof. Joshua Narteh Kudadjie. The thought of not seeing him again increases the heart-aches and would certainly cause tears to course down our cheeks. Shakespeare knew of this and therefore said in Henry VI that, “To weep is to make less the depth of grief.” But is Shakespeare right in this circumstance? Ladies and gentlemen, can our tears be said to reduce the burden of this irreparable, irreversible, irremediable, irredeemable and irreplaceable loss?

All your life, your sole objective was to work tirelessly in the Lord’s garden and to win over lost souls to Christ; you did exactly that to the very end. We are consoled by the words in Romans 8:16-17 – indeed you are a child of God and alongside Christ, you are glorified together. May you receive the peaceful rest that you so well deserve, dear Very Rev. Prof. Joshua Narteh Kudadjie, from our Creator, till we meet again.

V. Rev. Prof. J.N. Kudadjie, Rev. Ernest Bruce Bii Kɛɛ Yaawɔ Jogbaŋ Yɛ Hejɔlɛ Mliŋ.

Okɛ Wɔm Saminya.