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Pentecostal Theology, Volume 24, No. 2, Fall 2002
African Pentecostalism in the Context of Global
Pentecostal Ecumenical Fraternity:
Challenges and Opportunities
Kingsley Larbi
Introduction: Christianity as Africa’ s Religion
Andrew Walls, writing under the theme “ Christian Tradition in Today’ s World,” observed:
In 1900 Europe (including Russia) and North America together accounted for 83% of the world’ s Christians. The continent of Africa accounted for less that 2%. Today, over half the Christians in the world live in the south- ern continents of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania.
1
Earlier in 1970, Barrett had observed that the numerical growth of the Christian faith in Africa could well mean that “ African Christians might well tip the balance and transform Christianity into a primarily non-Western religion.”2 The full implications of Barrett’ s observation were later spelt out by Walls:
This means that we have to regard African Christianity as potentially the representative Christianity of the twenty-Ž rst century. The representative Christianity of the second and third and fourth centuries was shaped by events and processes at work in the Mediterranean world. In later times it was events and processes among the barbarian peoples of North Atlantic world that produced the representative Christianity of those times. The Christianity typical of the twenty-Ž rst century will be shaped by the events and processes that take place in the Southern continents, and above all by those that take place in Africa. . . . The things by which people recognize and judge what Christianity is will (for good or ill) increasingly be deter- mined in Africa. The characteristic doctrines, liturgy, the ethical codes, the social applications of the faith will increasingly be those prominent in Africa. New agendas for theology will appear in Africa.
3
1
Andrew F. Walls, “ The Christian Tradition in Today’ s World,” in Religion in Today’ s World2 , ed. F. B. Whaling (Edinburgh: T. T. Clark, 1987), 80.
David B. Barrett, “ AD 2000, 350 Million Christians in Africa,” International Review of Mission 3 53, no. 233 (1970): 39.
Andrew F. Walls, “ Africa in Christian History: Retrospect and Prospect,” Journal of African Christian Thought 1, no. 1 (June 1998): 2.
© 2002 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden
pp. 138– 166
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African Pentecostalism in the Context of Global Pentecostal Ecumenical Fraternity
It may be too much for us to expect the foregoing observation to gain general acceptance, particularly when we consider the way Africa has been portrayed in the past in Western literature. Much of this picture is reinforced by an apparent “ conspiracy” of the Western press, which specializes in negative reportage on African issues that is “ usually lim- ited to the superŽ cial, the sensational, and the exotic . . . the coups, the starving refugees, the monumentally mismanaged governments, the ugly dictatorships.”4
This seemingly surprising story of the emergence of Christianity as the dominant religion in Africa, in a time of globalization, may be inter- preted by some as a sign of weakness, i.e., that Africa is unable to react to globalization by revitalizing its own traditional religions. Thus, Africa is compounding her marginalized situation by “ opting into exotic reli- gions” belonging to other latitudes. This perspective, however, may be valid only if Christianity is seen as a cultural artifact “ honed in the west over centuries.”5
The available evidence compells upon us to agree with Walls that
at the beginning this story of Christianity appeared to be a Western reli- gion. Appearances were deceptive; there was nearly a millennium and a half of active and expansive Christianity in Asia before the Ž rst Western missionary arrived there. Equally, there were Christian communities in Africa that could claim a continuous history from sub-apostolic or early patristic times.
6
In this paper, I intend to examine the growth and characteristics of the Pentecostal movement in Africa since the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury. The discussion is placed within the broader context of the thesis of the shifting of the center of gravity of Christianity from the Western to the non-Western world. I will focus on how the global dimension of the movement is re ected in Africa, and on the challenges and opportunities that this new reality presents to the Pentecostal community. I will argue that the current situation lends itself to the establishment of international alliances and networks between African Pentecostal movements and their
4
Tite Tié nou, “ The Training of Missiologists for an African Context, in Missiological Education for the Twenty-Ž rst Century , ed. J. Dudley Woodberry et al. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1996), 94; J. E. White, “ African-American Eyes,” Time, 7 Sept. 1992, 52; L. Morrow, “ Africa: 5 The Scramble for Existence,” Time, 7 Sept. 1992, 40.
Paul Gifford, African Christianity: Its Public Role (London: Hurst & Company, 1988), 321f. 6
Andrew F. Walls, The Crosscultural Process in Christian History (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2001), 306.
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Western counterparts. This mutual exchange between multiple centers of in uence and varieties of gifts should be based on partnership and equal- ity, so that Kingdom resources may be mobilized to advance God’ s Kingdom to the whole world. This new approach to understanding African Christianity moves away from the current discussion in which certain scholars see the upsurge of Pentecostalism on the continent as a tool for the promotion of the political agenda of America’ s Religious Right.
7
African Pentecostalism
Although Pentecostalism emerged on the continent in the early part of the twentieth century, the phenomenal growth of the movement took place between the 1970s and the 1980s, undercutting the historic churches, and overwhelmingly displacing the African Instituted Churches (AICs). This reality has enormous ecumenical and practical implications. Before attempt- ing to work out some of the implications of this demographic change in the center of gravity of Christianity, I will begin by providing a synopsis of the origins and development of Pentecostalism in Africa, and other related issues.
Origins and Development
The First Wave : Modern missionary efforts on the continent began around 1828. The efforts of these Western Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries created an enabling environment for the emergent movement.
The arrival of the Pentecostal movement in Africa followed two pat- terns. As the gospel was preached and the scriptures were translated into indigenous languages, a situation of dissatisfaction was created that pro- moted an intense search for a deeper dimension of the Christian faith. A backdrop to this was the circulation of certain religious magazines and tracts from the West. The resultant effect of these was the spontaneous emergence of certain revivalists and prophetic Ž gures, at different times, in many parts of the continent, announcing the dawning of a new era of African Christianity. One of such revivalists described his experience thus:
7
See, e.g. Paul Gifford, ed., New Dimensions in African Christianity (Nairobi: All Africa Conference of Churches, 1992); Paul Gifford, “ ‘ Africa Shall be Saved’ : An Appraisal of Reinhard Bonnke’ s Pan African Crusade,” Journal of Religion in Africa 17, no. 1 (1987): 63-92; Paul Gifford, “ Prosperity: A New and Foreign Element in African Christianity,” Religion 20 (1990): 373-88; Paul Gifford, “ Some Recent Developments in African Chris- tianity,” African Affairs 93, no. 373 (October 1994): 513-33.
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I was faced with the necessity of contending for a deeper faith and greater spiritual power than what my primary religious experience was able to afford, and I began to seek with such trepidation to know more about the Holy Ghost.
8
This internal discontent caused some people to move out of the estab- lished churches, to establish independent revivalist bodies. These new movements started to grow and outreaches were launched out to neigh- boring towns, villages, and, in some cases, neighboring countries. Some of the revivalists functioned in the context of the mission churches. The activities of William Wade Harris, Sampson Oppong, and John Swatson were signiŽ cant.
9
These charismatic leaders and their followers succeeded where the mission churches had failed.
To escape the hegemony of the mission churches and their colonial associates, the new churches sought an afŽ liation with certain Western Pentecostal bodies. For instance, the UK Apostolic Church (variously referred to as Bradford Apostolic Church, and sometimes as the Welsh Apostolic Church) was invited to Nigeria in 1931, and in June 1932 Prophet Idris Vaughn and Apostle George Perfect went there as the Ž rst emissaries of the Church. The UK body afŽ liated with Peter Anim’ s group in the then Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1935, and in 1937 James McKeown was sent by the UK body to work with Anim. The Assemblies of God was invited to Nigeria in 1939 by the Church of Jesus Christ.
10
These new churches had no direct connection with the 1906 Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Beckmann indicates that “ speaking in tongues was apparently Ž rst introduced to an indigenous church by a missionary from Britain’ s Apostolic Church who arrived in 1937,” and that the introduction of trance and glos- solalia into the “ indigenous Christian worship is perhaps the most impor- tant in uence missionaries from Britain and America have had within the spiritual church movement.”11 The available evidence suggests otherwise.
