Renewal and Revivalism in Ghanaian Methodism: The Catalytic Role of Prayer Fellowships

Abstract

Branded prayer programmes have taken centre stage in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, and Methodism in Ghana has its fair share. The origins of these spiritual activities are nebulous. This study investigates the historical roots of the contemporary revival and renewal programmes in Methodist Church Ghana. Through historical and phenomenological research approach, the study highlights the catalytic role played by the twentieth-century prayer fellowships, which functioned as fringe groups in the Church. A re-visioning of John Wesley as a Pentecostal fore-bearer of the Christian faith constitutes an innovative attempt at situating the charismatic renewal movement in Ghana within historic Methodism. The study evinces the critical function of the laity as agents of revival and renewal of spirituality in the Church. Essentially, through the prayer fellowships, the ministry of the Methodist Church is democratised, and clericalism neutralised. The transformation of the prayer fellowship movement into the Methodist Prayer and Renewal Programme (M.P.R.P.) facilitated the formalisation, institutionalisation and regulation of the emergent charismatic movement into a “Connexional” (i.e. nationwide) Methodist activity. What makes the M.P.R.P. relevant is its dynamic response to the African worldview and existential realities of the participants.