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Pastoral Leadership Among African-Led Pentecostal Churches in the Context of British Society

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Pastoral Leadership Among African-Led Pentecostal Churches in the Context of British Society Pastoral leadership among African-led Pentecostal churches in the context of British society E Adu 22656243 Thesis submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Pastoral Studies at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North- West University Promoter: Prof BR Talbot Co-Promoter: Prof GA Lotter May 2015 ABSTRACT The Pentecostal movement is experiencing phenomenal growth within global Christendom. Notwithstanding the exponential growth of Pentecostalism, there are contextual pastoral leadership challenges within the African-led Pentecostal tradition in British society. The first challenge observed is that the pastoral leadership practices of the African-led Pentecostal churches in British society are situated in their socio-cultural and theological orientations; this situation poses contextual challenges for pastors in carrying out their ecclesiastical duties. The second problem concerns leadership. There are often, for example, allegations about some pastors within this tradition mismanaging church finances, practising sexual immorality, taking money for prophetic utterances and abusing their power. These very troubling allegations have led to some Christians leaving this church tradition to join other churches, especially white- led British Pentecostal/charismatic churches, and some have stopped going to church altogether. Moreover, a review of literature suggests there has not been an attempt to undertake an in-depth study of the pastoral leadership praxis of the African-led Pentecostal church community in British society. Thus, there is a gap to be filled in Pentecostal pastoral leadership scholarship. The present research investigates these contextual challenges and formulates markers for exemplary pastoral leadership among African-led Pentecostal churches in British society. To address these problems, the four tasks of Richard Osmer’s practical theological interpretation were used. Pastors from the African-led church community were interviewed. The study investigated the impact of North American Pentecostal pastoral leadership on their African counterparts, recent scholarship on pastoral leadership, the five practices of exemplary leadership by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, the socio-cultural and theological distinctives of African-led neo-Pentecostal churches in the context of British society, and New Testament perspectives on pastoral leadership. The findings of this study affirmed that there are challenges facing African-led Pentecostal pastoral leaders in the context of British society and that these can be addressed from a practical theological perspective by formulating markers ii for a model of exemplary pastoral leadership. The study contributes to original research in the burgeoning field of practical theology in the area of Pentecostal pastoral leadership. Key Words: Pastoral Leadership, African-led Pentecostalism, Pentecostalism, Reverse Mission, Leadership, Pentecostalism in British Society, Practical Theology iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The successful completion of this work has been made possible by the assistance and co-operation of many people, too numerous to mention each by name. I am really indebted to all who contributed to my work. Special thanks go to my supervisors, Profs Brian Talbot and George Lotter. This thesis has benefited from their critiques, suggestions of books and articles, and their moral support. Their feedback helped to bring this work to fruition. I express my gratitude and thanks to Dr Stuart Rochester who painstakingly read through the entire thesis and offered invaluable suggestions, modifications, and comments to make the thesis what it is. I thank Peggy Evans and her GST team in the UK and at the North-West University in South Africa. Their understanding during a difficult period of the work really gave me the strength to continue. I also thank Hester Lombard of NWU Library for her quick response to requests for articles or any relevant information needed for this work. I would like to thank the library staff at All Nations Christian College, England, who gave me access to their library and even allowed me to borrow books beyond the normal quota that students are entitled to. This helped me tremendously, especially during the latter stages of my work. I appreciate the support I received from all the pastoral leaders and other church members, especially those from the African-led Pentecostal tradition in Britain who gave me the opportunity to interview them for this work. Their differing views helped me to gain a wider perspective on the pastoral leadership practices of African-led Pentecostal churches in British society. I acknowledge the support and love my family and I received while embarking on this research from Dr Shadrach