Intergenerational Missiology: An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective

By Christian Tsekpoe

After a century of Pentecostal-Charismatic mission in Africa, one of the major challenges faced by many of its denominations is how to remain contextually relevant and survive beyond the original generation without losing their authenticity and identity. This book explores the mission models of Apostle James McKeown, a British Pentecostal missionary and founder of the largest Pentecostal Church in Ghana - the Church of Pentecost. It argues that mission theology should be reconsidered for each generation because differences in generational cultures, just like geographical cultures, impinge on Christian mission. The book proposes an ‘Intergenerational Mission Approach’ (IGMA) as a missiological imperative for African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Regnum Books International
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781914454417

Christian Tsekpoe

Christian Tsekpoe holds PhD (Theology and Mission) from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK. He is the Director of Postgraduate Studies and Research as well as the Head of Mission Department at the Pentecost University, Accra, Ghana. He also serves as the national chairman for the Home and Urban Missions Committee of the Church of Pentecost, where he serves as an ordained minister. His research interests include Mission in Pentecostal-Charismatic settings, intergenerational missions, witchcraft and demonology in Africa.

Book preview

It is refreshing to see such a scholarly book written about African Pentecostalism and its missiology by an African insider. In this case a Ghanaian scholar and practitioner, Christian Tsekpoe, analyses the mission theology and practices of the remarkable James McKeown, founder of the largest Pentecostal church in Ghana, the Church of Pentecost, who turned his mission into an African-led church. Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, this fine study is essential reading for those wanting to understand the growth of African Pentecostalism more completely.

Allan H Anderson, Emeritus Professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies, University of Birmingham, England

Christian mission has focused its efforts to the geographical expansion of the faith, which made Christianity the largest global religion. Recently, attention is turned to the intergenerational transmission of the faith, which would ensure the sustained growth of the faith. Christian Tsekpoe broke a fresh ground proposing building blocks of the successful multigenerational traditioning of a vibrant spiritual and theological legacy by using his own Church of Pentecost.

Rev Professor Wonsuk Ma, Distinguished Professor of Global Christianity, College of Theology & Ministry, Oral Roberts University

This excellent book does many things at once. he mixture between missiological theory and history is well integrated so that the book can be read either as an original analysis of missiology or of the Church of Pentecost's own history in Ghana. Added to this, there is discussion of spiritual gifts and of the way intergenerational issues can be wisely resolved. Christian Tsekpoe is to be congratulated on making a valuable contribution to the important literature on African Christianity.

Emeritus Professor William K Kay, Institute for Pentecostal Theology, Bangor University

Missiology has written much about contextualization of the Gospel to make the message meaningful to different cultures and languages. Less has been written about how the Gospel can be relevant to the younger generation in the growing churches in Africa. The Church of Pentecost in Ghana has seen amazing growth and kept its cultural roots whilst remaining firmly Biblical. Africa is however changing rapidly as globalization impacts society and especially the young. How may the increasing intergenerational gap be bridged? How may the experience of the older generation benefit the young, and the young build on this to produce dynamic Christian communities relevant for Africa and the world in the twenty-first century? This is the heart-cry of this book. A highly relevant book for growing churches in Africa.

Professor David Burnett OBE, Reading, United Kingdom

Conflicts between older and younger generations over what are ‘proper’ and appropriate modes in worship, ministry and mission threaten the continuity and growth of many churches. Tsekpoe addresses this challenge in his own large denomination, the Church of Pentecost in Ghana.

By examining the mission models of the church’s founder, James McKeown, which both generations refer to as authoritative, he develops a missional approach – the ‘Intergenerational Mission Approach - that can satisfy them both. This is a form of contextualization that validates the distinctive worship forms and metaphorical language used in expressions of faith by both generations, and through their ‘intentional interaction’ in sharing and curating worship, builds an inter-generational reciprocity into the Body of Christ. This in the church corresponds to ‘the social contract of reciprocity in the African context’.

