The Role of Women in the Church of Pentecost: A Case Study of the Kwadaso Area – Kumasi, Ghana.

Abstract

This article is an investigation of the role of women in the Kwadaso Area, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of the Church of Pentecost (CoP) in Ghana. It is stimulated by the realisation that while many of the Mainline Churches, as well as the African Independent Churches and Charismatic Churches have created avenues for women to play key roles and ordaining some as ministers at various levels, the CoP does not ordain female ministers.This entrenched position of the CoP has made its leadership (pastoral responsibilities) a male-dominated one in the context of not allowing females to become either District Pastors or Area Heads or to be called into the full-time. This action of the church is similar to the patriarchal structures of the Jewish community. This study used both primary and secondary sources in the collection of data. The data collection consisted of interviews, questionnaires and observations to assess whether the CoP has cultural challenges when it comes to the appointment of women into leadership positions. It was observed that, the highest leadership position a woman would be allowed to occupy in the CoP was a Deaconess. Also, the CoP has not officially opened up to discussions on the need to create gender equality when it comes to the appointment of members into leadership positions. The study recommended that the CoP should open up to discussions on the issue since the status of women. Again, the CoP leadership should re-look its Constitution with regards to enrolling only males into the ordained ministry.This study adds to the existing literature on women’s empowerment in the African Church. Keywords: The Church of Pentecost (CoP), Culture, Leadership, Gender roles, gender inequality, gender equality.