History

The Church of Pentecost is a global Pentecostal church with the headquarters in Ghana. It traces its origin to the ministry of Rev. James McKeown. The Church started operations in 1953 but adopted the name, ‘The Church of Pentecost’ on 1^st August, 1962. The Church has grown in leaps and bounds and spread to one hundred and four (104) countries as of the end of the year 2019, with a global membership of 3,474,241 in 28,842 congregations. In Ghana for instance, the youth (13-35years) constitute the largest segment of the Church’s membership with 41.2%.

In the 1970s, many young people from The Church of Pentecost became students at the Secondary and Tertiary levels. These Pentecost Students came together for fellowship, prayer and evangelism. Some students from other denominations (Associates) also joined the meetings. On 23^rd August 1980, a General Conference of about 800 students was held at Prempeh College, Kumasi. At this conference, PENSA was officially inaugurated and the first official constitution was also ratified. Subsequently, at the 18^th Session of The Church of Pentecost General Council meetings held in 1981, the Church unanimously accepted the movement. From the year 2003, The Church of Pentecost began to deploy full-time Ministers of the Church as PENSA Travelling Secretaries with the responsibility to bring pastoral care to the students. As at June 2020, there are 16 PENSA Travelling Secretaries across Ghana. Similarly, as at 31^st December 2019, PENSA is active in 539 Secondary Schools and 166 Tertiary Institutions in Ghana with total membership of 113,158.

Youth Ministry in The Church of Pentecost was not institutionalized from the very onset, however, it has been a prominent part of the life of the Church. Rev. James McKeown, the founder, was a man of the youth and his ministry strategy was simply to use young people. He was quick to recognize gifts among young people, and he placed them on the spot once he became convinced of what the Lord had given them to offer. Soon his youthful disciples became the driving force of his missionary enterprise. They grew to be the mighty men and women of God through whose leadership the Church grew at a fast rate.

The Church had a ministry committed to evangelism called Witness Movement. In order to synchronize the activities of Witness Movement and youth programmes including that of PENSA, a unified group by name, Pentecost Youth and Evangelism Movement (PENTYEM) was created in 1991. PENSA therefore operated as a student wing under PENTYEM.

In 1996, the leadership of the Church noticed the urgency of a ministry solely for young people and this led to the creation of Youth Ministry. Since then, the Youth Ministry has had oversight responsibility over young people in the ‘home’ assemblies as well as those on campus. The core mandate of the Youth Ministry is to mobilise young people and empower them to live for Christ everywhere. To fulfil this, the Ministry plans and organizes programmes to meet the peculiar needs and aspirations of the youth. The Ministry also embarks on fervent evangelism and discipleship to boost the growth of the Church.

At the National level, Apostle D.K. Noble Atsu led the Youth Ministry since its inception in 1996 till 2004. Apostle E.K. Acquah followed from 2004 to 2011, and Apostle David Nyansah Hayfron also took over from 2011 – 2019. These past Directors, together with their leadership teams, served creditably with sterling strides in discipleship and evangelism. The current Director is Pastor Ebenezer Hagan. The Patrons who worked as ‘Fathers’ of the ministry over the period are Apostle D.K. Anan (of blessed memory), Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, Apostle John Appiah Aidoo and Apostle Eric Nyamekye. Currently, Apostle Samuel Osei Asante is the Patron of the Ministry. Deputy Directors who have worked with the ministry in times past were Pastor Frank Osei Wusu and Elder Gibson Annor Antwi. Currently, Elder Amos Kevin Annan is the Deputy Youth Director. There are structured leaders at the respective Areas, Districts and Local Assemblies. Currently, the Youth Ministry is operational in all the 69 Administrative Areas and in every district of the church in Ghana.