Church_of_the_Province_of_West_Africa

Church of the Province of West Africa

The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 15 sees in West Africa, specifically in Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone. The current primate of the province is Archbishop Justice Akrofi.

History

Missionary work began in Ghana in 1752. The Church of the Province of West Africa was established in 1951 by the bishops of five West African dioceses, with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In February 1979, the new Church of Nigeria was inaugurated, while the Dioceses of Accra, Kumasi, Liberia, Gambia and Guinea and Sierra Leone (later Freetown) continued in the Province of West Africa. In 1981 the new missionary diocese of Bo was inaugurated and four new Dioceses of Cape Coast, Koforidua, Sekondi and Sunyani/Tamale were formed. Today, the Church exists in areas of civil unrest where Christians remain a minority.

Membership

Today, there are over one million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 35 million.

Structure

The polity of the Church of the Province of West Africa is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are 15 of these, each headed by a bishop.

Diocesan Bishops

Accra - Most Revd. Dr. Justice O. Akrofi (Archbishop and Primate of the Province of West Africa),
Bo - Rt. Revd. Samuel Sao Gbonda,
Cameroon - Rt Rev DIBO THOMAS-BABYNGTON ELANGO
Cape Coast - Rt. Revd. Dan. Allotey
Freetown - The Right Reverend Julius Olotu Prince Lynch,
Gambia - Rt. Revd. Dr. Solomon Tilewa Johnson,
Guinea - Rt. Revd. Albert D.G. Gomez,
Ho - Rt. Revd. Matthias Mededues-Badohu
Koforidua - Rt. Revd. Francis Quashie
Kumasi - Rt. Revd. Daniel Y. Safo,
Liberia - Rt. Revd. Edward W. Neufville,
Sekondi - Rt. Revd.{Lt.Col.} J. K. Otoo
Sunyani - Rt. Revd. Thomas A. Brient,
Tamale - Rt. Revd. Emmanuel A. Arongo,
Wiawso - Rt. Revd. Abraham Kobina Ackah

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.

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.