In the case of Ghana, like other nations, the impact . Other difficulties they faced were the problems of the many languages and dialects and their ignorance of the true meaning of the various cultures, beliefs, values and ways of life of the people whom they set out to convert to Christianity. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES. Among the early Protestant evangelical societies founded in Great Britain were the Baptist Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Wesleyan Missionary Society and what became known as the Presbyterian Missionary Society of the Church of Scotland. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. Find below a list of mission schools that still exist in Ghana today. 2 Longman Group Ltd. London 1974, Ampadu B.K Notes on History of Ghana for Senior High Schools. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). In this respect the Christian religion therefore differed from the traditional religions of West Africa, which along with an acceptance of one Supreme Being worshipped a hierarchy of gods. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. Vol. The missionaries also greatly improved the health services. bible knowledge The expansion of the missionary movement into Africa was part of the growing conception of Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. The problems created by the white missionaries themselves arose largely from a misconception of what Africa represented. Initially, their activities focused on coastal areas. Lewis, Donald M., ed. As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone. The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. Last, missionaries provided a very poor education, causing their students to be ill-equipped for social or material success, as they believed education to simply be a means for proselytization, were unqualified teachers, and allowed inter-denominational rivalries to interfere. The Journal of Negro Education (JNE), a scholarly refereed journal, was founded at Howard University in 1932. This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). His request to the Danish Crown for missionaries was forwarded to . Another difficulty that the early missionaries faced in the spread of Christianity was insufficient Christian literature at that time. Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. The story of the planting of Christianity in Nigeria would be incomplete without a mention of the Italian Roman Catholic priest, Father Berghero. Preventive medicine was hardly known; the result was that epidemics of different kinds were frequent. They include Sierra Leone 1900-1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904-1910; and St Vincent 1907-1912. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. This company promoted the import and export trade in Ghana. They constitute the benefits that the missionaries brought to Africa as a whole. The traditions and values of the community, as well as the meaning of life, were taught to the child. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Now, with the burgeoning Cocoa industry, the expansion of commercial activity, the development of gold mines and the building of roads and railways disturbed the traditional lifestyle. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. We must not lose sight of the fact that the colonial government in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa relied on the activities of the missionaries to help them achieve the objectives of colonial rule. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. Ghana sits on West Africas coastline along the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by the Ivory Coast and Togo to the west and east and Burkina Faso to the north. Up to Guggisbergs time, the church schools did not receive grants from the government. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions By focusing on the African demand for education, I showed that Africans were not just passive recipients of mission schooling. A notable example was the Asafo Company, a purely military and social organisation of the peoples of Ghana, which was condemned by the early missionaries because of its presumed connection with fetish practices. Moreover, speaking through interpreters is a defective means of communicating ones thoughts to ones audience. This box contains: the correspondence of Bishop See thematic groupings of our digital collections, See all of our digital collections in one place, Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951, Copies of letters received, 1890-1927; West Africa, vol. He worked zealously as an evangelist and schoolmaster in the Castle School until his death in 1816. I will earn a commission if you follow a link to purchase a product. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. primarily purposed to outline the contributions of religion and education to national development in Ghana. Notably among these missionaries are the Wesleyan, Basel, and Bremen. Following ordination, he was sent to Washington, D.C., and the Catholic University of America, where he earned a masters degree in English literature. West Africa and Christianity. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. Alignment is the degree of congruence between your teaching philosophy and your institution's mission. After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). The Roman Catholic Sisters provided medical care in the Upper and Northern Regions of the country before the government started to provide hospitals and clinics in the regional and district headquarters. Human Zoos: Untold History of Suppression, The Legend of King Ulu (Ancient Thai Folklore), The Kingdom of Saud of The Arabs (Saudi Arabia), The Wesley Brothers of Oxford University (1700s), Razia Sultan of Medieval India (786 Years Ago), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. For more than a year, Ghanaian Saints continued to practice their faith in their homes. 2236624), The beginning of Africanisation : the dawn of the missionary motive in Gold Coast education, Early colonial and missionary records from West Africa, West Indies material in the archives of the USPG, 1710-1950. Moreover, they introduced new crops into the Ghanaian economy. A member of the CMS, Henry Venn, boasted that the mission schools of Nigeria would produce an educated African elite that could form an intelligent and influential class of society and become the founders of a Kingdom which shall render incalculable benefits to Africa (Venn cited in Bassey 1991:37). Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. The late Eighteenth Century witnessed the rise of Christian groups in Europe that resorted to the evangelization of Africa. In Sierra Leone, the Church Missionary Society (CMS), offshoot of the Anglican Church, was the first to become firmly established chiefly among the freed captive and freed slave settlers from Britain, Nova Scotia and other parts of the New World. Furthermore, they were skilled farmers that could grow cash crops to be consumed back in the mother country, such as cocoa from Ghana (Foster 1965: 153). They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. The European missionaries engaged in trading and other commercial activities as well. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect their decisions. This comes at no extra cost to you. This study simply offers systematic, long-term evidence of it. life skills The early missionaries set up craft centres as part of their educational programmes. The third, St Nicholas Grammar School (now Adisadel College), was founded by the Anglican Church in 1910. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. In short, the impact of teaching in the vernacular was more negative than positive, as it reinforced colonial rule and no doubt did very little to preserve native cultural identities, seeing as missionaries promoted European languages as superior and only used the vernacular because conversion and religious instruction were such high priorities. The first batch, who came out between 1804 and 1806, included pioneer missionaries like Renner and Nylander. Teacher training colleges in Ghana did not expand as fast as the secondary schools. Christian converts were indoctrinated to frown upon the use of indigenous first names in favour of Christian ones. New missionary societies (the LMS, the CMS, the Holy Ghost Fathers, the White Fathers, etc.) African Drama West African Senior School Certificate Examination. J. C. Taylor, in these parts of southern Nigeria can still be seen today. Besides, the missionaries had to travel longer distances to inland towns from their southern stations. The missionary impact on education would have far-reaching consequences, as their creation of a weak basis of education would slow down the political and educational development of many former colonies in Africa. Even when governments discouraged domestic industries, graduates of vocational schools contributed to the economy of the colonies -and therefore indirectly the mother countrys as well. A large percentage of Ghanas 30 million people are nominally Christian (more than 70% as of the last census), and 28% consider themselves evangelical believers. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Two other training colleges opened by the missionaries, in the early days, were the Wesley College in Kumasi (1922) and the Roman Catholic Training College at Amisano, near Elmina (1931) which in 1936 moved to the campus of the newly founded secondary school, St Augustines College at Cape Coast. Clarke, Peter Bernard. Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. hbbd```b``vd d"e ] DrI`5 d"(/ DISCLOSURE. First, alignment can help you communicate your . Until almost the end of the colonial period education was still largely in the hands of the churches. He is survived by two brothers, Walter and Kevin Burke. Father Burke, whose students included Father Tetteh and Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, arrived in Ghana, West Africa, in 1963, only four years after the country gained independence from Great Britain. However, the early missionaries established medical centres, at first at their mission posts, and later far and wide, to attend to the sick. English grammar Joseph Dunwell. Operating from Whydah in what is today the Peoples Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey), Father Berghero, in 1860, visited Abeokuta and Lagos where freed Catholic slaves from Brazil welcomed him warmly. With the support of the Propagation of the Faith within the Vatican, whose Cardinal Secretary became Pope Gregory XVI, various Roman Catholic missionary societies were founded. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. By 1885, the church had spread further inland, thanks to Father Joseph Lutz who started work around Onitsha in 1886 and spread the gospel in many parts of the present day Imo and Anambra States. While the Evangelical Presbyterian missionaries were the First to develop literature in Ewe, the Roman Catholics were responsible for Nzima literature. essay writing Series CLR. Hastings, Adrian. For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic Missions policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). They were closed down in 1852 in favour of schools opened in Lagos which, in 1851, had one time British control. As an institution introduced by agents with radically different values, the Christian religion damaged the culture and traditional beliefs of the people of West Africa. Prior to the advent of western education, Ghana's traditional social structures had inbuilt opportunities for mobility. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! C.M.S. The lead was followed by other missionaries, notably the Roman Catholic, whose first higher institution was St Edwards Secondary School in Freetown. Christian Missionaries. A large body of studies show that missionaries had a lasting impact beyond their early years. student life This was a bitter pill for the Basel Mission to swallow after 19 years of devoted service in the mission field in the Gold Coast but they were not dismayed when they considered that in education and agriculture and artisan training and in the development of commerce, and medical services and concern for social welfare of the people, the name Basel by the time of expulsion of the mission from the country, had become a treasured word in the minds of the people. Soon after secondary schools were opened in other parts of southern Nigeria, including Bonny High School, which was taken over by government in 1904. T. Nelson. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. In 1925 the Governor introduced measures which helped the efforts of the missionaries. A history of African Christianity 1950-1975. As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. The early Christian missions concentrated their activities not only on religious matters. I well remember when he came to live with me in Trenton. But with the abolition of slavery, the introduction of cocoa, and the Churchs efficient school system, she gradually became the Church of the social elite. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. In 1989-90, the government banned the activities of several religious organizations, including the Church. In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. Although modern scientific research has confirmed the medicinal properties of these concoctions, traditional medical practice had several shortcomings. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. Another valuable contribution of the Christian missionaries in West Africa was the development of literature in the local vernaculars, this included the translation of the Bible into some of the important local languages. Soon after the Methodist experiment, the church Missionary Society set up their own school at Badagry. While the protestant evangelical movements were gaining ground in West Africa, similar movements were being promoted by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. Before we examine the contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana, we need to identify the missionaries that came to Ghana. Looking for a flexible role? For three years, he taught English and biblical ethics. Some of the missionaries came with them (549 years ago) but many died from the cruel tropical weather of forested West Africa. Daystar Press, 1978. The governor had observed the bad moral life of the Europeans in the fort. Lets now take a closer look at both the positive and negative impacts of the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and the rest of Africa. university courses Next, branches of the C.M.S. It also talks about all the mission societies from all denominations engaged in educational works. (with Examples), Top 20 Topics in English for Academic Purposes, 7 Rules of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, 10 Importance of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, How to Get a Degree Without Going to High School, Joseph Rhodes Dunwell Methodist Missionary, 1835, Thomas Birch Freeman Methodist Missionary, 1838, Thomas Thompson Society for the Propagation of the Gospel/Anglican, 1752, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast Methodist missionaries, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast Methodist, Adisadel College, Cape Coast Anglican Missionaries, Holy Child School, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, St Augustines College, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, Archbishop Potter Girls School, Takoradi, Aburi Girls Secondary School Presbyterian, St Monicas High School, Mampong Anglican. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. The Methodists founded Mfantsipim (1876) for boys and Wesley Girls High School (1884). Efforts to change these norms were often aimed at women. The Akim area had about 3400 converts over 32 villages and there were about 900 children distributed in 27 Schools. Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. Two important private schools with strong Christian influence must also be mentioned: Accra High School, founded in 1923 and Accra Academy, established in These included the Baptist missionaries who under the American evangelist, Thomas Bowen, started work from Ogbomosho in 1855. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i The European Christian missions preached the Gospel, built churches, and seminaries translated the Bible to Ghanaian Languages such as Ewe, Ga, and Twi. began work in many parts of Africa. These missionary societies laid the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church in West Africa, which lasted through to the independence period when African clergy replaced the white pastors. senior high school economics It offered the most direct path towards prestigious jobs in colonial administrations and European enterprises. Given the fluctuating standards between schools and regions and the lack of qualified teachers in the mission schools which had monopolies in well into the mid-twentieth century, it should come as little surprise that the quality of education continues to be a concern in many former colonies. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. After completing that assignment, Father Burkes superiors asked him to teach English as a second language (ESL) to Divine Word missionaries who did not know the language. In addition to contributing to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. In 1845 the C.M.S. For example, they preached against human sacrifice. non-slave trade), Christianity, Civilization and Colonization. Hope Waddell of the Church of Scotland had opened a school at Duke Town, Calabar. Vol. English for life His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. As we help existing churches become healthy through theological education, discipleship, pastoral training, and leadership development, we desire to see church-planting efforts within the local church soon follow. For example, they made our people view polygamy and puberty rites as pagan practices. The tropical climatic condition in the country was not favourable to the early missionaries who came to the shores of West Africa. Both the academic and vocational forms of education the missions provided served to strengthen the rule of the colonial powers, so that the native inhabitants were second-class citizens in their own land. I have used my expertise to design and implement strategies for major projects including new programme development, global proposals, book launches, international talks, lectures, and executive . This is the famous Presbyterian Teacher Training College founded in 1848 at Akropong-Akwapim. They need YOU. Thank you for supporting this project. . past questions They worked tirelessly to lay a foundation for formal education The European missionaries established elementary and second-cycle institutions in the country. The three models of Secondary education in Ghana since colonial times are the Mfantsipim School founded by the Church (mission) in 1876, Achimota School in 1927 established by the British Colonial government better grades The Missionary Factor in Ghana's Development, pp.11 &135 categorically asserted that economic and social changes were brought about by the total effect of the various projects initiated by the.