HISTORY
Brief History of the Internal Province of Ghana
At a Special Provincial Synod and Electoral College at Cuttington University in Suacoco, Llberia (September 27-29, 2012), the Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA) approved amendments to its Constitution to create two Administrative Internal Provinces within the Church of the Province of West Africa, which was initiated at the Synod held at the People's Palace, Conakry, Guinea (March 21- 25, 2011 ).
The two Provinces created were
a) The Internal Province of Ghana to comprise all the Dioceses in Ghana (Accra, Asante Mam pong, Cape Coast, Dunk:wa-on-Offin, Ho, Kumasi, Koforidua, Sunyani, Sekondi, Tamale and Wiawso) and
b) The Internal Province of West Africa comprising the Dioceses of Bo, Freetown, Cameroon, Gambia, Guinea and Llberia.
Each of the Internal Provinces was to be headed by an Archbishop.
During the elections, the Internal Province of Ghana elected Rt. Rev'd. Dr Daniel Yinkah Sarto, Bishop of Kumasi, as the Archbishop while the Province of West Africa elected Rt. Rev'd. Dr S. Tilewa Johnson, Bishop of Gambia as the Archbishop each for a term of ten years or their time of compulsory retirement whichever comes earlier.
The Electoral Colleges of the two Internal Provinces then came together to elect the 9th Primate and Metropolitan of the Church of the Province of West Africa from among the two elected Archbishops. The mantle fell on the Rt. Rev'd. Dr S. Tilewa Johnson for a term of five years after which the Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana would take over as the next Primate and Metropolitan.
By the grace of God, the Rt. Rev'd. Dr. Daniel Yinkah Sarto was solemnly installed and enthroned as the first Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana at Jubilee Park, Kumasi on Sunday, 16th December 2012.
Having attained the mandatory age of retirement of 70 years, a special meeting of the Synod of the Internal Province of Ghana gathered on 15th January 2021 at the Cathedral of St Cyprian the Martyr to choose a successor to the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Yinkah Sarto, Bishop of Kumasi and Metropolitan Archbishop of Ghana who will retire on 12th February 2021. The Anglican Bishop of Asante-Mampong, the Rt. Rev. Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, was duly elected the second Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana within the Church of the Province of West Africa. The Internal Province of Ghana currently has eleven (11) Dioceses, Accra, Koforidua, Ho, Sekondi Takoradi, Kumasi, Cape-Coast, Sefwi-Wiawso, Tamale, Sunyani, Asante-Mampong and Dunk:wa-on- Offin.
Issued by the Provincial Secretariat, Internal Province of Ghana.
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Rt. Rev'd. Matthia K. Medadues-Badohu
Bishop of HoDiocese of Ho is part of the Anglican Church of the Province of West Africa. The Diocese covers the Volta Region of Ghana and the Republic of Togo, and the area of the Diocese can be summarized like this: 1. Volta Region: 12,500 square miles. Population: 2,099,000 (2.1million) 2. Togo: 35,487 square miles. Population: 6,154,000 (6.15million) Total size: 47,987 square miles Total Population: 8,253,000 people
Rt. Rev'd Abraham Kobina Ackah
Bishop of WiawsoThe Diocese of Wiawso was carved out from the Diocese of Sekondi of the Western Region. The Diocese was inaugurated on Saturday, 18th February, 2006 and the Consecration and Enthronement of the first Bishop of the Diocese in the person of the Rt. Rev. Abraham K. Ackah took place on the 10th and 11th June, 2006 respectively. The carving out of Wiawso Diocese was the vision of the first Bishop of Sekondi Rt. Rev. T. S. A. Annobil during a Synod which was held in 1991. He informed Synod even at that time that the work load in the Diocese was too much for a single Bishop to manage. He thus paved the way for the carving out of Wiawso from that vast area of his jurisdiction.
