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]
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]
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]
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.
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:
Mawuli School – Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana (Ho)
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]
^Magesa, Laurenti, 1946- (1997). African religion : the moral traditions of abundant life. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. ISBN1-57075-105-6. OCLC36892789.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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