African Pentecostal spirituality and civic engagement: the case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Britain
African Pentecostal churches are becoming increasingly important in Britain where they are growing at a time when mainstream Christianity is in decline. Originally functioning as social and religious support networks for African migrants, their growth has been stimulated by a conscious
missionary agenda. Recently, there has been a shift towards a more holistic understanding of mission in some African churches, which includes social ministry and political action. The focus of this article is the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a transnational Nigerian Pentecostal
denomination with close to 400 congregations in Britain. It suggests that the RCCG's social orientation has been influenced by its internal theology, its Pentecostal experience and its external social context. It explores the way it has articulated and implemented its social vision in a multicultural
and fragmented society.
Keywords: African Pentecostals; Nigeria; civic engagement; migrant churches; politics; social engagement
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Publication date: 01 December 2009
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content