A SHORT HISTORY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

In the mid 1800s many European missionaries traveled to new countries to spread religious influences. Gold Coast (now Ghana) was already known for its big reserves of gold and as a major port for the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Asante people ruled large portions of Gold Coast, and in 1824 British forces invaded and defeated many Asante forces. This shifted the Gold Coast towards British control, subjecting the current citizens to British influence.

By 1835, many other European nations had taken an interest in the resources of the land. This brought many missionaries, including Protestants from the Netherlands and Catholics from Portugal and France. As part of this wave of missions, the Missionary Committee of the British Methodist Conference sent Rev. Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to be the first Methodist missionary in Gold Coast. His mission began in 1835 in the prominent fishing city of Cape Coast. After six months of mission work with local Christians, he succeeded in his evangelical missions and Methodist Church Gold Coast (Methodist Church Ghana after independence was gained in 1957) was founded. This influence spread throughout the country, and as a result the British claimed Gold Coast as a colony in 1867.

By 1854, the church was organized into circuits, a collection of ambient Methodist churches that formed an administrative coalition, forming a district, or an area with Methodist control; T. B. Freeman served as chairman. Freeman was replaced in 1856 by William West. The district was divided and extended to include areas in Gold Coast and Nigeria, also a British colony at the time, by the synod, an administrative church council, in 1878, a move confirmed at the British Conference. The districts were Gold Coast District, with T. R. Picot as chairman, and Yoruba and Popo District, with John Milum as chairman. Methodist evangelisation of Northern Gold Coast began in 1910.

After serving as a district in the British Methodist Conference, the Methodist Church Ghana attained full independence from that British body on 28 July 1961. It adopted an episcopal structure at the Koforidua Conference in August 1999.Currently, the Methodist Church Ghana has 15 dioceses headed by bishops. Between 2003 and March 2008, 406 new congregations were started and ministry was initiated in the neighboring country of Burkina Faso.