Africa

Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity in Africa is over a hundred years old. Today the continent has one of the fastest growing and diverse forms of Pentecostalism in the world. Megachurches in West Africa, segregated churches in South Africa and enormous gatherings of hundreds of thousands of people are features of this phenomenon, but essentially some of the most fascinating features include Pentecostalism's ability to adapt to different contexts and its relationship with African governments. Pentecostalism is big business in Africa. Statistics are notoriously difficult to calculate and verify, and even more so in Africa. But the estimates we have for Christian affiliation at the beginning of the twenty-first century reveal some amazing trends that any casual observer of Christianity in Africa will not find so incredible. According to one estimate, 11% of Africa’s population (including the predominantly Muslim north) was ‘Charismatic’ in 2000. Even if this figure is only roughly approximate, the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements undoubtedly are fast becoming dominant forms of Christianity on the continent. This has been developing for over a century and Africa now has its own distinct contribution to make to the shape of global Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.

Some prominent expressions of Christianity in the sub-Sahara may be called ‘African Pentecostal’ churches because of a particular emphasis that is common to churches that would otherwise be quite different. Divergent African churches that emphasize the working of the Spirit in the church, particularly with ecstatic phenomena like prophecy and speaking in tongues, healing and exorcism have been characteristic of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches throughout the world, and are widespread throughout Africa across a great variety of Christian churches. These include thousands of African initiated churches (AICs) known collectively as ‘prophet-healing’, ‘Spirit’ or ‘spiritual’ churches. Classical Pentecostals have been operating in Africa since 1907, when the first missionaries from Azusa Street arrived in Liberia and Angola.