| Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana | |
|---|---|
 Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana logo | |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Presbyterian |
| Scripture | Protestant Bible |
| Theology | |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Associations | |
| Region | Ghana |
| Origin | 14 November 1847; 178 years ago (1847-11-14) |
| Congregations | 748 |
| Members | 600,000 |
| Official website | www.epchurchghana.org |
TheEvangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (Ewe:Presbyteria Nyanyui Hame le Ghana, colloquiallyEP Church), is amainlineProtestantChristian denomination inGhana. It has strong roots in theEvangelical andReformed traditions. The denomination’s Presbyteriansister church is thePresbyterian Church of Ghana.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana was founded byGerman missionaries on 14 November 1847 inPeki.[1] These missionaries from theNorth German Mission Society (Norddeutsche Mission, Bremen), together with theBasel Mission in 1847, started work among theEwe people in what is now theVolta Region ofGhana. By the beginning ofWorld War I, they had established two mission stations in theBritish colony of theGold Coast and seven in the Germanprotectorate ofTogoland. The first of the mission stations was Mission-Tove in present-dayTogo.[2]
After the war, theLeague of Nationspartitioned Togoland, the western area becomingBritish Transvolta Togoland, and the eastern section becomingFrench Togoland (nowTogo). Despite this division, the firstsynod of the mission stations in May 1922 declared itself to be the supreme governing body of the “Ewe Church”, and adopted thecongregational order of the Bremen Mission. In 1923, Scottish missionaries began working in British Togoland, with the church in French Togoland run by the Paris Mission.
As a result, development proceeded separately in the two territories, while sharing the same constitution. They hold a common synod every four years.[3]
The overall leader of the church is known as theModerator of the General Assembly.[4] The current Moderator is Reverend Lt. Colonel Bliss Divine Kofi Agbeko. He was inducted in January 2021 at the Dela Chapel of the church at Ho.[5]
The previous gathering of the churches was known as the General Synod. The first Moderator was elected in 1922, when the Togo and Gold Coast branches of the church held their first Joint Synod.[6] The last Moderator of the General Synod wasRt. Rev. Dr. L.K Buama, whose term ended in 2009.[7]
Since 23 August 2008, the church changed from Synod status to General Assembly status. Since then, the Moderator is now officially known as 'The Moderator of the General Assembly'. The first Moderator since this change was the Very Reverend Francis Amenu.[8] Rev. Seth Agidi, who succeeded him, died in office after a short illness at theHo Teaching Hospital on 10 October 2020.[9]
The church is active in education and has established numerous primary and secondary schools, and a university college.[13][14] They include:
The EP Church has also been active in providing health care.[14] Its facilities include:
One of the last missionaries to work with the Presbyterian church wasIan Strachan of theChurch of Scotland. He was also the first headmaster of the E. P. Senior High School at Hohoe.[18]
In that same year, Rev. Ian Strachan and his wife, Moyer, arrived from the Church of Scotland as a Youth Worker and it was in that same year that the Christian Youth Builders (CYB) began to develop. A Secondary School at Hohoe was established on 28 September 1961 with Rev. Ian Strachan as the first Headmaster.
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