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Genuinely Ghanaian: A History of the
Methodist Church
Ghana 1961-2000.
Trenton, NJ and Asmara: Eritrea: Africa World
Press, 2010. Pp. xliv+292.
Reviewed by:
J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Professor of Contemporary African
Christianity and Dean of Graduate Studies, Trinity Theological
Seminary, Legon. Accra. Ghana.
Genuinely Ghanaian
is a work in mission history that discusses the
ministry of the Methodist Church in post-colonial Ghana.
Perhaps the most significant ambition that Genuinely
Ghanaian fulfills is that it makes the Methodist Church
Ghana the only historic mission denomination in the country
with a complete, systematic and academically documented
history of its origins until the end of the 20th
century.
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The Book |
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Although it is not supposed to be an official
mission history of the Church, Rev. Dr. Casely B. Essamuah
builds impressively on the foundations laid by F.L. Bartels in
his seminal work, Roots of Ghana Methodism published in
1965. That the immediate past and incumbent
Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana—both of
them accomplished theologians in their own right—endorse
this work is testimony to what it means to the Church. |
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The incumbent, Most Rev.
Prof. Emmanuel Asante refers to the volume as representing ‘a
significant milestone in the study of the history of Ghana
Methodism that fills a void in the scholarly literature in the
area of Methodism in Ghana.’ Many have lamented our inability
to complete the foundation laid almost half a century ago by
Bartels. We must be deeply grateful to God for the
encouragement, resources and commitment that has made the
publication of Genuinely Ghanaian possible.
On the material itself, Rev. Dr. Casely B.
Essamuah, merits our commendation for avoiding a triumphalist
approach to his work. He does this by discussing not simply
the successes and joys, but also failures and pains of the
church including some very difficult historical incidents some
involving his own family. At several points in its
post-autonomy history, the Methodist Church Ghana was in real
danger of breaking up and Dr. Essamuah does well in drifting
from the populist arguments that blame ethnocentricism for the
Church’s difficulties. The immediate past Presiding Bishop,
Most Rev. Dr. Robert Aboagye-Mensah commends the book for
offering a broad portrait of the church’s mission history,
including issues of division undergirded by church politics,
and ethnocentricism (p. xxiv). Myopic ethnic divisions have
played its part in whatever problems the church has had over
the years. In my judgment however, the unbridled orientation
towards denominationalism, moral permissiveness, clericalism,
and the neglect of Wesleyan spirituality at the deeper levels
have done more to weaken the Methodist witness than anything
else. The bottom line in the failure of the Methodist Church
to carry forward the seeds sown by its forebears is human
sin. Dr. Essamuah has been courageous in pointing that out.
It is his ability to capture the triumphs and failures of
their ministry that makes the stories of the Apostles credible
and Rev. Dr. Essamuah has followed that method in the
documentation of the mission history of the Methodist Church
Ghana.
On the whole, Dr. Essamuah gives a very hopeful
account of the ministry of the MCG. He points out that
following its autonomy from the British Conference in 1961,
the Methodist Church Ghana channeled its efforts into a long
process of contextualization. If we take our eyes off that
observation we will miss the heartbeat of this impressive
work. For the thrust of the work, as he mentions in the
introduction, ‘is to show that Ghanaians accepted Methodism on
their own terms and reworked it to fit their own needs’
(xxix). This thesis, I am happy to add, fits my own
observation that Methodism must never be defined in
denominational terms. Rather, it must be seen as a form of
spirituality comparable to Pentecostalism or Conservative
Evangelicalism. Thus in the appropriation of Wesleyan
Methodism, local Ghanaian Methodists belonged to a Church, but
in the same breath, they adopted a form of Christian
spirituality that put a lot of emphasis on scripture, prayer,
fellowship, holiness and the sort of revivalism that comes
through singing locally composed songs such as we have through
the Ebibindwom. The Ebibindwom for example has
remained part of the Ghanaian Methodist heritage almost two
centuries after missionary work began in Cape Coast and is a
major hallmark of the camp meetings in contemporary Methodism.
The book, originally a PhD dissertation written
under the supervision of one of the most accomplished mission
scholars of our time, Prof. Dana L. Roberts of Boston
University, is made up of eight chapters of average length
each with very important appendices. Every book has its
central theme and Genuinely Ghanaian succeeds in
sustaining its central argument that ‘Ghanaian Methodism is
the product of indigenous efforts’ (p. xxvii). In doing that,
the book identifies with Lamin Sanneh’s argument that
‘translation empowers vernacularization’, and with Andrew
Walls’ point that ‘conversion need not be culturally
discontinuous’, and further with Robert Schreiter that ‘in
constructing their own local theology, Ghanaian Methodist
Christians have demonstrated a lively and concrete response to
the gospel’ (xxxvi). Following these observations, Dr
Essamuah carefully provides ample proof using concrete
examples that underscore the ways in which Ghanaian Methodist
Christians came to own a form of spirituality birthed through
the ministry of John and Charles Wesley and mediated in our
part of the universe through Wesleyan missionaries from Great
Britain towards the middle of the 19th century.
