page_title: Religion in Ghana
section_title: Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Ghana / Christianity
caption_attribution_description: English: The Accra Ghana Temple at night decorated for Christmas Español: El Templo de Accra de noche, decorado para las festividades navideñas.
context_page_description: Christianity is the largest religion in Ghana, with approximately 71.2% of Ghana's population being member of various Christian denominations as of 2010 census. The religious composition of Ghana in the first postindependence population census of 1960 was 25 percent Muslim, 23 percent traditionalist, 41 percent Christian, and the rest other. A breakdown of the 1960 population according to Christian sects showed that 25 percent were Protestant; 13 percent, Roman Catholic; 2 percent, Protestant; and 1 percent, Independent African Churches. The 1970 population census did not present figures on the religious composition of the nation.
  Religious tolerance in Ghana is very high. The major Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter are recognized as national holidays. In the past, vacation periods have been planned around these occasions, thus permitting both Christians and others living away from home to visit friends and family in the rural areas. Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, is observed by Muslims in Ghana and important traditional occasions are celebrated. These festivals include the Adae, which occur fortnightly, and the annual Odwira festivals.
context_section_description: The presence of Christian missionaries on the coast of Ghana has been dated to the arrival of the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. It was the Basel/Presbyterian and Wesleyan/Methodist missionaries, however, who, in the nineteenth century, laid the foundation for the Christian church in Ghana. Beginning their conversions in the coastal area as "nurseries of the church" in which an educated African class was trained. There are secondary schools today, especially exclusively boys and girls schools, that are mission- or church-related institutions. Church schools have been opened to all since the state assumed financial responsibility for formal instruction under the Education Act of 1960.
  Various Christian denominations are represented in Ghana, including Evangelical Presbyterian and Catholicism. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in addition to chapels, has a temple in Accra, one of only three LDS temples on the African continent.
  The unifying organization of Christians in the country is the Ghana Christian Council, founded in 1929. Representing the Methodist, Anglican, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Evangelical Presbyterian, African Methodist Episcopal Zionist, Christian Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, and Baptist churches, and the Society of Friends, the council serves as the link with the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical bodies. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, not a member of Christian Council, has a strong presence in Ghana. The Church opened the premier private and Christian University in Ghana.
  The National Catholic Secretariat, established in 1960, also coordinates the different in-country dioceses. These Christian organizations, concerned primarily with the spiritual affairs of their congregations, have occasionally acted in circumstances described by the government as political. Such was the case in 1991 when both the Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Ghana Christian Council called on the military government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to return the country to constitutional rule. The Roman Catholic newspaper, The Standard, was often critical of government policies.
  A 2015 study estimates some 50,000 Christians from a Muslim background in the country, though not all of them are necessarily citizens.
  A popular phenomenon among Christians is the end of year prophecies by religious leaders. Followers are often keen to hear what the coming year holds. Many of these prophecies center on the death of a famous person or the result of keenly contested national elections.
caption: The Accra Ghana Temple in Accra is the 117th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)
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