8
Peter Anim, The History of How the Full Gospel Church Was Founded in Ghana (Accra, n.d.), 3; quoted in E. K. Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity, reprint with a foreword by Paul Gifford (Accra: CPCS, 2001), 103. Subsequent citations from 9this book will refer to the reprint edition.
10
See Larbi, Pentecostalism , chap. 4.
For a detailed discussion of this see Larbi, Pentecostalism ; Ogbu U. Kalu, “ Pentecostal and Charismatic Reshaping of the African Religiosity in Africa in the 1990s,” a paper pre- sented at the University of Southern California, CRCC, 15 Feb. 2002; Idris J. Vaughn, The Origins 11 of the Apostolic Church (Neath, Wales: Ipswich, 1991).
David M. Beckmann, Eden Revival: Spiritual Churches in Ghana (London: Concordia Press, 1973), 38, 42.
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Before Adutwum got this experience in the Assemblies of God in 1942, and before the arrival of the Apostolic Church in West Africa, trance and glossolalia were already being practiced by Anim’ s group as far back as 1932.12 It needs to be mentioned also that before the groups in Nigeria and Ghana afŽ liated with the UK body, their activities had assumed cer- tain emphases, namely, strong emphasis on prayer, strong belief in divine healing without recourse to any form of medicine (preventive or cura- tive), the practice of tongues speaking, and a strong evangelistic ethos.
Under a different arrangement, some Pentecostal missionaries from the West went to Africa without prior invitation from existing indigenous bod- ies. For example, Lloyd and Margaret Shirer Ž rst went as Assemblies of God (AG) missionaries in Burkina Faso (Wagadugu). From there they entered Ghana as AG missionaries in 1931 and set up a mission station in the North. The Pentecostal missionaries to Liberia, Angola, and prob- ably South Africa appear to have followed this second pattern. Even in South Africa, we are told that John G. Lake and his associate, Thomas Hezmalhalch,
did not start [P]entecostalism in South Africa. When they came to South Africa they found a number of people in various parts of the country who already had the Pentecostal experience, but they did not understand it. Lake and Hexmalhalch were used by God to unite those who already had the experience and to give impetus, momentum and direction to the work. They were mightily used by God to demonstrate spiritual gifts.
13
By 1970 the Pentecostal movement had been Ž rmly established in sub- Saharan Africa, in its various forms, poised for massive expansion and explosion. The explosion was largely activated by the Charismatic Revival of the 1970s. This was also the period when more intellectuals started joining the movement. Many intellectuals joined the movement as a result of beneŽ ting from divine healing.
12
Rev. Idris Vaughn, one of the two missionaries sent to Nigeria by the Apostolic Church in 1932, has also made an important observation that by the time they got to Nigeria, glossolalia was already being practiced by the Nigerian brethren. See Vaughn, The Origins 13 of the Apostolic Church .
http://afm-ags.or g/Hesme.htm , p. 1. The South African church is nothing to write home about, as failed to function as a counter-culture community. It bought into the obnoxious apartheid system, thus losing sight of its mission as salt and light. The racial segregation soon ruined the ecumenicity within the Zion Apostolic Church; consequently, the spread of the movement into contiguous areas such as Zimbabwe and Malawi was achieved through African mine workers (Larbi, Pentecostalism , 71-74; Vinson Synan, the Century of the Holy Spirit (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 88-91; Walter J.
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At least one ecumenical council had been established on the continent by 1970. The Ghana Evangelical Fellowship was established in March 1969, with all the mainline Pentecostal churches in the country as found- ing members.
14
Non-Pentecostal groups like World Evangelization Crusade, Scripture Union and Lutheran Church of Ghana were founding members. Later, all these non-Pentecostal groups dropped out for doctrinal reasons. The name was then changed to Ghana Pentecostal Fellowship in 1977, and later in 1981 changed to Ghana Pentecostal Council.
The success of the Pentecostals was largely due to their ability to place the traditional understanding of the cosmic struggle in the realm of Christian belief, their exaltation of Jesus at the center of the cosmic struggle, their aggressive evangelism, their ethical rigorism, and their strong sense of community. They also beneŽ ted from several years of Christian presence.
The Second Wave : The continent of Africa witnessed the renewal within Christian students’ unions. These unions had been operating among sec- ondary schools and universities prior to the 1970s but it was during this period that the pentecostalizing in uence had an effect on them. The 1970s also saw the emergence of several parachurch groups and Christian fel- lowships that were Pentecostal in nature. These groups became the con- duits through which the Pentecostal revival became widespread.
15
Somehow, West Africa became the melting pot of these groups.
The Scripture Union (SU) and the University Christian Fellowship (UCF) were the two evangelical Christian fellowships operating in Ghana.
16 The SU was working among high school students while the UCF worked
Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (1997), 41-53; Kalu, “ Pentecostal 14 and Charismatic Reshaping,” 3.
These were the Christ Apostolic Church, the Assemblies of God, The Apostolic Church, The Church of Pentecost, and Elim Pentecostal Church. From all indications this body appears to be the Ž rst ever Pentecostal ecumenical body to be established on the con- tinent. The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria was founded between 1986 and 1987; accord- ing to Ojo, this is the only Pentecostal ecumenical body in Nigeria now. Though there are other Pentecostal associations that function as ordination or consecration bodies for bish- ops within a section of the movement in Nigeria, Ojo does not think these are ecumeni- cal bodies (Dr. Matthew Ojo, Visiting Professor, Harvard Divinity School; Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, interview, 17 Feb. 2002). A similar 15 evangelical grouping emerged in Kenya during the later 1980s.
See Samuel B. Adubofuor, “ Evangelical Para-church Movement in Ghanaian Christianity: 1950 to Early 1990s” (Ph.D. diss., University of Edinburgh, 1994); Matthew Ojo, “ Charismatic Movement in Africa,” in Christianity in Africa in the 1990s , ed. Christopher Fyfe 16and Andrew Walls (Edinburgh: CAS, 1996), 92-110.
The Nigerian chapters were called Christian Union (CU) and Student Christian Movement (SCM). These bodies originated from Britain and bore different names in other parts of the continent.
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among university students. Town Fellowships were started by these stu- dents when it became clear that during school holidays or after school years, members of the school- or university-based Christian groups did not Ž nd a suitable outlet for fellowship. The Fellowship of Christian Unions (FOCUS) later emerged in Kenya as an umbrella body for the various student groups. In Tanzania, secondary school students experienced the Pentecostal revival before it reached the university students. The French- speaking countries experienced the Charismatic Renewal only in the mid 1980s. The delay may largely be attributed to the fact that the evangelical student unions had their origins in Britain. The evangelical renewal got to Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe much later due to political instability.
In Ghana, the Charismatic Renewal in the 1970s resulted in the pro- liferation of several nondenominational evangelistic associations in many parts of the country, especially southern Ghana. These associations included Ghana Evangelical Society (GES), Hour of Visitation and Evangelistic Asso- ciation (HOVCEA), Youth Ambassadors for Christ Association (YAFCA), Trans Continental Evangelistic Association, (TRANSCEA), National Evan- gelistic Association (NEA), and Joyful Way Singers.
It was basically through these para-church organizations and other interdenominational fellowships like Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship International, and Women Aglow International, that the Pentecostal in uence penetrated into the mainline historic churches.
17
The parachurch renewal in the 1970s became the catalyst for the development of the new inde- pendent Pentecostal churches. Members of the evangelical fellowships became the initial source of membership for these new churches. These churches started emerging in the 1970s and picked up momentum in the 1980s. The proliferation has continued ever since.
18
Some of these new churches have since become megachurches and are to be found in almost every African country south of the Sahara.
