Content uploaded by Mookgo Solomon Kgatle
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Mookgo Solomon Kgatle on Jun 04, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
Verbum et Ecclesia
ISSN: (Online) 2074-7705, (Print) 1609-9982
Page 1 of 6 Original Research
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
Author:
Mookgo S. Kgatle1
Aliaon:
1Department of Chrisan
Spirituality, Church History
and Missiology, School of
Humanies, University of
South Africa, Pretoria,
South Africa
Corresponding author:
Mookgo Kgatle,
kgatles@yahoo.com
Dates:
Received: 05 Oct. 2019
Accepted: 17 Mar. 2020
Published: 04 June 2020
How to cite this arcle:
Kgatle, M.S., 2020,
‘New paradigms of
pneumatological ecclesiology
brought about by new
prophec churches
within South African
Pentecostalism’, Verbum
et Ecclesia 41(1), a2053.
hps://doi.org/10.4102/
ve.v41i1.2053
Copyright:
© 2020. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creave Commons
Aribuon License.
Introducon
Ecclesiology is the study of church behaviour in relation to the way a specific church views
issues of importance like salvation, the work of Christ, doctrine and others. Pneumatological
ecclesiology is more contextual and experiential as opposed to ecclesiology of other
denominations or orientations. Pentecostals never envisaged to theorise their ecclesiology or
the way the church needs to conduct herself with regard to theology. They were more focussed
on the experiential ecclesiology than a theoretical one. They were inspired by the early church
of the Apostles, which was full of life (Kärkkäinen 2001:102). Pneumatological ecclesiology is
concerned with the fundamental teachings of Pentecostalism like Spirit baptism and less
concerned about theoretical underpinnings (Clifton 2007:217). Therefore, in order to understand
a pneumatological ecclesiology, one needs to look at their experiences and spirituality and
not necessarily at their theology. The spiritual experiences in Pentecostalism are a common
denominator amongst all the streams of Pentecostalism. It is also a factor that brings together
all the divergent views within Pentecostalism (Cartledge 2014:14). Pneumatological ecclesiology
is influential and aims at going out to the world and ministering the gospel to other nations. The
believers carrying this influence are expected to influence others in serving God and his
kingdom (Pinnock 2006:151).
The study of pneumatological ecclesiology poses a challenge: Does a uniform pneumatological
ecclesiology exist? Given the different streams and diversity of Pentecostalism, we should speak
about pneumatological ecclesiologies, and scholars agree with this view because an endeavour to
study one form of ecclesiology in Pentecostalism cannot satisfy all streams (Lord 2012:27). The
study of pneumatological ecclesiology should be focussed on a specific denomination or
congregation to avoid generalisations. For pneumatological ecclesiology scholars to succeed in
their study, they should define and zoom onto the trajectory or stream of their particular interest
(Clifton 2007:217). However, for this study, because the goal is to illustrate that the pneumatological
Pneumatological ecclesiology has caught the interest of many Pentecostal theologians,
especially in the three main sub-traditions of Pentecostalism, that is, classical Pentecostalism
(later CP), Pentecostal African Independent Churches (later PAIC) and charismatics. There is
however a research gap in studying pneumatological ecclesiology in the new prophetic
churches (later NPCs). Therefore, the study of pneumatological ecclesiology in light of the
NPCs in South Africa is pivotal, groundbreaking and cutting-edge. The challenge of course to
such a study is the existence of many ecclesiologies within the sub-traditions of Pentecostalism
stated above. To avoid this challenge, a summary of pneumatological ecclesiology in other
sub-traditions shall be given but with a special focus on new paradigms in NPCs. The argument
is that the pneumatological ecclesiology amongst NPCs in South Africa is very much different
in praxis from the ecclesiology of the three main sub-traditions of Pentecostalism. The aim of
this article was to demonstrate the existence of the lived ecclesiology, highlight the challenges
and propose a balanced pneumatological ecclesiology amongst NPCs in South Africa.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is an interdisciplinary
study between missiology and practical theology. It studies the practical theological theme of
ecclesiology within the streams of a missiological trend of Pentecostalism in order to highlight
the new paradigms of pneumatological ecclesiology.
Keywords: classical Pentecostalism; new prophetic churches; ecclessiology; African-initiated
churches; pneumatology.
