Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church


The Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church, originally named the Basel Mission Church, Kumasi and later the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Adum in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The church is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. It was founded in 1896 by Fritz Ramseyer, a Swiss-born Basel missionary who was captured by the Asante in 1869. The stone church house was built by the early Basel missionaries led by the technical staff member and building technologist, Fritz Ramseyer as well as the missionary-architect, Karl Epting in 1907. Liturgy is conducted in English and the Asante Twi language.

History

The church's founding can traced to June 1869 when the Basel missionary, the Rev. Fritz Augustus Ramseyer, his wife, Rosa, brother, Johannes and Thomas Owusu, a native Akan Christian convert were captured by the Adubofour-led army of the Asante Kingdom. After half-a-decade of failed negotiations to secure their release, the British colonial authorities invaded Kumasi and freed the four political prisoners. Ramseyer desired to return to Kumasi as a Christian missionary. In 1896, the British colonial authorities invaded Kumasi again and detained the Asantehene, Otumfuo Agyemang Prempeh I, the Queen mother and royal courtiers, taking them as hostages to Elmina on the coast and then to the Seychelles. Shortly thereafter, Fritz Ramseyer returned to Kumasi as a missionary, twenty-two years after his release. Ramseyer purchased land in the suburb of Bantama near the current site of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital with the assistance of Thomas Owusu. After one year, Ramseyer and his team had established two mission stations and two schools. The British military conquest of Kumasi that preceded the founding of the mission station there made the project unpopular among the natives as they viewed the Christian missionaries as colonial agents and Christians as the “religion of the victor”. By 1900, by the end of the last Anglo-Ashanti war led by Yaa Asantewaa, the Queenmother of Ejisu, Ramseyer and the Basel Mission had set up 16 schools in Kumasi with a total enrollment of 311 pupils. Furthermore, 33 baptisms had been recorded and 160 converts lived in the Christian village.   Shortly after the end of 1900 war, Fritz and Rosa Ramseyer returned to Europe to recover from post-war trauma. Ramseyer returned to the Gold Coast on 13 December 1901 and led efforts to reorganize the church even though this was opposed by the Basel Mission's Home Committee in Switzerland. The construction of the chapel and minister's conference was in 1907, with communal labour offered by the church's congregation composed of mostly African converts. After the chapel building was completed, it was named the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. Upon the death of Ramseyer on 6 August 1914, the church leadership under the then moderator, the Rev. C. E. Martinson renamed the church, the Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Fritz Ramseyer's memory. In 1938, a healing and prayer fellowship was started at the church in conjunction with congregants from the Assemblies of God.

Mission

The mission of the Ramseyer Memorial Presbyterian Church is based on the Great Commission by Jesus Christ as narrated in Mark 16:15: “Go ye into the world and preach the good news to all creation” which also aligns with the missionary zeal with which the Ramseyers pursued the propagation of the Gospel through evangelism and outreach initiatives.

Facilities

The church has built a new state of the art cathedral with a seating capacity of 3,000. It also owns an 18-unit two-storey primary school block comprising 12 classrooms, an information, communications and technology centre, a library, an office and a multi-purpose hall.

Church hierarchy and groups

The church has a district minister and associate ministers. It has many partnerships with non-profits which have resulted in the establishment of schools including the Reginald Latimer Vocational/Senior High School, the Ramseyer Vocational Institute and the Adumasa Link Project. The following are specialized groups within the church: