Small Groups and Renewal: A Ghana Case Study

The city of Akropong in the southeastern area of Ghana was the nursery of the Presbyterian Church. From here in 1843 the Basel Mission initiated a work which, by 1867, had a Christian community of 369 and had spread to include eight mission stations. By 1989, eleven percent (1,604,450) of the national population were attending over 22,000 Christian churches (National Church Survey: Facing the Unfinished Task of the Church in Ghana [Accra North: Ghana Evangelism Committee, 1989], p. 5).
But with the growth of the church has come easy-believe-ism. Nine million Ghanaians claim to be Christians today but, depending on the region, never more than 3 to 14 percent are found in church. The 1989 Survey estimates there are eleven million nominal Christians in the country.
And surrounding this nominal church are another 9 million Ghanaians, still outside of Christ. Two million of these are adherents of Islam and of African traditional. religions.
Has the church outlived its usefulness? Has the salt lost its savor?
These are the questions addressed by Dr. Guggisberg Aku Dadzaa in his 1993 study, "Mobilization of the Church for Effective Evangelism through Small Groups"
(Unpublished D.Min. project, Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia)

The Key to Change
Focusing on his congregation, the Akropong Presbyterian Church, Dadzaa saw all these needs in miniature -- spiritual hunger; no training ministry; opposition to change; monotonous worship. In his words, the church had become for many" a come-and-sit society" (p. 41).
But within the church also he found a ready made tool for the initiation of change; it was the small group. Research in church history had indicated to him the power of such groups in effecting renewal (pp. 156-257). And the church he served was dotted throughout with such groups -- the Women's Fellowship; singing groups; the Youth Guild; the Bible Study and Prayer group; three organizations within the church patterned after African lodge societies.
In the fall of 1987, Dadzaa began to implement his preliminary research in the life of the church. With the support of the congregation and its leadership, the process began with a survey of church growth in other city churches. Interviews with fifty believers from other fellowships disclosed that 38 of them were former members who had left. Why were other churches growing? An emphasis on the experiential; spontaneity in the services; a contextualized worship; a holistic ministry; focus on prayer. Follow-up interviews with fifty non-Christians reinforce earlier judgments. Five of the fifty agreed to meet with an Evagelistic team. A survey of the church's small groups found that "for many years none of the group had been able to win a soul for the Lord" (p. 169).

The Renewal of the Small Groups
Change began with a four week basic training session for small group leaders in March, 1988. The groups committed themselves in a "covenant" to worship, Bible study and prayer in their time together. Evangelism and commitment to global missions was part of the covenant. Fellowship opportunities and personal sharing was built into the groups.
By June, 1989, the small groups were "multiplying like mushrooms" (p. 388). In
three years the number had grown from eight to 73, with almost 1100 actively involved. A new concern for neighbors, a renewed focus on prayer and evangelism, new strength in the life of the believers was appearing. An elderly man from another fellowship summed it up: "the giant has awakened from his long sleep."
Can small groups cross cultural barriers? Concludes Dadzaa: If they have dynamic pastors ready to encourage them. If church members are ready to accept change. If every church member comes to realize that each one has a mission to carry out.