Founder and General Overseer of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams
Founder and General Overseer of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, has shared a personal account of his struggles and rejection before establishing one of Ghana’s most influential Christian ministries.
Speaking at a Global Prayer Works Summit Special Breakfast Meeting at the Prayer Cathedral in Accra on July 19, 2025, the renowned cleric narrated how several prominent church leaders turned him away when he first expressed his desire to serve in ministry.
Recounting his early years, Duncan-Williams said he first approached James McKeown, the founder of the Church of Pentecost, after returning from Bible studies in Benin City, Nigeria. However, McKeown refused, citing bad experiences with evangelists in the church.
“I told him I had come back from Benin City to serve as an evangelist, but he said no. He told me, you don’t belong here; I can’t help you,” Duncan-Williams recalled.
Determined to pursue his calling, he approached other church leaders, including Reverend Abozo, Owusu Afriyie and Isaac Ababio, but all rejected him, insisting God had not called him to their ministries.
Frustrated, Duncan-Williams returned to Nigeria to seek acceptance at the Church of God Mission. But even there, he was told to return to Ghana.
“The archbishop there looked at me, placed his forehead on mine, and said, you have to go back to Ghana. God hasn’t called you to Nigeria. I told him, but nobody in Ghana wants me. I’m the stone that the builders have rejected,” he said.
Upon his return to Ghana, Duncan-Williams sought help from Reverend Mensa, then of Full Gospel Church in Tema. But after praying, Reverend Mensa also told him God had not called him to work in that ministry.
According to Duncan-Williams, Reverend Mensa advised him to share his testimony in secondary schools and universities instead.
“That was how I started preaching, by going to schools and universities, telling my story and preaching to the youth. I used to visit almost all the secondary schools, and that was where I met Bishop Dag Heward-Mills and other now-prominent ministers,” he said.
His youth-focused outreach soon attracted followers, and meetings eventually grew from gatherings at the International Students Hostel to his father’s house, and later to the Association School, laying the foundation for what would become Action Chapel International.
The archbishop, who has been in ministry for decades, also reflected on ongoing challenges, including betrayals from close associates.
“Even after I knew what God had called me to do, the levels of betrayal and being stabbed in the back by brethren never stopped. It still goes on. And the people who stab me are not enemies, they are people close to me,” he said.
Duncan-Williams encouraged young ministers and believers struggling with their calling not to give up despite rejection and challenges.
“I know many of you are where I used to be, confused and rejected. But stay true to what God has called you to do. Your rejection can be God’s way of directing you to your real assignment,” he urged.
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