Overview

Perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, Africa has generated unique expressions of Christianity that have, in their rapid development, overtaken older forms of Christianity represented by historic missionary efforts. Similarly, African Christianity has largely displayed its rootedness in its social and cultural context. The story of Pentecostal movements in urban Kenya captures both remarkable trends. Individual accounts of churches and their leaders shed light on rich and diverse commonalities among generations of Kenya's Christian communities. Exploring the movements' religious visions in urban Africa, A Spirit of Revitalization: Urban Pentecostalism in Kenya highlights antecedent movements set against their historical, social, economic, and political contexts. Kyama Mugambi examines how, in their translation of the Gospel, innovative leaders synthesized new expressions of faith from elements of their historical and contemporary contexts. The sum of their experiences historically charts the remarkable journey of innovation, curation, and revision that attends to the process of translation and conversion in Christian history. While outlining a century of successive renewal movements in Kenya between 1920 and 2020, the study also delves into features of recent urban Pentecostal churches. Readers will find a thorough historical treatment of themes such as church structures, corporate vision, Christian formation, and theological education. The longitudinal and comparative analysis shows how these Pentecostal approaches to orality, kinship, and integrated spirituality inform Kenyans' reimagination of Christianity.

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9781481313551

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Reviews

... an outstanding book that provides a rich, engaging and compelling account of urban Pentecostalism in Kenya. --Samuel K. Bussey Exchange Journal of Contemporary Christianities in Context ...An important and necessary addition to the study of world Christianity. --Aaron Dunlop Evangelical Quarterly Written with all the strengths of an in- sider who can speak to transnational theoretical debates, A Spirit of Revitalization is rich in ground-level detail while remaining conversant in current interventions from Europe, the Americas, and elsewhere in Africa.... A Spirit of Revitalization is imperative reading both for scholars of African religion and world Christianity. --Paul G. Grant H-Net Reviews

Written with all the strengths of an in- sider who can speak to transnational theoretical debates, A Spirit of Revitalization is rich in ground-level detail while remaining conversant in current interventions from Europe, the Americas, and elsewhere in Africa.... A Spirit of Revitalization is imperative reading both for scholars of African religion and world Christianity. --Paul G. Grant H-Net Reviews

...An important and necessary addition to the study of world Christianity. --Aaron Dunlop Evangelical Quarterly Written with all the strengths of an in- sider who can speak to transnational theoretical debates, A Spirit of Revitalization is rich in ground-level detail while remaining conversant in current interventions from Europe, the Americas, and elsewhere in Africa.... A Spirit of Revitalization is imperative reading both for scholars of African religion and world Christianity. --Paul G. Grant H-Net Reviews

Author Information

Kyama M. Mugambi is Associate Researcher in the Centre for World Christianity at Africa International University.

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