TruthBook Religious News Blog

January 25, 2009

For years, the Islamic revival has seemed to be a story of ever-growing fundamentalism and political extremism, but around the world, Sufi orders are rapidly gaining strength -- in Turkey and Syria, Uzbekistan and Indonesia. Sufism is also growing quickly in Iran, as younger Muslims seek a liberal and liberating kind of spirituality utterly different from anything the ayatollahs can provide. In 1979, Iran had 100,000 Sufis; today, there may be 5 million.

Globally, the movement represents a close parallel to the explosive worldwide growth of charismatic and Pentecostal styles within Christianity. Both practice a passionate style of religion, and both have demography on their side. The Sufi revival is most obvious in the African and Asian lands that have some of the world's highest birth rates. Although the Sufi revival has its impact in many Muslim countries, the North African story is particularly important for Europe and the West because of the influence of migrants. As Morocco and Senegal spawn new forms of Sufi devotion, for example, these spread to African communities in Europe, and find expression in youth culture and hip hop, even in Sufi rap.

Always, these movements speak the language of peace, hope, and reconciliation, and condemn extremism. These are the Muslim voices that can compete with the calls to jihad and terror.

Labels: charismatics, Christianity, Iran, Muslims, passion, religion, Sufism

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

African-rooted churches flourish in Houston

April 14, 2008

By Leslie Casimir

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Since the 1980s, more than 25 churches with African roots have sprouted in southwest Houston and the surrounding suburbs, said Elias Bongmba, professor of religious studies at Rice University.

Through word-of-mouth and the Internet, the churches have spread to places like Missouri City and Sugar Land.

The parishes have caught the eye of religious scholars who believe that Houston now has the nation's most active hub of African-initiated churches.

The parishes, primarily charismatic and Pentecostal in style, are an extension of the city's African population — namely the Nigerians, who comprise a large share of Africa's local demographics. The 2006 census population survey estimated more than 62,000 Africans and West Indians live in the city, a marked increase from 49,000 in 2000, according to research by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.

Spiritual healing

Known as African-initiated churches, the institutions grew out of the rejection of Western missionaries who began setting up congregations on the continent in the 1800s. But white pastors devalued African converts' culture, viewing their strong beliefs in spiritual healing as superstitious, said Harvey Sindima, professor of religion at Colgate University.

...some Africans embraced Jesus Christ but rejected the white missionaries' colonial doctrine. And so they created their own churches that spoke to their cultural, spiritual and linguistic heritage.

"After Africans would go to church, they still would feel that something was missing," said Aidonmiyi, who lives in Missouri City.

The growth of these churches intensified during the independence movements of the 1900s. African immigration in the 1970s added a new twist: They brought their churches with them.

Some of the major religious groups in Nigeria that have a large Houston following are the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, which was founded in 1925. Also, there is the Redeemed Christian Church of God, formed in 1952. On its Web site, the Redeemed church lists 13 places to worship in Houston.

Their charismatic brand of Pentecostalism, rooted in the belief that prayer and fasting go hand-in-hand with physical healing, can be intense to a newcomer. Believers at Mount of Christ Healing, for example, can spend hours prostrating, standing, singing and dancing.

During the Lent season, members — who are part of the Lagos-based Cherubim and Seraphim order — took part in a fast that lasted 40 days. Some members refrained from eating food for the entire day, breaking fast in the evenings with fruit and juice.

Barefoot congregants, resplendent in white robes and headdresses, held daily prayer services at the church, with some members opting to sleep overnight for more reflection.

Value of visions

With the aid of modern medical care, members believe that any physical ailment can be cured with prayer and fasting. They also revere dreams and visions.

In 2005, for example, when Houstonians were urged to flee from Hurricane Rita, a church member told the congregation that he had a vision that Houston would be spared, Iseyemi said. So instead of evacuating, the congregation spent the day praying and eating at church, he said.

"People thought we all were all crazy that day," Iseyemi said. "But it was God directing us — we were blessed."

Labels: Africans, charismatics, Houston, Leslie Casimir, Pentecostal, prayer, religion, visionary

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Pentecostals in Latin America

A look at the religion's theological roots and how the faith took hold in the region.

By Sarah Miler Llana
from the December 17, 2007 edition

Modern Pentecostalism, whose name comes from the biblical term Pentecost commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, grew out of the Holiness movement at the turn of the 20th century in the US.

Pentecostals place strong emphasis on personal experience with the "Holy Spirit," such as speaking in tongues, divine healing, and prophesying. In the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey in 2006, most Pentecostals said that they had experienced divine healings or received revelations from God.

"Renewalists," a term that includes those belonging to Pentecostal denominations and "charismatics," who have adopted the expressive worship services of Pentecostals but belong to Catholic or mainline Protestant churches, now make up an estimated one quarter of the world's Christians, according to the World Christian Database. That number was just 6 percent 30 years ago.

For decades, Pentecostalism remained on the margins of US society, even as missionaries poured into Latin America. Pentecostals now account for 13 percent of Latin Americans. When accounting for "charismatics," the number shoots up to 30 percent.

Scholars say there are many reasons why Pentecostalism has attracted so many adherents. Aggressive evangelism, led at first by US missionaries, has certainly played a role. So has urban anomie and economic crisis. But each country has its own set of factors too, from civil war to natural disasters.

A 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, for example, brought a current of US Christians to Central America, says Paul Freston, a leading expert on religion in Latin America. Today the country has the highest percentage of Protestants in Latin America.

Pentecostals across the region, most of whom considered themselves Catholics before, say they converted in order to tackle their problems, for a sense of community, or simply because Pentecostalism offered something that the rituals of the Catholic mass did not.

Pentecostals have been particularly skilled at reaching out to the region's poor, providing answers to the overwhelming problems their poverty provokes each day. The Catholic answer, in the 1960s, came in the form of "liberation theology," a Marxist-tinged approach to addressing the needs of the oppressed. It had enthusiastic supporters across Latin America, but soon got wrapped up in cold war politics. Religious scholars often quip: "Liberation theology opted for the poor, and the poor opted for Pentecostalism."

Labels: Catholic, charismatics, Holy Spirit, Latin America, Pentecostalism, Pew Forum, protestants, renewalists