Christianity in Ghana

Christianity is the religion with the largest following in Ghana.[2] Christian denominations include Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Evangelical Charismatics, Latter-day Saints, etc.[3]

Christianity in Ghana (2021 census)[1]

  Pentecostal (44%)
  Catholic (14%)
  other Protestant (24%)
  Other Christian (18%)
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According to the census figures of the year 2000, out of Ghana's 18.8 million people, Christians made up 69 percent of the population of Ghana.[4] The 2010 Population and Housing Census puts the figure at slightly over 71 percent of the total population of over 24 million people. A 2015 study estimated some 50,000 believers in Christ from a Muslim background.[5]

According to the 2021 census, 71.3% of the population belonged to a Christian denomination.[6]

History

The arrival of the Europeans in 15th century into the then Gold Coast brought Christianity to the land.[7] There were many different cultural groups across the West African region who were practicing different forms of spirituality.[8][9][10] As the Europeans explored and took control of parts of the country during the colonial days, so did their religion.[11]

Denominations

Methodism in Ghana
Main article: Methodism
See also: Methodist Church Ghana
Wesley Methodist Cathedral 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.[12]

Latter-day Saints
Accra Ghana Temple (LDS)
Main article: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 62,000 members in 207 congregations in Ghana. They also have 28 family history centers, 3 missions, and 1 temple in Ghana.[13]

Seventh-day Adventists

Seventh-day Adventist missionaries arrived in Ghana in 1888. 60 percent of its members in Ghana are Ashanti.[14] In 2014, were almost 400,000 members worshipping in 1,243 congregations. They have 916 schools, 13 hospitals and 12 clinics in the country.[14]

Impact of Christianity

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

Education
The Chapel of St. Peter's Boys Senior Secondary School in Nkwatia Kwahu, Eastern Region of Ghana

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

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:

Health care delivery

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.[15]

Selected individuals in Ghanaian Christianity

See also

References
  1. "2022 US State Dept report". US State Dept.
  2. "Ghana - Religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  3. "Christianity In Ghana: Everything You Need To Know". BuzzGhana. 2015-02-04. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  4. "Muslims cry foul over population figures". newsfromafrica.org. 12 February 2000. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  5. Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  6. "2021 PHC General Report Vol 3C, Background Characteristics" (PDF). Ghana Statistical Service.
  7. "Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research". www.pctii.org. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  8. Okeke, Chukwuma O.; Ibenwa, Christopher N.; Okeke, Gloria Tochukwu (April 2017). "Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: The Igbo Example". SAGE Open. 7 (2): 215824401770932. doi:10.1177/2158244017709322. ISSN 2158-2440.
  9. Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana. Sub-Saharan Publishers. 2014. doi:10.2307/j.ctvk3gn0j. ISBN 978-9988-8602-3-3. JSTOR j.ctvk3gn0j.
  10. Parrinder, E. G. (1959). "Islam and West African Indigenous Religion". Numen. 6 (2): 130–141. doi:10.2307/3269310. ISSN 0029-5973. JSTOR 3269310.
  11. Magesa, Laurenti, 1946- (1997). African religion : the moral traditions of abundant life. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. ISBN 1-57075-105-6. OCLC 36892789.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Beginning of Methodism in Ghana". The Methodist Church Ghana. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  13. "Ghana", Facts and Statistics, Newsroom, LDS Church, January 1, 2012, archived from the original on 2019-06-28, retrieved 2013-03-11
  14. Stack, Peggy (2014-06-06). "Why Mormonism, U.S.-born faiths are growing in Ghana". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  15. "A New Paradigm for Increased Access to Healthcare in Ghana" (PDF). chagghana.org/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
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