Church, Christianity in Ghana, Nat'l Museum, and Beach Club- June 11

Sunday June 11

I was going to go to the church with my coordinator but he had to drive someone to another site in Ghana where she will be interning for a few weeks. So, I was on my own for church which made me a bit nervous to be trying to find one on my own, but it worked out.

I found the one I went to by googling Presbyterian churches and looking at their Facebook page. This one, called Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Resurrection Congregation, was in the Jamestown area, about 20 min away from where I'm staying. This is the Jamestown Lighthouse we drove by from the colonial era, I think the Dutch built it.

The church had good google reviews and it said they had services in English, Ga, and Twi (the local languages). This is the infographic I saw on facebook.

I took a Bolt car to the Presbyterian church and there were lots of people standing outside talking. I went inside and initially, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of people, but some came in late and many sat in the back rows, and by the end of the service there were probably about 100 people there.

The sanctuary had pretty stained glass at the front.

 

The choir came in singing and most were wearing graduation caps and gowns which was interesting (I saw this at a church we drove past too and assumed that they were honoring graduates, but I guess these are the choir robes). There was an organ that I couldn’t see so I assume it was in the balcony which is where the choir went after entering in singing. 

The hymns had lyrics on the screen in Ga and Twi but were sung in Ga. A few people seemed to have brought hymnals. 

A couple different people came and greeted me and one of the ladies was an usher who had me write down my name and where I’m from because she said that they would announce first-time visitors during the announcements. The usher said that this service was just in the local language but that they’d try to do some English too for me, I tried to say that I was fine and didn’t need that because I didn’t want to disrupt or add extra work but they did try to say parts of the service in English, too. 

The scripture reading was read by a few different people and the translations they used were Ga, EWE, and TK, which are all in local languages. The pastor read the English version which I don’t think was just for me because it was in the slides already.

Two young women sat next to me. One was named Esther and was very nice, she asked me a few times if I was ok and if I was able to understand. 

Most of the service felt pretty familiar to my own Presbyterian churches in the US, here is the program. 

The sermon was on Abraham and Sarah and how obedience to God brings blessings. Since I was only getting some English bits I’m not sure if this was actually leaning into prosperity gospel but what I heard seemed pretty Bible-based from what I could tell. 

In the announcements time, I couldn’t understand what they were saying but then Esther told me they were calling up new people. So I walked up to the front and they had me speak into the microphone my name and where I’m from and I said I was here with a group of students working at the children’s hospital and that I attend a Presbyterian church in the US (which they all applauded as I said which was interesting). Then, the woman doing announcements prayed for me and I sat back down. They were livestreaming the service on Facebook, here's a screengrab from the recording of me up there.

Here's a link to the facebook recording of the whole 2 hour service: ://fb.watch/l5VHzvbEKM/

After more prayers and hymns, at the end, the pastor went to the front and said that they had 6 Americans at the earlier service and that they had me at this service (he called me Jennifer first which confused me but he was reading my last name wrong) and he called me to the front again! He introduced me again and then prayed for me. Everyone was very welcoming even though I felt awkward going up there twice. 

During the offering, the ushers (all women) would release each pew to go up to the collection baskets and every single person went up. But, in a separate part of the service, they had slides where they announces some offerings people gave (anonymously) and what they were for, most were for birthdays and thanking God for another year of life.

Another Presbyterian church I had looked at online seemed to have more charismatic worship so I wondered if this one would too since that seems to be somewhat common in Africa, but none of the worship was super passionate in that way, it felt like standard hymns and no speaking in tongues etc, although during prayers a lot of people would pray out loud at once. 

When I thought the service had ended after 2 hours, they had everyone get into their "day born" groups. In Ghana, the day of the week on which you're born is pretty important, it even determines what your traditional first name is (as a female born on Friday I'd be Afia). So, I sat with the Friday born people and I was kinda confused why we were in these groups, but at least for today, one of the church workers came and talked to our group about an upcoming "harvest" week with revival services that they want people to come to. So, I think the groups are for a more personal way to talk to people, I guess. 

A woman who introduces herself as a seminary student came and asked to take me to see the pastor. So, I went with her to an upper room of the church. The church was pretty big with several Sunday school classrooms and offices. The pastor talked to me for a bit about what I'm doing here and said that I should come back and he got my Whatsapp info. He said that apparently the 7 am service is in English so I should come to that next time. 

Ghana is over 70% Christian which is really interesting, it is normal to be religious here. Something I’ve noticed is that so many shop names will be bible related! Like “Jesus is Lord” Cosmetics, Thy Word Food, etc. Also, it seems like 3/4 trotros will have a Bible term on the back window. These say "No Jesus No Life" and "Thy Grace". 

Also, there are so many posters on the streets for church services! More than any other type of advertising. They all feature the face of the pastor (usually a man but there have been exceptions) and often speak of revival or prophetic encounters. Here is an example.

Our coordinator also says that people will speak pretty openly about faith and invite/expect you to go to church, he said a previous program participant was very uncomfortable when a doctor kept asking her if she believed and had her do a repeat after me, give your life to Christ saying that she felt coerced into. He said that there isn't really a concept of separation of church, faith, and work here, and don't be surprised if the hospital staff ask you about faith. So, this feels very different than what I've experienced in the US.

I then got a Bolt to meet my roommates at the National Museum which had some archeological artifacts, items related to Ghana's independence and culture, and art. 

They had a local artist who rented space there and we each bought a canvas painting from him. 

We then went back to the house, then went to Labadi beach club. This is a resort and you can get a cheap day pass to their pool area. We relaxed for a while and got dinner there. 

  

It was definitely quite a change to go from being in one of the poorer parts of Accra with hardly any tourists around, to being at an upscale resort. 

We then went back and watched a movie with our peers. Everyone has had fun weekend adventures, one girl went to Cape Coast by herself, taking a trotro (small communal bus) and staying in a hostel.

I had a really good fresh mango.