Despite its close focus on the Church of Pentecost, the book has broader implications for African churches and indeed those elsewhere that are grappling with a rift between the generations, and wondering how the conflict can be resolved without losing the denomination’s distinctive identity and God-given vision.

Dr T John Padwick, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, former adviser to the General Secretary, the Organization of African Instituted Churches, Nairobi

In Intergenerational Missiology: An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective, Dr. Christian Tsekpoe presents a wealth of intriguing material and an impressive analysis of the mission models of Revd. James Mckeown, one of the pioneers of Pentecostalism in Ghana. Dr. Tsekpoe’s work on the church’s mission which is described as geographical (‘to the ends of the earth’) and generational (‘to the very end of the age’) in nature and his proposal for an ‘intergenerational mission approach’ plunges up a significant contribution to the field of contextual missiology. Overall, this book is timely, insightful, and a thought-provoking piece of research - a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners.

Rev Dr Justice A. Arthur, Head, Department of Theology, School of Theology, Mission & Leadership, Pentecost University, Accra

REGNUM STUDIES IN MISSION

Intergenerational Missiology

Series Preface

Regnum Studies in Mission are born from the lived experience of Christians and Christian communities in mission, especially but not solely in the fast growing churches among the people of the developing world. These churches have more to tell than stories of growth. They are making significant impacts on their cultures in the cause of Christ They are producing ‘cultural products’ which express the reality of Christian faith, hope and love in their societies.

Regnum Studies in Mission are the fruit often of rigorous research to the highest international standards and always of authentic Christian engagement in the transformation of people and societies. These are for the world. The formation of Christian theology, missiology and practice in the twenty-first century will depend to a great extent on the active participation of growing churches contributing biblical and culturally appropriate expressions of Christian practice to inform World Christianity.

Regnum is supported by the generosity of EMW

Intergenerational Missiology:

An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective

Christian Tsekpoe

Copyright © Christian Tsekpoe, 2022

First published 2022 by Regnum Books International

Regnum is an imprint of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

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The right of Christian Tsekpoe to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Dedication

To Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, former chairman of the Church of Pentecost, for being a mentor par excellence.

Acknowledgements

This book is the outcome of my PhD research in Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. Through the snags of my academic journey, I have come to better appreciate the phrase ‘I owe God a sincere gratitude’, which normally appears either first or last in the acknowledgement of many books written by Christians. My usage of this phrase is in no way a mere formality. I indeed owe God a deep and sincere gratitude for keeping and providing me with grace, wisdom and strength to accomplish this task. Similarly, I am grateful to many mentors, friends and institutions, not because it is traditional to do so, but because they were there for me - assisting and guiding me to complete this work.

I begin with, my sincere gratitude to Dr Ben Knighton, my house tutor at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). He has been of immense support, providing useful pointers and clarifications from start to finish. Furthermore, I am deeply grateful to my two supervisors, Professor David Burnett OBE and Revd Professor J Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu. They guided and mentored me throughout the research journey. Again, Professor Asamoah-Gyadu graciously accepted to write a foreword for which I am very grateful. I also thank Professor Wonsuk Ma and Dr Paul Bendor-Samuel (past and current executive directors of OCMS) and the entire OCMS community for helping me to access sponsorship and support, which propelled me to complete this work.

I remain eternally grateful to Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah and his wife Mama Grace. Apart from mentoring me and being a channel of blessing, Professor Onyinah graciously wrote a foreword to this book. Again, the entire Executive Council of the CoP deserve my deep appreciation for granting the sponsorship and permission for my studies both at the MA and Ph.D levels. I am particularly grateful to Apostles Eric Nyamekye (Chairman, CoP), ANY Kumi-Larbi (General Secretary, CoP), Emmanuel Agyeman Bekoe (International Missions Director, CoP), Emmanuel Gyasi-Addo (former IMD, CoP) and Dr Alfred Koduah (former General Secretary, CoP) for their support. All the national heads of the CoP UK during the time of my studies and all my area heads in Ghana deserve my appreciation for their encouragement.

