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LDS Church Growth Case Studies:
LDS Church Planting in Sunyani, Ghana
LDS Church Planting in Sunyani, Ghana
Author: Matt Martinich
Overview of Location
Located in west-central Ghana, Sunyani is a city of approximately 80,000 and the regional capital of Brong-Ahafo. Surrounding terrain consists of forested plains and rolling hills subject to semi-tropical climate. In addition to serving as a center for commerce and tourism in central Ghana, Sunyani possesses higher living standards than many other areas of the country due to good access to potable water sources.[1] However rapid urbanization has caused economic and health hazards, especially in slums. Harmattan winds are a natural hazard. Twi and English are the predominantly spoken languages in Sunyani. Traditional councils possess an important role in local government. Akan are the dominant ethnic group in Sunyani (71.1%).[2] Brong-Ahafo is the only region in Ghana which has a higher percentage of Catholics in the regional population than Pentecostals. Sunyani is historically a Catholic center in Ghana.[3] The urbanized population of Sunyani Municipal accounts for 74.3% of the municipal population.[4]
LDS Background
No organized LDS congregations functioned and no known Latter-day Saints were known to reside in Sunyani prior to the assignment of LDS missionaries from the Ghana Cape Coast Mission in late 2010. Initially six young full-time missionaries and a senior missionary couple were stationed in Sunyani and simultaneously organized three groups under the Ghana Cape Coast Mission Branch to facilitate growth in the communities of Estates, Nkwabeng, and Penkwase. Approximately 70 people attended the three groups a month after their organization. A fourth group was created shortly thereafter in Fiapre and the number of young full-time missionaries assigned increased from six to ten by mid-2011. Half of the missionaries assigned at the time were black Africans. Since their organization, the four LDS congregations in Sunyani have assembled in rented spaces which also function as missionary living quarters. By mid-2011, sacrament meeting attendance was approximately 50 in three of the four groups and three of the groups were close to meeting the standards to become independent branches. The Fiapre Group had approximately 30 attending meetings in September 2011. Missionaries reported that the standard for a branch to operate in Sunyani was five full-tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders and 20 active members. A conference for all four congregations was held in early 2011 and the first temple trip occurred in mid-2011. By October 2011, groups in Estates, Nkwabeng, and Penkwase became independent branches with local members serving as branch presidents. 150 attended a conference for all four congregations in late 2011.
Street contacting has been the primary finding method for full-time missionaries as very few if any Latter-day Saints initially resided within the geographical boundaries of each congregation. Investigator and new convert referral appear to be additional methods which have been employed to find investigators. Missionaries have undertaken almost all administrative tasks and responsibility for teaching and mentoring gospel principles and doctrines to new converts and in mid-2011 appeared to lead church services in all four groups. Investigators appear to establish habitual church attendance generally lasting over a month prior to baptism. Consequently, retention and member activity appear high. In the fall of 2011, full-time missionaries reported that local members in some of the groups set yearly baptismal goals for their units to accomplish.
Successes
The opening of Sunyani to missionary activity has been a major success for the LDS Church in Ghana as a church-planting paradigm was implemented despite no preexisting church infrastructure and no known Latter-day Saints in the city, three of the four groups became independent branches approximately a year after their organization, the population has been receptive to LDS teachings and missionaries, and the success of opening Sunyani has encouraged mission leaders in West Africa to implement similar approaches in other locations, most notably in Kumasi, Ghana. The ratio of one LDS missionary companionship per congregation has encouraged growth and provides adequate resources for new converts, investigators, and the general population without fostering overreliance on full-time missionaries. The creation of several congregations at once in a city of less than 100,000 that had no previous LDS presence illustrates the feasibility of church planting paradigms in small and medium-sized unreached cities as LDS mission planners generally organize only one congregation in small or medium-sized cities if any LDS outreach occurs.
