Accra Ridge Church | Accra's Local Church

For nearly 40 years, the Accra Ridge Church has maintained an active presence in the Ridge Hospital, where a designated team of "Lady Preachers" minister to the sick and paramedical staff weekly.

The Ridge Hospital Service was started as a Sunday School for the children at the Ridge Hospital. In 1969, Rev. Colins Paton, the then Resident Chaplain, started visiting patients at the Ridge Hospital once a month in the evenings. He was accompanied by the late Mr. B.P. Acquaah and others. Later on, these visits became group meetings and gradually turned into a weekly morning service.

The services start with a one-on-one visit to the patients in the wards where they are ministered to by prayer, counselling and encouragement. Patients, who are able, are invited to the group service which follows at a reserved place in the Hospital. There is exposition of the word, singing and prayer.

Currently, there are 5 "teams" comprising, at least, 5 to 8 lay preachers plus volunteers, who have shown interest in the programme. The teams rotate so that they minister at the Ridge Hospital once in six weeks. Some Fellowships in the Church have also assisted in various ways to make life more comfortable for the patients (e.g., see Men's Fellowship Report).
Many challenges have surfaced over time. The meeting place is sometimes not available. By nature of the programme, follow-up is often difficult. More recently, other Christian groups and individuals have started visiting the hospital on Sundays, causing divided attention of the patients. Some members of the team are no longer able to visit because of old age. However, there has been a crop of younger members, who have joined in, and the Accra Ridge Church continues to make a real impact on the lives of the patients at the Ridge Hospital.