Patriarchy Reinvented? ‘Spiritual Parenting’ within African Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe

Zorodzai Dube

doi:10.4102/ve.v39i1.1777

Abstract

How do we explain the emergency of ‘spiritual parenting’ concept within African Pentecostal churches especially in urban Zimbabwe? From ethnographic studies done in Harare, Zimbabwe, these seem to usurp the traditional role of motherhood and fatherhood of counselling, instructing, protecting, guidance and all the functions of parenthood. This study explains the emergence of spiritual parenting as a development plausibly explainable through social variables such as i) the disintegration of traditional patriarchal values due to growing urbanisation and ii) socio-economic insecurities that seem to produce alternative kinship ties. Taking a constructive postmodern approach, the concept of spiritual parenting is plausibly explained as providing alternative ‘fatherhood’ spaces, thus implicitly re-invent traditional patriarchal models under the guise of Christian spiritualities. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Using social scientific approaches, the study explains the emergence of particular spiritualties in modern African Christianity, viewing such spiritualties as influenced by particular explanatory social variables. It argues that new spiritualties and practices within African Pentecostalism may be plausibly explained vis-à-vis from particular cultural realities.

Highlights

A new phenomenon is rising within African Pentecostalism – the idea of ‘spiritual parenting’
How do we explain the proliferation of the practice of ‘spiritual parenting’ and its concomitant advantages and disadvantages mostly within urban Zimbabwe? The question is: What explanatory variables may explain such a development? As Abgu Kalu and Paul Gifford suggest, African Pentecostal church is a form of Christianity whose teaching includes African traditional religion and African Indigenous Churches (AICs) teachings and worldviews
I take a constructive postmodernism approach which focuses on socio-political changes and adaptations to change at a micro and macro level. This approach pays attention to alternatives emerging alongside the social dominant narratives (Dube 2016:1; Hebdige 1979:10). This approach concerning this study raises the following questions: what are the social and economic changes to traditional family patterns that happen in urban settings? Because of changing family patterns and economic opportunities, what strategies are employed by the African Pentecostal churches in urban settings to provide alterative survival mechanisms? Building on this approach, I start from the premise that African Pentecostalism is traceable from particular sociological questions that coincided with socio-political events in Zimbabwe since 2000

Summary

Introduction

A new phenomenon is rising within African Pentecostalism – the idea of ‘spiritual parenting’. The role of mother or Auntie whose role is recast by the ‘spiritual mother’ within the African Pentecostal churches is important. This approach concerning this study raises the following questions: what are the social and economic changes to traditional family patterns that happen in urban settings?

Results

Conclusion