Christianity in Ghana

The arrival of the Europeans in 15th century into the then Gold Coast brought Christianity to the land.{{cite web |title=Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research |url=http://www.pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj13/amanor.html |publisher=www.pctii.org |accessdate=6 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223072344/http://pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj13/amanor.html |archivedate=23 December 2010 }} There were many different cultural groups across the West African region who were practicing different forms of spirituality.{{Cite journal|last1=Okeke|first1=Chukwuma O.|last2=Ibenwa|first2=Christopher N.|last3=Okeke|first3=Gloria Tochukwu|date=April 2017|title=Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: The Igbo Example|journal=SAGE Open|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=215824401770932|doi=10.1177/2158244017709322|issn=2158-2440|doi-access=free}}{{Cite book|title=Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana|date=2014|publisher=Sub-Saharan Publishers|doi=10.2307/j.ctvk3gn0j |jstor = j.ctvk3gn0j|isbn=978-9988-8602-3-3}}{{Cite journal|last=Parrinder|first=E. G.|date=1959|title=Islam and West African Indigenous Religion|journal=Numen|volume=6|issue=2|pages=130–141|doi=10.2307/3269310|jstor=3269310|issn=0029-5973}} As the Europeans explored and took control of parts of the country during the colonial days, so did their religion.{{Cite book|last=Magesa, Laurenti, 1946-|title=African religion : the moral traditions of abundant life|date=1997|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=1-57075-105-6|location=Maryknoll, N.Y.|oclc=36892789}}

{{Main|Methodism}}

{{See also| Methodist Church Ghana}}

File:Wesley Methodist Cathedral, Kumasi, Ghana.jpg in Kumasi]]

The Methodist Church Ghana came into existence as a result of the missionary activities of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1835. Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was established by people of Anglican background.{{Cite web|title=Beginning of Methodism in Ghana|url=https://www.methodistchurch.org.gh/beginning-of-methodism-in-ghana/|website=The Methodist Church Ghana|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-24|archive-date=2019-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225104633/http://www.methodistchurch.org.gh/beginning-of-methodism-in-ghana/|url-status=live}}

File:Ghana Mission 247.jpg (LDS)]]

{{main|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 113,000 members in 387 congregations in Ghana. They also have 86 family history centers, 6 missions, and 1 temple in Ghana, with 2 more announced.{{citation |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/ghana |title=Ghana |department=Facts and Statistics |work=Newsroom |publisher=LDS Church |date=January 1, 2025 |accessdate=2025-04-18 |url-status=live }}

Seventh-day Adventist missionaries arrived in Ghana in 1888. 60 percent of its members in Ghana are Ashanti.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=58004010&itype=CMSID|title=Why Mormonism, U.S.-born faiths are growing in Ghana|last=Stack|first=Peggy|date=2014-06-06|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=2023-09-12}} In 2014, were almost 400,000 members worshipping in 1,243 congregations. They have 916 schools, 13 hospitals and 12 clinics in the country.

Various aspects of Ghanaian development and nation-building have all been impacted upon due to the role Christianity plays.

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At every level of education in the country, there are mission schools that exist with the purposes of:

• Teaching Government of Ghana approved curricula
• Imparting moral discipline into students

However, the main aim of establishing these schools is to impact the values of the various faiths or missions into the younger generation to ensure continuity. Almost all mainline churches have schools at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education in the country. Consistently, over 95 percent of the country's top-performing second cycle institutions are all mission schools. The most well-known church-affiliated schools amongst them are:

• Aburi Girls' Secondary School – Presbyterian – Aburi
• Adisadel College – Anglican – Cape Coast
• Archbishop Potter Girls' School – Catholic – Takoradi
• Holy Child School – Catholic – Cape Coast
• Mfantsipim School – Methodist – Cape Coast
• Opoku Ware School – Catholic – Kumasi
• Prempeh College – Methodist/Presbyterian – Kumasi
• Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary – Catholic – Effiduase Koforidua
• Presbyterian Boys Secondary School – Presbyterian – Accra
• St. Augustine's College – Catholic – Cape coast
• St. Louis Secondary School – Catholic – Kumasi
• St Mary's Senior High School – Catholic – Accra
• St. Monica's School – Anglican – Mampong
• St. Peter's Boys Senior Secondary School – Catholic – Nkwatia Kwahu
• St. Roses Girls Secondary School – Catholic – Akwatia
• Wesley Girls High School – Methodist – Cape Coast
• Mawuli School – Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana (Ho)

