Fifteen members in a Korle Bu classroom: how Dag Heward-Mills started Lighthouse Chapel International

In 1987, a medical student at Korle Bu in Accra began holding church services in a small classroom. About fifteen people came. The student was Dag Heward-Mills.

That small gathering became Lighthouse Chapel International, one of Ghana’s best-known churches, with branches around the world.

A medical student's call

Heward-Mills was studying medicine at the University of Ghana Medical School, based at Korle Bu, when he felt a strong call to start a church. In his fifth year of medical school, he began services in a classroom at the School of Hygiene at Korle Bu. The church grew steadily. It moved from the classroom to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital canteen as numbers increased, and later to larger premises.

Heward-Mills completed his medical training and practised as a doctor for a time while leading the church.

Church planting and the Qodesh

Lighthouse Chapel became known for its emphasis on planting new churches. It encouraged lay people, including professionals, to become pastors and missionaries alongside their work. The denomination says it has planted thousands of churches in many countries. The church’s international headquarters, known as the Qodesh, is a large complex in Accra, used for services, conferences and training.

Heward-Mills has spoken about balancing the demands of medical studies with the work of a growing church. He faced opposition from some who did not believe a student should lead a congregation, but the church continued to grow.

Lay pastors and crusades

One of the church’s distinctive features is its use of lay people, including doctors, lawyers and teachers, as pastors and church planters. Many hold full-time jobs while leading congregations. Heward-Mills has written a large number of books on church leadership, loyalty, evangelism and Christian living. His books are widely read in churches across Africa. He also leads large evangelistic campaigns, known as the Healing Jesus Crusades, in countries across Africa and beyond.

A doctor's church

Over time, the church became part of a wider family of churches known as the United Denomination: Lighthouse Group of Churches. Lighthouse services are known for lively worship and long preaching sessions. The church’s choirs and worship teams are an important part of its identity, and it holds large annual conventions in Accra. Many Ghanaian churches started in homes, schools and rented halls. Lighthouse Chapel began in a hospital classroom among future doctors and nurses, and its founder still describes his work in the language of healing.