Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning. In some cases, as part of religious practice, some believe it to be a divine language unknown to the speaker. Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, as well as in other religions.
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.
A church service is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day ; a number of traditions have mid-week services, while some traditions worship on a Saturday. In some Christian denominations, church services are held daily, with these including those in which the seven canonical hours are prayed, as well as the offering of the Mass, among other forms of worship. In addition to this, many Christians attend services on holy days such as Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Ascension Thursday, among others depending on the Christian denomination.
The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 17 dioceses in eight countries of West Africa, specifically in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Ghana is the country with most dioceses, now numbering 11.
Charles Fox Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of American Pentecostalism. It was Parham who associated glossolalia with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a theological connection crucial to the emergence of Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. Parham was the first preacher to articulate Pentecostalism's distinctive doctrine of evidential tongues, and to expand the movement.
Slain in the Spirit or slaying in the Spirit are terms used by Pentecostal and charismatic Christians to describe a form of prostration in which an individual falls to the floor while experiencing religious ecstasy. Believers attribute this behavior to the power of the Holy Spirit. Other terms used to describe the experience include falling under the power, overcome by the Spirit, and resting in the Spirit. The practice is associated with faith healing because individuals are often slain while seeking prayer for illness.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches.
Prosperity theology is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Material and especially financial success is seen as a sign of divine favor.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are located in South Africa, and one each in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Saint Helena. In South Africa, there are between 3 and 4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.
Orans, a loanword from Medieval Latin orans translated as "one who is praying or pleading", also orant or orante, as well as lifting up holy hands, is a posture or bodily attitude of prayer, usually standing, with the elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched sideways, palms up. The orans posture of prayer has a Scriptural basis in 1 Timothy 2:8: "I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument" (NRSV). It was common in early Christianity and can frequently be seen in early Christian art, being advised by several early Church Fathers, who saw it as "the outline of the cross". In modern times, the orans position is still preserved in Oriental Orthodoxy, as when Coptic Christian believers pray the seven canonical hours of the Agpeya at fixed prayer times. The orans also occurs within parts of the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies, Pentecostal and charismatic worship, and the ascetical practices of some religious groups.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah is a Ghanaian politician who was the Minister for Trade and Industry from 2014 to 2017 in the Mahama administration. He was formerly the Minister of Communications, Minister of Education and Acting Minister of Mines & Energy in the Rawlings administration. He was Ghana's ambassador to the United States and Mexico. He is a former CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation.
George Jeffreys was a Welsh evangelist who founded the Elim Pentecostal Church, a Pentecostal organisation.
The Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest and oldest mainline Protestant denominations in Ghana. It traces its roots back to the landing of the Rev. Joseph Dunwell on 1 January 1835 in Cape Coast, in the Gold Coast. The Rev. T. B. Freeman, another missionary, took the Christian message beyond Cape Coast to the Ashanti Empire, to Nigeria, and to other parts of the region to become the father of Methodism in West Africa.
The Healing Revival is a term used by many American Charismatics in reference to a Christian revival movement that began in June 1946 and continued through the 1950s. The Healing Revival sparked the Latter Rain movement in 1948 and the two movements were interrelated. The period of revival was a significant influence on the modern charismatic movement.
Christianity is the religion with the largest following in Ghana. Christian denominations include Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Evangelical Charismatics, Latter-day Saints, etc.
Allan Anderson is a British theologian and the Professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies at the University of Birmingham. He is frequently cited as one of the foremost scholars on Global Pentecostalism.
The National Association of Charismatic and Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of charismatic Christian churches in Ghana.
Action Chapel International (ACI) is a Charismatic Christian church based in Accra, Ghana. The church was founded by Nicholas Duncan-Williams in 1979, and since 1992 has met in the "Prayer Cathedral" near Accra airport. It is the headquarters of Christian Action Faith Ministries (CAFM).
Perez Chapel International is an evangelical, Pentecostal Charismatic Christian church. It was founded by bishop Charles Agyinasare and is headquartered in Accra, Ghana in Dzorwulu.
J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu or Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu is a Ghanaian scholar of African Pentecostalism.
