Early Missionaries to Ghana

Mosque at Nakori, Ghana. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://easytrackghana.
com/cultural-overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#religion

The earliest non-African religion introduced to the region which would become the modern-day Republic of Ghana was Islam, which was introduced to northern Ghana in the fifteenth century. Mande peoples migrated to the region from Ancient Ghana and Nigeria, subjugating the peoples of northern Ghana and founding the earliest kingdoms in Ghana–Mamprusi, Dagomba, Gonja among them (GhanaWeb n.d.). While the rulers of these early kingdoms were not themselves Muslims, “they either brought with them or welcomed Muslims as scribes and medicine men, and Muslims also played a significant role in the trade that linked southern with northern Ghana. As a result of their presence, Islam substantially influenced the north” (GhanaWeb n.d.). The influence of Islam in the northern territories of Ghana is still evident today; the greater part of Ghana’s Muslim population is located in the northern part of the country.

Mosque at Tamale, Ghana. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://easytrackghana.
com/cultural-overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#religion

            Christianity was first brought to Ghana in the fifteenth century by Catholic missionaries when the Portuguese began trading with the peoples of what was then known as the Gold Coast. However, the ouster of the Portuguese by the Dutch, who captured Elmina castle in 1637, virtually eliminated the presence of Catholicism on the Gold Coast. When French traders began to vie with the Dutch for control of the Gold Coast trade in the latter part of the seventeenth century, French Catholic missionaries tried to build a church at Komenda; however, raids organized by the Dutch frustrated their attempts. It was not until after the Dutch withdrew, leaving the British to declare the Gold Coast a royal colony in 1874, that Catholic missionaries were able to establish a stable, successful mission presence in the Gold Coast (Catholic Re-entry to the "Mina" Coast in the 18th & 19th Centuries 2016). This was accomplished by the Society for African Missions (SMA), who arrived at Elmina–the spot where the first Catholic missionaries had landed 400 years earlier–in 1880. The mission philosophy of the SMA was based upon education, for, it was believed, “…‘a mission without schools is a mission without a future’” (A Prefecture Apostolic of the Gold Coast for the SMA Fathers 2016). Because Catholicism is inherently syncretic, the new religion was easily compatible with traditional African beliefs, allowing the Catholic faith to spread quickly. The Catholic church continues to be an important advocate for education in Ghana today.

Catholic service in Ghana. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://easytrackghana.
com/cultural-overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#religion

            The first Protestant missionary to the Gold Coast was Thomas Thompson, an Anglican minister and former dean of the University of Cambridge, who was sponsored by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). Thompson opened a school in Cape Coast in 1752; in 1754 he sent Philip Quaque to be educated, with the intention of training him to teach in the school. Philip Quaque became the first non-European Anglican priest and the first African Christian missionary to the Gold Coast, returning to the Gold Coast with his English bride in 1766. Unfortunately, due to various factors both personal and professional, his missionary efforts were largely unsuccessful (Bansa n.d.).

Christian Church in Ghana. Accessed October 5, 2016. http://easytrackghana.
com/cultural-overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#religion

            In 1765, the Dutch Guinea Company hired five United Brethren missionaries to teach in schools in Cape Coast. Later, in 1828, the German Basel Mission established a mission in Accra, soon followed by missionaries from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1835 (Missions Timeline 2015). Others were to follow. These early Christian missionaries spread the Gospel to such effect that today over 70 percent of the population of Ghana are Christian (GhanaWeb n.d.).

Bibliography

A Prefecture Apostolic of the Gold Coast for the SMA Fathers. 2016. http://www.archcapegh.org/entries/history/a-prefecture-apostolic-of-the-gold-coast-for-the-sma-fathers (accessed October 5, 2016).

Bansa, Grace. Philip Quaque. n.d. http://www.dacb.org/stories/ghana/quaque2_philip.html (accessed October 5, 2016).

Catholic Re-entry to the "Mina" Coast in the 18th & 19th Centuries. 2016. http://www.archcapegh.org/entries/history/catholic-re-entry-to-the-%E2%80%9Cmina%E2%80%9D-coast-in-the-18th-19th-centuries (accessed October 5, 2016).

GhanaWeb. n.d. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/country_information/ (accessed August 30, 2016).

Missions Timeline. January 29, 2015. https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/line.htm (accessed October 5, 2016).