174 SHE CHJBIST CHUBCH:. A SHOHT-UVEI) SBCSSSICN IN B.W. Elsewhere I have described the growth of the P m t e c o s t al churches in Ghana, using as the central focus the intertwining careers of two of the movement's pioneering leaders, P e t er Anim and James McKeowi. Looking back over the events recounted in tracing the careers of these prominait figures, one is tempted to regard the history of Pen.tecostalisni in Ghana (as in a good many other places) as the history of internal dissensions and schisms* 50.th numerous attempts to establish a f f i l i a t i o ns with, or obtain interspersed sponsorship from, overseas evangelical bodies of me kind or another* 3he various secessions described in my e a r l i er paper involved disputes and con- f l i c ts within the central leadership cf the P m t e c o s t al movement. Aid although doctrinal issues were raised and disputed in these conflicts, were, e s s e n t i a l l y, power struggles between i n t e l l i g e n t* forceful and ambitious men* Here my purpose is n ot to re-examine some of these b a t t l es of the Titans but to look instead at a kind of secession which, me suspects, occurred -far more frequently than we may imagine but whichf because the secessionists were n ot members of the central leadership group, may n ot assume a prominent place in the "official11 h i s t o r i es of the churches con- cerned. from the main body of the church. I refer, of course), to the secession of a local branch or assembly they She secession I shall describe took place in Wirmeba and concerned the local assembly of the Apostolic Church and i t s, relations with the church's She torn of Winneba occupies r u l i ng body in Ghana, the National Council* ai important place in the history of the Apostolic Church in Ghana, for it *Sociology & i n t h r o p o l o gf Departmait, Simcn F r a s er TSiiversity, Bumaby, Canada. 175 wag at cue time the headquarters of the Apostolic Church mission in the country. Originally sited at Asamankeses the headquarters wag transferred to Winneba in -j938 by the Apostolic missionary, Pastor James McKsowi, following his quarrel with Peter Anim, the unofficial leader of the con- verts at Asamankese. shing one, even after the headquarters wa$ t-xswsferred -to Accra and despite the introduction of branches of rival Pentecostal churches in 1939 and 1953* Sy 1966 it was the largest Pentecostal assembly in Winneba, with over one hundred and sixty members. .from 1938 onwards the Winneba assembly was a flouri- Jhe dispute which tore the local Apostolic Church assembly apart in 196? may be traced to a decision made two years previously by the National Council, when it agreed to a request from the Asfrsewa assembly to postpone the transfer of Pastor H»T» Oofie from Asasewa to Winneba. pastor J«B.K» Bondzie, a native of Winneba, was sait to his home •town early in 1966 as a temporaay replacement for Oofie. In September of 1966 the National Council decided that it was now possible for Gofie to leave Asasewa and go to Winneba. This decision, however, met with determined opposition from the Winneba assembly, for it meant ibat Pastor Bondzie would have to leave them and take over the assembly at Asasewa. In a l e t t er sigied by eigjit elders and four deacons, the Winneba asssnbly appealed to the Ghaiman c* the national Council to a postponement of Cofie's transfer. Q?his l e t t er cited the previous postponemait of Cofie's transfer from Asasewa as a precedait and aske^ that Bcndzie be allowed to remain in Winneba u n t il certain planned undertakings had been completed. In reply, the Chairman of the National Council rejected this appeal and reminded the Winneba assembly that the decision had been taken by the National Council and ought therefore to be accepted as being the will of God»5 !Ehis argument failed to impress the leaders in the Winneba assembly, 176 who then -appealed directly to the National Council, repeating the arguments they had used in their f i r st letter* At the same time they took the some- what unusual step of writing to 0o£ie at Asasewa, advising him that they could not accept him as their new pastor, taking care to point out that they bore no animosiV towardshim personally and assuring him that he vsould be 7 most welcome in Winneba after Bendy.*,? had completed his (unspecified) tasks there. Cofie did not reply,, but the Chairman sent a gently-worded but firm l e t t er on behalf of the National Council» emphasizing the finality of the not to hinder Pastor Gofie when decision and advising the Winneba as he oame to Winneba* This evoked a b i t t er reply in which the Winneba leaders complained about the teridaacy of pastors to exert pressure an the National Ccuttcil to have thorn sent to stations they found attractive and went ori to remind the Chairmai of the importance of Winneba in the history of the Apostolic Hhurch, goi*ig so far ag to suggest that the national headquarters should have been in Winneba and not in Accra. The lettsar also presented the Hational Council with a clear ultimatum; Bondzie must be permitted to stay or the Winneba