The largest charismatic churches in Ghana are the United Denominations of the Lighthouse Group of Churches (UDOLGC), Action Chapel International, and the international central gospel church (ICGC).
Ghana is one of the main countries where one can find large and influential churches and denominations.
The Origins of the Charismatic Denomination in Ghana was during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the emergence of the denomination brought a new and deeper wave of enthusiasm and spirituality.
The Charismatic Movement in Ghana was founded by Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, who is one of the main leaders and spiritual influences in the nation.
Below, you will see the largest churches/denominations in Ghana today.
Action Chapel International
Action Chapel International was founded by Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams in 1979, it began as a small prayer group. However, Action Chapel International today has around 200 branch churches and 2,000 affiliate ministries globally.
Archbishop Duncan Williams attended Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s Church of God Mission International Bible College in Nigeria where he trained to be a pastor. After this, he embarked on starting the Action Chapel Ministry and the Christian Action Faith Ministry in 1979, for which it was the first Charismatic church in Ghana.
Action Chapel officially has Mega-church status and is highly influential not only in Ghana but globally. The vision for Action is to “Make Christ known throughout the world through the multiplication of Churches and Denominations.”
International Central Gospel Church (ICGC)
The International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) was founded by Reverend Dr Mensa Otabil on February 26th, 1984. During the early meetings of the church, services took place in various facilities such as a public hall, a science laboratory, classrooms, mechanical works, and a cinema theatre.
In May 1986, the church settled a rented Norge Scout hall called the “Baden Powell Memorial Hall” just after they reached 180 members the month before. Over the next ten years, the membership of the church rose to over 4,000.
Today, ICGC has its headquarters in Abossey Okai, Accra. It has a church attendance of close to 50,000 with about 1150 branches globally.
The vision of ICGC is based on Acts 2:42, which is to:
“To establish the house of God through the development of Model New Testament Christians and churches …
That is, we have the commitment to train and equip God’s people who come to our church to develop and grow into maturity in Christ so they will manifest the character of Christ.”
United Denominations of the Lighthouse Group of Churches (UDOLGC)
The founder of the Lighthouse Chapel International Denomination is Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. Dag Heward-Mills’ ministry is a flourishing ministry with over 4,000 branches, over 600,000 members in over 90 countries globally. it is one of the largest charismatic churches in Ghana.
Dag Heward Mills embarked on his journey in ministry while training to become a medical doctor during the 1980s. LCI was officially created in 1987 during his fifth year in hygiene school at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Originally operating within the confines of the School of Hygiene Corridor, the church began to gradually grow till they moved to the School of Hygiene Canteen.
Despite much opposition from university and governmental officials as well as locals, the church moved to their own built Cathedral Korle-Gonno, Ghana.
Prophet Dag Heward Mills is a highly influential Charismatic Mega Church Pastor, regularly holding Regional and international Pastor Conferences as well as Healing Jesus Crusades across the continent of Africa. The Charismatic Influence of LCI has truly gone beyond the border of Ghana and the continent of Africa.
The vision for LCI, also known as United Denomination (UD-OLGC), is to have churches in 190 countries. Another vision is to have 25,000 churches globally.
Final Thoughts
These Churches are proven to be the largest charismatic churches in Ghana as they have numerous branches within the country as well as expanding globally far beyond the country and the continent. The founders have been at the forefront of the charismatic movement and are highly respected within the church community
The Bible states in Proverbs 29:18 states:
“Where there is no vision, the people perish …”
The founders of these Charismatic churches once had and currently have a vision for their churches and denominations to expand and win many souls. Dr. David Yongi Cho and Prophet Dag Heward Mills stress that to have a large church requires one to have a vision and a burning desire. That being said, these churches and denominations have not just come out of nowhere but were built through God’s response to them having a vision as well as years of faithfulness and diligence to the work of the ministry.