The story of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Ghana is a testament to the dedication of both indigenous believers and foreign missionaries. From its origins in the late 19th century to its present-day influence, the church has played a significant role in the religious, educational, and social landscape of Ghana.
Early Beginnings
Ghana Seventh-day Adventist history begins in documents and oral traditions with Francis Dolphjin of Apam and William Dawson of Fetteh-Gomoa respectfully, both in present-day Central Region of the country in the second half of the 19th century. Dolphjin officially pioneered it in January, 1888 when he abandoned his former Sunday-worshiping Methodism and accepted Saturday-Sabbath Seventh-day Adventism as his new faith in Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior.
When Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA) in Ghana celebrated their church’s hundredth year in the country in 1988, they were looking back to their 1888 origins. In that year, according to official SDA archival records, Francis I. U. On his own testimony, this came to him in early 1888 after reading an SDA pamphlet he got from a ship captain who stopped over with his vessel at his coastal home of Apam. In other words, Seventh-Day Adventism made its first convert in Ghana through the literature ministry and not through a preacher.
From the word go, Francis Dolphijn accepted his newfound faith warmly and wholeheartedly. He determined to help build up the church on a sound and lasting footing in his home country. A convert from Sunday observing Methodism to Sabbath (Saturday) observing Adventism, Dolphijn straightway entered into a four-year correspondence with Adventist headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA and other SDA centers and mission stations both in the United States and Africa. He asked for more reading materials with which he could work for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His cause in Ghana, and for the SDA Church to send official resident missionaries to his country.
His efforts culminated in the first official visit of an SDA minister to his home, Apam, in 1892 to undertake a feasibility study of Adventist prospects in that country. Upon the recommendation of this visiting official, -Lawrence Chadwick,- the General Conference of SDA headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA dispatched the church’s first foreign resident missionaries to Ghana in early 1894. These pioneer missionaries, Karl Rudolph and Leroy Sanford, Americans, first landed at Apam on Thursday, February 22, 1894. That marked the opening of the first SDA mission station in Real Africa (referred to some people as “Black Africa”).
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For some two decades or so after his conversion to Adventism in 1888, Francis Dolphijn became one of the pillars upon which the Adventist church was built in Ghana. Seventh-Day Adventism became a Dolphijn family ministry in which Francis, his wife, and their three kids, Isaac, Fred and Joyce, all were involved. In collaboration with foreign missionaries and indigenous believers like J. D. Francis Dolphijn was one of the first literature evangelists to work for the SDA Church in Ghana. He also served as an itinerant preacher as well as an interpreter for the foreign missionaries of the SDA Church in coastal Ghana.
Pioneer Francis Dolphijn, his two sons Isaac and Fred, and George P. The Dolphijn boys later left home for foreign adventures. Fred Dolphijn left for Britain for more studies, with the support of people like J. D. Hayford. It was hoped they would return home and continue in the SDA work and cause. They did return but did not continue for long in either the work or the faith of Seventh-Day Adventism.
Much of this new trend in the Dolphijn story could be attributed to the early death of both parents. After Mrs. Francis Dolphijn died, her husband became both father and mother to their three children for about two decades - he apparently never remarried following the early death of his wife. K.
Pastor Larmie said in 1894, six years later, the first missionaries, Edward L. Sanford and Karl G. “On October 3, 1895, Cape Coast became the official Headquarters of the Seventh - Day Adventist Church in West Africa. That same year, the church in America sent a group of missionaries led by Pastor Dudley U.
From 1888 to the opening years of the 21st century, the combined efforts of indigenous believers and their foreign brothers and sisters, under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, have succeeded in bringing over half a million precious souls to Christ, the soon-coming King of kings and Lord of lords.