Rt. Rev'd Dr Festus Yeboah-Asuamah
Bishop of SunyaniThe Anglican Diocese of Sunyani is a Ghanaian diocese of the Church of the Province of West Africa, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Sunyani, straddles across the middle of Ghana, bordering on Cote d’Ivoire to the west and the Volta lake to the east. There was already an Anglican Community in Sunyani, originating from the more northern town of Nkoranza, and initially meeting in the Amankwah family home. This small and active Christian group had later set about building two Primary plus two Junior High Schools and the small St Anselm’s tin tabernacle church. Rev Edward Brient was initially the priest and later succeeded by his son Thomas Brient. This was the church which has evolved into a cathedral for the newly created diocese in 1997.
Rt. Rev'd Dr. Daniel Sylvanus Mensah Torto
Bishop of AccraWith the metamorphosis of Gold Coast to the Sovereign independent nation of Ghana on 6th March 1957, the Diocese of Accra which covered the whole landscape of Ghana, began to have Ghanaian leaders – Rt. Rev. Dr. Ishmael Samuel Mills LeMaire (1968 – 1982) Rt. Rev. Francis William Banahene Thompson (1983 – 1996) and Most Rev. Dr. Justice Ofei Akrofi (1996 – 2012). Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel Sylvanus Mensah Torto, the current Bishop was consecrated on 24th June 2012 to succeed Most Rev. Dr. Justice Ofei Yaw Akrofi who retired on 29th October 2012. The Diocese of Accra of today comprises The Cathedral Deanery and Five Archdeaconries namely: Accra North, Accra East, Accra West, Accra North East and Tema.
Rt Rev'd Dr Victor Reginald Atta-Baffoe
Bishop of Cape CoastAt its inception in 1981 the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast had one Archdeaconry and six priests who ministered to 24 congregations in six parishes, with a total numerical strength of 3000 members. Cape Coast Diocese can currently boast of five Archdeaconries and five Deaneries. There are 21 priests currently ministering to 37 congregations in sixteen parishes and six Titular parishes with a total membership of nine thousand five hundred members. There are also twelve Catechists serving in some of the outstations.
Rt. Rev'd Alexander Kobina Asmah
Bishop of SekondiThe Diocese of Sekondi was originally part of the Diocese of Accra which came into existence in 1909. Several attempts which started in the early 70s to carve Sekondi and other Dioceses failed until the Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA) at its meeting in 20th. March, 1980 accepted the nomination of the Venerables J.A. Ackon, R.G.A. Okine, J.K. Dadzon and Rev’d. Fr. T.S.A. Annobil as Bishops Elect for the proposed four (4) new Dioceses; Cape Coast, Koforidua, Sunyani-Tamale and Sekondi to be carved from the Mother Diocese of Accra.
Rt. Rev. Felix Odei Annancy
Bishop of KoforiduaThe Diocese of Koforidua coincides with the geographic definition of the Eastern Region of Ghana It was carved out of the Diocese of Accra in October 1981:
Rt. Rev'd Dennis Debukari Tong
Bishop of TamaleThe Anglican Diocese of Tamale, is a diocese of the Church of the Province of West Africa, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and part of the Internal Province of Ghana. The cathedral of the diocese is Bishop Aglionby Memorial Cathedral, Tamale, Ghana, which was built in the 1960s.The current diocese was formed in February 1997 by the partition of the previous Diocese of Sunyani/Tamale which had itself been established in 1981 out of the older Kumasi diocese.
Rt. Rev'd Dr Paul Appiah Sekyere.
Bishop of Dunkwa-On-OffinThe Anglican Diocese of Dunkwa-on-Offin is a Ghanaian diocese of the Church of the Province of West Africa, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its partner diocese is the Diocese of Portsmouth.
Rt. Rev'd Oscar Christian Amoah
Bishop of KumasiThe Diocese of Kumasi carved out of the Diocese of Accra in 1973 is headed by the Rt. Revd. J. B. Arthur, D.Th., the First Ghanaian to be appointed to the new Diocese. The Diocese of Kumasi has plans for the extension of the Church in the Ashanti region of Ghana