The Salvation Congregation in New Achimota carried a quiet expectancy last Sunday forenoon as 26 ordinands sat ready to be ordained. It was the fourth ordination service of 2026, yet nothing about the moment felt routine.
From my seat at the media stand, laptop open, I waited for the former Clerk of the General Assembly, Rev. Dr. Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor, to begin his sermon. What followed was not merely preaching; it was a gentle, powerful cultivation of hearts using the language of farms—soil, seed, fertiliser, and growth.
His theme, “Good seeds in good soil,” came from Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23—the parable of the Sower. He reminded the congregation that this is the first recorded parable of Jesus Christ and the one Jesus Himself interpreted. Rev. Dr. Odonkor is an excellent theologian, but on the pulpit, he sounded like a seasoned farmer who knows the weight of seed, the stubbornness of soil, and the miracle of growth.
He began with the seed. No farmer worth his name, he said, would ever plant evil, bad, or diseased seed. God, the master farmer, plants only what is good. Turning to the ordinands, he told them that God has deposited His goodness in them. They have been carefully and wonderfully made. Their origin is divine, and the origin of the seed determines its future. “A good seed,” he said, “is a good start for the farmer.” And God has given them that start.
But seeds do not grow in the air. They grow in soil—soil that varies, surprises, and sometimes resists. He spoke of the many “soils” into which ministers are planted: families, congregations, institutions, friends. Some soils are rich and nourishing. Others are rocky, dry, or even toxic. The seed cannot choose where it falls. Conditions may choke, irritate, or suffocate. Yet even there, growth is possible.
Then came the imagery of the fertiliser. Fertilisers, he said, are unpleasant to the nose. They suffocate and irritate. Yet when applied, they aid growth. The fertilisers of ministry, he said could be criticism, loneliness and difficult postings. They are rarely pleasant, but they enrich the life of the minister.
They prepare the minister for fruitfulness. Because we are in this world, he said, there will be challenges. There might be delays. But nothing can stop you from blossoming. Joseph’s life, he added, is proof that destiny unfolds even in hostile soil.
Perhaps the most striking moment was when he addressed the fear of many ministers: the fear of being sent to difficult stations. “When you are sent to a place,” he said, “never think the church is burying you. You have been planted.” You will grow and succeed because God will partner with you. No soil should change what God has ordained.
He urged the ordinands to see every challenge as fertiliser for growth. The soil must be good; the yield must be good. Grow to yield in full to the glory of God. He warned them to watch their friends, guard their influences, and remember that they are what they read, what they watch, and what they listen to. ‘Be nice to all’, he said, ‘but be careful’.
Rev. Dr. Odonkor then reminded the ordinands: God and the church have formed them in good soil and will continue to support them. “God is not burying you. God is planting you,” he ended. Behind my laptop, the imagery lingered, my mind immersed in the sermon. Rev. Dr. Nii Noi Odonkor planted in the soil of my heart a good seed that must grow by the grace of the Lord God who alone ordains growth as we yield to Him.
By: Jerome Otchere
