"Ask and you shall be given": Pentecostalism and the economic crisis in Cameroon
Akoko, R.M.
Citation
Akoko, R. M. (2007, June 26). "Ask and you shall be given": Pentecostalism and the
economic crisis in Cameroon. African studies collection. African Studies Centre. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/12290
Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version
License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden
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Summary
“Ask and you shall be given”: Pentecostalism and
the economic crisis in Cameroon
Since the mid eighties, Cameroon has been hit by a protracted economic crisis, leading to widespread unemployment and severe poverty. Surprisingly, the existing literature on this period seems to have completely overlooked the role of a growing number of Pentecostal churches, especially in Anglophone Cameroon, which appear to offer an attractive message of salvation to the suffering masses.
These churches have gradually shifted their doctrine from asceticism to a gospel of prosperity. The proliferation of Pentecostalism has also had an enormous impact on the mainline churches. One can observe not only a continuous defection of their members to Pentecostal groups, but also a gradual pentecostalization of these churches. Another remarkable development in the country since 1990 has been increasing pressure on the government to introduce genuine democratic reforms. Civil society organizations in Cameroon, including the churches, tend to believe that bad governance is at the root of the economic crisis in the country. For this reason, they call for the introduction of democratic institutions as a necessary precondition for overcoming the economic crisis.
Against this background of a rapid growth of Pentecostal churches during the economic crisis, my study aimed at providing answers to the following questions:
1) What answer has Pentecostalism provided to the material predicaments of Cameroonians?
More in particular: how does the new gospel of accumulation and prosperity relate to these everyday predicaments?
2) What accounts for the proliferation of Pentecostal groupings and why is there continuous defection of members of the mainline churches to such Pentecostal groups in the country?
3) What factor(s) can account for the increasing pentecostalization of the mainline Churches?
4) How do the Pentecostal churches relate to the democratization impasse in Cameroon?
Taking into consideration the difficulties of covering the entire country, the study was carried out in Southwest Cameroon between 2001 and 2006. Field-
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work was carried out in three phases: phase one (October 2001-July 2002), phase two (April 2003-March 2004), phase three (July 2004-June 2006).
Starting from the objectives of the study, I distinguished four major subjects on which I had to collect data. These were Pentecostalism, economic crisis, pentecostalization of mainline Christian churches, and democratization. Because of the specificity of each problem, I used a variety of anthropological methods, including participant observation, interviews, newspaper sources, government documents, and historical and scholarly sources.
I have tried to find answers to my main questions in five different but related studies. These studies have already been published elsewhere, but have been reproduced in this book. However, I have expanded some of these studies by adding some more case studies with a view to further enrich the texts, especially in ethnographical respect.
The study comprises six chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction which starts explaining the central theme in this book: the shift in Pentecostalism from asceticism to accumulation. It then briefly discusses the role of Pentecostalism during the economic crisis and political liberalization and introduces the main questions in this book. Subsequently, it provides a critical review of the works of some renowned scholars of Pentecostalism in Africa and shows the relevance of my own contribution to the general debate on the role of Pentecostalism on the African continent. For instance, my own work on the political role of Pentecostal churches comes to conclusions that seem to differ from those of other scholars. Studies by Maxwell on Zimbabwe and Gifford on Zambia claim that Pentecostal churches tend to support the ruling regimes, while studies by Marshall-Fratani on Nigeria and Van Dijk on Ghana rather come to the opposite conclusion: Pentecostal churches tend to be critical of the ruling regimes. In sharp contrast to these studies, I show that most Pentecostal churches in Cameroon simply refuse getting involved in political issues and debates. This is all the more striking because the Cameroonian mainline churches have been making their voices clear on political issues through pastoral letters, sermons and press interviews. The chapter ends up with outlining the contents of the book and describing the methods used to collect the data.
