Christian Messenger

The Christian Messenger is an English-language monthly publication and the official newspaper of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. It is the oldest continuously operating faith-based news journal in Ghana, and one of the oldest newspapers in the country. It was set up on the Gold Coast in 1883 by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. The first issue was published in Basel on 1 March 1883 under the editorship of the German missionary and philologist, Johann Gottlieb Christaller who had then retired from the mission. History Christaller noted that many German Basel missionaries were not proficient in the English language and urged prospective writers to make use of English scholars for further review and proofreading before final submission to him, the editor, as he was not a native English speaker. A few months before, in a letter to the editor from Christiansborg dated 13 October 1882, the first Basel missionary-trader Hermann Ludwig Rottman inferred that "the primary aim of the journal was to encourage people who were not proficient in English to write in Twi or Ga" A similar news publication, the Christian Messenger and Examiner had earlier been founded in 1859 by Wesleyan missionaries, Thomas Birch Freeman and Henry Wharton as a medium to translate foreign literature and classical works into native African languages. Originally, the medium of publication was English, Ga and Twi. The newspaper temporarily changed its name to the "Christian Reporter" and published solely in Twi while the "Christian Messenger" was printed in Ga. Subscription climbed to a readership of 600 but sharply decreased over time. After Christaller's death in 1895, the printing of the newspaper ceased. Production started again in 1905 at then newly established Basel Mission Printing Office in Akropong. The newspaper has opinion pieces, news bulletins, advertisements, banns of marriage and obituaries and funeral announcements of notable individuals associated with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. The newspaper also publishes feature articles on topical issues like Fruit of the Spirit, etc. and publishes authoritative information on the various groups in the Church such as the Women's Fellowship, the Young People's Guild (YPG) and the Young Adult Fellowship (YAF).