Presbyterian Church of Ghana

Last updated
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana
Presbyterian Church of Ghana Crest.png
Presbyterian Church of Ghana Logo
Classification Protestant
Orientation Calvinist
Theology Reformed
Polity Presbyterian
Associations
Founder Basel Mission
Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
Church of Scotland
Origin
  • 28 December 1828 [2]
  • 195 years ago

Accra, Gold Coast
Congregations4,889 (2019)
Members1,015,174 (2019)
Publications Christian Messenger
Official website pcgonline.org

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is a mainstream Protestant and ecumenically-minded church denomination in Ghana. The oldest, continuously existing, established Christian Church in Ghana, it was started by the Basel missionaries on 18 December 1828. [3] The missionaries had been trained in Germany and Switzerland and arrived on the Gold Coast to spread Christianity. [2] The work of the mission became stronger when Moravian missionaries from the West Indies arrived in the country in 1843. [4] In 1848, the Basel Mission Church set up a seminary, now named the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, for the training of church workers to help in the missionary work. The Ga and Twi languages were added as part of the doctrinal text used in the training of the seminarians. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Presbyterian church had its missions concentrated in the southeastern parts of the Gold Coast and the peri-urban Akan hinterland. By the mid-20th century, the church had expanded and founded churches among the Asante people who lived in the middle belt of Ghana as well as the northern territories by the 1940s. The Basel missionaries left the Gold Coast during the First World War in 1917. The work of the Presbyterian church was continued by missionaries from the Church of Scotland, the mother church of the worldwide orthodox or mainline (oldline) Presbyterian denomination. The official newspaper of the church is the Christian Messenger, established by the Basel Mission in 1883. [5] [6] The denomination's Presbyterian sister church is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. [7]

Contents

Church structure

The church is a founding member of the Christian Council of Ghana. [8] The association is an umbrella group that unites several churches in Ghana and monitors the activities of members to ensure that they are united in their Christian mission. [8] [9] Ordained ministers wear the Geneva gown and a clerical collar. Historically considered a "high church" denomination, the institution’s form of worship is marked by formality – liturgical readings, recitation of the Apostles' Creed, traditional hymn singing, church announcements and periodic administering of the Holy Communion. Yearly religious observances, such as Advent and Lent are noted in the church’s almanac. In contemporary times, however, a 'praise and worship' segment, more commonly associated with evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement, is sometimes incorporated into church services to meet the preferences of younger congregants. [10] The Presbyterian Hymn Book is used during services and is available in primarily English, Ga, Twi, Ewe and other Ghanaian languages and dialects.

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana has seven church departments that have specific tasks of building up the church in their respective activities. These are: [2] [11]

  1. Department of Administration & Human Resource
  2. Department of Church Life & Nurture
  3. Department of Mission & Evangelism
  4. Department of Ecumenical & Social Relations
  5. Department of Development & Social Services
  6. Department of Education
  7. Department of Finance

Membership

By the 2015, the church had 876,257 members and 2573 congregations. By the end of 2019, the PCG had about a total membership of 1,015,174. [11] [4] According to the 2019 report of the Committee on Information Management, Statistics & Planning (IMSP) of the Department of Administration & Human Resource Management (AHRM) of the church, it had 4889 congregations. As of 2021, there were more than 1.7 million Presbyterians in Ghana, representing approximately 8% of Ghanaian Christians and comprising members of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Global Evangelical Church and other smaller Reformed denominations in the Presbyterian tradition. [12] [4] [7]

PCG Statistics – 2001 to 2013

YearTotalIncrease%Increase
2001500,190
2002535,13034,9407.0
2003565,63730,5075.7
2004578,72713,0902.3
2005612,33733,6105.8
2006615,3913,0540.5
2007622,6097,2181.2
2008624,8902,2810.4
2009652,08327,1934.4
2010691,94939,8666.1
2011721,59929,6504.3
2012739,54817,9492.5
2013773,50433,9564.6

[ needs update ]

