From 1828 missionaries of the Basel Mission, mainly from South West Germany, Switzerland, and the West Indies, established stations in the Ga- and Twi-speaking eastern part of the Gold Coast, later spreading to other parts of the country. The first indigenous pastor, David Asante, was trained in Basel and ordained in 1864. First called the Basel Mission of the Gold Coast, the church was renamed the Scottish Mission Church after World War I and became, in 1926, with a Presbyterian Constitution, the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast. In 1957 Gold Coast be-came known as Ghana. Today the church is one of the largest Prot churches, comprising 13 presby all over the country and the 'northern mission field', covering the three northern regions and other rural mission fields within various presby. The church is running primary, secondary, and vocational schools, teacher training colleges, lay training centers, hospitals, clinics, primary health care programs, and agricultural and other social services. The main challenges are charismatic renewal, firmly established within the church through Bible study and prayer groups, and the issue of social institutions, which constitute a great financial burden but also as a means of evangelism.
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