Neo-Prophetic Christianity and Televisation in Kumasi: A Religious-Impact Assessment

Abstract

Neo-Prophetic Christian televisation has become a common trend in the contemporary Ghanaian media landscape. The approach of using television broadcast by religious groups has been linked to the liberalization of Ghanaian media which happened during the early 1990s. Despite the restriction in television frequency range across the world, prophets and preachers of the salvation message can be heard and seen in the homes of millions of believers and non-believers. In recent times, many neo-Prophetic churches in Kumasi have successfully established television stations to serve as a means to help them go about their ministry. This paper investigates the religious impacts associated with neo-Prophetic churches’ appropriation of television in Kumasi by analysing public statements and field opinions gathered through face-to-face and telephone interviews as well as focused group discussions. The study identified among other things that the reason for neo-Prophetic churches’ appropriation of television today is to make use of and/or provide a popular medium to disseminate prophetic teachings and activities all over the world and to bypass space limitation. The study revealed that neo-Prophetic churches’ appropriation of television comes with both positive and negative religious effects on viewers and Christianity in general. Among the positive impacts is the effective promotion of the Word of God and religious activities which as part of the reasons for the establishment of neo-Prophetic Christian television stations improves the religious life of viewers. The article concludes that neo-Prophetic Christian televisation has led to the fortification of the presence of Pentecostalism and consolidation of the neo-Prophetic phenomenon in Kumasi.