I also use this opportunity to express my profound thanks to Apostle, Dr Lord Elorm-Donkor, principal of Birmingham Christian College (BCC), UK and his wife Mrs Joyce Donkor. Apart from providing hospitality for me during my residencies in the UK, they also encouraged me throughout the journey. Professor Jabal Buaben also deserves my sincere gratitude for reading through the work and giving useful suggestions. I do not forget Dr Caleb Opoku Nyani, Mrs Briony Seymour and the entire BCC staff. I am equally grateful to Charles and Josephine Prempeh for making time to read through my work. I am also indebted to the Apostle Professor Kwabena Agyapong-Kudua (Vice Chancellor, Pentecost University) as well as the following Apostle Doctors: Daniel Okyere Walker (former VC, Pentecost University), Emmanuel Anim (Director, School of Theology, Mission and Leadership), Samuel Ofori and Ben Ali. Others include, Revd Doctors Quayesi-Amakye (of blessed memory), Justice Anquandah Arthur (He also read through the entire work and offered vital suggestions), Victor Zizer and Emmanuel Apea. I also thank Madam Grace Danquah and Ovr Jones Dwomoh Amankwah for proofreading the entire book. Additionally, Ovr Augustine Ababio, Elder George Danquah, Miss Rebecca Arthur and Elder Stephen Peasah Alamele deserve thanks. They were such a great family of inspiration.

The presbyteries and members of the CoP in Birmingham District, PIWC Oxford and PIWC Wolverhampton have been of tremendous support. Pastors Raphael Wiafe, Kwame Antwi, Andrews Acquah, Emmanuel Danso, Enoch Adjewi and their wives deserve my gratitude for their support in diverse ways. I am exceptionally grateful to Pastor Elvis Nague and his wife Rebecca (Missionaries in Cyprus and Turkey), they were ready to assist in any way, including travelling with me around the UK to collect data for the research and also proofreading the entire work. Thanks also to Elder John Menlah Arthur and the entire presbytery and members of PIWC Sakumono, Adenta Estate Worship Centre, Royal and El-Shaddai Assemblies as well as Abofu Worship Centre, all of which are in the Greater Accra Region.

Most importantly, I am profoundly indebted to my dear wife, Olivia and my children, Blessing, Dorothy and Christian Jnr. They provided great emotional and spiritual support for me during the rigorous times of the research. My mother, Salome Afua Kpingbi, and my siblings: Francisca, Samuel Marconi and Henry, deserve thanks for their prayers and encouragement. I am grateful to other family members: Justice, Emmanuella, Rita, Mabel and a host of others I cannot mention, for their supportive roles.

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Map

Forewords

Preface

1. Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Mission in Context

2. The Gap in Contextual Missiology

3. Mission Thought and Praxis: A Missionary’s Experiences in an African Pentecostal Church

4. Reflective Pneumatology: A Missionary’s Contribution to African Pentecostal Theology and Spirituality

5. The Quest for an Indigenous Church in Ghana

6. New Wine in Old Wineskins: The Paradox of Preserving the Church’s Legacies for Succeeding Generations

7. Towards an Intergenerational Missiology in African Pentecostalism

8. Conclusions

Appendices

Bibliography

Index

List of Abbreviations

Fig. 1 A map of Ghana, showing all the political regions, including six new regions created in 2018 (Credit: Ameyaw Debrah)

Regions of Ghana in alphabetical order, showing regional capital cities

Foreword: Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu

In this work, Intergenerational Missiology: An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective, Christian Tsekpoe treats us to an academic feast on a dimension of African Pentecostalism that many of us in the field may have overlooked. The book serves as well in many respects including an exploration of the mission models of Apostle James McKeown, a pioneer missionary of the classical Pentecostal tradition in Ghana. The author also evaluates James McKeown’s theology and spirituality before demonstrating how they responded to African cosmological ideas and then, draws critical lessons from them for contemporary mission in Africa. The key lessons in McKeown’s mission theology and spirituality, includes what the author refers to as his reflective pneumatology and the critical contribution it makes to African Pentecostal-Charismatic mission.