The Church and education

Education is an integral part of the church's responsibility to the communities it operates in. In general, Ghanaian Presbyterians have a high educational attainment. [13] [10] Together with Ghanaian Anglicans, Methodists and Roman Catholics - Christian denominations that also prioritize higher education, Presbyterians in Ghana were historically disproportionately represented in the upper ranks of government, industry, academia and the professional occupations. [13] The church is the proprietor of more than 2400 basic schools including 487 kindergarten and nursery schools, 984 primary schools and 399 junior high schools. The church has 30 senior high schools, 40 private schools, 6 vocational institutions, 5 teacher training colleges, 2 research centres, 4 nursing training colleges and 5 training centres for pastors and laity. [2] [14] In 2003, the church started a university known as the Presbyterian University College. It is located at Abetifi-Kwahu in the Eastern region of Ghana. [15]

The Church and health

The church is a member of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG). [16] CHAG is an umbrella group that unites all the health facilities in Ghana that are owned and run by Christian churches in Ghana. The church is the third largest provider of healthcare in Ghana, in terms of number of health facilities across the country in cities and towns such as Agogo, Bawku, Dormaa-Ahenkro, Donkorkrom, Bolgatanga, Salaga, Tease, Konongo, Duayaw-Nkwanta, Garu, Sandema, etc. Among its 55 health institutions, the church operates four major hospitals, 11 primary health care programmes, eight health centres, 13 clinics, 4 nurses' training colleges and a technical unit. These institutions provide a substantial portion of health services in the rural areas with a workforce of 1,977 and total hospital beds of 745. Curative, preventive and promotive services are provided to clients by the facilities in their respective catchment areas. The PHC interventions cover areas such as antenatal care, postnatal care, family planning, nutrition, growth monitoring of children between 0 – 5 years, immunization, health education, environmental sanitation, HIV&AIDS control, prevention, home-based care and counselling and clinical care at the health centres. The Church is currently the third largest single provider of health services in the country. The hospitals provide medical specialist services with resident specialists as follows:

The Church and agriculture

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana was established in 1828 and formalised partnership (Reg No. ACB 146/88) with the then government of Gold Coast now the Republic of Ghana in 1932 to contribute to the Spiritual and socio-economic development of the citizenry of Ghana. To this end, the Church established six (6) Agricultural Service stations in the late sixties in the Northern, Upper East, Eastern and Greater Accra regions of Ghana to complement the efforts of Government at poverty eradication in rural communities of the country. [2]

Assets

The church owns two printing and publishing houses including Waterville Publishing House, three newspapers, including Christian Messenger and eight bookshops. It has three retreat centres and operates four guest houses and three conference halls. [2]

Church leadership

Moderator of the General Assembly

The Moderator of the General Assembly position is the chairperson of the general assembly (previously synod), equivalent to the chief executive officer or managing director or president of the governing body of the national church organisation. [17] Serving moderators use the honorific style, The Right Reverend. Retired moderators use the style, The Very Reverend after leaving office.

NoModeratorTenure of Office
1 Peter Hall 1918–22
2Nathaniel Asare1923–24
3W. A. Quartey1925–29
4L. L. Richter1930–31
5E. C. Martinson1932–38
6S. S. Odonkor1939–50
7E. V. Asihene1951–54
8E. Max Dodu1955–58
9 E. M. L. Odjidja 1959–66
10J. K. Sintim-Misa1967–78
11I. H. Frempong1979–86
12D. A. Koranteng1987–95
13A. A. Beeko1995–98
14 Sam Prempeh 1999–03
15 Yaw Frimpong-Manso 2004–10
16Emmanuel Martey2010–16
17 Cephas Narh Omenyo 2016–18
18 J. O. Y. Mante 2018–23
19Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye2023-

Synod Clerk / Clerk of the General Assembly

The Clerk of the General Assembly position (previously Synod Clerk) is the chief ecclesial (ecclesiastical) officer of the general assembly, equivalent to as the chief administrative officer or secretary-general or executive secretary of the national church organisation, responsible for daily operations or performance. [17] The Clerk uses the title style The Reverend. The following ministers were elected and served as the Synod Clerk or Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana: [17]