19
Though there had been instances of renewal and the practice of the Pentecostal ethos within the mainline churches from an early time, the phenomenon did not become wide spread until the beginning of the 1970s. This was the period when the phenomenon became recognized as a potent
17
For a fuller discussion of this see Adubofuor, “ Evangelical Para-church movements in Ghanaian 18 Christianity” and Ojo, “ Charismatic Movement in Africa.”
The late Benson Idahosa’ s Church of God Mission International, which started in 1970, is the precursor of the independent new Pentecostal churches. The Bible school that he later founded became the training ground for several emerging new Pentecostal lead- ers. 19Most of these former students are now running their own churches or megachurches.
Gifford, “ Some Recent Developments in African Christianity,” 515f.
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force and was accorded some form of recognition within the mainline denominations. Prior to this time, it was received with skepticism and apprehension. Some of the members or leaders of the historic churches who came under the in uence of the Pentecostal phenomenon (the glos- solalia) before this time were excommunicated.
20
The Problem of Terminology
Africa had its fair share of the wind of Christian renewal that blew across the globe at the beginning of the twentieth century. This produced many different strands of Christian renewal movements on the continent. They may be spelt out as the “ African Initiated Church movement,” “ main- line Pentecostal movement,” the “ Para-church renewal movement,” “ denom- inational charismatic renewal movement”21 and the “ neo-Pentecostal movement.”22 Contemporary trends indicate that the mainline historic churches are losing their members to the Pentecostals, and the AICs have been dislodged by them in many parts of Africa.
23
Who, then, are the Pentecostals? Pentecostals are a signiŽ cant group within evangelical Christianity who, in addition to their avowed com- mitment to the claims of historic Christianity, also believe that the char- acteristics of the Ž rst-century Apostolic Church, especially the gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit, should be the norm for the church’ s life. They subscribe to a post-conversion experience termed the “ baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and hold that “ speaking in tongues” is considered the initial evidence of this experience.
24
While the African Instituted Churches are well researched, the main- line Pentecostal churches have suffered serious neglect, a neglect that has created some distortions as to the true identity of this group. Interest in research among the neo-Pentecostals began recently. Few of the works
20
Rev. C. S. T. Owuo, formerly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, is one of the many examples. Rev Owuo eventually joined McKeown’ s Apostolic Church and later founded 21 the Apostolic Reformed Church. See Larbi, Pentecostalism , 80-88, 93f.
22
This refers to the Charismatic Movement within the mainline historic churches.
This refers to the independent new Pentecostal churches that started emerging on the 23continent from the 1970s.
The only exception is South Africa, where, we are told, the AICs have maintained their ground. See Allan Anderson, Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches in South Africa (Pretoria, South Africa: UNISA, 24 2000).
Some within the movement would claim that the “ initial evidence” of the glosso- lalic experience should be seen as the beginning of the Christian pilgrimage in which the initiate now grows into maturity, allowing the fruit of the Spirit to characterize his or her lifestyle.
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that have been produced so far actually represent the true identity of this group. Present confusion exists in terms of the classiŽ cation of these var- ious groups that have emerged on the continent. Some academicians have attempted to brand all these various strands as “ Pentecostal” or as “ Charismatic” churches. This kind of approach often fails to bring out the striking differences that exist among the different groups. Lamin Sanneh’ s very important book, West African Christianity , for instance, classiŽ es churches like “ Church of the Lord (Aladura)” and “ Cherubim and Seraphim Church” as “ Charismatic churches,” a nomenclature that is being used in some African countries to designate the new Pentecostal churches that emerged from the 1970s.
25
Allan Anderson adopts the same approach by referring to the various twentieth-century revivalist groups as “ Pentecostal” ; he then goes on to state that
African pentecostals differ from Western Pentecostals in such external para- phernalia as the use of healing symbols like blessed water and other sym- bolic ritual objects representing power and protection, their distinctive forms of government and patterns of leadership, and the wearing of characteris- tic church apparel.
26
Those familiar with current developments of Christianity on the con- tinent will quickly recognize that Allan’ s description applies singularly to the so-called African Instituted Churches. There is no way in which his description can be applied to the older Pentecostal churches like the Church of Pentecost, the Christ Apostolic Church, the Apostolic Church, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, and other indigenous Pentecostal groups (old and new) on the continent who refer to themselves as “ Pentecostals” and Ž ercely repudiate the characteristic practices outlined above, used by Allan to describe African Pentecostals.
Acquaintance with indigenous bodies like the Church of Pentecost, the Christ Apostolic Church, the Apostolic Church, and a host of other Pentecostal bodies outside of South Africa reveals that doctrine comes before experience. These churches are as demanding as, and perhaps more concerned about doctrinal issues than, some of their Western counterparts, especially in the areas of divorce and remarriage. It is precisely because of doctrinal reasons that the Pentecostal union in Ghana, for example, would not accept bodies like the Twelve Apostles Church, the Musama Disco Christo Church (MDCC), or the African Faith Tabernacle Church
25
Lamin Sanneh, West African Christianity: The Religious Impact (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 26 1990), 180-209.
Allan Anderson, Zion and Pentecost , 27.
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into membership. It is therefore not helpful when Allan suggests that Western Pentecostals deŽ ne themselves in terms of doctrine whereas for “ Third World Pentecostalism experience and practice are far more impor- tant than dogma.”27
For us fully to appreciate the striking differences that exist between the group that refers to itself as “ Pentecostals” and the African Initiated Churches, a chart is provided (Ž g. 1). One sees striking differences between the AICs and the Pentecostal churches in the areas of theology or doc- trine and ethos. It is common knowledge that all or some of the things listed in the chart, with the exception of association with secret societies, are practiced by the African Instituted Churches. For the Pentecostals in Africa, you cannot call yourself a Pentecostal Christian and still practice these things. Though the following data is by no means exhaustive, it covers the most essential and critical areas. In doing this, I am not in any way trying to suggest that the AIC followers are not Christians; they here are as Christian as those you will Ž nd within the Pentecostal churches. My argument is primarily on the basis of doctrine.
Figure 1
Critical Areas 1. The Bible
2. Jesus Christ
Remarks
African Pentecostals are biblicists. They refer to themselves as “ Word-based,” which means every- thing they do is considered in light of the Bible. In terms of ethos where there is apparent con ict between the OT and NT, the prescription is favored. It is required that every believer must have a Bible and this must be taken to all church services at all times. No extra biblical books are entertained. Cultic books like the Saint Anthony’ s Book of Treasure are repudiated with vehemence.
Jesus Christ is the center of their faith and prac- tice, not the Holy Spirit. They believe the Lordship of Jesus Christ must be upheld at all times. They teach that “There shall be no burning of candles and incense for prayer; no special Ž re, no incan- tation, nor the use of special names of Angels, except the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. ” (Christ Apostolic Church Constitution 1989, p. 58.)
27
Ibid., 24.
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3. Doctrine of the Spirit They believe that in as much as there is the ‘ Holy’
Spirit, believers should also be aware that there are
‘ unclean spirits.’ They believe that not all those
who claim to have the Holy Spirit should be uncrit-
ically believed. They teach that every spirit must
be tested to see which one is of God. They there-
fore place due emphasis on the gift of discernment.
During their meetings, it is required that every
prophecy, vision, or revelation must be weighed
against God’ s Word.
4. The use of instruments Apart from olive oil, which may be used under spe-
and symbols cial circumstances, objects like “ incense,” “ can-
dles,” “ blessed handkerchiefs” are not to be used
for prayers, or as accompaniment in the church’ s
liturgy.
5. Secret Societies It is considered an abomination for Christians to
belong to any of the Secret Societies. Societies like
the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, and Lodges are
regarded as Satanic institutions.
