The Lighthouse Ministry Complex (Baatsona, Accra)

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1996-06-07
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The Charismatic Church Movement or the new wave churches can be categorized as an epoch in the chronology of the Christian Church. It expresses that the Church is a dynamic human institution - everything about it is subject to change and review. This evolution is being given expression in the presentation of a new direction in the design of churches. Current statistics on church attendance in Ghana reveal that the charismatic congregations apparently outnumber the traditional or orthodox churches despite their relatively recent introduction on the religious scene. Again, a survey of charismatic churches in the country reveals that few prominent churches exceed a membership of one thousand. One of the reasons is availability of places of worship spacious enough to house both the regular, irregular and occasional visitors. What is more attractive is a place of worship with everyone under one roof partaking of the activities (Psalm 133), the congregation not merely being recipients of what emanates from the pulpit. The new movement seeks to lay emphasis on the congregation’s participation and less emphasis on the clergy. Word and music ministration is vividly in focus. The nature of liturgical space has changed from an awe inspiring house of God to a hail of praise and worship accommodating the whole family. Praise and worship is expressive, involving gesticulations, in short, exuberant. Identification of these characteristics of the “New Wave Churches” further supports the theory that religion is dynamic and not static in form of worship and mode of expression. The church building must necessarily reflect the foregoing. The Lighthouse Ministry is one of the fastest growing charismatic churches in Ghana. Characteristic of all other charismatic churches, their form of worship assumes a rather exuberant expression. This is coupled with much noise, in lieu of the sanctimonious atmosphere akin to the older orthodox churches. Though laudable and lofty in their aspirations, the Lighthouse Ministry and most other charismatic churches in the country are stifled and under mockery due to their inconvenient meeting places. The Lighthouse Ministry4 s headquarters is presently worshipping in a refurbished Old Cinema building at Korle-Gonno situated in the south-eastern end of Accra. The ministry has recently acquired a 1.8 hectare plot situated at Baatsona in the eastern suburb of Accra within a generally featureless residential area landscape. The scheme proposes an appropriate facility also to serve as a model for charismatic churches in our community.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture, 1996
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