Negotiating the integration strategies and the transnational statuses of Ghanaian-led Pentecostal Churches in Britain

Appiah, Bernard Otopah (2015). Negotiating the integration strategies and the transnational statuses of Ghanaian-led Pentecostal Churches in Britain. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Christianity has seen phenomenal growth in sub-Saharan Africa and African churches in the West have also grown rapidly in the last few decades. The majority of members in these churches in the West are migrants and their children. In Britain, these migrant churches represent a vibrant form of Christianity with regard to their visibility and prominence. Considering the challenges these migrants’ churches face in their efforts to evangelise the host community, most migrant members use the churches as the platform for their own expression of personhood, faith and mission.

Internal strategies are designed and implemented by the churches to assist members to integrate into the wider society. These strategies otherwise referred to as micro-integration strategies concentrate on preparing the members for living in the communities they reside in. It is argued that these internal strategies determine the level of contextualisation of beliefs and praxis in the host communities, thus creating a new identity that is a combination of Ghanaian and British values. The study has explored how the internal integration strategies and the contextualisation of the Ghanaian migrants’ faith determine the extent to which the churches assume a transnational status in their outlook and the expression of their faith.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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