Christian Kinship in Urban Christianity Case Study in Translation and Indigenous Agencyin the African Context
Main Article Content
Keywords
African, Christian kinship, indigenous agency, translation, urban Christianity
Abstract
Research on Pentecostalism, as an emerging religious form, has often focused on its role in the public life of modern Africa, rather than its interaction with socio-cultural categories. Drawing on extended ethnographic research in three Nairobi communities, this article contributes to filling this gap by focusing on kinship within Pentecostal studies. This interdisciplinary study integrates social sciences and world Christianity methodologies to examine this aspect of lived religion. The study found that the use of familial terms in Pentecostal churches underscores the role of local actors in grounding the Christian message in the lives of adherents. This language complements the lived experiences within these communities. Community leaders engage in a continuous translation process, adapting local visions of relational bonds to better articulate the Christian experience within their cosmopolitan context. These findings contribute to the body of knowledge on agency and vectors of Christian religious experience in the non-Western world.
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