We have in this volume then, an exploration of the mission models of one of the most effective Western missionaries to work in Ghana from the second decade of the twentieth century. Apostle James McKeown was a man of Welsh descent, and for those who knew him, he was an embodiment of biblical moral standards, humility, missionary purpose, and all that goes with the Pentecostal holiness tradition. Together with his wife Sophia, they laboured in the Lord’s vineyard in Ghana as missionaries of the Apostolic Church, UK. The life story of James McKeown has been captured in various other volumes on Pentecostalism in Ghana including E. Kingsley Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity; J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu’s African Charismatics; and Opoku Onyinah, Pentecostal Exorcism.¹ In other words, the life story and missionary work of McKeown are accessible elsewhere and the details need not detain us in this foreword.

The Church of Pentecost emerged as one of three major Apostolic Churches that came out of an initial collaboration between the missionary McKeown and his Ghanaian counterpart, Apostle Peter N. Anim. Having changed its name from Ghana Apostolic Church to the Church of Pentecost in the early 1960s, this denomination has not just grown, it has flourished across the world and most importantly, it has set the standard for mission for many other churches in Africa. In terms of numbers, spread, and spirituality, its presence cannot be ignored in any account of African Christianity in general and the study of indigenous classical Pentecostalism in particular, especially from the twentieth century into the future. We are not dealing here with a local denomination, because the Church of Pentecost has spread beyond Ghana and its presence across Africa, Europe, and other continents, means it qualifies as an international African denomination with an impressive global spread and influence.

It is this local and global importance of an indigenous Ghanaian Pentecostal Church that makes Tsekpoe’s study very significant for the study of contemporary mission in Ghana’s Church of Pentecost. In the work, the author argues that our approach to mission theology should be one that is tailored to cater to the needs of each generation. This is because differences in generational cultures, just like geographical cultures, have implications for Christian mission. If there is a biblical text that explains the focus of Tsekpoe’s study, it is Peter’s response to the question of the crowd on the Day of Pentecost: Brothers, what should we do? Peter said to them:

Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him (Acts 2:38-39. NRSV).

If the promise of the Spirit was for the listeners, their children, and those who were far away, then it meant that right from the beginning, God wanted to account for every generation in the work of mission and ministry. In God’s mission agenda, for example, children are not the church of the future. They belong to the church of today as bona fide members. They may constitute the future leadership of the church, but in terms of membership, the kingdom of God has an intergenerational character. Jesus made this point very forcefully when he reprimanded his disciples for their attempt to exclude mothers from bringing their children to him (Mark 10:13-16).

Christian Tsepkoe’s work is significant for other reasons. In my own African Charismatics, I cite the lack of attention to intergenerational ministries as a critical reason for the decline of the classical African independent/initiated churches (AICs). The argument of my work is that having constituted their churches around the charisma and personal psychology of prophet-healers, the AICs completely neglected intergenerational ministries. They attracted floating members who visited the prophets and their churches for problem-solving reasons. This did not help many AICs to build committed congregations to sustain membership into the future. The result was that as the founding prophets became incapacitated with age or in some cases lost their charismatic abilities or even passed on, the churches folded up with them.

One found children and young people on the premises of AICs, but mostly they were not there for Sunday School or youth services, rather, they played around as they waited for the parents to close from their very lengthy healing and prophetic services. Additionally, it was rare to find organized youth fellowships in AICs as their ecclesial focus was more on older generations. Whether the Church of Pentecost was aware of these developments with the AICs or not is hard to tell. What is clear is that James McKeown and his indigenous counterparts worked to make sure that their denomination had a future by paying attention to the catechetical needs of the various representative generations of the Church. Indeed, it is my contention that the decline of many AICs in Ghana had a lot to do with the rise and popularity of the Church of Pentecost.

