Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Donald R. Kilcher

Second Advisor

Russell L. Staples

Third Advisor

Jerry Moon

Abstract

Problem

Since the Seventh-day Adventist Church came to Ghana over one hundred years ago, there has not been any concrete and coordinated plan to establish SDA churches among the Ewe-speaking people of the Volta Region, Ghana. Unconsciously or otherwise, the Volta Region has been left unentered by the church, particularly the area from Ho southward to the sea. This study was undertaken to develop a strategy for reaching the Ewe-speaking people group (of the Volta Region Ghana) through church-planting ministry by which converts won would be gathered to form congregations of the Seventh- day Adventist Church.

Method

In an attempt to develop a strategy to plant Seventh- day Adventist churches among the Ewe-speaking ethnic group of the Volta Region, Ghana, I used three approaches as a method to guide me in obtaining relevant information and data for the design of the strategy. First of all, I began to study the available literature on the Ewe people group—their culture, worldview, traditional religion and ritual practices, their social structure, and traditional polity. This study gave me an insight into some essential factors to be considered so far as planting SDA churches in that target area is concerned. Second, I interviewed some senior pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to find out the reason why the church has not yet established its presence among the Ewe- speaking people of the Volta Region. The interview was also a tool used to find out the problems that hindered or militated against the initial attempts of the church to enter the target group. Finally, I conducted a survey at Ho to obtain a clearer picture of the immediate context of the Ewes of the Volta Region for the development of a strategy to plant SDA churches among the Ewe-speaking people.

Results

In my studies pertaining to the Ewe-speaking people of the Volta Region, I learned of some problem areas and some essential factors which altogether helped me much to come up with three approaches which I pulled together to form a strategy to plant SDA churches among the Ewes of the Volta Region, Ghana.

Conclusion

The strategy developed in this project will help the SDA church plant churches among the Ewes in more meaningful and relevant ways. Out of this developed strategy came, as a conclusion, recommendations that will help the South Ghana Conference in its endeavor to enter the Volta Region in an effective church-planting ministry.

Subject Area

Church growth|zGhana|zVolta Region|xSeventh-day Adventists; Seventh-day Adventists|zGhana|zVolta Region

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/344/

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