HDR Candidate: Onyait, Samuel


Title of Project Mission as Transformation: An Analysis of the Role of Pentecostal Churches in Engendering Holistic transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa with Reference to Kenya and Uganda from 1980 to 2019
Course of Study Doctor of Philosophy
Language of Instruction English
Abstract

Pentecostalism has since the 1980s become a defining feature in the religious landscape of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and recent discourse sites an emerging influence in the socio-economic and political spheres as well.  Further analysis however reveals that the movement’s current approach to social engagement is more focused on charity and the transformation of individual agency than on the transformation of social structures. Meanwhile, the quest for progress and well-being continues to elude many in SSA in general and Kenya and Uganda in particular as poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice, conflicts and a high disease burden (especially the HIV/Aids pandemic) remain a challenge. These contextual realities constitute a persistent malaise, thus raising questions on the transformative potential of Pentecostalism in the contexts of Kenya and Uganda. Therefore, this study will provide an exhaustive summary of literature on how Pentecostal approaches to social engagement can best ensure outcomes that engender transformation that is both individual and social within these contexts.   It will re-conceptualise a new, multi-disciplinary framework for the future transformative role of Pentecostal churches. It will also identify areas for further research given that Pentecostalism as a field of research is still new.