6. Ancestors There is nothing like ancestral worship in African
Pentecostalism. Ancestors are not to be invoked for
any reason. They are not considered as mediators. 7. The use of alcoholic A complete break is required.
beverages
8. Polygamy This is rejected outright as not in line with New
Testament teachings.
9. Divorce This is Ž ercely rejected by the mainline Pentecostals,
both for members and ofŽ cers. There is some kind
of ambivalence and laxity among elements within
neo-Pentecostalism on this issue, much to the dis-
pleasure of their forebears.
10. Deities/gods They are not considered as viceroys of God as
taught in the traditional religion. African Pentecostals
associate deities in the traditional religion with
demons. They repudiate cultic acts and rites like
the pouring of libation as practiced in the tradi-
tional religion. They Ž nd justiŽ cation for their action
from texts like 1 Corinthians 10:20.
Pentecostals and “ Doctrinal Purity” : The Litmus Test
The importance of the Bible to African Pentecostals may seen from the fact that rather than tracing their roots to the Wesleyan tradition, or any other tradition for that matter, they would be more comfortable trac-
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ing their roots to the Bible. This does not mean that they do not have a sense of history. On the contrary, it is because of their strong belief that history is God’ s story that they would like to root their faith in “ Holy Script,” through which God’ s plan of redemption for humanity has been deposited. All other events are seen as ancillary to this. The Bible has exerted no small in uence on the faith and practice of African Pentecostals. In discussion, argument, or debate, for instance, the Bible, especially in the vernacular language, is the supreme source of authority. In spite of the fact that English translations are owned and cherished by the edu- cated, translations in the mother tongue are held in high esteem. In the English-speaking countries, apart from the neo-Pentecostals and the English assemblies of the older Pentecostal churches, their services are conducted in the vernacular. Educated members of the classic Pentecostals almost always have more than two versions of the Bible, which invariably include the vernacular translation. The familiar dictum is “ What does the Scripture say?” or “ What does the Bible say?” The songs of the movement in many countries reveal a strong indelible in uence of the Bible. “ In this way, the Bible in the local language becomes the most directly in uential sin- gle factor in shaping the life of the church in Africa.”28
African Pentecostals consider issues relating to what they call “ doc- trinal purity” as critical and non-negotiable.
29
African Pentecostals refer- ence to themselves as “ Pentecostals” has nothing to do with any Western in uence or any association with the West, as some may want to suggest. They refer to themselves as “ Pentecostals” because they see themselves standing in historic continuity with the events of the “ Day of Pentecost,”30 and their own experience of the Holy Spirit. African Pentecostals are “ lit- eralist” when it comes to the interpretation of the Bible. They believe that unless the context suggests otherwise, the literal meaning of the biblical text must be taken. In matters of faith and conduct, for most of them, the
28
J. S. Mbiti, Bible and Theology in African Christianity (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1986), 28. The importance of the Bible in the religious consciousness of African Christians has also been well demonstrated by Lamin Sanneh in Translating the Message (Maryknoll, 29 NY: Orbis, 1991).
I have had previous association with some of the African Instituted Churches, and have also studied some of them. For research interests, I still maintain contact with, e.g., the Kadjibir and Kormantse factions of the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Ghana. There is no doubt at all that some of the AIC group practice polygamy, some are involved in ancestral worship, some use cultic books like Saint Anthony’ s Book of Treasure, and some invoke the names of the archangels Michael and Gabriel and other celestial beings as part of their 30 liturgy.
Acts 2; cf. Joel 2:28-32.
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critical question is “ What does the Scripture say?”31 It is for this reason that followers of the movement are required to own their own Bibles and also ensure that they take them to church services.
32
In terms of ethics, we may conclude that the older Pentecostal churches are rigoristic com- pared to the neo-Pentecostal churches. Thus the contemporary ritualistic use of anointing oil, the emblems of the Holy Communion, canning of those considered to be possessed by demons, as practiced by certain fringe elements within the neo-Pentecostal movement, are considered as doctri- nal aberrations which they frown upon.
In this discussion I will maintain the distinction that exists among prac- titioners, between evangelical Pentecostals and the “ Spiritual Churches” which they themselves appreciate. In so doing I concur with John S. Pobee, who states:
From a Christian theological perspective, the teachings of some groups are suspect, e.g. the Mai-Chaza Church or Guta ra Jehova has replaced the New Testament with a Guta ra Jehova Bible which are the words and deeds of Mai Chaza. The challenge to the ecumenical consensus of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as common patrimony of all in the body of Christ is obvious.
33
On the basis of doctrinal and ethical differences between Pentecostals and the African Instituted Churches, I believe it is helpful to maintain the distinction that already exists between the two groups. Attempts to dump these two groups using the role the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts play in these churches as the common denominator conceal certain crucial fac- tors, considering that spirit possession, speaking in tongues, prophecies and other supernatural manifestations attributable to the spirit world are not limited to evangelical Christianity. They are signiŽ cant features of the African Traditional Religion and other faiths. If a distinction is not drawn, we will perpetuate existing grave misconceptions about African Christianity as a whole. For instance, one Tim Werner has indicated that
31
See Larbi, Pentecostalism , 148. I have done detailed study on the life and faith of some indigenous Pentecostal churches in Ghana. The evidence here may be applicable to other 32indigenous Pentecostal churches elsewhere on the continent.
This contrasts sharply with the West, where in an effort to develop “ seeker sensi- tive churches,” people are not required to carry their Bibles to church. Among African Pentecostals, carrying a Bible to church is believed to be, among other things, the demon- stration 33 that the believer is “ not ashamed of the Gospel Christ.”
Rev. Canon Prof. Emeritus John S. Pobee, foreword, Allan H. Anderson, African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the 20th Century (Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc., 2001), xii. The example of Mai Chaza Church may be seen as an exception rather than the norm.
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it is widely agreed that many, if not most, of the Christians in Africa, for example, continue to practice forms of magic, sorcery, and divination when the circumstances of life call for it.
34
It is not clear where Tim Werner got his data from. It is also not clear what population formed the basis of his data, if at all he or any one else has ever done a veriŽ able scientiŽ c study of African Christians. What is clear is that anyone that has associated with Pentecostals and the evan- gelicals in Africa knows that the above statement cannot be sustained. African Pentecostals and evangelicals
35
demand a complete break with the past when one becomes “ born again,” a term used in reference to regeneration.
A recent church survey conducted in Ghana in 1988 and 1993 by the Ghana Evangelism Committee indicated that although about 62 percent of the population of Ghana claim to be Christians, 11.61 percent attend church whereas 50.68 percent do not attend church. The indication here is that nominal Christians form the highest percentage of the Christian population, the bulk of which belongs to the historic churches.
36
It is attested that the bulk of the people who are now members of neo-Pentecostal Churches came from the historic churches. It is therefore incumbent upon researchers to use accurate data to avoid inaccurate conclusions.
African Pentecostalism: The Problem of Typology
The Pentecostal-Charismatic renewal has so far produced the follow- ing broad groups:
1. The mainline Pentecostal churches (began from the 1900s-1970s) 2. Para-church Pentecostal ministries (began from the late 1960s-1970s) 3. Pentecostals within the mainline historic churches (began in the late 1960s and accentuated in the 1980s)
4. Independent Pentecostal Churches (began in the 1970s).
34
Opal L. Reddin, ed., Power Encounter: A Pentecostal Perspective (SpringŽ eld: Central 35 Bible College Press, 1999), 13.
Unlike the West, where it is not difŽ cult to draw the line between “ Evangelicals” and “ Pentecostals,” the situation is entirely different in most parts of Africa, where such distinction seldom exists because of cross-pollination and cross-fertilization present among Pentecostals, 36 Charismatics, and Evangelicals.
Ghana Evangelism Committee, National Church Survey: Finish the UnŽ nished Task of the Church in Ghana (Accra: GEC, 1993), 13.
