Church of the Province of West Africa

Christianity portal Church of the Province of

West Africa
The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Classification Protestant (with
Anglican Communion, covering 17 dioceses in eight countries of various theological
West Africa, specifically in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gambia, and doctrinal
Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Ghana is the
identities, including
country with most dioceses, now numbering 11.
Anglo-Catholic,
Liberal,
History Evangelical)
Orientation Anglican
Missionary work began in Ghana in 1752. The Church of the
Province of West Africa was established in 1951 by the bishops of Scripture Holy Bible
five West African dioceses (Accra, Lagos, Niger, Sierra Leone and Theology Anglican doctrine
the Diocese of Gambia and Guinea) with the consent of the
Polity Episcopal
Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1977 they were joined by the
Diocese of Liberia. In February 1979, the new Church of Nigeria Primate Cyril Kobina Ben-
was inaugurated as a separate province. In 1981 Sierra Leone was Smith
divided into the Diocese of Freetown and the new missionary Territory Cameroon, Cape
Diocese of Bo and four new Ghanaian dioceses of Cape Coast,
Verde, Gambia,
Koforidua, Sekondi and Sunyani/Tamale were formed. In 1985 the
Ghana, Guinea,
Gambia and Guinea diocese was partitioned into English-speaking
Gambia and French-speaking Guinea. The Diocese of Asante Liberia, Senegal,
Mampong, previously a suffragan see to Kumasi, was inaugurated Sierra Leone
in November 2014.[1] Members c. 1,000,000

The final total of 17 represents 11 dioceses in Ghana and 6 in the other seven nations. For this reason
actions are in hand to move towards making Ghana a separate province. The country already has the status
of an "internal province", the archbishop of which was until 2019 the Primate of the whole Province of
West Africa.[2]

Today, the church has to survive in areas of civil unrest where Christians remain a small minority.

List of archbishops

1951–1955 Leslie Gordon Vining (Bishop of Lagos)

1955–1961 James Lawrence Cecil Horstead (Bishop of Sierra Leone)
1961–1969 Cecil John Patterson (Bishop on the Niger)
1969–1981 Moses Nathanael Christopher Omobiala Scott (Bishop of Sierra Leone)
1981–1982 Ishmael Mills Le-Maire (Bishop of Accra)
1982–1989 George Daniel Browne (Bishop of Liberia)
1993–2003 Robert Garshong Allotey Okine (Bishop of Koforidua, Ghana)
2003–2012 Justice Ofei Akrofi (Bishop of Accra)
2012–2014 Solomon Tilewa Johnson (Bishop of Gambia and the Rio Pongas, and
Archbishop of the internal province of West Africa)
 2014–2019 Daniel Sarfo (Bishop of Kumasi, and Archbishop of the internal province of
Ghana)
2019–2022 Jonathan B. B. Hart (Bishop of Liberia and Archbishop of the Internal Province of
West Africa)
2022–present Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith (Bishop of Asante Mampong and Archbishop of the
Church of the Province of West Africa)

Membership
Today, there are over one million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 35 million in the countries
that form the province.

Structure
The polity of the Church of the Province of West Africa is
episcopal church governance, which is the same as other
Anglican churches. Geographical parishes are organized into
dioceses, and since 2012 the dioceses have been grouped into
internal provinces.[3] There are 2 internal provinces (each led
by a metropolitan archbishop) consisting of 17 dioceses (each
led by a diocesan bishop).[4]

Dioceses and bishops Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra, Ghana.

Internal Province of West Africa

Anglican Diocese of Bo – Emmanuel Tucker

Anglican Diocese of Cameroon – Dibo Thomas-Babyngton Elango
Anglican Diocese of Freetown – Thomas Arnold Ikunika Wilson
Anglican Diocese of Gambia – James Allen Yaw Odico
Anglican Diocese of Guinea – Jacques Boston
Episcopal Diocese of Liberia – Jonathan Bau-Bau Bonaparte Hart (Metropolitan archbishop
and Primate)

Internal Province of Ghana

Anglican Diocese of Accra - Daniel Torto

Anglican Diocese of Asante Mampong - Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith (Metropolitan archbishop
since 2021)[5]
Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast – Victor Atta-Baffoe
Anglican Diocese of Ho – Matthias Mededues-Badohu
Anglican Diocese of Koforidua – Felix Odei Annancy
Anglican Diocese of Kumasi – Daniel Sarfo
Anglican Diocese of Sekondi – John Otoo
Anglican Diocese of Sunyani – Festus Yeboah Asuamah
Anglican Diocese of Tamale – Jacob Kofi Ayeebo
Anglican Diocese of Wiawso – Abraham Kobina Ackah
 Anglican Diocese of Dunkwa-on-Offin – Edmund Dawson Ahmoah

Worship and liturgy

The Church of the Province of West Africa embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. A
local variant of the Book of Common Prayer is used, as well as the Church of England Alternative Service
Book which is used in the Diocese of Tamale on account of its more accessible use of modern English.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Church of the Province of West Africa's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:

Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but
not for the formation of doctrine.
The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist
Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent,
and unction.
Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.