New paradigms of pneumatological ecclesiology
brought about by new prophec churches within
South African Pentecostalism
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
Page 2 of 6 Original Research
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
ecclesiology of new prophetic churches (NPCs) is different,
one is forced to summarily look at pneumatological
ecclesiology in all the streams of Pentecostalism: classical
Pentecostalism (CP), Pentecostal-type African Independent
Churches (PAIC) and Charismatics. This will be done to
establish how these streams are different to the study of
pneumatological ecclesiology in NPCs.
Denion of pneumatological
ecclesiology
The scholar who introduced a pneumatological ecclesiology
in his book, Toward a pneumatological theology: Pentecostal and
ecumenical perspectives on ecclesiology, soteriology, and theology
of mission, is Kärkkäinen (2002). A pneumatological
ecclesiology draws a relationship between the behaviour of
the church and the Spirit, which is very much common in
Pentecostalism. In Pentecostalism, according to Kärkkäinen,
there is no separation between the work of Christ, the church
and the Spirit (2002:83). Given this mutually inclusive
relationship between Christ, the church and the Spirit, the
conclusion is that the Spirit is the one that joins both Christ
and the church. Hence, instead of speaking about a
Christological ecclesiology, for example, Kärkkäinen speaks
about a pneumatological one (2002:93). The role of the Spirit
is pivotal in making the church to be jovial instead of being a
cold one. Thus, the church depends on the Spirit in order to
exuberate the elements of enthusiasm. By enthusiasm here
one refers to the active role that the Spirit plays in igniting
the passion in the church (2002:93). Thus, pneumatology
according to Kärkkäinen is not adding to the functionality
of the church but is the main function of the church in
Pentecostalism. It is the engine that keeps the church going.
This makes pneumatology in Pentecostalism the centre of
ecclesiology (2009:100).
Therefore, according to the Pentecostals, the Spirit is the
revelation where Christ builds the church; hence, the Spirit is
important to study ecclesiology. In addition, the Spirit is the
force that brings unity amongst believers, which in turn
brings the fellowship of believers. However, the contribution
of an individual is equally important to that fellowship.
Therefore, even if we were to speak of an ecclesiology in
general terms, in Pentecostalism, it will still be driven by the
Spirit. The Spirit is responsible for bringing the believers
together. People who have been introduced to Christ need
the Spirit to learn and practice whatever Christ taught the
church whilst he was still on earth. Whilst Christ established
his church in doctrine, it is the work of the Spirit to ensure
that whatever Christ has established lives in the hearts of the
believers (Coulter 2007:68). Therefore, Pentecostals are
inclined more towards the work of the Spirit and believe that
the Spirit has been assigned by Jesus who came from the
Father to work and function in the life of the believer.
Pentecostals believe in the person of the Holy Spirit as the
one who enables the believer to reject sin and manifest the
glory of God whilst on earth. Thus, the Holy Spirit is pivotal
in studying how the believers and the whole church functions
in Pentecostalism; hence, in this paper, the researcher speaks
of a pneumatological ecclesiology.
Pneumatological ecclesiology in
classical Pentecostalism
By CP in South Africa, one refers to churches that believe in
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and looks to the revivals around
the beginning of the 20th century for their origins. The
churches include the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa,
Full Gospel, the Assemblies of God and several others. Since
the beginning, these Pentecostal churches in South Africa
believed in the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in terms of
ecclesiology. They embraced salvation, sanctification and the
second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the light of the
work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the church has always been
interpreted in terms of the revelation of the Holy Spirit (Gause
2006:185). Some of the CP believes in the baptism of the Holy
Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues,
as it happened in the Book of Acts. In addition to speaking in
tongues, the expectation is that their members should have a
good character and bear fruit of love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
They are expected to live an exemplary life even outside the
church premises to model good characteristics even when
amongst unbelievers. Thus, the baptism in the Holy Spirit
and the speaking in tongues are not the only measuring
yardsticks in authenticating the behaviour of the believer. The
believer is also expected to demonstrate a level of character
instead of only relying on the charisma that comes as a result
of being baptised in the Holy Spirit.
Classical Pentecostalism accommodates other movements
like the evangelical, holiness, revivalist and so forth. In fact,
it is more correct to say that CP was built from such
movements. Classical Pentecostalism grew from those
movements and included the issue of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
They did not do away with the traditions within these other
movements. Thus, they still believe in holiness, salvation,
divine healing and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is fundamental in CP is the belief in the Holy Spirit and the
fellowship and participation of all believers and, in many
instances, the inclusion of women in the preaching of the
gospel. The work of the Holy Spirit is showing people
their sin and leading them to salvation is pivotal in CP.
