On Friday, July 28, 2023, the Accra Diocese of The Methodist Church in Ghana hosted a flag-raising event to mark the 62nd anniversary of the church’s autonomy.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
The Accra Diocesan Secretariat’s Lay Chairman and Synod Secretary, Bro. Joseph Eduam and the Very Rev. Mrs. Doris A. Saah, respectively, attended the ceremony, which took place there.
The Accra Diocesan Heritage Coordinator, the Rev. Peter Osei Nyame, welcomed attendees to the brief ceremony, which was observed by workers from the Diocesan Secretariat. He noted that today was the 62nd anniversary of The Methodist Church Ghana gaining independence from the British Methodist Church.
with missionary work carried out in the erstwhile Gold Coast with the arrival of the Rev. Joseph Rhodes Dunwell in Cape Coast in January 1835, The Methodist Church Ghana was a District of the British Methodist Conference prior to gaining its independence.
The Methodist Church in Ghana requested autonomy from the mother Church when Ghana gained independence from Great Britain on March 6, 1957. The British Conference subsequently accepted this request.
At a Service held on Friday, July 28, 1961 at the Wesley Cathedral in Cape Coast, representatives of the British Methodist Church and their Ghanaian counterparts signed the Deed of Foundation, transferring legal authority to the church in Ghana as “an equal and autonomous community of Christian Believers.”
According to Bro. Joseph Eduam, the Cape Coast, Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi, and Winneba Districts [now Dioceses] formed what will become The Methodist Church Ghana, and The Rev. Francis Chapman Ferguson Grant was sworn in as the first President of the Foundation Conference. The Rev. Joseph Thomas Clegg served as the founding bishop and chairman and general superintendent of the Accra Diocese.
The Very Reverend Mrs. Doris A. Saah made the following statement in her homily: “As we celebrate autonomy, we thank God for all the lovely things we’ve been able to do as a Church, may His name be honored. We express gratitude to God for the missionaries who came to share the gospel with us, and we also offer our contribution; let’s not stop there. Be aware of the one who is calling you and be aware of what the Bible teaches.
The event culminated with the raising of the Ghanaian national flag, as well as the Methodist and Accra Diocesan flags, on the front lawn of the Accra Diocesan Secretariat.
