Abstract
This article reflects the findings of a study that was conducted by NOVA (a research organization for the alleviation of poverty) for CDE (the Centre of Development and Enterprise) in 2004 with regard to the potential contribution of Pentecostalism to the socio-economical well-being of people who are effected by the forces of modernization and urbanisation in South Africa. The case study was conducted among Pentecostal congregations in Witbank with special focus on congregations who serve people who have recently moved from the rural areas to Witbank. We made the interesting discovery that Pentecostal congregations do not serve as a new spiritual and social home for these new-comers by accident, but because their are underlying cultural similarities between Pentecostalism and Traditional African Culture. These similarities pertain to cosmology, social structure, personhood, morality and the value of esthetical experience. Because of these similarities Pentecostal communities create a context in which people who move from the rural areas to the city may feel at home and in which they are protected from the strange and confusing environment that is the city.
Highlights
This article reflects the findings of a study that was conducted by NOVA for CDE in 2004 with regard to the potential contribution of Pentecostalism to the socioeconomical well-being of people who are effected by the forces of modernization and urbanisation in South Africa
The case study was conducted among Pentecostal congregations in Witbank with special focus on congregations who serve people who have recently moved from the rural areas to Witbank
We made the interesting discovery that Pentecostal congregations do not serve as a new spiritual and social home for these new-comers by accident, but because their are underlying cultural similarities between Pentecostalism and Traditional African Culture
Summary
Our first step was to compare the socio-economical contexts of the various congregations. The doctor’s remark implied that black people were moving away from the Reformed denomination towards a denomination which is more accommodating towards African culture This may explain why people who move to Witbank from the rural areas rather find a home in Pentecostal congregations than in the URC. The practice of religious rituals to ensure success and the tendency to help needy people by encouraging them to join your group, was limited to the black Pentecostal congregations we investigated. This phenomenon placed some serious doubts in our minds with regard to the idea that the Pentecostal congregations we studied were influenced by African culture. A persistent prominence of African ideas among white Pentecostals would point in the direction that Pentecostalism was inherently continuous with African culture
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