The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources
uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to
the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary
means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are
ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.[6]

Ordination of women
At its 20th Provincial Synod in 2000, the Province approved in principle the ordination of women to the
priesthood.[7] There is currently a variety of practice from diocese to diocese, with some remaining closed
to the ordination of women as priests, and others welcoming the practice. The province does not permit the
ordination of women to the episcopate.

Ecumenical relations
Like many other Anglican churches, the Church of the Province of West Africa is a member of the
ecumenical World Council of Churches.[8]

Anglican realignment
The Church of the Province of West Africa was one of the first Anglican provinces to break communion
with the Episcopal Church of the United States over the question of allowing the blessing of same-sex
unions and non-celibate homosexual clergy. However, the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia continues to
maintain full communion and a covenant relationship with The Episcopal Church.[9] The Church of the
Province of West Africa has been active in the Anglican realignment as a member of the Global South and
the Global Anglican Future Conference. Archbishop Justice Akrofi was a founding Primate of GAFCON
in 2008. Archbishop Solomon Tilewa Johnson attended Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON
II), that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21 to 26 October 2013.[10] Unlike his predecessors,
Archbishop Daniel Sarfo was seen as a supporter of "reconciliation" between the conservative and liberal
provinces of the Anglican Communion, particularly the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada,
and was involved in several meetings between African and North American bishops.[11] He didn't attended
any GAFCON meetings. He still was one of the 11 Primates that attended the 3rd Provincial Assembly of
the Anglican Church in North America, in June 2017.[12] He also attended the Global South meeting, in 8–
9 September 2017, in Cairo, Egypt, and was one of the signants of their communiqué, with nine other
Anglican Primates, including Foley Beach, from the Anglican Church in North America.[13]

The province was represented at GAFCON III, held in Jerusalem, on 17–22 June 2018, by a 13 members
delegation, coming from Ghana, Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.[14]

The GAFCON Primates Council announced at their Communiqué, on 6 May 2019, that the Diocese of
Sunyani would be developing the official branch of the movement in Ghana, under the leadership of the
Bishop Festus Yeboah Asuamah.[15]

Archbishop Jonathan Hart attended the 7th Global South Conference, held in Cairo, Egypt, on 11–12
October 2019.[16] Archbishop Hart opposes the legalisation of same-sex marriage and opposes the blessing
of same-sex relationships in churches.[17]

In 2021, the Anglican province received public media attention as well as scrutiny from within the Anglican
Communion due the Diocese of Ghana's endorsement of legislation to criminalise LGBTQ advocacy and
to increase penalties for same-sex relationships; homosexual sexual relationships are already illegal in
Ghana.[18] Archbishop Justin Welby of the Church of England, whose office is one of the instruments of
unity within the Anglican Communion, issued a statement rebuking the bishops in Ghana and reiterated his
support for LGBTQ civil rights.[19][20] The Church of England's Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell,
and Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, also issued statements denouncing the anti-LGBTQ actions of the
Ghanaian bishops.[21][22][23]