The opening of Sunyani to missionary work is a rare occurrence for the LDS Church in Africa considering its remote location from other mission outreach centers in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission, the number of full-time missionaries initially assigned when the city opened for proselytism, and the lack of any preexisting church unit or known Latter-day Saints in the region. It is unclear what motivated mission and area leadership to choose to open Sunyani for LDS outreach. Generally in the LDS Church in Africa a basic church unit operates for several years in a city before full-time missionaries are introduced. The decision by mission and area leaders to implement a tactful, ambitious approach to expanding LDS outreach in Ghana's untouched northern regions has provided excellent results to date and may fuel greater implementation of similar approaches for expanding LDS outreach throughout West Africa in the short and medium terms. In 2011, some LDS West African missions made significant strides planting new branches and groups, possibly inspired by area leadership encouraging church-planting approaches. In 2011, notable examples of rapid congregational growth occurred in Monrovia, Liberia where the number of branches increased from 11 to 16, Lome, Togo where the number of congregations increased from five to eight or nine, and Cotonou, Benin where the number of congregations increased from three to six. As of September 2011, there were no known recent instances of any other West African LDS mission opening a previously unreached city with multiple missionary companionships and establishing more than one church unit at a time. In the spring of 2011, missionaries serving in the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission reported that plans were drafted for opening Makeni, Sierra Leone with full-time missionaries to assist several groups which were recently organized in Makeni but these plans were later retracted to focus missionary manpower on preparing districts in the mission to become stakes.
High rates of convert retention achieved in Sunyani despite strong reliance on full-time missionaries for administrative issues is a significant, unusual achievement for the LDS Church that demonstrates that convert retention rates can surpass the often low rates of convert retention in most areas of the world and reduce subsequent member inactivity issues which often accompany the deleterious effects of local members chronically depending on full-time missionaries for instruction, leadership, organization, and fellowshipping. It is too early in the establishment of the LDS Church in Sunyani to determine whether current levels of convert retention can be sustained over the long term or whether local members can develop self-sufficiency in church responsibilities. The appointment of local members as branch presidents in late 2011 is a positive sign that indicates that the Church is on track to foster self-sustainability. Full-time missionaries encouraging local members to establish their own baptismal goals for their units may facilitate greater member-missionary involvement and less reliance on full-time missionaries for finding and retention.
Opportunities
The LDS Church has taken advantage of excellent opportunities for expanding mission outreach in Sunyani due to the high receptivity in the population, better living standards than many other cities in central/northern Ghana, several LDS materials in the most commonly spoken local languages, greater political and ethnic stability than many other areas of sub-Saharan Africa, and most locals identifying as Christian (80.9% for Sunyani and 70.8% in the Brong-Ahafo Region).[5] Progress achieved in opening and sustaining four congregations in so short a period of time suggests that surrounding communities and lesser-reached neighborhoods in Sunyani present excellent opportunities for future church planting approaches. As the capital and one of the most populous cities of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Sunyani is a suitable center for the LDS Church to base its regional missionary operations if outreach is expanded into additional nearby cities such as Berekum, Dormaa Ahenkro, Kintampo, Techiman, and Wenchi. Renting apartment buildings utilized for both church services and missionary living quarters is a thrifty approach that encourages full-time missionaries to build up their assigned congregations by preparing new converts for leadership and other ecclesiastical positions.
Careful mentoring of new members and designing youth-oriented finding and fellowshipping activities may establish a sizable body of qualified and trained priesthood and auxiliary leaders and prospective full-time missionaries. Sunyani is the most literate district in the Brong-Ahafo Region (68%) permitting the use of proselytism literature and other church materials for outreach.[6] The Book of Mormon and several church materials are available in Twi for use among local members to study and teach the gospel. Literacy programs sponsored by local literate members may provide a suitable approach to better reaching the approximately one-third of the population who are illiterate. The LDS Church benefits from most Christians in Sunyani having developed habitual church attendance; a practice which may improve church attendance for converts. Detachment from mission leadership due to remote location may encourage self-sufficiency among local members if administrative and ecclesiastical duties are gradually handed off from missionaries to local members.
