Where the Saints Meet

The number of Church buildings in Ghana surprised me.  In urban areas, they seem to be quite common.  Though I know that that is not the case in small towns and villages yet.  On a trip into the countryside a number of months ago, we ran into a group of women on a retreat sponsored by their church who said that they needed our Church in their village.  On another trip our guide told us that he had a copy of the Book of Mormon but could not find one of our congregations closer than three hours away from his home.  It will take time to expand into these areas outside of the cities.  Nevertheless, in most larger towns and in the cities the meetinghouses are not hard to find.  I thought I would illustrate this with some pictures.

Of course, the Accra, Ghana Temple is the premiere example of a Church building, as it is a structure that is sacred in ways that a regular meetinghouse is not.  Here it is at night.

Here it is during the day, with the Africa West Area offices in the background.  The grounds stay green year round.

Anyone who is familiar with Latter-day Saint meetinghouses around the world will see familiar features in this one.  However, some aspects of this building will seem different to those from the temperate regions.  It is designed to be more open air because it is in the tropics.  This building was so new that when we attended there the branch (a smaller congregation) was meeting in it for only the second Sunday.

This is an inside view of the same building.  It is the Sacrament Hall, as it is called here, what Church members in most of the rest of the world call the chapel.

This is the entrance to a meetinghouse compound.  The building is visible in the center of the picture.  A common plan for them here is the "H" plan.  There are three parallel buildings, the center one containing the chapel and sometimes a cultural hall, the outer two buildings containing offices, classrooms, etc.

This picture gives you a partial view of the "H" plan.  The center building has the steeple, and on either side are the outlying buildings.  They are connected to the center one by covered walkways going from the middle of each outer building to the middle of the central one.

Again, a Sacrament Hall.

Not all meetinghouses are "H" plans.  This is one that is well adapted to the climate, being quite open to the outside air and therefore allowing for natural cooling.

A view of the inside of the same Sacrament Hall that is in the last picture. 

 

Back to an "H" plan as viewed from the parking lot.  On the right is the center building containing the Sacrament Hall, and on the left is one of the outlying buildings.  There are walkways connecting these buildings.  The roof that covers each is visible.  They are a pinkish color.

This is a close-up of the same scene.  In this one notice the greenery planted between the buildings.  I absolutely love this use of the space - sort of a park within the confines of the meetinghouse.

This is a recently remodeled building, having been adapted into a ward meetinghouse.

A Sacrament Hall in the remodeled building.

As the Church continues to grow here in West Africa, these buildings are put to good use.  Here we have a convert dressed in white on the way to her baptismal service.  The font is the structure to her left with the steps attached.  It gets a lot of use as people come unto Christ, joining His Church.

Elder Emfield