Classical Pentecostalism believes that the same Holy Spirit is
active in the believer even post conversion and therefore
instrumental in the growth of an individual believer.
According to Brunner, CP envisages to be different from
evangelicals in terms of the fundamental teachings of
Pentecostalism. What they care about is to maintain the work
of the Spirit as a supernatural work that happened as a result
of Spirit baptism. This work should enable the believer to go
through daily challenges and overcome them. This is exactly
what transpired in the early church – believers were baptised
in the Holy Spirit and therefore were able to do supernatural
works (Brunner 1997:36).
Page 3 of 6 Original Research
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
Pneumatological ecclesiology in
Pentecostal-type African-iniated
churches
There are different categorisations of African Independent
Churches (AICs) like Zionist type, Ethiopian, Pentecostal
type and others. Whilst churches like Zion Christian Church
(ZCC), International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC)
can be categorised as Zionist, churches like St John Apostolic
Faith Mission can be categorised as the PAICs. Most recently,
there are churches like Rivers of Living Waters (RLW) of
Bishop Stephen Zondo and Tirano of Apostle Simon
Mokoena, which can also be categorised under PAICs. The
main difference between CP and PAICs is their operations,
especially in terms of liturgy and ministrations. Pentecostal-
type AICs have a more Africanised liturgy in terms of the
style of worship, and the preachers most of the time preach
in indigenous languages. The PAICs are found in townships
where there are challenges like poverty, unemployment and
inequalities. They are churches seeking to minister to these
needs of the people. The key thing in PAICs is divine
healing, which in this instance is demonstrated through
song and worship. The PAICs are rooted in the word, in the
belief of the triune God, God-the father, God-the son and
God-the Holy Spirit. They believe in the baptism of the
Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
In essence, they are not much different from the classical
Pentecostal churches.
In the PAICs, African people are used to the role and work of
the Holy Spirit in worship, and they can relate it to their own
daily living as many were already introduced to the spirit
world in African traditional religions. In addition, culture
and traditions have been fused into the work of the Holy
Spirit in the ecclesiology of PAICs. On a positive note, this
kind of ecclesiology is able to bring transformation to the
Western ecclesiologies that are already operating in an
African space. Preaching in the PAICs is done with the
combination of symbols and other proverbs within African
culture and traditions. The prophets in the PAICs are
perceived as those who speak on behalf of God in order to
address the social ills that the people are going through in
their lives. This kind of ecclesiology is not necessarily
opposed to Christian faith but practices? Faith relevantly in
an African context (Mwambazambi 2011:8). An important
role of bringing people together and ministering healing to
their wounds. Thus, pneumatological ecclesiology in PAICs
represents the African people in terms of practice, and what
remains a question is the development of the theology of
ecclesiology in the context of PAICs.
Pneumatological ecclesiology
amongst charismacs
Charismatics are churches that have retained their Pentecostal
roots but became independent from CP. The word
independent is used here because many of these churches
have no association with foreign main denominations such
as the North American Pentecostal denominations. However,
it must be noted that the practice of faith amongst charismatics
is influenced by the Word of Faith Movement of Kenneth
Hagin, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar. Hence, there is
a consistent teaching on the word of faith that speaks about
prosperity message where believers are encouraged to
prosper in all areas of their lives. In South Africa, these are
churches like the Grace Bible Church founded by Bishop
Mosa Sono in Soweto, Kingdom Life Church founded by Dr
Muligwe in Venda. The most successful charismatic church is
the Rhema Bible Church founded by Ray McCauley in
Randburg. The above are just a few examples, as there are so
many charismatics in South Africa spread across the nine
provinces of the country.
In the context of pneumatological ecclesiology, charismatics
are known for emphasising the gift of the Holy Spirit in 1
Corinthians 12 like the spirit of wisdom, word of knowledge,
faith, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy,
discerning of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues and the
interpretation of tongues (1 Cor 12). Charismatics are not
much in the fivefold ministry, as they do not mind calling
everybody a pastor. They maintain the order that is found in
CP, as they also believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with
the evidence of speaking in other tongues but not as initial
signs as CP does. Another distinction is the belief in the
participation of all believers in terms of utilising their gifts to
empower the body of Christ. Thus, amongst charismatics,
believers are taught to know their gifts and use such gifts in
the church and elsewhere in the marketplace. It must be
emphasised that the pastor or the leader of a congregation is
not perceived as the sole gifted person in the church because
they emphasise that the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer.
