A sewing ministry focused on producing liturgical vestments is a new ministry of the Anglican Diocese of Tema in Ghana. The Rt. Rev. George Kotei Neequaye and his wife, Esther Neequaye, the diocese’s “mother superior,” commissioned the ministry’s headquarters in Community 22, a district of Tema, on February 22.
The goal of the project, which is organized under the auspices of the diocesan Women’s Ministry, is “to assist less endowed churches to have standardized and well-designed vestments in all the liturgical colors across the diocese, and secondly, to train and create employment opportunities for the youth within the church,” the diocese announced.
The professional seamstresses and tailors will share their skills to craft “altar linens, cottas, cassocks, and other church paraphernalia for churches within the Tema Diocese.”
Dr. Mary Akweley Cobblah has promoted the project, and the costs are being underwritten by anonymous donors.
Neequaye “applauded the promoters and sponsors for such a laudable initiative. He urged other professional groups within the diocese to come together and to champion other similar initiatives towards the growth of the Anglican church and creation of employment opportunities for the youth,” the diocese said.
The Diocese of Tema, the newest in the Anglican Church in the Province of West Africa, was launched in December 2023 under Neequaye’s leadership. Tema is Ghana’s largest seaport and its 11th-largest city.
The Rev. Mark Michael is editor-in-chief of The Living Church. An Episcopal priest, he has reported widely on global Anglicanism, and also writes about church history, liturgy, and pastoral ministry.
