Here Comes 2012...

Preparations for this year�s transition into 2012, especially among some Charismatic churches, have assumed a very competitive dimension. Like the promotional activities in the business world where operators use strong and effective branding to sell their items, some charismatic churches have mounted huge billboards to advertise their watch-night services that will usher in 2012. Some of these churches have catch phrases such as �Crossover�, �Passover�, �Prophetic� or �Transition� to brand their watch-night services. Besides the church services, the drinking spots and tourist centres will be patronised by revellers who will celebrate the crossover to 2012 in grand style. Many others will also use the occasion for sober reflection on what they were able to achieve in 2011 and what 2012 will have in store for them. But whether the church services are dubbed �Crossover�, �Passover�, �Prophetic� or �Transition�, they are expected to be characterised by prayers for forgiveness as Christians seek divine forgiveness for their transgressions in 2011. They will also be occasions for prophetic ministration, as religious leaders will prophesy concerning the lives of the congregants. Some churches have injected a great deal of innovation into what used to be simple watch-night services and launched into mega open air worship projected on elaborate advertisements in the print and electronic media. One of the advertising innovations that strike a chord is the use of Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses which have been drenched in the watch-night frenzy. According to an official of the MMT, the branding of buses was sold to an advertising agency for at least GH�150 a month but he was not sure how much the agencies were charging the churches for the adverts. Pictures of prominent pastors and the programmes for their watch-night services are also splashed on large billboards, walls, trees and every structure that can display such advertising materials. The International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) and the Action Chapel International (ACI) lead the pack of churches in the watch-night service revolution, with elaborate programmes to end the year and usher in the New Year. The two churches are expected to pull the largest worshippers and fleet of cars on the night. The watch-night service of the ICGC, dubbed �Crossover 2011�, is, as usual, scheduled to take place at the Accra Sports Stadium where thousands of the church�s congregation will converge to observe the annual ritual. The ACI is organising its watch-night service, dubbed �Passover�, at the Prayer Cathedral off the Spintex Road, having re-scheduled it from the earlier advertised Independence Square due to some difficult circumstances. Sharing some thoughts on the theme for the service � �The Year of Divine Providence� � the Founder of the ACI, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, said God would exceedingly bless Ghana next year. According to him, �12� was a number of government and divine alignment and so 2012 would witness acts of divine providence in the political and economic sectors of the country. Members of the Royalhouse Chapel (Ahenfie) and the Word Miracle Church International will observe the day at the headquarters of their churches at Abossey Okai and Dzorwulu, respectively, under the same mantra, �Prophetic Watch-Night Service�. On the theme, �And they overcame by the blood�, prospective watch-night worshippers at Ahenfie are assured of an anointing ministration by the General Overseer, Rev Sam Kuranchie Ankrah, to enable them to overcome the challenges of the new year.