The new prophec churches in
South Africa
The NPCs are churches that have retained the fundamental
teachings of Pentecostalism like the baptism in the Holy
Spirit and speaking in tongues but have peculiar practices
like one-on-one prophecy, one-on-one deliverance and
consultations, where members pay a certain fee (Tsekpoe
2019:284), miracle money, prophetic titles, with some
prophets claiming superiority over biblical prophets (Banda
2020:1) and others. Prophecy is the most significant feature of
these churches and has been the source of growth amongst
the NPCs in South Africa. Even pastors who initially did not
prophesy begin to engage in one-on-one prophetic ministry
when they align to these types of churches. These are
churches like the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) of
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri in Pretoria. Bushiri is not only the
founder of ECG but also a business owner and investor
(Dube 2020:42; cf. Ramantswana 2019:4). Others are the
Alleluia Ministry of Pastor Alph Lukau in Randburg, Rabboni
Ministries in Soshanguve, Incredible Happenings of Pastor
Paseka Motsoeneng and many others. What is more peculiar
about the NPCs in South Africa is that in the years between
2014 and 2019, some pastors encouraged their members to
Page 4 of 6 Original Research
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
engage in outrageous acts like the eating of snakes, eating of
dog-meat, drinking of petrol, taking selfies in heaven,
spraying of doom, walking on air, body walking, body-
resurrecting, money laundering and others.
In the context of pneumatological ecclesiology, most of the
churches in the NPCs do not focus on the baptism of the
Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
The pastors do speak in other tongues on the pulpit but do
not emphasise it to the believers that they are obliged to
speak in other tongues. New prophetic churches instead of
talking about Spirit baptism, would rather speak about the
demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit amongst
believers. There also seems to be a corporate participation
of all believers in their services whereby both the young
people and the women do take part in the liturgy. Most
importantly, people of all ages and gender do take part in
the leadership positions of the church. The NPCs are not
very much focussed on holiness or the sanctification of the
believer such that believers can live a different lifestyle but
can still participate in church. Therefore, the preaching of
NPCs is more focussed on the prosperity, healing,
deliverance and the prophecy of the believer.
New prophec churches as new
paradigms of pneumatological
ecclesiology
The NPCs in this article serve as new paradigms of
pneumatological ecclesiology because they are different in
approach to other three sub-traditions of Pentecostalism. The
most significant difference when compared with CP lies in
the fact that the emphasis in the NPCs is not the initial
evidence, and members do not have to speak in tongues for
them to participate in the leadership or positions of the
church. Although most members in the NPCs in South Africa
do speak in tongues, the speaking in tongues does not form
the central message. They may speak in tongues but may
relegate this activity to times of personal devotion or small
group meetings. In addition, the lifestyle of an individual
does not serve as motivation for them to participate in the
church. In contrast to CP, people are not watched as to how
they live their lives in order to deter them from serving in the
church. The lifestyle of individuals is left to them to decide as
to how they carry themselves. Leadership positions in the
church are given with the hope that the individual will do
well. Hence, such leadership positions are given even to
young people, which is something that other streams do not
do at times. CPs grant leadership based on age and experience,
whereas NPCs grant leadership position based on ability and
charisma.
The other difference between the CP and NPCs is that, the
latter includes other operations like the demonstrations of
power in their liturgy. In the NPCs, the reception of power
is combined with the demonstration of it to others. There is
demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit in healing,
prophecies and other miracles. In the NPCs, the work of the
Holy Spirit does not only end in the baptism in the Holy
Spirit and speaking in tongues, it goes deeper and heals
people, delivers others and reveals the word to others in the
form of consultations. The extension of the work of the Holy
Spirit has made people move from CP to NPCs because they
want to see what they are missing. In NPCs, the people are
meant to seek more from the presence of the Holy Spirit
than just to speak in other tongues. Thus, the speaking in
tongues is not emphasised over and above other works of
the Holy Spirit.