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In addition to the above-named pioneers, Seventh-day Adventist history in Ghana records key names like the following in the evolution of the story: George Grant, J.D. Hayford, Hannah More, Karl Rudolph, Edward Sanford, Dudley Hale, James Hyatt, Christian Ackah, Samuel Duncan-Morgue, John Garbrah, William Lewis, Kwaaku Kwaaten, Paul Ansa, Abraham Amponsa, Robert Mensa, Robert Antwi, Philip Kwabena, Yaw Kyereme, J.A. Sackey, Kwaame Donkor, Jesse Clifford, Amos Amofah, John Amoah, Charles Mensah, Jesse Gibson, David Agboka, Charles Clerk, Emmanuel Akyiano, John Kwaning (Kokofu), James Adu (Kokofu), Amos Okrah, David Akuoko, Paul Nsiah, Joseph Nimoh, Yaw Nimo, C. D. Henri, Th. Kristensen, Johnny Johnson, Owen Troy, Walton Whaley, Mary Afriyie, Evelyn Boateng, Pascal Latour, Kofi Owusu-Mensa, Paul Yeboah, Isaac Fordjour, Jacob Jonas (JJ) Nortey, Matthew Ango Bediako, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, Dr. Owusu-Antwi, Dr. Seth Laryea, Peter Mensah, Paul Asareh, Hermann Kuma, Solomon Opam, Ansah-Adu, Amos Kwasi Amofah, Charles Kyereme, Israel Agboka, Joseph Manu Margaret Osei, Emelia Kusi, Agnes Osei, Z. Sumani, T. K.
Churches, schools, health institutions, a press, a university, a women’s center, and other facilities have grown with the history of the church in Ghana over the years.
Expansion and Development
The SDA Church in Ghana experienced significant growth and development throughout the 20th century. This included the establishment of schools, hospitals, and other institutions aimed at serving the community.
- 1915: The paramount chief of Agona, Nana Kwame Boakye, gave a larger plot of land, where Lewis erected a house and a school building with the assistance of the chief and his people. In the school there, which became the center of a group of schools, J. K. Garbrah, H. E. Boyce, J. J. Hyde, H. K. Munson, F. L. Stokes, and F. Edwards taught at various times.
- On 7 May 1921, J. K. Garbrah of Shama, became the first Ghanaian minister of the Gospel to be ordained into the Gospel Ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This took place in Waterloo, Sierra Leone at a General Conference session.
- Late 1922, L. F. Langford came to Gold Coast (Ghana) and took over the work as acting director. While still the general superintendent of the work in West Africa.
- In 1933, the Mission, then based at Bekwae, was re-organized with a new name, Gold Coast Union Mission covering five territories in West Africa. These were Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Togoland, and Upper Volta with Jesse Clifford as the Director. He was also the Director of the Ghana Mission.
- 1938 marked the beginning if the Printing work in Ghana. F.L. Stokes invited Emmanuel T. Abbey from Accra then resident in Bawjiase to man the press at Asokore, Koforidua.. That was the beginnings of the Advent Press. The press later moved to Bekwae, was taken to Nigeria and was finally settled in Accra.
- In 1939, the first SDA Teacher Training College was established at Bekwae with C. A. Bartlett, a British Missionary as the first Principal.
- January, 1946: The West African Union Mission which had Willian McClements as Superintendent and was based in Ibadan, Nigeria, moved headquarters to Ghana. Jesse O. Gibson who was the Director of the Ghana Mission was made the head of the new headquarters at Osu, Accra.
- 1955: To meet the medical needs of the people, the Kwahu Hospital was established at Atibie by Dr. J. A. Hyde and was officially opened on July 28, 1957; later a School of Nursing was begun and a midwifery course offered.
- In 1970, Ghana Mission was re-organized into Ghana Conference of SDA with J. K. Amoah as the first President. Kumasi remained the headquarters of this first local Conference of the church in the West African Union Mission and the whole of black Africa.
- On October 8, 1974, the Adventist Girls' Vocational Institute was opened in Techiman, Brong Ahafo region, as a day school by action of the Ghana Conference and the West African Union Mission, with Mrs. Emelia Kusi as headmistress.
