Pentecostalism and Catholic Ecumenism In Developing Nations

West Africa as a Case Study for a Global Phenomenon

John Segun Odeyemi

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532676475
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Denominaciones cristianas

Through fieldwork research, this book seeks to explore Catholic ecumenism and the proliferation of Pentecostalism. Using data gathered from four West African countries, it additionally endeavors to investigate the sociopolitical impact of Pentecostalism, which is growing exponentially and is seen by many as the new face and phase of Christianity on the continent. This book puts a search light on the reality of West African Pentecostalism and its relationship with the older Christian traditions. It cogently asks if Pentecostalism is a cog in the wheels of the fragile ecumenical work among West African Christianity and wonders about its impact on the poor existing social, economic, and political situations common to most West African politics and governments. This book is for professionals and students of religion and theology, and is useful for the casual reader.

1

Report on Fieldwork, Research Findings, and Data Analysis

Introductory Remarks

In the spring of 2016, I applied to Missio Aachen in Germany for research funding to pursue a study of the impact of Pentecostalism on West Africa vis-à-vis the endemic poverty and political problems common in the region. This grant was given and I traveled to Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Nigeria where I interviewed a good number of Pentecostal pastors, assistant bishops, and church leaders—in one instance, the founding bishop of a faith-community of Pentecostal believers. I also distributed questionnaires to lay Pentecostal congregants. Like any other researcher, fieldwork can be quite challenging because of many unforeseen circumstances and situations. However, these encounters morphed into a learning curve, revealing subtle and usually un-nuanced aspect of Christian churches’ relationships. This fieldwork reveals clearly that Pentecostals and the older traditional Christian churches hold each other in mutual suspicion. As will be explicated later in this work, the factors are varied and exist on both side of the divide. This problem thus supports my initial intuition: to be aware that exploding numbers of Christians in Africa does not yet translate to “Uhuru,”1 and having identified it as such call attention to the problem.

The data collected come from two sources: questionnaires and oral interviews. (See glossary for both samples.) The questionnaires were designed for congregants and the oral interviews were originally designed to be conducted with the founders, also known in some instances as a General Overseer (GO). In some cases with the questionnaires, they were rejected because the pastors claimed that not many of the members of the church could singlehandedly answer the questions. In some other cases, questionnaires were accepted and put away, never to be distributed. And after several return visits over weeks, it became sadly clear that the questionnaires were never intended to be distributed. Out of six hundred questionnaires distributed across four West African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone, I got about 75 percent of the questionnaires back. The outcome of the questionnaires is based on about 450 responses from the four countries where the fieldwork was conducted. Data analysis revealed that about another 5–7 percent were “doctored” and could not be used in the final analysis. In the case of the oral interviews, as I already stated in the introduction to this work, I was fortunate to have a one-on-one interview with only one founding Pentecostal bishop. In every other case, I was able to interview an assistant bishop, a senior pastor, or an elder arranged to meet me. It was not always clear if the respondents were answering the questions from their own personal epistemic milieu, or they were stating their church’s beliefs.

Apparently, for a little unknown researcher like me to approach the ‘“big man of God” was more difficult than making an effort to climb Mount Everest in the winter, or the proverbial carmel passing through the eye of the needle. There were at least two instances where I was told that research of any kind will have to be approved by the GO himself, and the waiting period to hear back was indeterminate. There were occasions where I was given the merry-go-round—“Come today, come tomorrow.” After weeks, it became clear that the interview would never take place. In a particular situation, I was requested to translate my questionnaires from English to French which I did immediately through a paid translator. I submitted the questionnaires and well over two years after, not a single page has been returned. There seemed to me to be a fear, some kind of suspicion once I mentioned that I am a Catholic priest doing this research. Immediately the guard comes up, accessibility is denied. And it tells me more than the questionnaires or oral interviews that ecumenism in West Africa is only when we pray together on the World Day of Peace. Further than that, especially regarding Pentecostal relationships with the Catholic Church in the countries I visited in West Africa, ecumenical work is almost practically nonexistent.