In their preaching, the NPCs preachers instead of focussing
on preaching a confrontational gospel that focusses on
repentance, holiness, sanctification, focus on healing,
deliverance, prosperity and other miracles. New prophetic
churches preach salvation that is more focussed on material
accumulation connected to prosperity gospel. One seldom
hears a preacher in this age talking about salvation; they
would rather talk about the blessings than to preach salvation.
Instead of preaching heaven and the requirements to go
there, they would rather speak about ‘heaven on earth’ or
what is known as realised eschatology, which is another main
point of difference. New prophetic churches focus much on
the here and the now than a future eschatology. This is also
demonstrated by the lifestyles of the pastors in terms of the
cars they drive and the houses they live in – these are all
illustrations of their sermons. To sum up, the focus in NPCs
is on the pastor rather than on Jesus. In CP, the focus is still on
Jesus than personalities.
In contrast to the PAICs, the NPCs preachers sermonise in
English. It is correct that they use a more sophisticated
language that is not familiar in the townships. They speak a
language that sits well with high-market people and the
elite. The worship team in the NPCs do not sing African
songs that are normally sung in any of the indigenous
languages. However, they sing in English and they ape the
style of many Western worship teams like Hillsong in
Australia in presenting their liturgy. Hence, they are
multiracial, which is very important in racially divided
South Africa. Thus, they cannot be likened to PAICs that are
too local and make sure that their message accommodates
an average person in their community or locality. Some of
the prophets in the NPCs are not humble enough to
understand the challenges of their followers. African leaders
start the NPCs but do not take the form of PAICs. They are
located in Africa and relevant to African people but do not
necessarily take African cultures and tradition into
consideration – they are more modernised. They are more
into modern technology and media than the PAICs.
The NPCs are different to charismatics; although many of
their leaders are very gifted, articulate and presentable, the
level of order in using their gifts is very much different from
that of charismatics. In the NPCs, the gifted person is glorified
more than the giver of that gift. In the charismatics, the Holy
Spirit is acknowledged as the one who apportions gifts to the
believers. Thus, the charismatics believe that everyone is
Page 5 of 6 Original Research
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
gifted and should allow God to use them and their gifts, and
they should excel in using such gifts. It is not so in the NPCs;
the leader is the one who is more gifted than the rest of the
members, and they all must hear from him or her. The other
difference is that NPCs take the power of amulets and fetishes
with utter seriousness – and consequently reject them – but
also provide alternatives in the forms of anointing oil, blessed
water, calendars or handkerchiefs.
Lived ecclesiology
The NPCs, according to Miller and Yamamori, are
practicing a lived ecclesiology in the sense that they do not
only believe in the baptism of the Holy Spit but also make
sure that the way they present their message is well
received by the young people. At the end, even the affluent
people end up joining their services because they appeal to
them (Miller & Yamamori 2007:27). This is seen mainly in
the way they conduct their worship service, as it is full of
life, jovial and enthusiastic. They do not only concentrate
on the spirituality of their music but also ensure that they
sing modern and popular songs in their services. The loud
and popular music appeal to the young generation because
they are already used to such sounds in the secular world.
In addition, such music is presented with audio-visuals,
whereby if people who do not understand or know the
song can easily read it on the projector (De Witte 2008:54).
Some of these factors do feature in other streams of
Pentecostalism, but because of rigidity they cannot be as
visible as in the NPCs. Therefore, the NPCs are at the
forefront of the gospel music that is alive and full of new
rhythms in worship (Thompson 2015:12).
The preachers of NPCs are very good in terms of presenting
the gospel with the combination of modern technology.
Pentecostal preaching in the NPCs is more than a sermon
presentation; it takes the form of a new technology
presentation, which happens in motivational talks and
secular gatherings (White 2016:47). The use of technology
has become the main concentration amongst NPCs in the
sense that whatever happens in their church service, they
make sure that they put it in their media platforms like
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Hence, advertising in
NPCs play a major role in terms of the growth of these types
of churches. They ensure that healing, deliverance and
other acts are advertised on those platforms (Khanyile
2016:90). The use of technology in sermon presentation has
changed the way pastors present their gospel, often
resulting in a change in the way people perceive church
service. Instead of being bored and waiting for the pastors
to finish their sermon, the members are actively involved in
the presentation of the sermon (Magezi 2015:5). Thus,
instead of just relying on the Holy Spirit, the NPCs have
adopted a business model of presentation by the use of
modern technology. Worship is no longer defined in terms
of singing, clapping and preaching; it is now combined
with new technology that appeals to the young generation
(Togarasei 2012:258).
