Changing Trends of Mortuary Rites in Komenda Circuit of the Methodist Church Ghana

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the changing trends of mortuary rites affect the religio-cultural practices and socio-economic activities of the people of Komenda, in the Komenda – Edina – Eguafo – Abrem Municipalty (K.E.E.A) in the Central Region of Ghana. In Komenda, death is conceived as a separation from the living and the departure from the present existence to another state of existence. After death, the body decays whilst the spirit moves on to another world from where it can influence the daily life of the living relatives. Even though the people of Komenda cherish the importance of mortuary rites, they sometimes become disillusioned about the implications which are associated with the cost of funeral ceremonies. Generic inductive and ethnographic approaches were employed. In regards to methods of data collection, a sample of hundred respondents mostly heads of households and ten key informants were selected from three communities in the study area. The researcher employs the use of interviews, and ordinary and participant observation methods to collect data from the field. The study examined the background history, the religio-cultural practices and the socio-economic activities of the people. The history of the Methodist Church in the Komenda Circuit was explored. The peoples’ belief in Supreme Being, divinities and ancestors, conceptions of man and death and hereafter were equally investigated. It also focuses on traditional mortuary rite practices and changing trends of these rites. The people are homogeneous in terms of linguistic and cultural practices. There are no differences in their mortuary rites. Mortuary rites in the communities, by analogy, are projects undertaken by bereaved families. The cost implications of the rites call for the practice of reciprocity. Apart from the debt burden, death and its associated rites in the communities sometimes bring conflict, animosity, and acrimony among the children of the deceased, between the spouse of the deceased and the bereaved family, and also among the members of the bereaved family. The researcher suggests that to minimize cost of mortuary rite celebrations, proper education is essential. The writer is hopeful that with these recommendations, problems associated with the changing trends of the mortuary rites will be minimized, if not completely eradicated