No.Synod Clerk / Clerk of the General AssemblyTenure of Office
1 Nicholas Timothy Clerk 1918–32
2D. E. Akwa1933–40
3M. A. Obeng1941–49
4 Carl Henry Clerk 1950–54
5A. L. N. Kwansa1955–69
6T. A. Osei1970–74
7R. K. Sah1978–85
8E. S. Mate-Kodjo1985–95
9Ofosu Adutwum1995–97
10Nii Teiko Dagadu1997–99
11Charles Gyang-Duah1999–03
12Herbert Oppong2004–12
13 Samuel Ayete-Nyampong 2012–19
14Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor2019–

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana</span> Religious denomination

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in Ghana. It is popularly referred to as the "EP Church". It has strong roots in the Evangelical and Reformed traditions. The denomination's Presbyterian sister church is the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Ghana</span> Religion in Ghana

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Worthy Clerk</span> Jamaican Moravian educator and missionary

Alexander Worthy Clerk was a Jamaican Moravian pioneer missionary, teacher and clergyman who arrived in 1843 in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg, now Osu in Accra, Ghana, then known as the Gold Coast. He was part of the first group of 24 West Indian missionaries from Jamaica and Antigua who worked under the aegis of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Switzerland. Caribbean missionary activity in Africa fit into the broader "Atlantic Missionary Movement" of the diaspora between the 1780s and the 1920s. Shortly after his arrival in Ghana, the mission appointed Clerk as the first Deacon of the Christ Presbyterian Church, Akropong, founded by the first Basel missionary survivor on the Gold Coast, Andreas Riis in 1835, as the organisation's first Protestant church in the country. Alexander Clerk is widely acknowledged and regarded as one of the pioneers of the precursor to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. As a leader in education in colonial Ghana, he designed curriculum and pedagogy, co-establishing with fellow educators, George Peter Thompson and Catherine Mulgrave, an all-male boarding middle school, the Salem School at Osu in 1843. In 1848, Clerk was an inaugural faculty member at the Basel Mission Seminary, Akropong, now known as the Presbyterian College of Education, where he was an instructor in Biblical studies. The Basel missionaries founded the Akropong seminary and normal school to train teacher-catechists in service of the mission. The college is the second oldest higher educational institution in early modern West Africa after Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone which was established in 1827. Clerk was the father of Nicholas Timothy Clerk, a Basel-trained theologian, who was elected the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932 and co-founded the all boys' boarding high school, the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School established in 1938. A. W. Clerk was also the progenitor of the historically important Clerk family from the suburb of Osu in Accra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Timothy Clerk</span> Gold Coast theologian, minister and missionary (1862 –1961)

Nicholas Timothy Clerk was a Protestant theologian, clergyman and pioneering missionary of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in southeast colonial Ghana. His father was the Jamaican Moravian missionary Alexander Worthy Clerk, who worked extensively on the Gold Coast with the Basel Mission and co-founded in 1843 the Salem School, a Presbyterian boarding middle school for boys. Born on the Gold Coast, N. T. Clerk was elected the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, in effect, the chief ecclesiastical officer, equivalent to the chief administrator, leading the overall strategic operations of the national church organisation, a position he held from 1918 to 1932. A staunch advocate of secondary education, Nicholas Timothy Clerk became a founding father of the all-boys Presbyterian boarding school in Ghana, the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, established in 1938. As Synod Clerk, he pushed vigorously for and was instrumental in turning the original idea of a church mission high school into reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clerk family</span> Ghanaian family

The Clerk family is a Ghanaian historic family that produced a number of pioneering scholars and clergy on the Gold Coast. Predominantly based in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, the Clerks were traditionally Protestant Christian and affiliated to the Presbyterian Church. The Clerk family is primarily a member of the Ga coastal people of Accra and in addition, has Euro-Afro-Caribbean heritage, descending from Jamaican, German and Danish ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Henry Clerk</span> Ghanaian educator, minister, administrator and journalist(1895 – 1982)

Carl Henry Clerk was a Ghanaian agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who was elected the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, assuming the role of chief ecclesial officer of the national church from 1950 to 1954. Between 1960 and 1963, he was also the Editor of the Christian Messenger, established by the Basel Mission in 1883, as the newspaper of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gottlieb Ababio Adom</span> Ghanaian educator, minister and journalist

Gottlieb Ababio Adom was a Ghanaian educator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister who served as the Editor of the Christian Messenger from 1966 to 1970. The Christian Messenger, established in 1883 by the Basel Mission, is the primary newspaper of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong</span> Teacher-training college in Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana

The Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, is a co-educational teacher-training college in Akropong in the Akwapim North district of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It has gone through a series of previous names, including the Presbyterian Training College, the Scottish Mission Teacher Training College, and the Basel Mission Seminary. The college is accredited by the National Accreditation Board of the Ministry of Education, Ghana as a Degree Research Institution affiliated to the University of Education, Winneba.