- In 1979: The Adventist Missionary College was established at Adentan in Accra. In the late 1980s, it took on the name - Valley View College and then Valley View University. It is the first accredited and chartered private tertiary University in Ghana. The first Director was W. S. Whaley and the current President is Seth A. Laryea, who has led the university since 1995.
- In January, 2000, the West African Union Mission was re-organized with Ghana being organized into Ghana Union Conference; Accra was maintained as the headquarters and P. O.
Here's a summary of key milestones in the development of the SDA Church in Ghana:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1888 | Francis Dolphijn converts to Adventism |
| 1894 | First SDA missionaries arrive in Ghana |
| 1921 | J.K. Garbrah becomes the first Ghanaian ordained minister |
| 1939 | First SDA Teacher Training College established |
| 1957 | Kwahu Hospital officially opened |
| 1979 | Adventist Missionary College (now Valley View University) established |
| 2000 | Ghana Union Conference organized |
As recounted by Prof. Kofi Owusu-Mensa in his book “Seventh-Day Adventism in Ghana (p.273)”, the Seventh-day Adventists’ presence on the University of Ghana, Legon campus dates back to the late 1962 when Pastor William B. Ackah got in touch with the Adventist students at the University with the purpose of formally organising them into a praying fellowship. Previously, these Adventist students attended Sabbath worship in town every week. The initial Fellowship consisted of eleven men, all undergraduate students at the University. The first worship was held on the night of Friday, January 11, 1963.
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Each generation of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Fellowship leadership at University of Ghana came with its vision. Some leaders focused their activities on increasing the membership, while others embarked on evangelism.
In particular, the 1985/6 academic year SDA Fellowship leadership had a vision to establish a permanent Adventist presence at the campus of the University of Ghana. This was premised on leadership’s realisation that the SDA Fellowship on campus had not been permanently grounded - church activities were held regularly while academic work at the University was in session, whereas the light of SDA presence dimmed during the holiday periods.
Thus, the Legon SDA Church (initially called Staff Village SDA Church) was borne in 1985 out of activities/efforts by the SDA Fellowship at the University. Under the general direction of the then Accra East District of SDA, and with the support of the Madina Central SDA Church and the direct participation of the Adventist staff of the University of Ghana, Elder Asafo Akyeampong conducted the iconic evangelistic campaign of 1985.
The first Sabbath worship service of the new Company of Adventist believers after the evangelistic campaign was held at the Akuafo Dining Hall, University of Ghana on December 14, 1985. Thus, December 14, 1985 is the birthday of the first church which became known as Staff Village SDA Church. However, on the third Sabbath, the place of worship was relocated to the classroom complex of the Legon Staff Village Primary School.
The Church was under the leadership of the following persons:
- Mr. Joshua Owusu Agyeman - Elder
- Mr. Kwesi Aniagyei - Church Clerk
- Ms. Comfort Agbezudor - Treasurer
- Mr. Loveland Owusu Agyepong Ensaw - Assistant Treasurer & Adventist Youth Society
- Mr. James Nyantakyi - Sabbath School Superintendent
- Mr. Wallace Danquah - Lay Activity
- Mr. Sampson Kusi Appiah - Stewardship
By December 1987, eleven other persons had been baptized, bringing active church membership to twenty-one (21). Two baby girls had also been born into the Church. Mrs. Comfort Sarquah (then Ms. Comfort Antwi) who used to worship at the Nsawam SDA Church, was the first person to have her membership transferred to the Staff Village SDA Church.
To augment the membership drive, the Church requested for the transfer of the membership of the core group of worshippers at the Staff Village Church from their former places of worship. Consequently, on February 16, 1988, requests were made to the Madina Central SDA Church for the membership transfer of the following members: Elder Safo Ntim, Mrs. Florence Safo Ntim, Elder Joshua Owusu-Agyemang, Elder Macarious Abofoah, Ms. Comfort Agbezudor, Mr. Loveland Owusu Agyapong Ensaw, Mr. James Nyantakyi and Elder Kwesi Aniagyei. Again, in March 1989, a request was sent to the Madina Central SDA Church on behalf of Sister Gladys Lartey. Similarly, membership transfer requests were made to the Bibiani SDA Church on the membership of the late Mrs. Mary Twum Barimah (Nee Mary Asantewaa) in March 1989.
