William Asiama Bekoe reports from the Church in Ghana

The Church in Ghana is in a perilous and challenging time. People are looking up to the Church in the face of increasing social and moral decay. The entire nation is putting blame squarely at the doors of the Church, as Ghana looks at the Church for inspiration, direction and guidance.

It seems that the Church in her current state is struggling to respond to the crying needs of the people of Ghana. Churches seem unable to touch and heal the bleeding wounds of the nation and there seem to be growing voices of frustration railing against the Church. Increasing crime, higher divorce rates, corruption in the corridors of power, destruction of natural and mineral resources for personal benefit, mismanagement of water resources as a result of illegal mining, and disappointment in the democratic process and governance are all issues the nation is grappling with. The people are crying out for liberation and look to the Church for hope.

This gaze upon the Church is not in a vacuum. Historically, the traditional/missionary churches – such as the Presbyterian, Evangelical Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican and Catholic Churches – were planted in Ghana with a view to helping the complete life cycle of congregants and communities. Schools, hospitals and health centres were built. Churches made sure that these institutions were working. The Church then was synonymous with discipline and a life of holiness. But over time, things changed. The advent of Charismatic and Pentecostal movements caused an increase of churches. Citizens expected Church influence to grow, in our society and body politic. Sadly, this was not the case…

This article was jointly written by William Asiama Bekoe, Director of Administration and Human Resources for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG)’s Europe Presbytery, and Jeffrey Mingle, Clerk of Session for the PCG’s Immanuel congregation, Accra

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This is an extract from an article that was published in the May 2019 edition of Reform

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