Encountering African Pentecostalism: Methodologies and Evolving Tendencies

Abstract

African Pentecostal Christianity is one of the fastest-growing movements among other Christian traditions in the world. This makes African Pentecostal Christianity a major contributor to the growth of global Pentecostalism and world Christianity. However, it is submitted that the study of African Pentecostalism has been dominated by scholars in the Global North. In South Africa, while many Western scholars have taken an interest in African Pentecostalism, only a few indigenous scholars have come up in terms of conducting studies in the same field. It is only in the last few decades that we see a growing interest in studying new developments within South African Pentecostalism. As one of the emerging scholars in South Africa with a proven record of research outputs on African Pentecostalism, the aim and objective here is to share insights and experiences of conducting research in the field. Therefore, this chapter is a reflection of how I study African Pentecostalism, the approaches, and the main challenges.