Jesus Shall Reign? An Examination of Christian Mission to the Akan Palace
Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong 
Issue: Vol.2 No.4 September 2021 Article 1 pp. 29-41
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/pecanep.2021241 | Published online 27th September 2021.
© 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The Gospel and African Culture interface has remained an ongoing dialogue due to the fact of inherent tensions. The genuineness of the conversion of the traditional leadership institution that welcomed the Western missionaries has remained in doubt in some missionary established churches. The conversion challenges of the traditional leaders have resulted from ancestors and ancestorial related functions that traditional leaders performed. The churches over the years created mission fields and chaplaincies with trained personnel and resources to address conversion challenges of specific and unique communities. While the creation of mission fields and appointments of chaplains have made significant responses to the conversion challenges of the people involved, the conversion challenges that traditional leaders have constantly requested for support from the churches have not been fully addressed. The study is an examination of the requests of some traditional leaders for Christian missions to be extended to the Palace and responses made so far by some of the missionary established churches. The study adopts a qualitative approach with an examination of relevant available materials and interviews. The study points to the fact that the conversion of the Palace and its functionaries must be considered as a major ministry and mission field of the church with trained ministers and resources for the specialized mission field. The study moreover calls for deeper research into matters of ancestors and ancestorial related rites that have remained as areas of tension between the church and the conversion of the Palace functionaries.
Keywords: Palace, Christian Mission, Traditional Leadership, Chaplaincy, Conversion
Bediako, Kwame. Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture Upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern Africa. Oxford: Regnum Books 1992.
______. Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995.
Brochure, 1st Thanksgiving Service for Nananom for their contribution towards Church Growth in Ghana organized by Asante Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in collaboration with Otumfoɔ Osei Tutu II, Asantehene. (Kumasi: Imagehaus, 2010).
Brochure: 10th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service of Mission to the Palace New Year Service with Asantehene (Kumasi: Asante Presbytery, 2020).
Busia, K.A. The position of the chief in the modern political system of Ashanti. Oxford University Press, 1951.
Debrunner, Hans W. A History of Christianity in Ghana. Accra: Waterville Publishing House 1967.
Ghana, Chieftaincy Act, Act 759. Accra: Assembly Press, 2008.
Kwamena-Poh, Michael Albert. Vision and & Mission Achievement. A Hundred and Fifty years of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (1828-1978). Accra: Waterville Publishing House 2011.
Nana Addo Dankwa III, The Institution of Chieftaincy in Ghana – The Future. Accra: Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 2004.
Odotei, Irene and Hagan, George, The King Returns: Enstoolment of Asantehene Osei Tutu II. Accra: Institute of African Studies, 2002.
Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Constitution 2016 Edition (Accra: Waterville Publishing House).
Rattray, R. S. Ashanti. London: Oxford University Press 1955.
______. Religion and Art in Ashanti. London: Oxford University Press, 1927.
______. Ashanti Law and Constitution. London: Oxford University Press 1916.
Schreiter, Robert J. Constructing Local Theologies. New York: Orbis Books, 1985.
Schweizer, Peter A. Survivors on the Gold Coast: The Basel Missionaries in Colonial Ghana. Accra: Smartline Limited 2000.
Smith, Noel. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana 1835-1960. Accra: Ghana University Press, 1966.
Walls, Andrew. The Missionary Movement in Christian History. New York: Orbis Books, 1996.
Williamson, S.G. Akan Religion and the Christian Faith. Accra: Ghana University Press, 1965.
_______. Christianity and African Culture. Accra: Christian Council of Gold Coast, 1955.
APPENDIX
Interview with Okyeame Ampratwum June 1, 2004 Asante Mampong.
Interview with Nana Addo Dankwa III Nov. 22, 2004, Akuapim Akropong.
Interview with Nana Owusu Afriyie June 2, 2004 Asante Mampong.
Interview with Emily Akuffo May 14, 2004 Akropong Akuapem.
Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong (PhD), Lecturer in African Christianity, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi – Ghana.
Opuni-Frimpong, K. “Jesus Shall Reign? An Examination of Christian Mission to the Akan Palace,” Pentecostalism, Charismaticism and Neo-Prophetic Movements Journal 2, no.4 (2021): 29-41. https://doi.org/10.38159/pecanep.2021241
© 2021 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