Some challenges
The challenge with a Pentecostal pneumatological ecclesiology
amongst the NPCs is that the followers in these churches do
not perceive the Bible as the centre of the spiritual experiences
in church (Mashau 2013:12). Another challenge, especially in
recent times, is that the believers were encouraged to engage
in outrageous acts like eating of snakes, drinking of petrol and
other acts. Although, it is a good thing to be instructed by the
Holy Spirit, the challenge is when people do wrong things
and claim to have been led by the Spirit when they engaged in
such acts. Most pastors who led people to eat grass, drink
petrol, eat snake, walk on air, resurrect dead bodies and so
forth have all said that the ‘Spirit’ had instructed them to do
so. Some pastors will even be bold enough to tell a young girl
or any woman that the ‘Spirit’ of God has instructed them to
sleep with them. This means that when young girls and
women visit the pastors’ rooms for counselling, some of them
do not receive any such counselling but end being forced by
some of their pastors to sleep with them. What one seeks to
highlight here is that when the pastor says he is led by the
Spirit, it positions the victim in a corner because they equally
believe in the same Spirit.
Towards a balanced African
pneumatological ecclesiology
Whilst it is important for a pneumatological ecclesiology in
Africa to consider social and cultural factors in the continent,
it should be done without compromising ethical issues.
Therefore, a balanced African pneumatological ecclesiology
should be an ethical one. The relationship between
ecclesiology and ethics is important in order to deal with the
churches that abuse the people of God in the name of the
Spirit. The ethical implications mean that people will not be
encouraged to engage in such acts. This relationship will also
play a big role in ensuring that African cultural values are not
overlooked in religious spaces because the church leaders
seem to be inclined towards the Spirit (Sakupapa 2018:1). A
balanced African pneumatological ecclesiology needs to
place God before the human leaders who can go wrong at
any time (Mwambazambi 2011:8). In addition, although
many of them do not use the Bible as their main text, it should
be an ecclesiology that values the biblical truth. This will
allow the society to view the experiences in the church and be
able to judge them through biblical lenses. It will afford the
church an opportunity to have a well-grounded doctrine in
terms of what they believe and practice in their services.
When there is deviation from such a doctrine, there will be an
opportunity for repentance and correction.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that ecclesiology in all the main three
sub-traditions of Pentecostalism, that is, CP, PAICs and
charismatics is pneumatological one given the inclination to
the Holy Spirit by Pentecostals. Thus, instead of speaking of
a general ecclesiology, we should speak of a pneumatological
ecclesiology. The study on pneumatological ecclesiology in all
Page 6 of 6 Original Research
hp://www.ve.org.za Open Access
the three well-recognised streams of Pentecostalism
demonstrates that there are new paradigms of ecclesiology
brought about by NPCs. The NPCs do not focus on the initial
evidence of speaking in tongues although they recognise the
baptism in the Holy Spirit. They do not prioritise the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, especially when choosing people for major
positions in the church. They use new technology in the
presentation of their sermons. New prophetic churches do not
recognise the gifts of all believers but focus on the gift of the
leader, many of whom bear the title of a ‘prophet’. They dwell
more in the manifestation and demonstrations of the Holy
Spirit in healing, deliverance and prosperity. Although these
new churches have a lived ecclesiology, the challenge is the
misuse of the Spirit. This challenge can be overcome by having
an ecclesiology that is ethical, based on the bible and still
embraces African culture.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Department of Christian
Spirituality, Church History and Missiology for the support
provided in conducting this research.
Compeng interests
The author has declared that no competing interests exist.
Authors’ contribuons
This article is solely written by M.S.K.
Ethical consideraons
Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of South
Africa, College of Human Sciences Research Ethics Review
Committee (reference number: 2019-CHS-90343018-Dept).
Funding informaon
This study was financially supported by the University of
South Africa.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data
were created or analysed in this study.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of any affiliated agency of the author.
References
Banda, C., 2020, ‘Mediating God’s relationality? A trinitarian perichoretic critique
of the reliance on anointed objects in African neo-Pentecostalism’, HTS
Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 76(1), a5856. https://doi.org/10.4102/
hts.v76i1.5856
Brunner, F.D., 1997, A theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal experience and the
New Testament witness, Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR.
