Abstract
Conradie argues in this chapter that the modern ecumenical movement and the Pentecostal movement emerged at more or less the same time, both with deep roots in African Christianity, the one primarily among the so-called mainline churches and the other from the margins of ecclesial and political power. The chapter explores the interplay between these two movements with reference to the six core ecumenical themes of unity, mission, doctrine, social responsibility, worship, and education. Its point of departure is ongoing research projects by Pentecostal students at the University of the Western Cape. Conradie argues that the tension between “ecclesiology” (faith and order) and “ethics” (the social agenda of the church) remains unresolved and is in need of further exploration.
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- 1.
This is the argument of Michael Welker in God the Spirit (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994), pp. 228–278.
- 2.
A discussion of these various waves of African Pentecostalism may be found in several major works, including Ogbu Kalu, African Pentecostalism: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
- 3.
Brian Herbert, “A conceptual analysis of abusive charismatic leadership,” MTh mini-thesis, University of the Western Cape (2008).
- 4.
Cedric Jansen, “Die AGS en armoede: Die plek van armoede in the multi-dimensionele missionêre taak van die kerk,” DPhil thesis, University of the Western Cape (2008).
- 5.
See also Ernst M. Conradie, “Missiology and soteriology: The power and limits of a multi-dimensional approach,” Missionalia 39:1/2 (2011), pp. 83–98.
- 6.
John Fischer, “A theology of possession in African Christian theologies,” MPhil thesis, University of the Western Cape (2008).
- 7.
Jeremiah Willemse, “The family in youth ministry,” MTh mini-thesis, University of the Western Cape (2008).
- 8.
Joshua Reichard, “Pentecost, process, and power: A critical comparison of concursus in operational Pentecostal-Charismatic Theology and philosophical process-relational theology,” PhD thesis, University of the Western Cape (2010).
- 9.
Robert Owuso Agyarko, “God’s unique priest: Christology within an Akan context,” PhD thesis, University of the Western Cape (2010).
- 10.
Andre Potgieter, “The Material Dimension of Religion: A case study of selected neo-Pentecostal Churches in Woodstock, Cape Town,” MTh mini-thesis, University of the Western Cape (2013).
- 11.
Benson Onyekachukwu Anofuechi, “Pentecostalism and the further fragmentation of Christianity: An investigation of the factors contributing to the establishment of new churches in Belhar since 2000,” MTh thesis, University of the Western Cape (2015).
- 12.
Keith Brooks, “‘Deliver us from evil’: A critical analysis of soteriological discourse in African Pentecostalism,” MPhil thesis, University of the Western Cape (2015).
- 13.
There is a corpus of ecumenical literature on ecclesiology and ethics but the most significant document is the volume edited by Thomas F. Best & Martin Robra (eds.), Ecclesiology and Ethics: Ecumenical Ethical Engagement, Moral Formation and the Nature of the Church (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1997). For a recent exploration of the relationship between ecclesiology and ethics from within the African context, see the volume of essays edited by Ernst M. Conradie, Hans S.A. Engdahl & Isabel A. Phiri (eds.), “Ecclesiology and Ethics: The State of Ecumenical Theology in Africa,” The Ecumenical Review 67:4 (2015), pp. 495–497, 498–663.
- 14.
For an overview, see Ernst M. Conradie, “The UWC Project on Ecclesiology and Ethics,” The Ecumenical Review 67:4 (2015), pp. 514–530.
- 15.
See Ernst M. Conradie (ed.), South African Perspectives on Notions and Forms of Ecumenicity (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2013).
- 16.
This brief denominational history suggests a certain logic but does not by itself offer a survey of different forms of African Christianity. There have been many attempts to capture such diversity.
- 17.
The papers from this conference were published in Ernst M. Conradie & John Klaasen (eds.), The Quest for Identity in so-called Mainline Churches in South Africa (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2014). See especially the leading essay by John W. de Gruchy, “The Quest for Identity in so-called ‘Mainline’ Churches in South Africa” (pp. 15–31) in which the term “mainline” is rightly questioned.
- 18.
