Mega-costalism, socialising, and prosperity gospel in the South African context

Abstract

There is a rising phenomenon of mega Pentecostal churches in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent of Africa, which is conceptualised here as mega-costalism. The phenomenon refers to churches with mega-church buildings that can attract large crowds in church attendance. Previous studies have focused on the prosperity gospel and the socialising aspect of membership in mega Pentecostal churches. This literature review on the mega Pentecostal churches has some economic, sociological, and theological implications. Economically, the larger the church is the more income in tithes and offerings can be received. Sociologically, the church creates an opportunity for the sharing of common interests, socialising, and interaction of the church members with one another. However, theologically (particularly in the discipline of missiology), there is a need to research how megachurches can orientate their members on discipleship-making, with some implications for fulfilling the mission of God. To fill this gap, this article uses missional ecclesial imagination as a theoretical framework, to argue that the primary purpose of the church goes beyond the aspect of socialising among members and a prosperity gospel, towards the fulfilment of the mission of God. Therefore, the missional ecclesial imagination is relevant for the orientation of megachurches towards the mission of God. Data were collected by reviewing the literature on the mega Pentecostal churches in Africa, the missional ecclesial imagination, the prosperity gospel, and the socialising among church members.

Contribution: This article makes a unique contribution to the research on mega Pentecostal churches by proposing a missional ecclesial imagination, which is relevant for the church’s orientation towards discipleship-making, with some implications on the mission of God.