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THE CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF WEST AFRICA
(ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
1. FOUNDING OF THE PROVINCE
On 17th April 1951, with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury and according to Articles submitted by him after consultation with the diocese concerned ,the Diocesan Bishops of five West African Dioceses holding mission from the see of Canterbury solemnly declared that their dioceses were by their act and determination united in the Province of West Africa with the intention that its organization should be developed in accordance with the Articles hereinafter contained as a province of Catholic Church in full communion with the Anglican Churches.
The Archbishop of Canterbury relinquished his metro political jurisdiction under the Articles retained certain powers during an interim period until a full Provincial Synod with three Houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity be brought into being and the Constitution and Canons be completed and approved.
The Synod of the three houses met for the first time in November 1957, following the Crowther centenary celebrations of the Niger Mission. The Synod then made arrangements to prepare its Constitution and Canons. At its second meeting in Lagos in August 1962 the Constitution was finally passed and met with the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury on 1 March 1963, the date on which it came into effect.
Nigeria eventually, was carved into an autonomous Province in February 1979, the new Province of Nigeria was inaugurated , comprising the Diocese of Aba, Asaba, Benin, Egba-Egbado, Ekiti, Enugu, Ibadan, Ijebu, Kwara, Lagos, the Diocese of Niger, the Niger Delta, Northern Nigeria, Ondo and Owerri.
The Dioceses of Accra, Kumasi, Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone continued in the Province of West Africa.
On August 17th 181, the new missionary diocese of Bo, formed out of Sierra Leone, was inaugurated , sponsored financially by the Church of West Africa and the Diocese of Freetown (Formerly Sierra Leone). In the same year the four new Dioceses of Cape Coast , Koforidua, Sekondi and Sunyani / Tamale were formed from parts of Accra and Kumasi Dioceses.
On March 18, 1982 the Diocese of Liberia was admitted into full membership of the Province in St. George’s Cathedral, Freetown, Sierra Leone by Archbishop Ishmael Le Maire. On August 1, 1985 the Diocese of Guinea was inaugurated and its first Bishop consecrated on April 20,1986.
In 1989, the Anglican Church of Cameroon was admitted as the Missionary Area of the Province. On February 22, 1997 the Diocese of Sunyani & Tamale was divided into two autonomous units – Diocese of Tamale and Sunyani.
The six countries which make up the province are the Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Cameroon (Central Africa). In addition, there are scattered missionary activities in Cape Verd Island, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso. The Province has received an invitation for a new opening in Mali.
