Church of the Province of West Africa
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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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Membership
Today, there are over one million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 35 million.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 - Vacant
- Cape Coast - Rt. Revd. Dan. Allotey
- Freetown - The Right Reverend Julius Olotu Prince Lynch,
- Gambia - Rt. Revd. 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
[edit] 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.
[edit] Doctrine and practice
- See also: Anglicanism and Anglican doctrine
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.[1]
[edit] 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.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Anglican Listening Detail on how scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way".
- ^ http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3587 World Council of Churches
[edit] Further reading
- Anglicanism, Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.
[edit] External links
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