assembly would secede from the national organizatiQa 9 This was followed by a In March of 1967 the matter came to a head when the National Cotmcii decided to dismiss Pastor Bondzie from the field staff and communicated i ts decision in a l e t t er to him that same month. circular l e t t er to a ll assemblies in Ghana, in which Bondzie's dismissal was reported. The dispute had gone on from September 1966 to April 1967 and in Me§r of 1967 Bmd'^xe aniounced the creation of his onm Christ Hevival Church, being joined in this venture by all the elders and deacons #10 had participated in .preparing and signing the various l e t t e rs of" protest and appeal, as well as by sone two-thirds of the assembly members* When Cofie arrived to Winneba shortly after the secession he found a much depleted and demoralized assembly awaiting him* She Christ Revival Church rented an old, dilapidated building formerly used as a cinema house) as i ts meeting-plaGe and Bondzie quickly established small out-stations at Apam and Mumford* At first all went well with the new church, despite the fact that Bondzie appeared in court oa a charge of appropriating Apostolic Church property for use in his dwn church. The d i s t r i ct magistrate ruled that the matter was one which ought to be settled out of court by ageeeftieat between the two parties- In practice* however, it proved impossible to get the two sides together, Cofie insisting up en an Accra meeting to be attended by rgpresaitatives of the National Council aid Bondzie rejecting this proposal firmly* Throughout 1967 and during the early months of 1968, the Christ Revival Church appeared to be holding i ts own aid it was the rennant of the Apostolic Church assembly which appeared to be in difficulties- During this time I attgaded services in both, churches and there is ne doubt that those in the Christ Revival Church were better attended- Bat from about April onward there began a slow but steady drift of secessionists back to the Apostolic Church and as thqy returned Pastor Cofie developed the practice <5f bringing them to his table during services and publicly welcoming them back to the fold. Some of these scoaes5 which I wiinessed, were most moving in their simplicity and there eaa be l i t t le doubt that tue sight of sincerely repeitant mm aid women being warmly welcomed back into a church to which many of them had belonged for several years did much to ^courage others to follow. There wass however, no mass exodus •if.'om the Christ Revival Church, nor was there any si91 of popular dissatis- faction with Bondzie as a person or as a pastor. ©10 steady trickle of members "back to "the Mother .Church11* as many called it* seemed, to be prompted by genuine feelings of remorse at having acted hastily and having seriously threatened the existence of an assembly toward whi«i they held very strong positive feelings.11 By the middle of 1969 the Cc?ist Revival Church was reduced, to «bout twenty— fiv« members aid Bondzie aos'-sed them to return to the Apostolic Church. Ih a sense the roal victim :f the episode, Bondzie left ffiinneba to the ministry *f a SpL'itual church join 178 known as the Eden Revival Church* Ihis .ahori~lrred secession shows that a somewhat rigid and inflexible central authority meeting with strong local or ethnic sentiment can produce a highly volatile mixture? especially when this sentiment becomes crystal- lized in the person of a popular aid siergetic local pastor- But given the equally strong attachment people feel toward an organization which is held to be "theirs", it is likely that the motive power behind the secession will dissipate? particularly if the central authority, oace the secessicn is upon i t, acts wisely by doing nothing further to provoke or threaten those whom it has helped to drive cut. 179 Notes R.W« Higrllie, "Pioneers of Ghanaian Paatecostalism: Peter Anim and James McKeown". pp. 1O9-122- Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. VI, 1974> In using the word "ambitious" I do not mean to imply ruthlessness or opportunism on the part of the protagonists, but merely to indicate that these men sought to maximize their authority within their chosai "profession" or, if one prefersj their "calling". Most of them may have been humble before God, but exuded confidence and assertiveaess in their dealings with men. Although the National Council was composed mainly if Ghanaians? i ts Chairman was a European. It is responsible to the Missionary Headquarters of the Apostolic Church in Bradford, England. Letter, aid October? 1966. Letter, 16th October, 1966. Letter, 10th November, -)966. Letter, 8th November, 1966. Letter, 28th November, 1966. Letter, 2ftd December, 1966. Letter, 27th March, 1967. 6. 7- 8. 9. 11* It would seem that such a reversal -would be less likely to occur following secessions from the Spiritual or "prophet-healing" churches. Here it appears that in all save the largest and best established of .such 1 groups identification with the local "prophet" or "pastor1' is likely to be stronger than, the attachment to the church as a whole*