Cartledge, M.J., 2014, ‘Renewal ecclesiology in empirical perspecve’, Pneuma 36(1),
5–24. hps://doi.org/10.1163/15700747-13360101
Clion, S., 2007, ‘Pentecostal ecclesiology: A methodological proposal for a diverse
movement’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 15(2), 213–232. hps://doi.
org/10.1177/0966736907076339
Coulter, D., 2007, ‘The development of ecclesiology in the Church of God (Cleveland,
TN): A forgoen contribuon?’, Pneuma 29(1), 59–85. hps://doi.org/10.
1163/157007407X178247
De Wie, M., 2008, ‘Accra’s sounds and sacred spaces’, Internaonal Journal of Urban
and Regional Research 32(3), 690–709. https://doi.org/10.1111/j. 1468-
2427.2008.00805.x
Dube, B., 2020, ‘“Go and prophesy in your own land”: Foreign prophets
and popularism in South Africa. Evoking the need of Jonathanic theology for
peaceful resoluon of dierence’, Religions 11(1), 42. hps://doi.org/10.3390/
rel11010042
Gause, R., 2006, ‘A Pentecostal response to Pinnock’s proposal’, Journal of Pentecostal
Theology 14(2), 183–188. hps://doi.org/10.1177/0966736906062131
Kärkkäinen, V.M., 2001, ‘Church as Charismac fellowship: Ecclesiological reecons
from the Pentecostal-Roman Catholic dialogue’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology
9(1), 100–121. hps://doi.org/10.1163/17455251-00901006
Kärkkäinen, V.M., 2002, Toward a pneumatological theology: Pentecostal and
ecumenical perspecves on ecclesiology, soteriology, and theology of mission,
University Press of America, Lanham, MD.
Kärkkäinen, V.M., 2009, An introducon to ecclesiology: Ecumenical, historical &
global perspecves, InterVarsity Press, Westmont, IL.
Khanyile, S.B., 2016, ‘The virtualizaon of the Church: New media representaons of
neo-Pentecostal’, Doctoral dissertaon, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg.
Lord, A., 2012, Network church: A Pentecostal ecclesiology shaped by mission, Brill,
Leiden.
Magezi, V., 2015, ‘Technologically changing African context and usage of informaon
communicaon and technology in churches: Towards discerning emerging
idenes in church pracce (a case study of two Zimbabwean cies)’, HTS
Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 71(2), 1–8. hps://doi.org/10.4102/hts.
v71i2.2625
Mashau, T.D., 2013, ‘Ministering eecvely in the context of Pentecostalism in Africa:
A reformed missional reecon’, In die Skriig 47(1), 10–17. hps://doi.
org/10.4102/ids.v47i1.84
Miller, D.E. & Yamamori, T., 2007, Global Pentecostalism: The new face of Chrisan
social engagement, University of California Press, CA.
Mwambazambi, K., 2011, ‘A missiological reecon on African ecclesiology ’, Verbum
et Ecclesia 32(1), 1–8. hps://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v32i1.482
Pinnock, C., 2006, ‘Church in the power of the Holy Spirit: The promise of Pentecostal
ecclesiology’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 14(2), 147–165. hps://doi.
org/10.1177/0966736906062119
Ramantswana, H., 2019, ‘Prophets praying for, or preying on people’s faith: A
reecon on prophec ministry in the South African context’, In die Skriig/In
Luce Verbi 53(4), 8. hps://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v53i4.2495
Sakupapa, T.C., 2018, ‘Ecumenical ecclesiology in the African context: Towards a view
of the church as Ubuntu’, Scriptura 117, 1–15. hps://doi.org/10.7833/117-1-
1384
Thompson, R.L., 2015, The producon of gospel music: An ethnographic study of
studio-recorded music in Bellville, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town.
Togarasei, L., 2012, ‘Mediang the gospel: Pentecostal Chrisanity and media
technology in Botswana and Zimbabwe’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 27(2),
257–274. hps://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2012.675740
Tsekpoe, C., 2019, ‘Contemporary prophec and deliverance ministry challenges in
Africa’, Transformaon 36(4), 280–291. hps://doi.org/10.1177/0265378819
866217
White, A.G., 2016, ‘Pentecostal preaching as a modern epistle: A comparison of
Pentecostal preaching with Paul’s pracce of leer wring’, Journal of Pentecostal
Theology 25(1), 123–149. hps://doi.org/10.1163/17455251-02501013