From January 18 to February 7, 1987, the Church jointly sponsored a crusade with the University of Ghana SDA Fellowship to establish the La-Bawaleshie SDA Church. Thus, in Biblical phraseology, the University of Ghana SDA Fellowship begat the Staff Village SDA Church and the Staff Village SDA Church, in turn, begat the La-Bawaleshie Church. The speaker for the crusade was Pastor S.A. Larmie.
With the establishment of the La-Bawaleshie SDA Church, worship services alternated between Staff Village SDA Church and La-Bawaleshie SDA Church for some time until the young church at La-Bawaleshie was able to wean itself off. Adventist Students, notably Brother Isaac Owusu Amponsah and Brother Isaac Kofi Barnes from the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) - now University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) also joined in worship every Sabbath.
The Staff Village SDA Church also mounted a three-week outdoor crusade at the Staff Village community with Pastor Lims Owusu Asante as the main speaker. Other in-door crusades were subsequently held including one handled by the Women Ministries Department with Mrs. Millicent Gyadu as the speaker.
The successful evangelistic campaigns and outreach strengthened the Adventist message and presence in and around the University of Ghana community.
Church growth has continued to be experienced since 1999 when the older generation of Elders took a conscious decision to make way for the younger breed of members to take leadership position in the Church. (By older generation of Elders, we mean Owusu Agyeman, Safo Ntim, Dr. Ohene Konadu, Dr. Akuamoah-Boateng, Asaah Asare and Prof. Johnson Manu).
The new generation of Elders include: Kwaku Yeboah-Asuamah, Paul Okyere, Kofi Andoh, Okofo Dartey, Jacob Adom Oduro, Ebenezer Antwi, Sophia Dapaah Mantey, Godwyll Ansah, Yaw Kyei Baffour, Yaw Kusi Acheampong, Kobina Holman, Ernest Amoansah, Mark Nkrumah, Emmanuel Ameyaw-Buronyah, Frank K. Boakye and Isaac Owusu Afriyie.
The older generation continues to pray for the younger generation and supports them by playing the crucial role of Council of Elders, providing pieces of advice and support on crucial issues in the administration of the Church.
The Staff Village Church was organised and received into the sisterhood of SDA Churches in the South Ghana Conference on April 24, 2004 under the eldership of Michael Kofi Andoh and Kofi Okofo Dartey. Pastor Anthony Kessie, then President of South Ghana Conference of SDA Church and Pastor Kerphas Gyamfi, Madina District Pastor of SDA Church conducted the Church organisation service. The name of the Church was then changed from Staff Village SDA Church to Legon SDA Church (LESDAC). The membership at the time was ninety-one (91).
The current baptized membership of LESDAC is Three Hundred and Twenty-Six (326). The present University of Ghana SDA Fellowship student membership also stands at almost four hundred (400).
There are also nine (9) Adventists who are working in the University of Ghana as Faculty or other members of staff.
LESDAC has, since its formation, been under the pastoral leadership of three Resident Pastors, namely Pastor Greg A. Davies (April 2009 to November 2014), Pastor Albert Nana Dugan (January 2015 to January 2017) and Pastor Dr. Samuel Adama Larmie (April 2017 to date). The church of God has made significant progress in its mission under the impacting nurturing and shepherding roles of these dedicated men of God.
LESDAC maintains a cordial relationship with and provides academic and other support to Ghana National Association of Adventist Students (GNAAS) Fellowships in secondary and tertiary institutions within the Legon catchment area. The institutions include Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, Legon, GNAAS UG, University of Professional Studies, Accra (Formerly Institute of Professional Studies - IPS) and Accra College of Education (Formerly Accra Training College) as well as Valley View University.