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In drawing up a broad typology for African Pentecostalism, Kalu proposes:
1. Classical Pentecostals 2. Indigenous ministries 3. Charismatic groups.
Kalu also suggests the following classiŽ cation based upon what he refers to as ministries or ‘apostolates ’ : Interdenominational fellowships; Evangelistic ministries; Faith healing; Prosperity; Deliverance; Intercessory; Bible distribution; Children ministry; Women fellowships.
37
Though his three-tier typology appears more helpful, it will be appropriate to sepa- rate the indigenous ‘ para-church ministries’ from the indigenous, new independent churches which are Pentecostal in nature.
The question of typology has always been a bewildering enterprise when it comes to the discussion of the new Christian religious movement in Africa. This is primarily due to the dynamic nature of the religious ter- rain. Previous efforts towards harmonization and clariŽ cation were made by the World Council of Churches’ Department for Missionary Studies during the consultation at the Mindolo Ecumenical Centre, Kitwe and Northern Rhodesia (6-13 September 1962). The outcome of this consul- tation and that of the International Missionary Council Study of 1963 was the grouping of the churches in African into two main categories, namely, the older churches (which originated in the West) and the new churches, referred to as African Instituted Churches. The older churches are vari- ously referred to as Mainline, Mission, Traditional, Historic, Established, and Orthodox churches. The second category of churches have been var- iously called Spiritual churches, Aladura churches, prophet-healing churches, Zionist churches, Seperatist churches, Schismatic churches, and Ethiopian churches. It is obvious that some of the names came from their detractors.
38
It is clear that there was no evangelical Pentecostal theologian at the consultation, so obviously their interests were not represented. Turner’ s typology is helpful but it does not reveal the theological and ethical dis- tinctiveness of the group we are dealing with.
39
Gilliland’ s four main classiŽ cations into (1) Primary evangelical pentecostal, (2) Secondary
37
38
Kalu, “ Pentecostal and Charismatic Reshaping,” 4.
See Deji Ayegboyin and S. Ademola Ishola, African Indigenous Churches: An Historical Perspective (Lagos: Greater Heights Publications, 1997), and Allan Anderson, Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostal and Zionist/Apostolic Churches 39 in South Africa (Pretoria: UNISA, 2000), for a fuller discussion.
H. W. Turner, “ A Typology for African Religious Movements,” Journal of Religion in Africa 1 (1968).
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evangelical-pentecostal, (3) Revelational indigenous, (4) Indigenous eclec- tic, is more in line with our present discussion.
40
Since this paper focuses on evangelical Pentecostalism, from the evi- dence I have provided so far the following classiŽ cation is appropriate:
1. Classic or older Pentecostals 2. Denominational Charismatics 3. Para-church ministries 4. Neo-Pentecostal churches
This classiŽ cation obviously excludes those among the African Instituted Churches, which for theological and ethical reasons the Pentecostals in Africa consider to belong to a different classiŽ cation.
For various reasons, I prefer the term ‘ neo-Pentecostal’ as a designa- tion for the new Pentecostal churches that emerged in the 1970s. Like the older Pentecostal churches, they all subscribe to a post-conversion crisis experience, referred to as the “ baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and they all claim that the glossolalia is the evidence that one has received this Spirit baptism. In most African countries, this group of churches call themselves Pentecostals. It is only in Ghana that I know they refer to themselves as “ Charismatics.” This appears strange, because with one probable excep- tion the leaders of all the major churches that emerged from the 1970s were former members of the older Pentecostal churches, or they were in one way or another associated with the mainline Pentecostal denomina- tions. Ojo observes that the independent Charismatic churches
cannot be termed Pentecostals because this would confuse them with churches like the Assemblies of God, the Foursquare Gospel Church, the Elim Pentecostal Church, the Apostolic Faith, which originated from abroad and have been existing in some African countries since the 1940s, and never have such impact as we are presently witnessing. It is therefore necessary to distinguish the Pentecostal Movement from the Charismatic Movement.
41
Having said that, Ojo himself admits that
the demarcation between pentecostals and charismatics is very thin, and in most parts of Africa, the terms pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical are
40
Dean S. Gilliland, “ How ‘ Christian’ Are African Independent Churches?” Missiology 14, 41no. 3 (July 1986): 259-72.
Ojo, “ Charismatic Movement in Africa” , 92f. It has just come to my notice that Ojo’ s current re ection on typology has been published in Encyclopaedia of African and African-American Religion , ed. Stephen Glazier (New York: Routledge, 2001), 2-6. I have not been able to integrate his new insights into my present discussion.
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not strictly demarcated. Mobility of members and the participation of mem- bers in several activities make any clear separation that could be found in the Western world difŽ cult to maintain.
42
It is precisely for this reason that I use the term neo-Pentecostal to dif- ferentiate them from the older ones. What is noteworthy in this discus- sion is the fact that the 1970s were the watershed point for both the older Pentecostal churches and the emerging ones. The older Pentecostal churches accelerated in numerical growth in the 1970s. It needs also to be men- tioned that the revival that occurred among the youth who became the carriers of Charismatic Revival was in uenced by the activities of cer- tain key Pentecostal leaders like Rev. G. Elton, in Nigeria, and Enoch Agbozo, in Ghana, among several others. It is also signiŽ cant to note that by the early 1970s, Pentecostal Christian fellowships like the Legon Pentecostal Union in Ghana started emerging on the university campuses.
43 Their in uence should therefore be considered in this light.
The Pentecostal movement in Africa is not a homogeneous group. There are varied nuances and emphases between the old and the new, but they are all nourished from the same theological melting pot. It is within this vein that Kalu observes that “ there are differences in doctrine, polity, and ethics in spite of shared vigorous liturgy.”44 Though this may be so in some respects, for a broader perspective, I am inclined to agree with Birgit Meyer’ s observation:
All share a particular set of religious ideas and practices, such as baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing, and strong empha- sis on personal prayers. Their services have a similar liturgical form, and congregational life is organized along more or less the same patterns. They also share an elaborate discourse on the Devil and demons, and offer ritu- als during which these powers of darkness manifest themselves and are exorcised— a practice called deliverance.
45
It is also worth mentioning that apart from the normal evangelical Pentecostal emphasis on primary salvation and evangelism, there have been certain signiŽ cant emphases over the years, particularly among the neo-Pentecostals. These are: prosperity/material well-being, deliverance
42
43
Ojo, “ Charismatic Movement in Africa,” 93.
See chaps. 3 and 5 of Adubofuor, “ Evangelical Para-church Movement,” for a fuller discussion 44 of this.
45
Ogbu U, Kalu, 4.
Birgit Meyer, “ ‘ Make a Complete Break with the Past’ : Memory and Post-colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse,” Journal of Religion in Africa 27, no. 3 (1998): 321.
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theology, the prophetic ministries. The focus of the 1970s was primary evangelism and salvation of soul. The 1980s came with the prosperity gospel and the deliverance theology variant. The late 1980s also saw the emergence of Otabil’ s “ African-Pentecostal liberation theology,” with its emphases on African selfhood and Afrocentric understanding of the Bible and the mission of the church.
46
The late 1990s also saw emphasis on the prophetic ministries.
The reality of the Pentecostal movement in African Christianity is that it is a potent agent for change, engendering a fundamental transformation of social and religious values. The doctrinal distinctiveness of the neo- Pentecostal elements within the movement is a sharply focused re ection on the African experience, particularly the endemic socioeconomic up- heavals. Their pragmatism is a quest for self-determination in the midst of the perennial political and socioeconomic decline and also a search for identity in the context of the African experience. Their clarion call is that Christianity should not be moribund but active, penetrating every aspect of the human life and society without losing the eternal dimension of the human soul.
