Presbyterianism in Ghana from 1978 to 2013: Responding To
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PRESBYTERIANISM IN GHANA FROM 1978 TO 2013: RESPONDING TO THE EXISTENTIAL NEEDS IN THE KWAHU PRESBYTERY BY NYARKO ISAAC ATUOBI A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES NOVEMBER, 2016 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the MPHIL and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. Nyarko Isaac Atuobi (20365225/PG1956514) …………………………. ................................... Student Name & ID Signature Date Certified by: …………………………….. …………………………. ……………………... Supervisor’s Name Signature Date Certified by: …………………………….. …………………………. …………………… HOD Signature Date ii DEDICATIONS This work is dedicated to all the people of Kwahu whom the church has in one way or the other helped to meet their everyday needs. The work is again dedicated to my late mother, Madam Lydia Abena Antwiwaa and my father, Opanyin Djane Adu Nyarko. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere appreciation first of all goes to God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. Obviously without his abundant grace and love this work would not have seen the light. To my supervisors, Very Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo and Rev. J. E. T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor, I am much grateful for all your immense support and generous contribution through the guidance and directions you gave concerning this work. I say God richly bless and shield you in all your endeavors. To all my lecturers in the Department I say a big thank you for all you taught me. I also acknowledge the support of all the respondents to the questionnaire and all those who granted me audience for the interviews. iv ABSTRACT This thesis examines the various strategies adopted by the Kwahu Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) to contextualize the gospel message to meet the spiritual and social needs of people. The study was conducted in four Church Districts using a sample size of 140 respondents, personal interviews with the clergy, church leaders and administrators as well as chiefs and community leaders. Secondary sources in the form of written text were also employed. The simple random and the purposive sampling techniques were employed to select respondents and interviewees respectively. Since the research was a qualitative one the descriptive survey design was used. The thesis revealed that Presbyterians in the Kwahu Presbytery perceived the provision of their spiritual and social needs as the main task of the Church. This is because the gospel message entails an enhancement of both the spiritual and physical wellness of people. The presentation of the gospel message was therefore closely connected with the people’s anxiety of familiar oppression, witchcraft and hope for a better future encountered in their way of life. The lively and vital nature of the church’s worship style and prayer pattern empowered them to fulfil their spiritual emptiness rooted in their cultural settings identified during the period 1978-2013. Provisions were made to cater for their health, education, and socio-economic activities. The study showed that there is a direct linkage between the strategies adopted by the church and its numerical growth in addition to human and community development. These were made possible because of the mutual co-operation that exist between the communities and the Kwahu Presbytery. Emphasizing its liturgy to be Christ-centred but African in nature, participatory and modern was recommended to enable the PCG fulfil its mandate in the study area. v LIST OF ACCRONYMS AICs: African Initiated Churches BEMS: Basel Evangelical Missionary Society DCE: District Chief Executive DSS: Development and Social Services GDP: Gross Domestic Product GES: Ghana Education Service ICT: Information Communication Technology MCE: Municipal Chief Executive MCG: Methodist Church, Ghana NGOs: Non-Governmental Organizations PCG: The Presbyterian Church of Ghana PREMOS: Presbyterian Model School PUC: Presbyterian University College PUCG: Presbyterian University College, Ghana SHS: Senior High School USA: United States of America OSIWA: Open Society for West Africa Initiative vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. ii DEDICATIONS .............................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ACCRONYMS ................................................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 1 1.0 Background to the Study ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem Statement ............................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 6 1.3 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................ 6 1.4 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 7 1.5 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................... 7 1.6 Limitation of the Study ........................................................................................ 8 1.7 Literature Review ................................................................................................ 8 1.8 Organization of the Study .................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER TWO THE TRADITIONAL AND CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF MAN AND HIS NEEDS FOR EXISTENCE .......................................................................................................... 15 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 15 2.1 The Concept of Human Needs ........................................................................... 15 2.2 Maslow’s Theory of Human Needs ................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Physiological Needs ........................................................................................... 18 2.2.2 Social Needs ...................................................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Esteem Needs ..................................................................................................... 19 2.2.4 Self-Actualization .............................................................................................. 20 2.3 Existential Needs ............................................................................................... 20 vii 2.4 The Concept of Man .......................................................................................... 22 2.4.1 The Akan Concept of Man ................................................................................ 24 2.4.2 The Akan Man and Existential Needs ............................................................... 27 2.5 The Concept of Man in the Teachings of the Church ........................................ 28 2.6 Early Basel Mission and Provision of Needs .................................................... 29 2.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER THREE AN OVERVIEW OF THE KWAHU PRESBYTERY ................................................ 31 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 31 3.1 Origin of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana ..................................................... 31 3.2 The Kwahu Presbytery ...................................................................................... 38 3.3 General activities of the Kwahu Presbytery From 1978 – 2013 ........................ 40 3.3.1 Social Provisions ............................................................................................... 41 3.3.2 Spiritual Provisions that Seeks to Contextualize the Gospel Message .............. 50 3.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................. 56 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 56 4.1 Findings ............................................................................................................