The questionnaires for the congregants were designed for two hundred participants in each church. I was aiming for three different churches in each country, which would have brought the questionnaires to six hundred in each country. This would have given me a wider data range for analysis. It was only in Sierra Leone that all the copies given out were returned within the time I was physical on the ground in that country. And it was administered in two Pentecostal assemblies only. Sadly, it seemed some of the questionnaires were doctored as each copy, one after the other, recorded the same responses with the same pen and handwriting. The doctored questionnaires were then not usable for the data analysis. The delay in the returns from Ghana and Nigeria set this work back for another three months. In Ghana, despite concerted efforts by my host and guide, only 180 questionnaires made it back to me. In the Ivory Coast, with all the efforts made, including paying a translator to translate from English to French, nothing came of it. Not a single copy of my questionnaires was ever returned. I gave out four hundred questionnaires between two big Pentecostal churches. Thanks to the ingenuity of my data analyst, the entire samples could have been useless.

SUMMARY: Data Analysis of Questionnaires

Figure 1: Distribution of survey participants by country, sex, and age group

This graph explains gender and age participation. It gives an idea of the range of converts recording a little more responses by men than women all across the board.

Table 1: Number of participants grouped by their country.

• About 50 percent of the 358 respondents are either Nigerian or males, while 15 percent are from Ghana, and 35 percent from Sierra Leone.

• About 75 percent of all respondents are between the ages of 21–70 and are working class.

Figure 2: Response on religious affiliations from birth—At and before conversion, grouped by country and gender.

The intention here was to be able to locate at which point the Pentecostal wave of conversion hit West Africa. Interestingly, the result is inconclusive enough to be able to make this connection. Broadly, researchers locate Pentecostal expansion and growth between the mid-1980s and especially in the 1990s and onwards.

• About 51 percent and 54 perecent of male and females agree that they were born Pentecostals, respectively.

• About 48 percent and 46 percent of male and females disagree that they were converted to Pentecostalism.

• The observation followed the same trend irrespective of country of the respondent.

Figure 3: Response on religious affiliations from birth—At and before conversion, grouped by country and age group.

The data gathered here is credible since it locates people born into other older traditions but later converted to Pentecostlism, and those born into Pentecostalism within the logically possible time span and brackets.

• About 56 percent of respondent less than forty years of age agree that they are Pentecostals from birth, while about 73 percent aged forty-one and above disagree. This observation followed the same trend irrespective of country of the respondent.

• About 40 percent aged less than sixty and both males and females strongly agree that Pentecostalism represents the new path to Christ. While not more than 26 percent of all respondents disagree that Pentecostalism represent the new path to Christ.

Figure 4: Previous religious affiliations before conversion grouped by country, sex, and age group. (This follows the same pattern as found above in figure 3.)

• About 65 percent of respondents between the ages of thirty-one and seventy had some form of previous religious affiliations (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist etc.), while about 80 percent of people age thirty and below had no previous religious affliation before Pentecostalism. This is significant because it locates the point at which first generation Pentecostals were born.

• About 60 percent of both male and females had no previous religious affliation before Pentecostalism

• Nigeria had the least number of respondents by percentage that had previous religious affiliation (less than 25 percent for both male and female), while Ghana had highest percentage of respondents with previous religious affiliations (59 percent male and 70 percent female). The same trend was observed for each country by age group.

Figure 5: Traditional Christian ties grouped by country and sex.

The response to this question establishes that most Pentecostals belive in the truths of the older traditions. They know that older Christian churches are authentic places of religious encounter and that all Christians have the gift of salvation. This section is interesting because it sounds almost contrary to what is heard on radio, television and on social media by some Pentecostal preachers. It is a fact that most converts to Pentecostalism were already Christians of some persuation who then were encourage to join the Pentecostal movement. Initially, the claim is made that they are invited to a Christian and non-denominational prayer group. Gradually, and by cajoling and subtly demonizing other churches, they are made into converts.

• For both males and females, majority of the respondents disagree that traditional churches are outdated (60 percent while 26 percent agree); Pentecostalism is the only means of a loving and personal relationship with God (50 percent disagree while 23 percent agree); only Pentecostals will be saved (68 percent disagree while 19 percent agree); and denominations should merge into one church (45.7 percent disagree while 31.7 percent agree).

Figure 6: Traditional Christian ties grouped by country and age group. (This follows the same trend as the response above in figure 5.)

However, responses from Sierra Leone se...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Report on Fieldwork, Research Findings, and Data Analysis
• Chapter 2: Ecumenism
• Chapter 3: Pentecostalism
• Chapter 4: Catholic Ecumenism
• Chapter 5: Pentecostalism and Ecumenism in West Africa
• Chapter 6: Review and Recommendations
• Appendix A: Figures
• Appendix B: Sample Questionnaires I & II
• Bibliography