BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GHANAIAN METHODIST FELLOWSHIP

The relationship between The Methodist Church Ghana and the British Methodist Church dates back to 1835 when as a result of the news of a fertile ground being prepared by some African Christians, the Reverend Joseph Rhodes Dunwell was sent to the then Gold Coast by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. Since then, Ghanaian Methodists who came to the United Kingdom to study or work have identified with local Churches wherever they have lived. With the influx of people from the third world to seek greener pastures in UK over the past 3 decades the number of Ghanaian Methodists in the local Churches has increased tremendously. The desire to identify with their traditional way of doing things brought some individuals in some local Churches together to form Fellowships to support themselves, study the word of God in their own language and also to support their Churches both locally and back at home.

These noble ideas caught up with many churches and by the 1980s there were identifiable groups in Walworth Road Methodist Church (Clubland), Brixton Hill Methodist Church, Bermondsey Methodist Church, Deptford Methodist Mission, Leytonstone Methodist Church, Upper Tooting Methodist Church and elsewhere.

Towards the end of the 1990s the Reverend Dr. Hayford Adu-Darkwa was mandated by the Church to coordinate the Fellowships. The idea of a Chaplaincy was thus born. It began its meetings at Walworth. They later moved to the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster from where the Ebenezer Ghanaian Methodist Fellowship moved on to meet at the Bermondsey Methodist Central Hall.

The Methodist Church Ghana and the British Methodist Church seeing the need to bring the various Fellowships under the Church, appointed a Chaplain who was stationed in the Streatham and Dulwich Circuit as a minister in Pastoral charge of a Church, a resource person to the ministers with Ghanaians in their congregations as well as being a Chaplain to the Ghanaian Methodist Fellowships. The first Chaplains tenure of office ended in 2008 and he was succeeded by the current Chaplain who is stationed in the New River Circuit in North London.

The current Chaplain Rev William Edmund Davis assumed office in September 2008 to continue the good work of his predecessor Rev Emmanuel Aggrey-Ogoe. In addition to his role as GMF Chaplain, Rev Davis also serves as minister of 2 local churches in the New River Circuit in North London.

The inauguration of the Ghanaian Methodist Fellowship (UK Chaplaincy) in September 2002 was therefore the fulfilment of the dreams of those men and women who began in their own small way to meet as a Fellowship. The prayer must be that the good work they began will continue to grow from strength to strength, thus expanding the Kingdom of God on earth.

Between December 2001 and now the Chaplaincy has seen growth both in membership and in the number of fellowships within the local churches. Through the fellowships people have been helped to integrate into local churches. To be congratulated are those members, both old and young who have in diverse ways contributed to the growth of the Fellowship since its inauguration.

In 2003, a Chaplaincy service was started at the St Marks Methodist Church in Tottenham, North London. One year later the Chaplaincy started the Ghanaian Christian Fellowship service in Nottingham as the Methodist Churchs ministry the Ghanaian Christians in the area. The Fellowship in Nottingham is made up of people from all the Christian denominations. Over the past 3 years the Nottingham Fellowship has been supported on voluntary basis by Right Rev. Emmanuel Twum-Baah, the former Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese who is studying for a PhD at the University of Nottingham. As he successfully completes his studies in the next few months we pray that the fellowship will continue to grow from strength to strength.

In 2007 another sister fellowship similar to Nottingham was inaugurated in Scotland. GMF members from London and Nottingham joined our brothers and sisters in Scotland at the impressive inauguration service at Anniesland Methodist Church, Glasgow in August 2007. The Scotland fellowship was also supported on voluntary basis by another Ghanaian minister Rev Daniel French who was then undertaking post graduate studies in Scotland.

In pursuant of our commitment to integration the GMF has participated in various programmes to forge closer relationship between the British Methodist Church and the Methodist Church Ghana. Some of such recent activities include Youth trips to Ghana in 2010 and 2011, Ministerial trips to Ghana in 2010 and 2011. GMF has also attended international conferences in Eastern Europe, Germany and Italy over the past 4 years.

In the context of the agreement between the two national Conferences there is no intention to form a separate Ghanaian Methodist Church in the United Kingdom. The aim of the Chaplaincy is to help Ghanaians to integrate well into local Methodist Churches. The Chaplaincy services, prayer vigils, breakfast prayer meetings, leadership training seminars and other annual activities such as fun games are therefore intended to equip and strengthen fellowship members to go back to their local Churches and serve the Lord and his people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.