Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the founder and head of the Lighthouse Chapel International, resigned from the National Cathedral project’s Board of Trustees in August 2022.
He didn’t realize why he made that decision at the time.
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills cited the National Cathedral’s leadership’s disregard for issues he addressed in multiple letters he submitted to them, the most recent of which was sent through the Ghana Charismatic Bishops’ Conference in June 2022, as one of his reasons for retiring.
His resignation letter was copied to roughly 14 people, including the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and written to the chairman of the board of trustees of the National Cathedral.
Read the Full Resignation Letter Here
“I feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in my several letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been ignored in the past; not attended to for years, and at best addressed flippantly.”
“You may recall I have spoken passionately and written extensively about the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees. These, if heeded, would have made our project more achievable. Generally speaking, my inputs, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set aside.”
“I do not believe this is an oversight but a deliberate exclusion from the Board. Six years is a long time to correct this failure to register me if it was indeed an administrative lapse.”
“l have therefore accepted for some time now that I am not a trustee of the National Cathedral, but I have still sought to help with the Cathedral because I believe in the President’s vision and I do not have to be a legally registered trustee to do so. I refer to myself in this letter as a trustee because even though l am not privy to most of the weighty decisions of the Board I am referred to as such.”
“This lack of clarity is robbing our vision of the validity it needs.” “Over and over, I have asked that we address this appropriately and urgently because there are many dire implications for the trustees and the individuals involved in this project.”
“I have been a reachable and available trustee and have attended every single meeting of trustees since the pandemic began, in person and by Zoom, and the records will show that. “If I say that I, as a trustee, do not know many of the financial and technical issues concerning the Cathedral, it means the discussions about the National Cathedral were held by some people outside the trustees’ meeting or perhaps in a forum that I was not present at or not invited to.”
“On the one hand, the National Cathedral is said to be a Government of Ghana project, with the government taking financial decisions.” Yet, on the other hand, at meetings, it is implied that the trustees have taken or participated in taking decisions. ”
I would like to state clearly that if in the future, there is more clarity to my role and function in the building of the Cathedral, I remain open, available and willing to serve at the pleasure of the President and the nation.
“Regardless of your response to my resignation and inputs, I remain a supporter of the National Cathedral project and will endeavour to be present to rejoice with the nation when this project is completed.”
Meanwhile, the founder and leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Mensa Otabil, had also resigned earlier in 2022 from the National Cathedral Board of Trustees.