Christian Tsekpoe’s argument in this work is that after a century of Pentecostal/Charismatic missions in Africa, one of the major challenges faced by many of its denominations is how to remain contextually relevant and survive beyond the founding generation without losing their ecclesial identities. The data for the study is sourced from archival and ethnographic materials and it takes an approach that is clearly emic, in the sense that, the author is himself a pastor of the Church of Pentecost. The book very incisively examines the implications of the mission models of James McKeown for contemporary mission in Ghana by drawing lessons from the experiences of the Church of Pentecost. The study has far-reaching lessons for other denominations including the burgeoning independent contemporary charismatic ministries.

We have referred to the consciousness with which the Church of Pentecost has sought to correct the mistakes of the AICs. The implementation of the intergenerational missionary models of McKeown has nevertheless been fraught with tensions. This is because, as Tsekpoe argues, there is a certain inclination on the part of the older members to insist on traditional ways of doing things. Some of the Church’s traditions learnt under McKeown have been so sacralized that any attempt to amend, revise, or touch them, meets with holy anger from the older generation. Furthermore, studies in the field of missiology, Tsekpoe points out, have concentrated on foreign missions to the neglect of mission in multigenerational contexts. His work is an attempt to fill this gap by proposing what he refers to as an Intergenerational Mission Approach.

This approach argues for the need for Pentecostal churches in general, and the Church of Pentecost in particular, to pay attention to the deep-seated socio-cultural and theological needs of older generations whilst responding to the changing needs of emerging generations within the Church. Another significance of the book is its ability to reflect on the interface between the mission history of the McKeown-led Church of Pentecost era and contemporary Pentecostal/ Charismatic mission in Africa. Tsekpoe, to a very large extent, succeeds in engendering a fresh discourse about the incarnational nature of the Church’s mission in both geographical and intergenerational contexts, making this book an important resource in Spirit-empowered mission work in Africa and beyond.

Apostle James McKeown did not leave a mission diary, as the author points out, but data from his thought and praxis obtained from the Church of Pentecost’s General Council Meeting minutes, McKeown’s own circulars and pastoral letters, and interviews granted by others who knew him have helped Tsekpoe to throw light on aspects of his ministry that we previously did not know. For example, although Apostle McKeown did not speak any indigenous Ghanaian languages, he encouraged his co-workers to work with the vernacular. Tsekpoe therefore identifies vernacularisation, simplicity of liturgy, strong indigenous leadership formation, and direct mentoring as aspects of McKeown’s mission praxis which aided the success of his mission in Ghana.

The mission principles identified in this work as associated with Apostle McKeown are well known, but they assume added poignancy in this work as we encounter a missionary personality who worked with them to great effect. Apostle McKeown was successful in his quest to implement a mission model that he called planting local species in African soil. In doing this, he deployed the Three-Self indigenous church principle which today is reflected in the life of the Church of Pentecost as a denomination that generates enormous resources without relying on foreign support as their historic mission compatriots have done for years.

We also learn from this work some of the internal processes of revitalization occurring among young people in the Church of Pentecost. These are changes occasioned by such external forces as globalization in the contemporary world. It is useful to see how the Church of Pentecost has adopted practical efforts to prepare the next generation to take up leadership of the Church, as the second generation who knew the founding leaders exit leadership. Perhaps the single most important development here is the establishment of the Pentecost International Worship Centres in which many of the traditional practices of the Church have been abandoned in favour of more contemporary forms of worship that appeal to the youth.

This work will serve very useful purposes including helping scholars to appreciate the importance of the author’s proposed Intergenerational Mission Approach to mission, which he argues, can help to deal with existing gaps in intergenerational ministries in Pentecostal/charismatic churches. At the heart of this approach to mission is the work of the Spirit because it is through the experience of the Spirit that everyone—young and old—discover their place in God’s Kingdom by functioning in their gifts and graces to His glory and the blessing of generations.

J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu PhD., DD (HC)., FGA.