The Salem School, Osu, or the Osu Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School or simply, Osu Salem, formerly known as the Basel Mission Middle School, is an all boys’ residential middle or junior secondary school located in the suburb of Osu in Accra, Ghana. The Salem School was the first middle school and the first boarding school to be established in Ghana. The school was founded under the auspices of the Basel Mission in 1843 and supervised by three pioneering missionaries and schoolmasters, Jamaican, Alexander Worthy Clerk and Angolan-born Jamaican Catherine Mulgrave together with the German-trained Americo-Liberian George Peter Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu</span> Presbyterian church in Accra, Ghana

The Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Christiansborg, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Osu in Accra, Ghana. The church was founded by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in 1847. Previously near the Christiansborg Castle at a hamlet called Osu Amanfong, where a commemorative monument now stands, the church relocated northwards to its present location near the Salem School when a new chapel was constructed and consecrated in 1902. The church is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. Liturgical services are conducted in English and the Ga language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Gottlieb Christaller</span> German missionary and linguist

Johann Gottlieb Christaller was a German missionary, clergyman, ethnolinguist, translator and philologist who served with the Basel Mission. He was devoted to the study of the Twi language in what was then the Gold Coast, now Ghana. He was instrumental, together with African colleagues, Akan linguists, David Asante, Theophilus Opoku, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Akuapem dialect of Twi. Christaller was also the first editor of the Christian Messenger, the official news publication of the Basel Mission, serving from 1883 to 1895. He is recognised in some circles as the "founder of scientific linguistic research in West Africa".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Presbyterian Church, Akropong</span> Presbyterian church in Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana

The Christ Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Akropong, is a historic Protestant church located in Akropong–Akuapem, Ghana. It is the first Presbyterian Church to be established in Ghana. It was founded in 1835 by Andreas Riis, a Danish minister and missionary of the Basel Mission who was the only congregant at the time. After years of dormancy, the church began to flourish after the arrival of the Moravian missionaries from the West Indies in 1843. The Basel missionary, Johann Georg Widmann was appointed the minister-in-charge of the Akropong church in 1845. The Jamaican missionary, John Hall, who had served as an elder in his home church in Irwin Hill, Montego Bay, became the first Presbyter of the church while Alexander Worthy Clerk became the first Deacon. Liturgical services are conducted in English and the Twi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Asante</span> Gold Coast linguist, educator and missionary

David Asante was a philologist, linguist, translator and the first Akan native missionary of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. He was the second African to be educated in Europe by the Basel Mission after the Americo-Liberian pastor, George Peter Thompson. Asante worked closely with the German missionary and philologist, Johann Gottlieb Christaller and fellow native linguists, Theophilus Opoku, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theophilus Opoku</span> Gold Coast linguist, educator and missionary

Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku was a native Akan linguist, translator, philologist, educator and missionary who became the first indigenous African to be ordained a pastor on Gold Coast soil by the Basel Mission in 1872. Opoku worked closely with the German missionary and philologist Johann Gottlieb Christaller as well as fellow native Akan linguists, David Asante, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andreas Riis</span> Danish minister and missionary

Andreas Riis was a Danish minister and pioneer missionary who is widely regarded by historians as the founder of the Gold Coast branch of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. A resident of the Gold Coast from 1832 to 1845, Riis played a critical role in the recruitment of 24 West Indian missionaries from Jamaica and Antigua in 1843 to aid the work of the mission in formal education, agriculture and the propagation of the Gospel in colonial Ghana. As the first Basel missionary in Akropong in 1835, he laid the groundwork for the first mission house, eventually resulting in the founding of the first Christian church there which later became the Christ Presbyterian Church, Akropong.

