Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora: The Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage

The rapid development of African Christianity and its offshoots in the Diaspora is rooted in colonial history and resistance to oppression, exploitation and slavery.Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora offers new resources for the interpretation and analysis of African Christian movements. It draws attention to a number of key issues, including the translatability of the Christian faith, the process of contextualization in various cultures, the place and role of indigenous agencies, the global impact of contemporary African Christian expressions, its influence on ecumenical relations and inter-religious encounters, and its way of shaping new religious identities and landscapes in response to power relations and artificial boundaries. Topics covered include the concept of diaspora, deconstructing colonial mission, conversion, African cosmologies, African retentions, female leadership dynamics, liberation theology, a new discourse around HIV/AIDS, transnational religious networks, pentecostal/charismatic movements, charismatic renewal within former mission churches, dynamics of reverse mission, outreach via cyberspace, specific studies on Anglican, Baptist, Adventist and Kimbanguist missions, and the need for intercultural and interdenominational bridge building.

The rapid development of African Christianity and its offshoots in the Diaspora is rooted in colonial history and resistance to oppression, exploitation and slavery.Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora offers new resources for the interpretation and analysis of African Christian movements. It draws attention to a number of key issues, including the translatability of the Christian faith, the process of contextualization in various cultures, the place and role of indigenous agencies, the global impact of contemporary African Christian expressions, its influence on ecumenical relations and inter-religious encounters, and its way of shaping new religious identities and landscapes in response to power relations and artificial boundaries. Topics covered include the concept of diaspora, deconstructing colonial mission, conversion, African cosmologies, African retentions, female leadership dynamics, liberation theology, a new discourse around HIV/AIDS, transnational religious networks, pentecostal/charismatic movements, charismatic renewal within former mission churches, dynamics of reverse mission, outreach via cyberspace, specific studies on Anglican, Baptist, Adventist and Kimbanguist missions, and the need for intercultural and interdenominational bridge building.

List of Contributors \ Prologue Dominique Kounkou \ Introduction Afe Adogame, Roswith Gerloff and Klaus Hock \ Part I: Historical Developments \ 1. Political or Spiritual Partition: The Impact of the 1884/85 Berlin Conference on Christian Missions in Africa Olayemi Akinwumi \ 2. Ecclesiastical Cartography and the Invisible Continent Jonathan Bonk \ 3. Colonization in Africa: The Local and Global Implications for Christianity in Contemporary Nigeria Deji Ayegboyin \ 4. The Role of the Churches in the Struggle for Liberation in Southern Africa: A Thematic Survey Ezra Chitando \ 5. Deconstructing Colonial Mission - New Missiological Perspectives in African Christianity Abraham Akrong \ 6. Baptists in Africa: A Missionary Church in Action Richard Pierard \ 7. The Empire Fights Back - The Invention of African Anglicanism Kevin Ward \ 8. Imperial War-Zones and Frontiers of Conversion Andreas Heuser \ Part II: Gender Perspective \ 9. Paradigmatic Shift: Reconstruction of Female Leadership Roles in the New Generation Churches in South Western Nigeria Bolaji Bateye \ 10. From Holy Ground to Virtual Reality: Aladura Gender Practices in Cyberspace - An African Diaspora Perspective Deidre Helen Crumbley \ 11. Petticoat Partition or Faith-full Friendship? Motives and Outcomes of British Women's Immigration to Africa from the Scramble to the Present Deborah Gaitskell \ 12. HIV/AIDS Discourse and the Quest for a Rebirth in Africa: A Theological Perspective, Nico Botha \ Part III: Charismatic/Pentecostal Perspectives \ 13. Trans-National Religious Networks and Indigenous Pentecostal Missionary Enterprises in the West African Coastal Region Matthews Ojo \ 14. The Role of Charismatic Christianity in Reshaping the Religious Scene in Africa: The Case of Kenya Philomena Njeri Mwaura \ 15. ‘I Will Put My Breath in You, and You Will Come to Life': Charismatic Renewal in Ghanaian Mainline Churches and its Implications for African ‘Diasporean' Christianity J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu \ 16. Churches of the Spirit: The Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement and Africa's Contribution to the Renewal of Christianity Roswith Gerloff \ 17. Elements of African Religious Spiritual Practices in African American Worship: Resounding Practical Theological Implications Antipas L. Harris \ Part IV: Diasporic Perspectives \ 18. Religion on the Move: Transcultural Perspectives. Discourses on Diaspora Religion between Category Formation and the Quest for Religious Identity Klaus Hock \ 19. Who do they think they are? Mental Images and the Unfolding of an African Diaspora in Germany Afe Adogame \ 20. ‘. . . the land which the LORD your God giveth you': Two churches founded by African migrants in Oststadt, Germany Evangelos Kariagannis and Nina Glick Schiller \ 21. Colonial Politicization of Religion: Residual Effects on the Ministry of African-led Churches in Britain Dapo Asaju \ 22. The Implication of Mission from a Black Seventh-day Adventist Perspective, with reference to Britain, the Caribbean and Africa Herbert Griffiths \ 23. Kimbaguism as a Migrants' Religion in Europe Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot \ 24. The Position of African Christians in the Netherlands Alle G. Hoekema \ 25. An Ecumenical Challenge at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Koinonia vs. Convivence Benjamin Simon \ 26. The ‘Program for Cooperation between German and Foreign Language Churches' and African Churches in the Rhein-Ruhr-Region - Developments from 1999 Ursula Harfst \ Index