Currently, 42% of all the nation's health care needs are catered for by health establishments belonging to various Christian bodies in the country. The umbrella organization of which the various mission hospitals, clinics and facilities are members of is known as the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG). Some of these facilities are in deprived areas of the country. CHAG serves as a link between Government and its Development Partners and CHAG Member Institutions and provides support to its members through capacity strengthening, coordination of activities, lobbying and advocacy, public relations and translation of government policies. The goal of CHAG is to improve the health status of people living in Ghana, especially the marginalized and the impoverished, in fulfillment of Christ's healing ministry. CHAG’s 183 Member Institutions are therefore predominantly located in the rural (underserved) areas. CHAG plays a complementary role to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and is the second largest provider of health services in the country.{{cite web |url=http://www.chagghana.org/chag/assets/files/A_new_paradigm_for_increased_access_to_healthcare_in_Africa_OS%5B1%5D.pdf |title=A New Paradigm for Increased Access to Healthcare in Ghana |work=chagghana.org/ |access-date=6 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055510/http://www.chagghana.org/chag/assets/files/A_new_paradigm_for_increased_access_to_healthcare_in_Africa_OS%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=dead }}

Image:Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral Accra.jpg|The Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra is one of Ghana's oldest cathedrals

Image:Peter Turkson (cropped).jpg|Peter Turkson is the Ghanaian Cardinal of the Catholic Church

File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast.jpg|Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast

File:Trinity Cath Accra web.jpg|Postcard photo of Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral, Accra, Gold Coast, c. 1905. Basel Mission Book Depot no. 28

File:ARC Chapel.jpg|Accra Ridge Church

File:Christ Presbyterian Church Akropong.jpg|Christ Presbyterian Church Akropong

File:West wing OEPC.png|Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church

File:Ramseyer Presbyterian Church.png|Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church, Adum, Kumasi

{{columns-list|colwidth=16em|

• Gottlieb Ababio Adom
• Seth Senyo Agidi
• Charles Agyin-Asare
• Clement Anderson Akrofi
• Justice Akrofi
• John Kodwo Amissah
• James McKeown (missionary)
• Francis Amenu
• Rose Akua Ampofo
• Sam Korankye Ankrah
• Gilbert Ansre
• David Asante
• Christian Gonçalves Kwami Baëta
• Joseph Oliver Bowers
• Livingstone Komla Buama
• Jacobus Capitein
• Emilie Christaller
• Johann Gottlieb Christaller
• Alexander Worthy Clerk
• Carl Henry Clerk
• Nicholas T. Clerk
• Nicholas Timothy Clerk
• Peter Poreku Dery
• Kwesi Dickson
• Nicholas Duncan-Williams
• Thomas Birch Freeman
• John Fogarty
• Dag Heward-Mills
• Peter Hall
• William Wadé Harris
• Regina Hesse
• Billy Johnson
• Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi
• Emmanuel A. Kissi
• Rose Ann Miller
• Catherine Mulgrave
• Peter Anim Newman
• Opoku Onyinah
• Theophilus Opoku
• Samson Oppong
• Mensa Otabil
• Charles G. Palmer-Buckle
• William Porter
• Christian Jacob Protten
• Rebecca Protten
• Philip Quaque
• Fritz Ramseyer
• Carl Christian Reindorf
• Andreas Riis
• Ian Strachan
• Maame Harris Tani
• George Peter Thompson
• Peter Turkson
• Rosina Widmann
• Johannes Zimmermann

}}

{{Portal|Christianity}}

• Religion in Ghana
• Anglican Diocese of Accra
• Catholic Church in Ghana
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana
• Presbyterian Church of Ghana
• Basel Mission
• Bremen Mission

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity In Ghana}}