Figura &
ESCALERAS SENCILLAS DE UN TRAMO RECTO
The denomination in the new context is the Methodist Church Ghana, filled with Ghanaian Methodists. ‘In US, we have churches with direct relations with the Methodist Church Ghana and we find a similar thing in Europe.’94
In Europe the GAMG expression is found in the Netherlands and Belgium.95 Though a Methodist presence from the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) predated the MCG in the Netherlands by a few years, one notable
92 Linda Greene and World Methodist Council, World Methodist Council: Handbook of Information
2002-2006 (Asheville, NC: Biltmore Press, 2002).
93 In the case of the Netherlands, a Methodist presence from the Caribbean predated the MCG by a few
years, but there was no long-term sizable indigenous Methodist denomination in that country when the MCG entered. Holland Methodist Church, 'History of the Methodist Church in Holland', <http://hollandmethodistchurch.org/about-us/history/>, accessed 4 November 2012, verified active 13 April 2016; cf.: Wesley Methodist Church Amsterdam, 'Brief History', <http://www.hmc- methodistchurch.nl/index.php/ Information/brief-history.html>, accessed 28 November 2012, moved to http://www.hollandmission.org/History.html, verified active 16 April 2016.
94 MCG29.
feature is that no long-standing indigenous Methodist denomination was present.96 Even in the case of the MCCA, it has had an appeal to peoples from the West Indies.
The GAMG approach is also known in the United States and Canada where the MCG has even formed a proto-diocesan structure for North America to oversee and coordinate the work. As such, it has been organizing mission along the lines of a modality. It must be noted that the GAMG in North America occurs concurrently with a Ghanaian Methodist presence in the UMC and the UCC, the main Methodist denominations with which the MCG has formal agreements. These two denominations are also the largest bodies in the WMC in the US and Canada respectively. The MCG and the UMC have had formal ties since the MOU in 199297 and the UCC and the MCG have a history going back to 1995, but only jointly signed their agreement in 2013.98 Rather than expecting conformity to the UMC or the UCC, whether a church falls under the MCG depends on the local situation and the local Methodist conference.99
Although it was the sixth MCG congregation in Burkina, the report to the BOM does not describe the nature of the new church that was ‘opened at Ouagadougou the capital.’100 However ‘In this Community, they are basically Ghanaian traders who belong to different de-nominations in Ghana but wish to worship together because of language barrier.’101 Being a diaspora type of congregation, when they lost their worship space, the first reaction was for the congregation to seek advice from the Ghanaian ambassador, thus revealing where loyalties and influence lie.102
However, the Ouagadougou scenario may be much more of an anomalous situation for GAMG, as most of the congregations fitting this typology are found in the global North. As the presiding bishop affirmed the nature of ministry among the Ghanaian diaspora, the mission of the NAM ‘is to evangelize and plant churches and facilitate pastoral care and fellowship among Ghana Methodist Churches and Ghanaians
96 Holland Methodist Church, <http://hollandmethodistchurch.org/about-us/history/>, accessed 4
November 2012, verified active 13 April 2016; John Neal and Alfred Glasgow, 'Ghana Methodists', e- mail correspondence with Kirk S. Sims, (unpublished, 2012).
97 The leadership in the MCG had signed the agreement in 1990. The United Methodist Church and The
Methodist Chuch Ghana, 'Act of Covenant between the United Methodist Church and the MCG', in Casely B. Essamuah, Genuinely Ghanaian, 207-209.
98 Gary Paterson and Nora Sanders, 'Meeting of the Executive of the General Council, Draft Minutes,
May 4-6, 2013', (Toronto: United Church of Canada, 2013), 59-72, p. 66.