Support provided to these GNAAS Fellowships include interventions with the University/school authorities on Sabbath examinations, providing personnel for their programmes, counselling, financial assistance, use of LESDAC premises for programmes. LEDSAC and the GNAAS UG Fellowship in particular often hold joint programmes including worship. Some graduates from these GNAAS Fellowships after school join LESDAC and play various roles in the Church.
LESDAC supports SDA institutions/programmes such as the Encounter With the Truth, Hope TV and other initiatives embarked upon by the SDA Church in Ghana. This is done by LESDAC as a body and by various forms of contributions from individual Church members.
LESDAC has strived to establish a strong Adventist presence in the University of Ghana community and the surrounding communities such as Okponglo and La- Bawaleshie. Besides evangelistic outreach, the Church periodically organises social activities such as visitation to the Legon Hospital, health talk and screening, clean up exercises, donation of food and clothing and sports and games. This has fostered a strong church-community relations within the catchment area of the Church.
One major concern of LESDAC from its infancy has been to raise a sanctuary on the University of Ghana community to the glory of God. The Church on September 22, 1988 made a request to the University of Ghana for land to construct a Chapel. The Church indicated that the SDA Church which had then been operating in the University community for the past 26 years had experienced an appreciable growth and that the Church intended to bring all its members in the University community together to worship under a single roof.
Seven (7) years later, on May 5, 1995, the University approved the application through its Chaplaincy Board. Consequently, in February 1996 the University authority allocated to the Church a plot of land near the present location of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office building near Okponglo. The Lord used the Church’s representative on the University Chaplaincy Board, Dr. Akuamoah-Boateng, to ensure that the land was secured. We thank the Lord for His mercy.
However, when the Church made attempts to develop the land, there was stout resistance from some residents from the adjoining Okponglo community for another seven (7) years. Between 1996 and 2003 the Church prayed earnestly for God’s intervention. In 2003, the University authority allocated a different plot of land to the Church. We glorify the Lord and recognise Dr. Kofi Ohene-Konadu who was very instrumental in ensuring the reallocation of land, which facilitated the construction of the present magnificent and glorious church building, that was dedicated on Sabbath, October 2, 2021.
The sod cutting ceremony for the LESDAC Building Project was held on Sunday, February 22, 2004, by Pastor S. A. Larmie, then President of Ghana Union of SDA Church and Pastor I. B. Boateng of SDA Ghanaian Church, Columbus, Ohio, USA. The Church was thus made ready to embark on the fulfillment of one of its cherished dreams, that is putting up a befitting sanctuary for the Lord.
Contract for the first phase of the project which included the foundation was signed on May 13, 2006. On December 23, 2006, contract for the second phase including the construction of the basement up to the current stage was signed. On November 10, 2007, the building was consecrated by Pastor Kerphas Gyamfi, then Madina District Pastor of SDA Church and Elder Emmanuel Kwandahor.
It is worth noting that over 80% of the funding for the construction of the Church building has come from voluntary contributions from dedicated LESDAC members, who have, over the years, made annual financial pledges towards the church building project. God bless everyone who has supported the Church up to its current state and condition.
The facility aims at creating an enabling environment for nurturing children and the youth to develop their God-given potentials to the fullest and to become wholeheartedly willing and ready to serve God and society.
The Legon Youth Centre is a four-storey building structure, with the ground and first floors completed. When completed, the building will have facilities such as church auditorium, conference room, library, playrooms and restrooms. The construction of the LESDAC Youth Centre started in 2019 with the same financing model as the main church building.
First, we would like to acknowledge the pioneering leadership of the University of Ghana Fellowship at the formative period of this Church: Fellowship at the formative period of this Church: Mr. Samson Kusi Appiah - President Mr. Kwesi Aniagye - Sec…
“It is in times like this that the Seventh-Day Adventists Church is calling on all Christians to proclaim and live the Christian life to the glory of our maker. “… for we live in dangerous times and as Christians we have the responsibility to reach out to many who have not found the truth and liberty in Christ.
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