Ofosuware, the Apostle and inspirational leader of Freedom Centre International (FCI) churches. Friends and family have been of more importance than they would know, and I am appreciative and grateful for all the moral and practical support I have received during this study. I thank my parents, Rev. and Mrs E. K. Adu, who are in Ghana, for the initial love and support they gave me, which allowed me to iv pursue my education at a very young age. I know I inherited my knack for academic work from their genes. Finally, I thank my wife Sophia and children Cynric, Princess Phoebe, and Katelyn Joy for their time and support during this research for the past three years. They have been absolutely brilliant when I had to stay away from certain family outings, church programmes, and other social activities solely to concentrate on my work. I really appreciate their care and support; without them, this work would not have been feasible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv 1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Literature Review 2 1.2 Research Question 8 1.3 Research Objectives 8 1.4 Central Theoretical Argument 9 1.5 Research Methodology 1.6 Limitations 11 2.0 CHAPTER TWO: THE IMPACT OF NORTH AMERICAN PENTECOSTAL PASTORAL LEADERSHIP ON AFRICAN-LED PENTECOSTAL PASTORAL LEADERS IN BRITISH SOCIETY 12 2.1 Introduction 12 2.2 Research Design 14 2.2.1 Qualitative Research 14 2.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Face-to-face interviews 15 2.2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Telephone Interviews 17 2.2.4 Disadvantages of Telephone Interviewing 18 2.2.5 Data Gathering: The Choice of Participants and Interview Criteria Use 19 2.3 The Prosperity Theology 22 2.3.1 What is the Prosperity Theology? 22 2.3.2 The North American Prosperity Theology Impact on African Pastoral Leadership 22 2.3.3 Critique of the Prosperity Theology 28 2.3.4 The Prosperity Theology and Poverty 35 2.3.5 The Prosperity Theology and Suffering 40 2.3.6 Lavish Lifestyle 43 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued 2.4 The Impact of Media on African-led Pentecostal Pastoral Leaders 48 2.4.1 A Historical Overview of the Use of Media among Pentecostals in the West and Africa 50 2.4.2 Justification for the Appropriation of Media 52 2.5 The Implications of Media Appropriation 55 2.5.1 Ecumenical Implication 56 2.5.2 Ecclesiastical and Ecclesiological Issues 56 2.5.3 Commodification 58 2.6 Summary 59 3.0 CHAPTER THREE: RECENT SCHOLARSHIP ON PASTORAL LEADERSHIP 61 3.1 Introduction 61 3.2 Recent Theories on Leadership 64 3.2.1 The Meaning of Leadership and Leadership Styles 64 3.2.2 Leadership Styles 66 3.2.3 Transactional Leadership 68 3.2.4 Transformational/Charismatic Leadership 71 3.3 Current Scholarship on Pastoral Leadership 77 3.3.1 The Evolving Nature of Pastoral Leadership 80 3.3.2 The Evolving Nature of the Pastor as a Shepherd to CEO 80 3.4 The Shepherding Role of the Pastor 83 3.4.1 Preaching and Prayer of the Shepherding Leader 85 3.4.2 The Mission of the Worldwide Church: Delivering Lambs 88 3.4.3 The Centrality of Growing Mature Disciples 89 3.4.4 Courageous and Protective Leadership 91 3.4.5 Development of Christ-like Character in the Shepherding Leader 92 3.5 The Pastor as CEO 93 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued 3.6 Summary 95 4.0 CHAPTER FOUR: THE FIVE PRACTICES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP IN THE LIGHT OF AFRICAN-LED PENTECOSTAL PASTORAL LEADERSHIP 96 4.1 Introduction 96 4.2 Model the Way 98 4.2.1 Clarify Values/ Find Your Voice 100 4.2.2 Set the Example 102 4.3 Inspire Shared Vision 109 4.3.1 Envision the Future 111 4.3.2 Imagine the Possibilities 113 4.3.3 Enlist Others 117 4.3.4 Appeal to Common Ideals 118 4.3.5 Animate the Vision 120 4.4 Challenge the Process 123 4.4.1 Search for Opportunities 125 4.4.2 Experiment and Take Risks 129 4.5 Leaders Enable Others to Act 131 4.5.1 Foster Collaboration 132 4.5.2 Strengthen Others 134 4.6 Leaders Encourage the Heart 137 4.6.1 Recognise Contributions 138 4.6.2 Celebrate Values and Victories 141 4.7 Summary 143 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS, continued 5.0 CHAPTER FIVE: THE SOCIO-CULTURAL AND THEOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVES OF AFRICAN-LED PENTECOSTAL PASTORAL LEADERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF BRITISH SOCIETY 145 5.1 Introduction 145 5.2 Reverse Mission and the British Culture 148 5.2.1 The Concept of Culture 148 5.2.2 The British Context: Reverse Mission and Pastoral Leadership 153 5.2.3 Cultural Challenges Inherent in Reverse Mission 157 5.3 Socio-Cultural and Theological Distinctives 161 5.3.1 Continuity or Discontinuity of African Traditional Religion (ATR): Continuity 161 5.3.2 Discontinuity 163 5.4 The Pastor in the African-led Pentecostal Churches in British Society 166 5.4.1 The Pastor’s Call 167 5.4.2 The Place of the Pastor 168 5.5 High View of the Bible 173 5.5.1 African-led Pentecostal Pastoral Leadership Reading of the Bible 173 5.5.2 Inspiration of Scripture
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