References
1. "A new diocese for West Africa" (http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2014/11/a-new-diocese
-for-west-africa.aspx). anglicannews.org. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
2. Buchanan, Colin. Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism. p. 601.
3. ACNS report (http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2012/09/updated-new-primate-elected-for-t
he-church-of-the-province-of-west-africa.aspx) of the creation of internal metropolitical
provinces.
4. "WEST AFRICA – CAPA-HQ" (https://capa-hq.org/west-africa/). Retrieved 2021-11-07.
5. "Bishop of Asante Mampong, Dr Cyril Korina Ben-Smith, to become Archbishop of Ghana"
(https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2021/01/bishop-of-asante-mampong,-dr-cyril-kobina-b
en-smith,-to-become-archbishop-of-ghana.aspx).
6. "Listening in Scripture foundation for listening" (https://web.archive.org/web/2008070519252
8/http://www.anglicanlistening.org/anglican_listening_61766_ENG_HTM.htm).
anglicanlistening.org. Archived from the original (http://www.anglicanlistening.org/anglican_l
istening_61766_ENG_HTM.htm) on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2014-06-05. Detail on how
scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way".
7. "Ghana allows women priests: CEN 6.26.09 p 6" (https://geoconger.wordpress.com/2009/07/
01/ghana-allows-women-priests-cen-6-26-09-p-6/). Church of England Newspaper. July
2009. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
 8. "Church of the Province of West Africa" (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/chu
rch-of-the-province-of-west-africa). oikoumene.org. World Council of Churches. 2014.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140125193903/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/mem
ber-churches/church-of-the-province-of-west-africa) from the original on 2014-01-25.
Retrieved 2014-06-05.
9. "Episcopal Church Liberia" (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/global-partnerships/
episcopal-church-liberia/). The Episcopal Church. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
10. "Condolences on the death of Archbishop Johnson of West Africa" (http://acl.asn.au/condole
nces-archbishop-johnson/). acl.asn.au. Sydney: Anglican Church League. 2014-01-24.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140126041610/http://acl.asn.au/condolences-archb
ishop-johnson/) from the original on 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
11. "Bishop describes African-Canadian dialogue as a model for whole Communion, Anglican
Ink, 23 June 2017" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073320/http://www.anglican.ink/ar
ticle/bishop-describes-african-canadian-dialogue-model-whole-communion). Archived from
the original (http://www.anglican.ink/article/bishop-describes-african-canadian-dialogue-mod
el-whole-communion) on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
12. WHEATON, IL: Thirty Global Anglican Leaders Stand in Solidarity with Anglican Church in
North America, Virtue Online, 28 June 2017 (http://www.virtueonline.org/wheaton-il-thirty-glo
bal-anglican-leaders-stand-solidarity-anglican-church-north-america)
13. Global South Primates' Communiqué, Global South Anglican, 11 September 2017 (http://ww
w.globalsouthanglican.org/index.php/blog/comments/gsp_comm_cairo_sept2017)
14. GAFCON III largest pan-Anglican gathering since Toronto Congress of 1963, Anglican Ink,
20 June 2018 (http://anglican.ink/2018/06/20/gafcon-iii-largest-pan-anglican-gathering-since
-toronto-congress-of-1963/)
15. A Communiqué from the Gafcon Primates Council, GAFCON Official Website, 6 May 2019
(https://www.gafcon.org/news/a-communique-from-the-gafcon-primates-council)
16. "The Seventh Trumpet: Communiqué of the 7th Global South Conference, Cairo 2019,
Global South Anglican Official Website, 12 October 2019" (https://web.archive.org/web/2019
1020010923/http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/blog/comments/the_seventh_trumpet_com
munique). Archived from the original (http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/blog/comments/the
_seventh_trumpet_communique) on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
17. Kallsen, Kevin (2014-05-15). "New West African archbishop urges govt to ban gay marriage"
(https://anglican.ink/2014/05/15/new-west-african-archbishop-urges-govt-to-ban-gay-marriag
e/). Anglican Ink © 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
18. AfricaNews (October 2021). "Ghana's law curbing LGBT rights sparks Anglican church rift"
(https://www.africanews.com/2021/10/29/ghana-s-law-curbing-lgbt-rights-sparks-anglican-ch
urch-rift/). Africanews. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20211029140204/https://www.a
fricanews.com/2021/10/29/ghana-s-law-curbing-lgbt-rights-sparks-anglican-church-rift/) from
the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
19. Staff writer. "Archbishop 'gravely concerned' by LGBT proposals in Ghana" (https://www.chri
stiantoday.com/article/archbishop-gravely-concerned-by-lgbt-proposals-in-ghana/137640.ht
m). www.christiantoday.com. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
20. "Archbishop of Canterbury 'gravely concerned' by Ghana attack on LGBT+ rights" (https://w
ww.pinknews.co.uk/2021/10/27/uk-church-ghana-bishops-anti-lgbt/). PinkNews. 2021-10-
27. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
21. "Archbishop of Canterbury among church leaders 'gravely concerned' by Ghana's anti-
LGBT+ bill" (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/archbishop-canterbury-among-church-leaders-1332
20553.html). uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
22. "UK church leaders criticise Ghanaian bishops for support of anti-LGBTQ+ law" (https://ww
w.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/26/ghanaian-bishops-anti-lgbtq-law-uk-church-leaders).
The Guardian. 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
23. "I'm holding Ghana's LGBTQ+ community in my prayers - Archbishop of York" (https://www.g
hanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/I-m-holding-Ghana-s-LGBTQ-community-in-
my-prayers-Archbishop-of-York-1391785). GhanaWeb. 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-11-02.

Further reading
Neill, Stephen (1993) [1958]. Anglicanism (Reprint of 1977 4th ed.). New York [u.a.]: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0195200330.

External links
Anglican Diocese of Asante Mampong (http://dioceseofmampong.weebly.com)
Historical resources on Anglicanism in Sierra Leone (http://anglicanhistory.org/africa/sl/)

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