99 Methodist Church Ghana, 'Roundtable Conference'.
100 Asare-Kusi, 'Evangelism, Mission and Renewal Division', BOM 62. 101 Achana, 'Report of Methodist Churches in Burkina Faso'.
wherever they may be located in the U.S.A. and Canada.’103 Ministry to and through Ghanaian diaspora communities is indeed reinforced by the interviews, and this is a strong conceptualisation as was demonstrated in the previous chapter. For ‘Ghanaians all over the world need to hear the Gospel’,104 and those who have travelled ‘want to worship in ways that suit them, so they can feel at home: a sociological factor to come together as minorities in foreign lands.’105 In these contexts, mission is realized by ‘sending ministers, mostly to Ghanaian community doing mission among ourselves especially with worship and meeting their needs.’106
As has been established with the number of ministers, it should be noted that the diaspora churches and fellowships in the global North receive disproportionate attention from the hierarchy. In his final presidential address at conference, Aboagye-Mensah was proud to express that
During my term in office as Presiding Bishop I have had several pastoral visits to almost all the Ghanaian Churches in USA, Canada, Italy, Great Britain and Germany. In most of these visits I went with the Immediate Past and incumbent Lay Presidents.107
The following chart presents the diaspora churches representing the GAMG typology. (table 5.2)
103 Asante, 'Keynote Address by the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, the Most
Reverend Professor Emmanuel K. Asante to the Annual General Meeting of the North America Mission of the Methodist Church Ghana. May 5, 2012.', <http://spyghana.com/ghana-general-news/religion/what- the-presiding-bishop-of-ghana-methodist-chuch-said-in-america/>, accessed 13 June 2012, archived version at http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=241202, verified active 12 April 2016.
104 MCG5. 105 MCG29. 106 MCG16.
107 Aboagye-Mensah, 'Presiding Bishop's 2008, 5th Biennial/43rd Conference Address Delivered at
Table 5.2 GAMG congregations
Country Circuit Location of congregation
Burkina Faso — Ouagadougou
The Netherlands Holland Mission Circuit Amsterdam The Netherlands Holland Mission Circuit Rotterdam The Netherlands Holland Mission Circuit Den Haag
Belgium Holland Mission Circuit Antwerp
Belgium Holland Mission Circuit Brussels
Belgium Holland Mission Circuit Gent108
United States Washington Mission Circuit Hyattsville, Maryland United States Washington Mission Circuit Rockville, Maryland United States Washington Mission Circuit Silver Spring, Maryland
United States Washington Mission Circuit Alexandria (Acquaah), Virginia United States Washington Mission Circuit Alexandria (Resurrection), Virginia United States Washington Mission Circuit Baltimore, Maryland
United States Washington Mission Circuit Newark, Delaware
United States New Jersey Newark, New Jersey
United States New Jersey Irvington, New Jersey
United States New Jersey Brooklyn, New York
United States New Jersey Queens, New York (Ebenezer)
United States New Jersey Queens, New York (Bethel)
United States New England Mission Section Worcester, Massachusetts United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Atlanta, Georgia (Ebenezer) United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Atlanta, Georgia (Mt Zion) United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Charlotte, North Carolina United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Dallas, Texas
United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Denver, Colorado United States Atlanta Mission Circuit Columbus, Ohio
Canada Toronto Mission Toronto, Ontario
Canada Toronto Mission Montreal, Quebec
108 Isaac S. Amoah, 'Holland Mission Circuit Report (Netherlands and Belgium 2010-2012)', 7th Biennial
Canada Toronto Mission Ottawa, Ontario
Canada Toronto Mission Calgary, Alberta
Canada Toronto Mission Edmonton, Alberta109
Australia Sydney110
5.4.3 Local affiliation, ministering to Ghanaians
Also found in Europe and North America is the third expression, local affiliation,
ministering to Ghanaians (LAMG). LAMG is when Ghanaian Methodists are given a
level of autonomy to minister to their expatriates through the auspices of another Methodist or united denomination with a Methodist heritage. Such is seen primarily in the Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche in Germany and in The United Methodist Church and The United Church of Canada for the North America contexts.111 (see