The papers from this conference were unfortunately never published, except for my own paper on the relationship between the ecumenical movement and the Pentecostal movement regarding matters of Faith and Order, See Ernst M. Conradie, “Ecumenical Perspectives on Pentecostal Pneumatology,” Missionalia 43:1 (2015), pp. 63–81.
- 19.
It is telling that Jesse Mugambi, in a recent overview entitled “Ecumenism in African Christianity,” opted to focus on the “main” Protestant churches. In Elias Kifon Bongmba (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 232–251.
- 20.
No fewer than 23 manifestations of ecumenicity are described in my extensive essay entitled “Notions and Forms of Ecumenicity: Some South African Perspectives” in South African Perspectives on Notions and Forms of Ecumenicity (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2013), pp. 13–76. It is widely acknowledged that the six themes discussed here are core to the modern ecumenical movement since 1910.
- 21.
The best discussion of this debate remains David Bosch’s Witness to the world: The Christian Mission in Theological Perspective (Atlanta: John Knox, 1980). In Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991) Bosch subsequently regarded this debate between “evangelicals” and “ecumenical” as unfruitful and developed in response a theory of distinct missiological paradigms, including an emerging ecumenical paradigm. Nevertheless, the tension between these notions of mission remains prevalent. This was explored in a conference hosted in Livingstone, Zambia, on “Mission as evangelism or development?” See Musonda Bwalya, Betty Marlin & Charles Peter (eds.), Evangelism or Development? Interpreting Christian Mission in the 21st Century (Eldoret: Zapf Chancery, 2010).
- 22.
See Jooseop Keum (ed.) Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes with a Practical Guide (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2013).
- 23.
See again Conradie, “Missiology and soteriology” (2011), also David J. Bosch, “Salvation: A Missiological Perspective,” Ex Auditu 5, pp. 139–157.
- 24.
Mugambi, “Ecumenism in African Christianity,” p. 239.
- 25.
For this argument, see Ernst M. Conradie, “Only a Fully Trinitarian Theology will do, but where can that be Found?” Ned Geref Teologiese Tydskrif 54:1&2 (2013), pp. 1–9.
- 26.
See Ernst M. Conradie, Christianity and a Critique of Consumerism: A Survey of Six Points of Entry (Wellington: Bible Media, 2009); also “Globalisation, Consumerism and the Call for a status confessionis,” in Allan A. Boesak & Len Hansen (eds.), Globalisation Volume II: Global Crisis, Global Challenge, Global Faith—An Ongoing Response to the Accra Confession (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2010), pp. 53–76.
- 27.
The term worldview is widely discussed in the literature, especially within African theology. It is used in diverging ways though. For an overview, see Ernst M. Conradie, “Views on Worldviews: An Overview of the Use of the Term Worldview in Selected Theological Discourses,” Scriptura 113 (2014), pp. 1–12. See also Kalu, African Pentecostalism, 169–186.
- 28.
Grant Wacker, “Early Pentecostals and the Study of Popular Religious Movements in Modern America” in Michael Welker (ed.), The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism (Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 126–146 (133, 143).
- 29.
David J. Bosch, “In Search of Mission: Reflections on ‘Melbourne’ and ‘Pattaya’,” Missionalia 9:1 (1981), pp. 3–18.
- 30.
For a discussion, see Ernst M. Conradie & Miranda N. Pillay (eds.), Ecclesial Deform and Reform Movements in the South African Context (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2015).
- 31.
See the argument in Ernst M. Conradie, The Earth in God’s Economy: Creation, Salvation and Consummation in Ecological Perspective (Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2015), pp. 32–57.
- 32.
See World Council of Churches, Confessing the One Faith, Faith and Order Paper 153 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1991).
- 33.
There is a huge body of literature on the Belhar Confession. A classic early discussion is found in G. Daniel Cloete & Dirk J. Smit (eds.), A Moment of Truth: The Confession of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 1984).
- 34.
Anofuechi, “Pentecostalism and the further fragmentation of Christianity” MTh thesis, University of the Western Cape (2015).
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Conradie, E.M. (2018). The Pentecostal and Ecumenical Movements in the African Context. In: Afolayan, A., Yacob-Haliso, O., Falola, T. (eds) Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74911-2_7
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