President & Baëta-Grau Professor of Contemporary African Christianity

and Pentecostalism, Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Ghana

¹ E. Kingsley Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity (Accra: CSPCS, 2001); J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics: Current Developments Within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2005); Opoku Onyinah, Pentecostal Exorcism: Witchcraft and Demonology in Ghana (Dorset, UK: Deo Publishing, 2012).

Foreword: Opoku Onyinah

Intergenerational Missiology: An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective is a book, which is a record of the practical missiological approach that was adopted by Pastor James McKeown, a man with apostolic ministry who was the founder of the Church of Pentecost, with headquarters in Ghana. Apostle Dr Christian Tsekpoe is a pastor of the Church of Pentecost, who had the opportunity to work and interact with some of the people who worked with Pastor McKeown. He had easy access to church records and literature, which were needed for his research. Thus, his account is accurate, insightful, and interesting to read. He fills in the vacuum where other writers left out concerning the ministry of Pastor McKeown.

Dr Tsekpoe exactly digs into the heart and core of Pastor McKeown’s missiology by contending that each generation should reconsider its own mission theology, since differences in culture infringe on Christian mission. Pastor McKeown’s central missiological philosophy was that it would be difficult to grow an ‘English oak’ in the Gold Coast. A local ‘species,’ at home in its culture, should grow, reproduce and spread: a church with foreign roots was more likely to struggle. By exploring the implication of Pastor McKeown’s mission models for the consideration of contemporary Pentecostal churches, Dr Tsekpoe has been able to touch on the most important aspect of Pastor McKeown’s ministry for posterity.

He set the balling rolling by reminding readers of what others have written about Pastor McKeown, and then analysed the strengths and weaknesses of existing mission models. He identified the need for an amalgamated framework for evaluating McKeown’s mission praxis and, accordingly, proposed a roadmap for a sustainable future of Pentecostal-Charismatic mission in Africa. He concluded that vernacularisation, simplicity of liturgy, strong indigenous leadership formation, and direct mentoring were aspects of McKeown’s mission praxis, which aided the growth of his mission in Ghana. He did not claim that these were new discoveries. However, he argued that the principles of their practical application in Christian mission could be generalised and applied to mission in multigenerational contexts.

In view of this, he evaluated the extent to which Pastor McKeown’s theology and spirituality responded to the African cosmology. He distinguished many lessons of which ‘reflective pneumatology’ is a key. By reflective pneumatology, he meant Pastor McKeown’s adoption and contextualisation of the Apostolic Church of the UK’s regulation of Spiritual gifts system. McKeown’s adopted system calls for the need to always regulate the use of Spiritual gifts by emphasizing that each believer is capable of receiving the Holy Spirit and manifesting Spiritual gifts and, therefore, must judge each claim of pneumatic experience. Submitting that the principles of Pastor McKeown’s Christian mission could be extrapolated for African Pentecostals, Dr Tsekpoe is attempting to provide a solution to the extremes, which distort African Christian spirituality. This is something, which is absolutely essential for all African Christians.

Against this backdrop, the apostle argued that although the McKeown-led Church of Pentecost could not be described as an indigenous church, the hybrid nature of its praxis, which combines African indigenous practices and UK Apostolic Church’s practices, made the church contextually relevant and attractive during his era. His argument was based on the transformation that had already taken place in Ghana, including colonization, Western education, and trade, which had altered the socio-cultural life of the average Ghanaian as of McKeown’s era. This was a significant analysis in the sense that the wind that blew during the independence had impacted all the churches; for the churches were all seeking enculturation. Thus, churches that adopted the African cultural milieu were going to attract the indigenes.

Dr Tsekpoe attempted to address the process of routinization and the paradox of transmitting the churches’ heritage to emerging generations. To find a possible solution to this, he proposes an amalgamated framework of contextualisation and intergenerationality, which he calls, an Intergenerational Mission Approach (IGMA). Core to this approach is the need for frequent intentional mutual interaction between the new generation and the old generation, to mitigate the apparent gap between generations, and facilitate effective faith transmission with less conflict.