The emergence of the African Instituted Churches and the Pentecostal movement has sent a clear message that Christianity should not be “ wrapped in foreign clothing,” and that it should be rooted in African culture, mak- ing it relevant to the fears, hopes, and aspirations of the people. They are, therefore, the pacesetters in indigenizing Christianity on the continent, making it the true African religion. Whether or not the movement is able to translate its current numerical surge to an advantage will largely depend upon the ability of the present crop of leaders to address the nagging prob- lem of leadership development that seems to undermine the efforts of the movement. Of equal importance is the need for the neo-Pentecostal brethren within their fold to allow internal democracy to take roots within their corridors of power. This will inevitably help to overcome the present prob- lem of fragmentation that is endemic within the movement. Like all other Christian groups elsewhere on the globe, the issues of Christian maturity and discipleship needs to be given priority. If they are able to do this, the movement will continue to be a potent force and indeed as a true repre- sentative Christianity on the continent.
46
Christian van Gorder, “ Beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia: The Afrocentric Pentecostalism of Mensa Otabil,” paper presented at the Conference, “ Christianity as a World Religion,” Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 26-28 April 2001.
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Ecumenical Challenges and Opportunities
African Pentecostalism as a Global Movement
Spittler, writing from the North American scene, sees experience, oral- ity, spontaneity, other-worldliness and a commitment to biblical author- ity as the implicit values underlying the Pentecostal spirituality. He suggests that these values “ combine to yield a constellation of characteristic prac- tices found in Pentecostal and charismatic spirituality, quite apart from the central features of speaking in tongues, Holy Spirit baptism, and divine healing.” He sees other peculiar practices among North American Pen- tecostals as a direct outcrop of these core values of the movement. He lists collective oral prayer, raising of hands, proxy prayer, dancing in the spirit, Jericho Match, altar services, falling under the power (otherwise known as “ resting in the Spirit” ), Sacred expletives (happy exclama- tions like “ Glory to God!” “ Hallelujah!” ), a word of knowledge at com- munal meetings, biblical precedents like anointed prayer cloths, snake handling, drinking of poison, holy laughter, prayer for divine healings, leg-lengthening, and exorcisms.
47
What Spittler identiŽ es as “ implicit values” and “ characteristic prac- tices” can all be identiŽ ed within the movement in Africa. The only excep- tion is the case of “ snake handling” and “ drinking of poison,” which may undoubtedly be considered as aberrations by marginal groups at the fringes of the movement in North America. On the bases of Spittler’ s implicit values and characteristic practices, we may conclude that African Pentecostalism is part of world Pentecostalism. In addition to the implicit values listed by Spittler, we may also identify “ this-worldliness” (i.e., strong emphasis on the here and now) and “ black consciousness” as part of the implicit values found within African Pentecostalism. Much of these appear to have been in uenced by socio-cultural factors. The practice of itinerant “ seers,” “ prayer men and women,” prophets and prophetesses moving from place to place “ delivering messages” to individuals and con- gregations, as previously practiced by the Christ Apostolic Church in Ghana and Nigeria, may also be suggested as characteristic practice asso- ciated with African Pentecostalism.
The growth of world Pentecostalism has been explained in terms of elements traceable to the African culture. We may want to propose that
47
Russell P. Spittler, “ Spirituality, Pentecostal and Charismatic,” in Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements , ed. Stanley M. Burgess, and Garry B. McGee (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988), 804-9.
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African Pentecostalism is part of the global Pentecostal movement, not just because of the presence of implicit values that may be found within African Pentecostalism, but, more importantly, because of the worldwide movement’ s Black roots, which Hollenweger has well summarized as
orality of liturgy, narrativity of theology and witness, maximum participa- tion at the levels of re ection, prayer and decision making . . . and a form of community that is reconciliatory, inclusions of dreams and visions into personal and public forms of worship [where] they function as a kind of icon for the individual and the community, an understanding of the body/mind relationship that is informed by experiences of correspondence between body and mind; the most striking application of this insight is the ministry of healing.
48
The foregoing are elements of the primal spirituality. Though they appear to be disappearing in Europe and North America, as Hollenweger has noted,49 they are still strong elements within African Pentecostalism. Since these are embodiments of Black culture, they will continue to form dominant features of the movement in Africa.
Spittler has observed that otherworldliness is a “ fading value” among American Pentecostals and Charismatics because of the upward social mobility of North American Pentecostals and the economic progress of American society.
50
Herein lies the thin line of demarcation between African neo-Pentecostals and the older Pentecostal churches. Otherworld- liness does not feature prominently in the preaching and teaching of African neo-Pentecostals because of their concern for “ Dominion Theology.” There is a growing emphasis on the need for believers to exercise dominion over the earth’ s resources. It is strongly advocated that the image of God in humans must be translated into constructiveness as the believer works in partnership with God in the area of development. The believer must reign on earth through his or her exploitation and proper utilization of the earth’ s resources for the beneŽ t of humanity, especially the exploited of the earth. By reason of this emphasis, which undoubtedly has been in uenced by the socioeconomic conditions on the continent, in the realm of eschatology the imminent coming of Christ and the hereafter which are still strong in the older Pentecostal churches in Africa, appear to be completely absent from the expositions of the neo-Pentecostals. The concern of the neo-Pentecostal leadership is to alleviate or at least
48
Walter J. Hollenweger, “ After Twenty Years’ Research on Pentecostalism,” International Review 49 of Mission 75, no. 297 (January 1986): 6.
50
Ibid.
Spittler, Spirituality, Pentecostal and Charismatic , 805.
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ameliorate the debilitating effects of poverty, ignorance, and disease on the continent. Otabil, one of the key neo-Pentecostal leaders on the con- tinent, does not hide his feelings on this issue in his observation that:
Preachers from Africa . . . can no longer continue preaching an escapist pie- in-the-sky message. We cannot continue singing about ying away and wearing a shoe in heaven whilst our people battle harsh realities of life. I fully believe in heaven and hell; but I also believe that God created man on earth to have dominion and not to be dominated by poverty, ignorance and fear.51
African Pentecostalism: Engaging the West
The encounter between African Pentecostals and their American coun- terparts has been seen by some as an inŽ ltration of “ a pernicious American doctrine serving as a vehicle for the promotion of the New Religious right’ s political agenda for the continent.”52 The in uence of such Western Pentecostal leaders as T. L. Osborne, Oral Roberts, Morris Cerrulo, Kenneth Hagin, and Reinhard Bonnke on the continent have been discussed else- where.53 What is the nature of this engagement? The predominant view of many in the West and among a section of the mainline leadership in Africa is that the Pentecostals receive Ž nancial support from the West. For instance, in recent research on the movement in Ghana, Dita van Middendorp states:
The self-Ž nancing part is questionable and will only be applicable to some of the Charismatic churches. The difference with Classical Pentecostalism is that the latter have mother churches in the US from where they get most of their Ž nance. Charismatic churches too are internationally oriented and often beneŽ ting from overseas connections. . . . The Pentecostal churches are internationally oriented, funded, and in uenced.
54
Apart from the fact that the Pentecostal movement is “ internationally oriented” by virtue of its networks, association, and numerous external branches, the rest of the statements made here are at variance with real- ity. The major Pentecostal bodies in Ghana are “ The Church of Pentecost,”
51
52
Mensa A. Otabil, Beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia (Accra: Altar International, 1992), 11f.
Ruth Marshall, “ ‘ Power in the Name of Jesus’ : Social Transformation in Western Nigeria ‘ Revisited,’ ” in Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth Century Africa , ed. T. Ranger and 53C. Vaughn (London: Macmillan, 1993), 213.
See Larbi, Pentecostalism , 307-11. Though my discussion here was in reference to the 54Ghanaian scene, the in uence of these men in areas indicated was continental.
Dita van Middendorp, “ Beyond Flamboyance: Pentecostal Perspectives on Nation, State and Culture on Postcolonial Ghana” (Ž nal thesis, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 19, 36).