Rose Ann Miller was a Jamaican-born educator pioneer who worked extensively on the Gold Coast in both Basel Mission and government-run schools. As a child in 1843, Miller relocated to the Gold Coast with her parents and siblings, as part of a group of 24 West Indian settlers recruited by the Danish minister, Andreas Riis and the Basel Mission to augment evangelism efforts in Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hall (minister)</span> Gold Coast educator, missionary and minister (1851–1937)

Peter Hall was a Gold Coast-born Jamaican teacher, missionary and Presbyterian clergyman who was elected the first Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, equivalent to the rank of chairperson of the synod or chief executive of the national church organisation, a position he held from 1918 to 1922. Hall was the son of John Hall, one of 24 West Indian missionaries who arrived in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg and worked under the auspices of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church</span> Presbyterian Church in Kumasi, Ghana

The Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church, originally named the Basel Mission Church, Kumasi and later the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Adum in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The church is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. It was founded in 1896 by Fritz Ramseyer, a Swiss-born Basel missionary who was captured by the Asante in 1869. The stone church house was built by the early Basel missionaries led by the technical staff member and building technologist, Fritz Ramseyer as well as the missionary-architect, Karl Epting in 1907. Liturgy is conducted in English and the Asante Twi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Ramseyer</span> Swiss missionary and builder

Friedrich Augustus Louis Ramseyer also Fritz Ramseyer was a Swiss-born Basel missionary, who was captured by the Asante in 1869 in colonial Ghana, together with his wife Rosa Louise Ramseyer, Basel mission technical staff, Johannes Kühne and French trader, Marie-Joseph Bonnat. Ramseyer was later released in 1874 and pioneered the Christian mission in Kumasi and the rest of Asante. Additionally, he spearheaded the planting of churches in Abetifi. Apart from his evangelism, Ramseyer was instrumental in the expansion of opportunities in the fields of education, artisan industry training, land acquisition for building design and manpower development in the areas he lived and worked in.

Samuel Ayete-Nyampong is a Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister who was elected the Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) making him the chief ecclesial officer of the church. The role is equivalent to the rank of executive secretary or secretary-general of the national church, serving from 2012 to 2019. He is also the Vice President of the World Communion Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) based in Hanover, Germany, and the Theological Consultant to the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) based in Stuttgart, Germany. He is a Lecturer in Pastoral Care and Counselling at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra-Ghana.

References

  1. "WCRC churches". Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "World Council of Reformed Churches". World Council of Churches website. 1 January 2006. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  3. "Origins, Heritage, Birth of Presbyterian Church of Ghana". GhanaWeb. 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  4. 1 2 3 "History of The PCG". Pcgonline. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-27.
  5. "Christian Messenger, Ghana". 2017-05-22. Archived from the original on 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2017-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "Christian Messenger takes new look". GhanaWeb. 30 November 2001. Archived from the original on 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  7. 1 2 "Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana – BRINGING LIGHT TO WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS" . Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  8. 1 2 "Welcome to the Christian Council of Ghana ". Christian council of ghana. Archived from the original on 2011-06-27. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  9. "Organization profile". Ecuspace.net. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  10. 1 2 Tim Heaton, Spencer James and Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi (September 2009). "Religion and Socioeconomic Attainment in Ghana" (PDF). Review of Religious Research. 51 (1): 71–86 via JSTOR.
  11. 1 2 "About Us". Pcgonline.org. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  12. "About-us". Global Evangelical Church. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  13. 1 2 Miller, Jon (2014-05-22). Missionary Zeal and Institutional Control: Organizational Contradictions in the Basel Mission on the Gold Coast 1828-1917. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-136-87625-7.
  14. Online, Peace FM. "Presbyterian Church of Ghana is 190 Years Today". peace fm online. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  15. "PUC". Presby university ghana. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  16. "Welcome to the CHAG website". Chagghana. Archived from the original on 2011-06-26. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  17. 1 2 3 Nkansa-Kyeremateng, K. (2003). The Presbyterian Church of Ghana: History and Impact. Accra: Sebewie Publishers. pp. 97–99.