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NTCOG annual convention returns to Cultural Centre after two years hiatus
Caribbean Field Director of NTCOG, Bishop Ishmael Charles and his wife Patricia.
Kaieteur News – The New Testament Church of God (NTCOG) Guyana will hold its 63rd Annual Convention from May 20 -22 at the National Cultural Centre, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.
This year’s event signals a return after a two-year absence due to the global Corona Virus pandemic which has so far killed 1,228 Guyanese, 1.6 million in Latin America and Caribbean states and some 6.2 million persons worldwide.
As such, the theme of Convention 2022 is ‘Still Your Healer.’
At the three-day event, Caribbean Field Director, Bishop Ishmael Charles and his wife, Patricia, will be the featured speakers. Bishop Ishmael Charles will close the 63rd Convention on Sunday morning which commences at 9 am. On Saturday, the Ladies and Youth Departments will team up from 3 pm with Sister Patricia Charles as the guest speaker. The Convention begins on next Friday at 6:30 pm.
NTCOG members around the country are relieved about the return of their signature annual event, and some have said so in their social media posts.
NTCOG currently 65 churches as members in Guyana, five of which are deemed mission churches and one located at Western Suriname, all contributing to a national membership of approximately 5,000. In Guyana, Bishop Joseph Persaud is the overseer of the NTCOG, with its numbers constantly growing.
The NTCOG has linkages to the oldest Pentecostal Church in the United States and falls under the Church of God movement. As such, NTCOG is a Pentecostal movement best known for its fervour and enthusiastic ‘holy spirit’ influenced worship sessions.
According to its brief history, although the Church of God movement commenced in 1886, it only came to Guyana in the 1940s and officially began its operation here in 1956.
The New Testament name was adopted because when the movement arrived in Guyana, it was found that a Church of God was already operating in Guyana.
The history is similar in most of the Caribbean island. Several Caribbean territories have New Testament Church of God because Church of God churches were there before.
The New Testament movement currently exists in over 183 countries with millions of members.
In a previous interview with Kaieteur News, Overseer of the NTCOG in Guyana, Bishop Joseph had explained that the church is unique in its structure since it is guided by a centralised team of elders in the United States. “We are known by this, we are also known by the way we are structured and because we are Pentecostal, we also pay a lot of attention to miracles because we believe that God still heals…above all, we believe in holiness,” asserted Bishop Persaud.
But even with its various peculiarities, Bishop Joseph made it clear that “everyone is welcome to any New Testament Church of God…anybody can walk off the street and feel like they belong here.” However, becoming a member of the church requires that individuals are taught the doctrine of the church and accept that the entire bible is inspired by God although members are known to mostly embrace the New Testament theology.
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