Consumerist Prosperity Churches and Communality in Africa: An Eco-Social and Theological Evaluation of the Relationships

What is it about?

Using review of secondary literature, the article examines the inordinate materialist orientations and attitudes of consumerist prosperity churches in Africa and their consequences for communality – the ethos that seeks to safeguard social and environmental relationships in Africa. Following an analysis of the consumerist orientation of the consumerist PCs within the framework of communality - ecological and social relationships - the article concludes that these orientations have the tendency of undermining communality. Consequently, consumerist PCs cannot be described as reflecting the holistic vision of salvation in indigenous African societies, neither will they be defined as theologically contextual. This is because their theological interpretations do not reflect the contemporary needs of Africans. A theological ethic of frugality has been proposed as a necessary framework to guide consumerist PCs interpretation and quest for prosperity, if they will engender both prosperity and communality, and respond to the contemporary needs of African societies.

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