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“ The Apostolic Church,” the “ Christ Apostolic Church,” and the “ Assemblies of God.” The Ž rst three do not have their mother churches in America! The Assemblies of God Church is the only one that had a historical con- nection with the American Assemblies of God. It was granted autonomy in 1970. In spite of this church’ s historical connection with North America, it is not funded from an American source.
55
It is true that at the incipient stages of the development of the neo- Pentecostal movement, the leadership received inspiration from some North American faith preachers, particularly Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, and Morris Cerullo. In the process of time, however, their African disci- ples developed their own theological distinctiveness, in addition to the normal evangelical-Pentecostal teaching. Apart from the late Benson Idahosa, who, at certain points in time, is believed to have received assis- tance toward the establishment and development of the Church of God Mission International and its ministries, and the medical ofŽ cer, Seth Ablorh, who was trained at Oral Roberts University and was later helped by Oral Roberts to establish his Manna Mission Clinic in Ghana, there is no evidence that any of the leading ministries in Africa, such as Kumuyi’ s Deeper Life, Oyedepo’ s Winners Chapel (all in Nigeria), Duncan-Williams’ Christian Action Faith Ministries, Mensa Otabil’ s International Central Gospel Church, Heward-Mills’ Light House Chapel International (all in Ghana), or Wutawanashe’ s Family of God Church (in Zimbabwe), are internationally funded. Actually the normal arrangement among the neoPentecostal churches is that there is a reciprocal giving of honorariam to the leaders in both contexts.
56
The relationship that has existed between the Western Pentecostals and their African brothers and sisters has been established on the basis of respect and cooperation. It is the various gifts and ministries of the individual leaders in each context that form the basis for association,
55
The same could be said of others including the Foursquare Gospel Church (estab- lished by the Nigerian Church in the 1970s). Apart from the fact that the head ofŽ ce’ s pre- fabricated building was donated from North America almost twenty years ago, it has always been under Ghanaian leadership. It receives no funding from America. The other Pentecostal body is United Pentecostal Church, a Unitarian group started by a splinter group from Anim’ s movement. For various reasons, the current General Superintendent, Rev. Jim Potras, a Canadian, oversees the work in other parts of the continent. It is clear that he personally receives support from Canada. What is not clear is the amount of support he raises 56 for his work in Ghana, especially for his small Bible school.
There may be occasional donations toward certain projects in Africa, such as Rev. Randy Morrison’ s (Speak the Word Church, Golden Valley, Minnesota) donation of books and computers to Central University College; to suggest, however, that the churches are “ internationally funded” is a different issue.
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cooperation, and networking, and not economic power.
57
The reason why the Pentecostal churches in Africa are more endowed Ž nancially than the mission churches is that stewardship as a principle is vigorously pursued. Giving therefore becomes a joyful, religious act. Whereas until recently the mainline Protestant churches in Ghana depended upon the payment of “ dues” by disenchanted members, donations from distant partner churches, and occasional “ harvests” to fund some of their local projects, the Pentecostals generate their funds from within through tithes and offer- ings of various types.
58
Using Ghana as a case study, I have argued elsewhere that the Pentecostal movement in Africa is an indigenous movement, in the sense that it is self-governing, self-theologizing, self-propagating, and self-Ž nancing.
59 On this, Professor Andrew Walls’ observation is signiŽ cant:
The view is sometimes expressed that the recent growth of Pentecostal forms of Christianity in many parts of Africa is a product of a new North American missionary presence backed by massive North American money. The stud- ies given at the Conference, both of the Pentecostal missions and the New Charismatic movements do not support this view. North American Pentecostal mission in Africa had only a modest impact until the indigenous Pentecostal movements began. African Pentecostalism is very much aware of its world links, reads the North American literature and invites North American preach- ers, but it is Ž nancially self-supporting. Pentecostalism is now a worldwide phenomenon and an aspect to be taken seriously by all students of Christianity; and the world Pentecostal network is now part of the wider setting in which African Christianity operates. Noted African Charismatic preachers are invited to North America, their books sell in the West.
60
He continues that:
The Pentecostals are notable for their video and cassette ministries, the elec- tronic guitars and public address systems at their great rallies, and general alertness to radio and television openings which has given them a special prominence in the African media. But this is not the product of huge infu- sions of foreign capital; it is the astute deployment of what is available in the commercial sector of large African cities. . . . And even the prosperity to which so many charismatic preachers point as a sign of the divine bless-
57
For instance, Ghana’ s Duncan Williams and Nigeria’ s Matthew Ashimolowo are invited as speakers at meetings organized by T. D. Jakes and Frank Murdock. Revs. Jakes and 58Murdock are also invited to speak at meetings organized by these men.
Now some of the Protestant churches, following the practice of the Pentecostals, have 59introduced the payment of tithes.
60
See Larbi, Pentecostalism , 307-15.
Andrew Walls, “ Africa and the Future of Christianity: A summary and a re ection,” in Christianity in Africa in the 1990s (Edinburgh: CAS, 1996), 146.
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ing is not an American dream of gold taps, but a modest and realizable prosperity that matches the ordinary aspirations of the urban people, and requires a lifestyle consonant with their fulŽ llment.
61
Current Challenges and Opportunities
With the contemporary demographic shift in the center of gravity of Christianity as a non-Western religion, the old “ Christendom-heathen- dom” mission paradigm, or “ superior-subordinate” relationship with “ churches on the Ž eld,” now belongs to the archives. With Dyrness and Engel I contend that
this new situation calls for a new kind of missions structure, which we have characterized as mutual exchange between multiple centers of in uence and varieties of gifts, and it demands a new holism that returns to the biblical call to bring the whole of life under the authority of Christ.
62
The new situation calls for the “ establishment of alliances that cross international borders so that kingdom resources may be combined and mobilized in the mutual centers of in uence to spread the kingdom to the whole world.”63
Pentecostals in general operate a kind of pneumatological ecumenism, distinct from the WCC penchant for ecclesial unity and less so from the evangelical penchant for doctrinal unity. For Pentecostals, those who have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit or are favorably disposed to the phenomenon and who subscribe to the fundamental doctrines of the evangelical Christian faith, no matter their denominational background, can share fellowship with no hindrance. The New Testament concept of fellowship has both economic and spiritual implications.
64
The kind of fellowship that should be developed among different centers of in uence suggests a two-way relationship between churches within the body, which expresses equality and at the same time a state of mutual dependency involving sharing, giving, and receiving the unique gifts possessed by dif- ferent members within the Pentecostal communion.
How does this apply to our present discussion on African Pentecostalism? I will propose four main areas, the details of which could be worked out later. The suggested areas of cooperation include “ capacity building,” “ institutional afŽ liations,” “ joint research projects,” and “ publications.”
61
62
Ibid., 146f.
James F. Engel and William A. Dyrness, Changing the Mind of Missions: Where Have 63We Gone Wrong? (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 79.
64
Ibid., 80.
See E. K. Larbi, God and the Poor (Accra: CPCS, 2001), 74f.
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1. Capacity building.
Due to the movement’ s past distrust for academic theological training, the Pentecostals in Africa (South Africa excepted) do not have the req- uisite qualiŽ ed personnel to run their institutions.
65
Consequently, this current state of affairs compels them, sometimes under difŽ cult circum- stances, to depend upon personnel from other traditions. This has not always augured well in advancing the mission and vision of some of these emergent Pentecostal institutions.
The Assemblies of God, USA and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada operate three tertiary-level training institutions on the continent. The American Assemblies of God operates the East Africa School of Theology, based in Nairobi, Kenya, and the West Africa Advanced School of Theology (WAAST), based in Togo. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada also operates Pan Africa Christian College in Nairobi. The East African School of Theology and Pan Africa Christian College offer a B.A. degree in Bible and Theology through the International Correspondence Institute (now called ICI University). The accreditation status of these two institutions with the Kenyan government is still uncertain. WAAST is jointly operated by the Assemblies of God Church in sixteen African countries and the U.S.A.66 It offers both B.A. and M.A. programs. This institution, like the others mentioned above, is still struggling with stafŽ ng and other logistics.
