Towards A History Of The Charismatic Churches In Post-Colonial Zambia

Abstract

This chapter stimulates scholarship on the development of the Charismatic movement in Zambia and is organized around two particular issues, the reasons that are contributing to the growth of Charismatic churches and the moot question of their leaders' involvement in the political affairs of the country. It focuses on the assumption that the period from the 1970s to the present forms a distinct phase in Zambia's religious history. While there is a wealth of scholarly literature on the major mainline or classical churches in Zambia, there has hardly been a satisfactory historical treatment of the Charismatic movement. Zambia's Christianity has been described in terms of the three 'mother bodies' which are deemed to represent ordinary Christians in public matters of the country. The period from 1970 to 1980 was a decade of Christian growth in the country. By 1980, Zambian Christians constituted 72% of the country's population. Keywords: Charismatic churches; Charismatic movement; post-colonial Zambia

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