In author and Penn State Religious Scholar Philip Jenkins' bestsellers The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (2002) and The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (2008) lucidly explained how the center of global Christianity has now shifted from the West (Europe & North America) to the Global South (formerly known as the "Third World" or "Developing World"). The implications of this seismic shift are huge and are now beginning to be felt in the secular West. In the 17th to the 20th centuries Christian missions activity was a one-way street - missionaries from Europe and North America evangelized in the Developing World but now that one-way street has shifted to a two-way one. The West is still sending out missionaries but, increasingly, the Global South is sending waves of missionaries in order to evangelize a post-Christian, secular West.
For example in Kiev, Ukraine, a Nigerian-based Pentecostal church has a church of 30,000 people - including the city's mayor. The pastor is Nigerian and the church is composed predominately of Ukrainians. Four of the ten largest megachurches in London are run by Africans. Of the many new African denominations evangelizing the West, notes Jenkins, none are as organized or dedicated as the R.C.C.C. - the Redeemed Christian Church of God. In fact, says Jenkins, "I always cite the R.C.C.C. as the best example of a rising church that, probably by the time I die [Jenkins is 57] , is going to be a global denomination. It really is pushing so hard in all possible directions."
The R.C.C.C. was formed in Nigeria in 1952 and has since grown and expanded to more than 30 countries. The New York Times Magazine has a fascinating article on the R.C.C.C. in their latest issue ("Mission From Africa").
Previous entries on GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY: New Voices at the Table series are here: 01, 02 and 03.
I really like this. Let those fervent believers rush in with Holy Spirit power and breathe new life into the jaded West.
Carey Rowland, http://www.careyrowland.com
Posted by: carey_rowland | 2009.04.29 at 02:22 PM