Challenges
The LDS Church faces several major challenges in establishing a long-term presence in Sunyani due to limited numbers of members who can fill leadership positions, local member reliance on full-time missionaries, and resistance to LDS proselytism efforts by some Christian groups. Limited numbers of members serving full-time missions worldwide challenges efforts for the Church to continue to expand outreach in Sunyani and additional communities through assigning additional missionaries. With only a couple exceptions of Latter-day Saints relocating to Sunyani, there are no local LDS leaders who have been trained or have had past experience with church leadership positions. Local converts have heavily depended on full-time missionaries for administrative support and ecclesiastical training due to their recent conversions and lack of experience. The short duration of LDS missionary activity and the lack of local leaders makes the four congregations in Sunyani vulnerable to closure if the placement of full-time missionaries is disrupted. Distance from mission headquarters in Cape Coast and the established LDS community in Kumasi presents transportation challenges as road conditions are poor from Kumasi to Sunyani and travel times are long. Full-time missionaries depend on street contacting for finding new investigators and report that it is difficult to determine whether individuals they speak to are sincerely interested in learning about the Church or listen to the missionaries to be polite. Some Christians have responded poorly to the assignment of LDS missionaries, particularly among some Catholics in Penkwase. The prominence of the Catholic Church and its historical ties to Sunyani pose ongoing challenges for outreach due to strong cultural and religious connections with locals and the Catholic Church. Setting yearly baptismal goals in some of the units in Sunyani may detract from efforts to baptize prepared converts if goals turn into quotas and thus compromise prebaptismal preparation efforts.
Comparative Growth
LDS outreach in Ghana has generally expanded as active members relocate to cities and villages without an LDS presence and later send requests to church leaders to organize a group or branch and assign full-time missionaries. During this process a single church unit is organized and additional units are not created until the number of active members merits the creation of additional units, which can take several years or even decades to achieve. During the past 15 years, Sunyani appears to be the only city in the world to have been opened by LDS missionaries despite no known Latter-day Saints living in the city and have several congregations established simultaneously. As of mid-2011, Sunyani was the most northern city in Ghana with an LDS congregation and missionaries assigned.
Most missionary-minded Christian groups appear to have maintained a presence in Sunyani for several decades longer than the LDS Church. Other outreach-focused Christian groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, and Seventh Day Adventists have employed more aggressive church-planting strategies than the LDS Church in Ghana and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional Christian groups such as the Catholic Church continue to maintain a strong following in Sunyani and have many highly devoted members.
Prospects
The outlook for future LDS Church growth appears excellent as congregations planted in late 2010 have continued to grow in church attendance and maturity. Finding, baptizing, and retaining youth converts who are prepared to serve full-time missions and later return to Sunyani and fill leadership positions as returned missionaries will be crucial towards establishing self-sufficient leadership. Assigning more than one full-time missionary companionship per group may compromise progress and efforts to instill leadership and self-sufficiency in new converts. Success in Sunyani, abundant opportunities for growth in central and northern Ghana, and the administrative burden on the Ghana Cape Coast Mission president may warrant the organization of a third LDS mission in Ghana headquartered in Kumasi in the near future. A potential mission based in Kumasi may allow for greater opportunities for additional outreach expansion in the Sunyani area. Cities within close proximity to Sunyani may have groups established and full-time missionaries assigned in the near future, including Yamfo, Tanoso, Chira, Nsuatre, and Berekum. Communities and neighborhoods in Sunyani which may have their own LDS congregations established include Mantukwa, Odumase, and Abesem. Once a sufficient numbers of local priesthood leaders are available to staff branch and district callings, a district may be organized.
[1] "Sunyani," en.wikipedia.org, retrieved 2 August 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunyani
[2] "Sunyani Municipal - Demographic Characteristics," www.ghanadistricts.com, retrieved 14 September 2011. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/districts/?r=10&_=30&sa=6213
[3] "Brong Ahafo - Nationality and Ethnicity," www.ghanadistricts.com, retrieved 14 September 2011. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/region/?r=10&sa=30
[4] "Sunyani Municipal - Demographic Characteristics," www.ghanadistricts.com, retrieved 14 September 2011. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/districts/?r=10&_=30&sa=6213
[5] "Brong Ahafo - Nationality and Ethnicity," www.ghanadistricts.com, retrieved 14 September 2011. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/region/?r=10&sa=30
[6] "Brong Ahafo - Educational Attainment and Literacy," www.ghanadistricts.com, retrieved 20 September 2011. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/region/?r=10&sa=31
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