In 1847 German missionaries of the Bremen (or North German) Mission Society, closely cooperating with the Basel Mission, started work among the Ewe people in the east of presentday Ghana. After a period of rapid growth, at the outbreak of World War I, the church had two stations in the British Gold Coast colony and seven stations in the German territory of Togoland. Later the mission work also spread to the Twi, Guan, Konkomba, Kabre, and Akposso-speaking areas. After World War I the former German colony of Togo was divided into two mandated territories of the League of Nations, the western part under the British and the eastern part under French rule (cf. Togo). Yet, in May 1922, the first synod of the mission stations declared itself the supreme governing body of the one “Ewe Church.” The congregational order of the North German Mission became the church order. In 1923 Scottish missionaries began to work in British Togo, and in 1929 the Paris Mission took over in French Togo. For practical reasons divisional synods had to be set up in the two territories, which led to separate developments. To this day, however, the two churches share the same constitution and hold common synod meetings every four years.
In 1954 tensions arose in the church over the issues of language and of polygamy. Twenty congr in Buem- and Krachi-speaking areas separated and formed their own church. Most of them reintegrated the mother church in 1964. In response to this tension the church changed its name from Ewe Presbyterian Church to Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church is strongest in the Volta region but has congr all over the country.
In the course of its history it suffered several splits when individual members gathered followers to establish new churches (the Apostolic Revelation Society, the White Cross Society, the Evangelical Presbyterian Reformed Church, and the Lord’s Pentecostal Church). The reason for a fifth schism in 1991 was differences with the charismatic movement within the church. These led to the formation of the Evangelical Presbyterian ChurchofGhana under new leadership but based on the church’s constitution and representing a substantial minority of the constituency. However, it was not officially recognized by the CCG. So far, attempts to reconcile and reunite have not been successful. The following statistical data do not include the congr that broke away.
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