Introduction

The presence of African Christian churches in Europe is not a new phenomenon. However, in recent decades there has been an expansion of these churches that has coincided with the era and processes of globalization. These organizations have not only captured public (popular) imagination by their specific roles as ethnic minority congregations developed in response to the critical experiences of marginality, but they have also become the subject of news items due to their activities. This chapter examines the dynamics of expansion of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the United Kingdom (RCCGUK). This church opened its first parish in Britain in 1981 but has multiplied in the United Kingdom to 181 parishes with a total membership of 45,377 as at the end of October 2004. What is responsible for this proliferation of congregations in a continent that has been characterized as “unresponsive to [a] revivalist message”? This chapter will provide a demographic profile of the RCCGUK, compare some of its salient features with the parent organization in Nigeria, and see how creative adaptation and innovation fuel expansion as well as strategies of mission growth in a foreign milieu.

In the last decades of the twentieth century, the presence of Christian religious organizations with roots in Africa became a common sight in many European cities.

The “Popular Cultures in Africa” conference held at the University of Texas at Austin, March 30 through April 1, 2007, witnessed a broad array of scholars who provided insightful and lively scholarly debate on the processes of cultures in Africa. In order to document significant aspects of the discussion during the meeting, we collected papers focused on inter- and intra-politicking by peoples of African descent for purposes of self-agitation through popular practices as well as the spread of their lifestyles.

This collection is not so much intended to document “a complex of distinctive expression of life experiences” but rather to provide an understanding of the quest of people of African descent for the right to express and maintain these distinctive life experiences in the face of competing and inhibitory political and sociocultural forces intent on enforcing some standards, values, and ways of being and doing things in the world. It is an active process of rejection of impositions, be it imposition by existing customs or by external influences. The complexity of this quest requires a broad and interdisciplinary approach, hence, the diverse, complementary chapters whose topics range from lifestyle and religion to visual and print media. We hope that the chapters of this book will promote scholarship on African cultures.

We are deeply thankful for the support of faculty members and students who worked tirelessly to make the conference successful. We appreciate the support of the University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University San Marcos, and all our sponsors.

Religion, religious practices, and institutions play important roles in the private and public lives of Nigerians. The Nigerian Constitution provides the legal framework for freedom of religion and belief in the country. According to the Constitution,

This legal provision is what Simeon Ilesanmi (2001, 540) calls the “the free exercise norm” by which individuals are in principle free to worship a divine being of their choice, change their religion and form religious associations with people of like minds. To a large extent, therefore, religion is unregulated by government, meaning that officially, the government does not support or adopt any religion as “state religion.” This provision is regarded as the “non-establishment norm.” These two norms may be taken to constitute a legal framework or basis for unrestricted religious enterprise as well as proselytism in Nigeria. In practice, however, this is not the case as government funds are used to subsidize pilgrimages to Mecca (for Muslims) and Jerusalem or Rome (for Christians). In addition, although Nigeria is a “non-secular” but religiously plural (some prefer the term “multi-religious”) country with three major religious traditions, (African traditional religions [ATR], Islam and Christianity), Islam and Christianity have gained ascendancy in the competition for power and status in the country, with these two receiving recognition in the armed forces and police, for example.