HISTORY OF THE DIVINE HEALER'S CHURCH (TDHC)

In December 1953, at the invitation of the Apostolic Church of the Gold Coast, the Latter Rain Movement, based in the United States of America and led by Dr. Thomas Wyatt, sent an evangelistic Team by name First Gospel Mission of America, to the Gold Coast. The  team organized a crusade in Accra at the forecourt of the James Town Mantse Agbona to wit King's Palace.  While the crusade was in progress the late Brother Gilbert Ablorh Lawson who was then an Anglican by denomination, was returning home from work when he felt within him that he must listen to the gospel. Accordingly, he went to the crusade ground and heard the gospel preached under the Powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit.

 On his second visit to the crusade ground, his spiritual eyes were opened and he began to see visions of angels hovering in the air around the vicinity.  Brother Lawson decided to give his life to Christ and was baptized by immersion at the beach near the old Polo ground.

 At a similarly crusade held by the Gold Coast Apostolic Church at Teshie on February 28,1954, Brother Lawson was in attendance and in the course of the meetings he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by the gift of healing. There and then he began to lay hands on the sick who received instant healing and many others having diseases and bodily infirmities were also blessed.

That same year (1954), the Spirit of the Lord led Brother Lawson to establish "THE DIVINE HEALER'S TEMPLE" as a Healing Centre, located at House No. A. 683/1, Lees Road, Korle Gonno.

At a convention held in 1957 by the Ghana Apostolic Church, then Gold Coast Apostolic Church, Pastor Mckeown requested all those who felt they had received the call and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for the ministries of God to come forward. Brother Lawson and a few other brothers including Brother Francis Addo who were present went forward and were blessed by Pastor Mckeown for the noble but difficult work the Lord had chosen them to do.

In February 1958, the name "THE DIVINE HEALERS TEMPLE" was changed to "THE LORD IS THERE TEMPLE." Again in April 1967 when Brother Lawson realized that the organization had outgrown the status of a Temple and must now play the role of a church, the name was again changed to "THE DIVINE HEALER'S CHURCH" as it is presently called.

God performed real miracles and healing through Brother Lawson exactly as He did during Biblical times. By a mere rebuke from Brother Lawson in the name of Jesus, demons were cast out of people, the lame walked, the blind received their sights, the deaf heard, the dumb spoke, barren women became mothers of children and diverse diseases healed, all by the power of God in the name of Jesus. People came from various regions in the country to witness, experience and testify to the wonderful ways in which the Almighty God was using Brother Lawson.

Some of the early branches opened were: Nsawam, Kumasi, Koforidua, La, Suhum, Osu and Winneba. When the Temple assumed the name of The Divine Healer's Church, all branches were then referred to as assemblies of the church. At the time of writing (May 1994), the total number of Assemblies stood at 210, one of which is in the Ivory Coast and the rest distributed throughout the ten regions of Ghana.

Update: the total number local assemblies of the church stood at 489 in 49 districts as at December 2018. There are international assemblies in la Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Togo, the UK and the U.S.A.

The Divine Healer's Church started from a very humble beginning as a Healing Centre for the production of faith healing through the marvelous name of Jesus. At its inception, no one had the faintest idea that the exercise would develop to become a full-fledged church organization amongst the oldest established churches in the country, having ministers numbering not less than 150 and not more than 200 assemblies of repute dotted round the country.

Before proceeding further, it is important to mention a few factors which had contributed to put their Church in a class of its own:

(i) The qualification for fellowship was based solely on a person's willingness to accept Christ Jesus as his Lord and personal Saviour.

(ii) Its Ministers received no formal training in theological studies as a condition for their induction into the Ministry; it was sufficient that the Holy Spirit's anointing was evident in the life of the prospect. On this score, we could affirm that age and educational background were not limiting factors to those aspiring to enter the Ministry. We can boast that a majority of the early Ministers were men and women ranging between the ages of 18 and 25.

(iii) The main factor which attracted the public to receive Christ was the wonderful testimonies of people who had been blessed with healing, delivered from various satanic bondages, released from the unsavory effects of cases arising from violation of ancestral oaths, personal vows and other covenants inadvertently entered into, through association with demonic agencies and objects.

(iv) The church was one of the earliest indigenous churches in the country; by this we mean a church without any foreign sponsorship, a church which has its roots in the very soil of the country from where it originated, a church without any foreign orientation.

(v) The style of preaching was in a sense peculiar in that the word was preached with reference to chapter and verse for almost every pronouncement made. In short, there was quotation from the Scriptures to support every word uttered.

Administrative Organs of the Church

The church has a body called National Executive Board which is the policy-making as well as the highest administrative organ. The Board is assisted in the performance of its functions by various committees appointed to work in specialized areas. These are Steering Committee, Welfare Committee, Church Relations Committee, Finance Committee, Projects Properties, and Disciplinary Committee.

There is also a General Council known as the Church Council, comprising all categories of ministers, members of the National Executive Board, Principal Officers,

selected Elders and District Secretaries. The Church Council is now known as National Congress.

The following ministries have been followed in the church for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ, namely:

1.  APOSTLE

2.  PROPHET

3.  EVANGELIST

4.  PASTOR

5.  TEACHER

There are also Deacons, Deaconesses and Elders attached the various Assemblies. Holders of these positions are appointed only when found to be blameless, of good report, full of the Holy Spirit, and hold fast the faithful word to guard against any possible mis-interpretation and heretical teaching. Titus 1 vv 5-9, 1 Timothy 3 vv 1-3.

Wings of the Church

The Church has five distinct wings namely Men's Fellowship, Women's Fellowship, Youth Fellowship, Young Women's League and the Children and Redeemers' Movement.

All these can be seen at Local, District, Regional and National levels