The only Pentecostal institutions on the continent offering research theological degrees are the Apostolic Faith Mission Theological Seminary in South Africa and the School of Theology and Missions of Central University College, Ghana. The latter institution is now developing its own core academic staff. At the moment its overwhelming dependence on staff from the mainline churches has sometimes created very serious problems. The location of the Apostolic Faith Mission Theological Seminary and its close association with the discredited institutions of apartheid places it in an isolated camp.
There are numerous other substandard, unaccredited Bible schools operating at varied degrees of proŽ ciency on the continent. For example, the three Bible training institutions owned by the Assemblies of God, Ghana (Southern Bible Institute, Northern Bible Institute, and Mid Ghana Bible Institute) are all in complete shambles. The leadership has not
65
South Africa is the only exception, where we have the Apostolic Faith Mission Theological 66 Seminary which is afŽ liated to Rand Afrikaans University.
The African countries represented are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. The staff here are mostly missionaries.
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focused attention on the development of these Bible colleges. Library and stafŽ ng are below expectations.
The Pentecostal leaders in Africa have yet to move academic training to the center of their agenda. In Ghana, for example, the only Pentecostal denomination that has moved high-level leadership training to the center of its agenda is the Church of Pentecost, the largest Protestant church in Ghana. Whatever high-level training has taken place so far within the movement in the country has come about through individual initiative. The churches too, have yet to develop an interest in academic research. The situation is virtually the same in other African countries.
Areas of cooperation here may include assisting in staff and faculty development through faculty exchanges, where professors from the West go to these institutions as visiting professors and teach without pay while local expenses in connection with food, accommodation, and transporta- tion are handled by the host institutions. The visiting professor can also use that opportunity to collect research data whilst sharing his experience with his colleagues in these new institutions. Institutions could also arrange to donate library books and other materials to assist in library develop- ment. Under this arrangement institutions at the receiving end may pay for the cost of shipment. Perhaps well-endowed Pentecostals in the West, following the example of the highly respected evangelical scholar and clergyman Reverend John Stott, could set up scholarship foundations to help in the training of Pentecostal leadership in the Two-Thirds World.
Until recently, certain scholarship agencies in the West limited their grants to scholars associated with the mainline churches. Pentecostals, considered marginal groups, were excluded. This has since changed, at least with those institutions that I am aware of. There are also certain foundations that do not like to sponsor students who choose to study in certain Pentecostal institutions in America. Some of the Pentecostal train- ing institutions in America, like other institutions associated with some of the mainline churches in the States, could, in this respect, establish scholarship funds to help train deserving candidates from Africa and elsewhere.
2. Institutional afŽ liations.
Under normal circumstances, Pentecostal institutions in Africa, such as the Central University College, would like to afŽ liate with Pentecostal institutions in the U.S.A. This has not been possible in the past, however, because some of the Pentecostal institutions such as Oral Roberts University have yet to develop the mechanism for this. The establishment of the Oral
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Roberts University Education Fellowship (ORUEF) has not been of much relevance to the aspirations of these emergent institutions in Africa. Institutional afŽ liations could bring about faculty, staff, and student ex- changes that would be of tremendous beneŽ t to both institutions, partic- ularly for the emergent ones.
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3. Joint Research Projects.
Although a lot of research has been done on the mission churches as well as on the African Instituted Churches (AICs), the Pentecostal churches are under-researched. Interest in research on the movement began basi- cally in the late 1980s. Even in this case the focus has been on the neo- Pentecostal churches to the total exclusion of their progenitors. The sheer volume of data here, which is both massive and diverse, offers challeng- ing and distinctive opportunities for research, at both the individual and the collective levels.
4. Publications.
There is a strong need for such publishing companies as Hendrickson, Zondervan, and others to consider setting up operation centers in some of the countries on the continent. Western publishers may also decide to team up with some local publishers. This will enable quality materials to be published on the continent at affordable prices and it will encourage local researchers to engage seriously in research and publication.
Conclusion
The implications of the demographic change in the center of gravity of Christianity from the Western world to the non-Western world, partic- ularly Africa, means, among other things, that Africa can no longer be marginalized, for without the African story, the story of Pentecostalism will not complete. The Pentecostal story is one of a global movement that has a common thread, the glossolalic factor, and one strong foundation, Christ, the Lord of Pentecost. The fabric of the movement is not com- plete unless and until all the bits and pieces, from all nations, kindred, tribes, and clans, are woven together. The implications of this may be both challenging and daunting, particularly when we re ect on Bediako’ s perspective that
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Messiah College’ s (Grantham, PA) association with Day Star University in Kenya has greatly helped these two institutions to train several people for the continent.
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it is possible that Africa’ s current economic problems may make really seri- ous external involvement too costly to contemplate; on the other hand, it is to be doubted that the continent’ s potential will make it easy actually to ignore her altogether. What is certain is that in one particular respect, and perhaps in others too, Africa will not be marginalized, and that is in the Ž eld of scholarship, and speciŽ cally Christian and religious scholarship.
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It is in matters of this nature that such words as ecumenism, alliances, networking, corporate solidarity, our common humanity, and the like assume fresh signiŽ cance.
SigniŽ cant to our discussion is David Barrett’ s lucid argument in his article “ Silver and Gold Have I None: Church of the Poor or Church of the Rich.” He argues that the Christian church should never lack resources to fund its projects globally. This is contingent, however, upon Christians in the Two-Thirds World and those in the af uent West, if they will com- mit themselves to giving. After providing very comprehensive data on global Christian Ž nancial resources, Barrett concludes:
There is plenty of money available worldwide to meet all reasonable Christian goals and obligations. There is entirely enough to undertake the effective prosecution of the Christian world mission. There is enough to undertake every type of research essential to the prosecution of the Church’ s life and mission. There is even enough to enable the Church of the Poor to break out of its vicious environment and bring out the rest of humanity with it. It is simply the question of vision, determination, challenge, mobilization, redistribution, management, internal control, and sharing. . . . The respon- sibility to act is not conŽ ned to Western Christians in their Church of the Rich. We have noted above that in the Church of the Poor, there is a com- bination of 20 million relatively af uent Christians on top of 195 million Christians in absolute poverty. This means that if these nouveaux-riches elites, including leadership hierarchies, redistributed their income and their wealth, they would solve much of the imbalance without outside interfer- ence or charity from the West.
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In my opinion, the relevance or otherwise of bodies like the Pentecostal World Conference and other local and regional ecumenical bodies will be
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Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Edinburgh/Maryknoll, NY: Edinburgh University Press/Orbis, 1995), 253. Some of the concerns expressed in this section led to the establishment of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies in Ghana. The objects for which the Centre was formed are three- fold, namely: (1) a research center for the study and documentation of the life and history of Pentecostalism in Ghana in relation to its past and immediate setting and to the historic Christian 69 faith; (2) a resource and advisory
David B. Barrett, “ Silver and Gold Have I None: Church of the Poor or Church of the Rich,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 7, no. 4 (October 1983): 151.
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judged on the basis of how they are able to function as catalysts to trans- late some of the foregoing suggestions and proposals into reality in our new world order.
We are a temple, the Spirit’ s dwelling place,
Formed in great weakness, a cup to hold God’ s grace;
We die alone, for on its own each member loses Ž re:
Yet joined in one the ame burns on to give warmth and light, and to inspire. (Bryan Jeffery Leech, Hymns for the Family of God , no. 546)
Nkwa!70 (Shalom!)
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Nkwa, is a Twi term for peace and tranquility, or life in all its fullness (see Larbi, Pentecostalism , 8-12). Twi is the language spoken by the Akan people of Ghana. The Akan form the largest ethnic group in Ghana.
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