The Methodist Church Ghana, has inducted Mr William Orleans Kwaku Arko Oduro, Vice President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), as the Lay President of the Church Conference.
As the 19th Lay President out of 20 Lay Chairmen, Mr Oduro becomes the second in command after the Presiding Bishop.
The induction ceremony, facilitated by The Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, charged the Lay President to assist the Presiding Bishop in giving leadership to the Church in addition to carrying out duties that might be assigned to him by Conference and the Presiding Bishop.
He would also preside over the Representative Session of Conference and Conference Boards in the absence of the Presiding Bishop and take over decisions affecting the general welfare of the Church and in particular, the Connexional Administration, when alerted by the Administrative Bishop of Conference.
This was contained in a statement from the Church, copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
Described as a soft spoken, mild-mannered, and humble but tough Lawyer, Mr Oduro is a member of the General Legal Council, and the National Media Commission.
The statement said the Methodist Church Ghana Conference, according to the Constitution and the General Orders of the Methodist Church Ghana, was vested with the government and discipline of the Church, the management and administration of its affairs.
It was also mandated to build up members of the Church in the Christian faith to attract others to share in the salvation of Christ and the fellowship of the Church.
The new Lay President was born on July 19, 1961, at Assin Adubiase in the Central Region of Ghana to Ex Sergeant Benjamin Kingsley Oduro and Madam Elizabeth Araba Aquaah, all of blessed memory.
As the son of a policeman, he attended six different primary schools from Kitson-Mills Primary School, Korle Gonno, a suburb of Accra in 1966 to Tamale in 1966.
He returned to Tamale after more transfers in 1973 where he sat for the Common Entrance Examination and gained admission to Breman Asikuma Secondary School in 1966.
The new Lay President continued his Secondary education at Aggrey Memorial Zion Secondary School, Cape Coast for his GCE Advanced Level, then to University Of Ghana (Legon) to read Law, History, and Religion in 1986.
He gained admission to the Ghana Law School in 1989 and was called to the bar on October 4, 1991.
His work experience began in November 1991 at the Berekum District Assembly as a National Service Legal Officer.
After many other endeavours, he set up a legal practice in partnership with Mr Yaw Wiredu-Peprah (Wiredu Peprah Oduro and Co. Asomdwoe Chambers) in 2007, in Sunyani where he currently practices.
Before attaining his new position, Mr. Oduro had been a Lay Chairman of the Sunyani Diocese, a Lay Preacher and Class Leader of the Cathedral Choir, the Berlin Top-Fiapre class, and Patron to several societies in the Sunyani Diocese.
He had also represented the Methodist Church Ghana at conferences, and acted as a legal advisor for the Sunyani Diocece.
Mr Oduro is married to Mrs Emily Ama Ntiriwaa Oduro, a Matron at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital, and together, they are blessed with four children.
The induction ceremony was accompanied by melodies from “Harmonious Voices” of the Church choir to signal the end of a successful induction ceremony, the statement said.