An observation made by a Methodist historian,
one David N. Hempton and cited extensively on page 6, gives an
idea of the basic understanding of what we refer to in this
review as Methodist spirituality. Hempton wrote in part:
Methodism’s attractiveness lay in its ‘anti-clericalism,
anti-Calvinism, anti-formalism, anti-confessionalism, and
anti-elitism. Empowerment was from God, knowledge was from
the scriptures, salvation was available to all and the Spirit
was manifested, not in structures and ecclesiastical order,
but in freedom and heart religion.
The Methodist Church in Ghana has always been
an indigenous church and so as the book points out, ‘in
requesting autonomy MCG was attempting to legalize what was
already the case in practice’ (p. 38). The MCG, because of
its impressive intellectual Christian tradition, has always
carried on its shoulders the hopes and aspirations of the
country. That a leading member of the tradition, Dr. Kofi A.
Busia became the Prime Minister of Ghana, albeit for a short
time, is testimony to the central role that the church has
played in the life of the nation. The book documents these
contributions by Ghana Methodism to the socio-political order
(chapter 4). In addition considerable attention is paid to
how a number of the leading circuits of the church came into
being. In all this the lay involvement has been very
evident. The reflections on the adoption of the Episcopal
tradition just at the point where the book terminates is a
matter that we must keep our eyes on for the future. The
adoption of the Episcopal system, although recognizes that
‘ministry is not the exclusive preserve of the ordained’, has
the potential to change the original ecclesiology of the MCG
as an anti-elitist and anti-clerical church. The system, if
not properly managed, could thus lead what we call clericalism
in ecclesiology. Clericalism in the context of church life
refers to situations in which the clergy become custodians of
ministry to the exclusion of the laity whose work then become
marginal to church life although they are in the majority.
Mercifully, the example of Nigeria where the adoption of
Episcopacy seems to have been retrogressive is there for us to
learn from. Given the many challenges that the church has
faced, how the MCG manages its Episcopal system, discussed in
chapter 6, will determine the future direction of the Church
as a leading player in the indigenous missionary enterprise.
There are a number of things that in keeping
with its chosen title, makes Rev. Dr. Casely B. Essamuah’s
book, ‘genuinely Ghanaian’. First the book is written by a
son of the land who had all his pre-university education in
Ghanaian Methodist Schools. Second, Dr. Essamuah is also a
child of the manse who at the undergraduate level at the
University of Ghana, was an active member of the Ghana
Methodist Students’ Union. Third, as his brief biographical
sketch indicates, he has an impressive Ghanaian Wesleyan
heritage behind him and Dr. Essamuah also belongs to the more
evangelical stream of Ghanaian Methodism. For those who want
to remain faithful to the tradition, the Evangelical
orientation is significant if any reflections on Methodist
missions are to be put in its right perspective.
Additionally, Dr. Essamuah has been a personal friend, even a
brother, for many years and I do not know of any Methodist
minister living abroad who shows as much interest in the life
of the church in Ghana, as he does.
My point is that this work is the result not
simply of a PhD dissertation but one that flows out of the
life and experiences of one who is himself a genuine Ghanaian
Christian and a dyed-in-the-wool Methodist of the Conservative
Evangelical stock. These observations are evident in the
material contained in the book. There is no doubting the fact
that Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity has become the
representative phase of African Christianity but in Ghana, as
elsewhere on the continent of Africa, it is impossible to talk
about that stream of Christianity without reference to the
work of the Methodist Church. The emphasis on lay
participation in ministry and the revivalist approach to
mission ensured that the seeds of pneumatic Christianity were
sown very early in the land and helped with the emergence of
such movements as the one led by Africa’s indigenous prophets,
William Wade Harris and Samson Oppong. Their ministries are
discussed from pages 24 through 35 and there Dr. Essamuah
draws attention to the positive role that they played in the
spread of Methodism in Ghana. This book should be read as a
sequel to Roots of Ghana Methodism and those with
interest in the mission history of the church, especially
historic mission history, cannot afford to ignore the contents
of this volume.
Copies are available from the author at
casely_essamuah@bayareacc.org
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