Pilgrim Sites in the Methodist Church Ghana and the Concept of Communitas

Abstract

The focus of this paper, the impact of the institutionalized pilgrimages of the Methodist Church Ghana (MCG), reckoned as a “Communitas” experience, affords Church Members an avenue for diverse religious experiences. Focus group discussions, interviews and participant observation were used to collect primary data from 134 respondents. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that visitors at the pilgrim sites experience healing, transformation and bonding, among other things. The communitas experiences have far reaching effects, but there is a need for education on the Church’s accepted practices at the pilgrim sites.