An open letter to the Christian church in Ghana: Submission Sets Women Up for Abuse

To Church Leaders, Faith Communities, and Christian Institutions in Ghana,

For decades, the Christian Church has shaped the social, cultural, and moral foundations of Ghanaian life. Churches influence how families are formed, how relationships function, and how gender roles are understood. Christianity in this country shapes culture, language, family, education, and law. With such influence comes great responsibility, and it is time for the Church to confront the harm caused by long-standing teachings that promote the unquestioned submission of women to men.

This letter is not written in hostility, but in truth and accountability. Ghana is facing a gender-based violence crisis. The Church can no longer distance itself from the role harmful doctrine has played in normalising the suffering of women and girls.

One of the most dangerous teachings still normalised across Ghanaian churches is the doctrine of female submission as unquestioned obedience to men, especially to husbands and male authority figures. This interpretation, often preached without context, historical grounding, or balance, has directly contributed to gender inequality, emotional abuse, physical violence, rape, and the silencing of women across congregations and Christian homes.

It is time to confront this truth with honesty. Across pulpits, marriage seminars, prayer lines, youth fellowships, and counselling rooms, one message is repeatedly emphasised: “A good Christian woman must submit, obey, and endure, no matter what.” This teaching is often presented as a divine command, leaving no room for safety, equality, consent, or dignity. Over time, it has:

Conditioned women to tolerate abuse as proof of faith or patience

Taught girls that their value is tied to serving men, not fulfilling their own purpose

Empowered men to see dominance as leadership, rather than sacrifice, partnership and service

Silenced survivors, making them fear judgment more than harm

What is preached from the pulpit becomes culture in the home. And what becomes culture in the home becomes the norm in society. We see the consequences every day: in abusive marriages “covered with prayer,” in rape survivors blamed for “provoking men,” and in girls taught that speaking up makes them ungodly, disrespectful, or “rebellious.” Submission, as popularly taught in churches, has too often become a gateway to violence, not godliness.

Theological Imbalance Has Cost Women Their Lives

The Bible teaches mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21), love rooted in respect, and leadership modelled on Christ’s humility, yet many churches teach only the parts that grant men power and demand women’s silence. When pastors preach submission without equal emphasis on safety and consent, mutual respect and partnership, emotional and physical well-being, and accountability for men, they are not teaching scripture; they are reinforcing patriarchy.

The result? Women are told to “pray through abuse.” Men are told their authority is unquestionable. Families are told to protect reputations instead of lives. But God is not honoured by trauma disguised as marital faithfulness.

The Church cannot claim innocence. If churches consistently teach women to endure pain, and consistently fail to hold men accountable for causing it, then the Church is not neutral; it is complicit. It is not enough to say, “Not all churches preach this” when enough churches do, and the silence of the rest protects the problem. A faith that transforms society must also be willing to transform itself.

What Accountability Should Look Like

The Church has the power to become part of the solution, but only if it first admits its role in the problem. True accountability includes:

1. Public Acknowledgement of Harm
   Recognise and openly admit that misinterpreted/distorted teachings on submission have enabled and excused gender-based violence for far too long.
2. Preach Balance & Address Male Abuse of Power
   If submission is taught, so must be sacrificial love, equality, and nonviolence. Call out harmful masculinity, entitlement, and spiritual manipulation.
3. Re-Educate Congregations
   Teach and recenter scripture around mutual respect, consent, dignity, emotional intelligence and Christ-like love, not male entitlement within Christian relationships.
4. Survivor-Safe Counseling
   Offer trauma-informed counselling that prioritises the protection of victims, not the reputation of perpetrators.
5. Training for Clergy & Marriage Counsellors: Equip church leaders with the tools to identify abuse, respond safely, and intervene responsibly. Pastors and counsellors must learn trauma-informed, gender-sensitive, and survivor-centred approaches to counselling.
6. Clear Policies & Reporting Channels

Every church must create safe avenues, support services for survivors, and church policies for reporting abuse without victim-blaming or spiritual manipulation.

Accountability is not an attack on the Church; it is a call for moral responsibility and an invitation to spiritual maturity. God is not glorified in the suffering of women. A woman enduring abuse is not acting in faith; she is being failed by a system that prioritises male ego over human dignity.

God cannot be honoured through teachings that break spirits, destroy lives, and silence truth. If the church seeks to be a moral compass in Ghana, it must first correct the doctrines that have normalised the suffering of women and sanctified male power.

A Call to Reclaim the Heart of the Gospel

The Gospel (as my dad raised me on) is a message of liberation, justice, healing, and love. If the Church is to remain a moral force in Ghana, it must be willing to evolve and actively protect those who look to it for spiritual guidance. This is a call to Repentance, Reflection and Reform.

The future of Christianity in Ghana depends on the courage of its leaders to evolve. Repentance is not shame; it is a turning toward righteousness. We are calling for sermons that liberate, not oppress, counselling that protects, not endangers; teachings that affirm women as full image-bearers of God, and a body of Christ that practices justice, not just preaches it.
Let the Church be known as a place:
where women flourish, not shrink;

where men learn partnership, not dominance;

where victims are believed, not silenced;

where homes are safe, not sanctuaries for unchallenged abuse.

If the Church is to truly reflect Christ, then it must choose compassion over control; justice over tradition. Let this letter not be met with defensiveness, but with humility. The church has the power to shape culture; therefore, it has the responsibility to transform the harmful cultures it once created. Submission, taught without balance, without safety, and without mutuality, has set too many women up for abuse. Submission, misinterpreted, weaponised, and divorced from love, has destroyed many women’s right to self-preservation. It is time for the Church to correct the harm it helped create.

For the safety of women, and for the healing of this nation, we ask the church to do better.

With hope for change and courage for truth,

Dr Efe Plange (Concerned Woman, Scholar, Advocate for Gender Justice)

Author Bio: Dr Efe Plange is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing whose scholarship centres on feminist rhetorics, African digital cultural rhetorics, and feminist media literacy—particularly how African/Black women use digital platforms to challenge patriarchal narratives and create empowering counterpublics. She is the founder and director of Plange Media Lab, a culturally responsive communication and media strategy initiative that supports institutions, creators, and brands in advancing inclusive, socially conscious messaging. Beyond academia, Dr Plange is a gender advocate—of the pepper variety—committed to shifting conversations, disrupting patriarchy, and building safer, more equitable worlds for women and girls.

Source: Dr Efe Plange