Chapter 2 sets out to explain the appeal of the Pentecostal economic message evidenced by its rapid spread and the growing conversion of members of the mainline churches to Pentecostal beliefs. It argues that the economic crisis affecting the country has played a major role in this development. It shows that new Pentecostal groups are propagating a gospel of prosperity as opposed to the ascetic doctrine of the mainline Pentecostal groups. This message tends to be perceived by a growing number of believers as a solution to their problems during the economic crisis. Evidence is provided that the mainline Pentecostal
groups are also increasingly inclined to adopt the gospel of prosperity. The chapter also shows that many people feel attracted to the Pentecostal churches because of the whole range of economic opportunities they offer during the economic crisis. Some Pentecostal churches have created large projects and establishments such as schools, hospitals and banks. They offer employment opportunities to church members only. That is why many unemployed people tend to join these churches.
Chapter 3 narrows this argument to one specific Pentecostal church. It uses Full Gospel Mission as an example to show that mainline Pentecostal churches are gradually moving away from asceticism to the prosperity gospel not only to attract more people but also to raise more money for their activities. Membership in this group is shown to have increased within the last decade and the church is expanding to all parts of the country and beyond. Switching to a new doctrinal position is a crucial decision in the life of a church since such a switch can either unite or divide it. My study demonstrates that this transition has actually occurred smoothly. The church originally adhered to asceticism as an economic message, but it has gradually adopted the prosperity gospel during the period of the economic crisis in Cameroon. This is manifest in its growing involvement in business ventures so as to raise money for its activities. Apart from providing funds to the church, these businesses have created employment opportunities to the unemployed. It encourages its members to engage in business ventures, claiming that the secret of business success lies in heeding to the gospel of prosperity. Despite this claim, my research clearly showed that not all aspirant businessmen did get rich. Those who failed in their entrepreneurial activities usually argued that the ‘devil’ was blocking their way to success. They stressed that the ‘devil’ made people suffer so that they turn away from God and follow him. Despite their current poverty, however, they still remained optimistic that they would eventually succeed, trusting that God will rescue his children from the hands of the ‘devil’.
Chapter 4 examines whether the reactions to the economic crisis of the Pentecostal churches in general and the Full Gospel Mission in particular are different from that of the mainline churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church.. My study paid particular attention to the question why the two churches have become even more pre-occupied during the economic crisis with reducing poverty among its members. Given that both churches are becoming self- financing, contributions from members make up a sizeable source of their income. Unfortunately, many people found it hard to provide financial support to the churches during the economic crisis. This has created a reciprocal relationship in which the churches try to alleviate poverty among their members while the latter are supposed to provide the necessary finances for the running of
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their churches. For this purpose, each church has created various enterprises, which offer employment to its members. In addition, each church has adopted training projects that help their members to become self-employed during the economic crisis. For instance, the chapter shows that the women’s departments of each church are engaged in training women for self-employment during the current economic recession.
Chapter 5 highlights the current process of pentecostalization of the mainline churches. The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) case is of particular interest because pentecostalization of this church seems to come from below. The chapter attempts to answer the following questions: why were PCC members eager to imitate Pentecostalism and why did the church authorities recently open up to Pentecostal practices after having resisted earlier attempts of pentecostalization. Two factors seem to be of central importance to explain the process of pentecostalization of mainline churches. The first is the influence of Nigerian Pentecostalism. Most of the Pentecostal groups in Cameroon, particularly in the Anglophone region, originate from Nigeria. This makes the Pentecostal scene in this part of Cameroon almost a replica of what happens in Nigeria. A second factor is that the economic crisis has made medical healthcare very expensive for the great majority of Cameroonians, forcing some of them to turn to spiritual healing. Rather than turning to Pentecostal groups, members of mainline churches prefer to adopt pentecostal healing methods. My main conclusion in this chapter is that the authorities of the church have learnt from the past to tolerate a certain measure of pentecostalization from below so as to avoid further defection to Pentecostal groups.
Chapter 6 examines the roles played by mainline Christianity and Pentecostal groups in the ongoing democratization process in Cameroon. Taking the examples of the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, it shows that these mainline churches have been constantly fighting for the introduction of democratic institutions. Government officials have severely condemned their repeated criticisms of the corrupt and authoritarian regime as being unpatriotic. Little wonder that relations between the state and these churches became strained. Like many other agents of civil society in Cameroon, the church has been taking advantage of recent political and social liberalization to take a stand on important national issues. In sharp contrast to Pentecostal churches in some other parts of Africa, Pentecostal groups in Cameroon appear to have played only a minor role in the political liberalization process in the country.