This thesis documents and analyses African churches in New York City, devoting particular attention to the experiences, beliefs and practices of the Church of the Lord (Aladura), the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God International Chapel, Brooklyn. Based largely on ethnographic fieldwork, this work engages multiple disciplines including globalisation theory, theology, and global city studies. Section One is devoted to “Formations”, which in three chapters assessed the work of pastors in building congregations, provides an overview of the three focus churches, and offers a broad survey of African Christianity in New York in relationship to the global city. Section Two, “Encounters”, analyses in three chapters the use of prayer, the Bible, and mission at the point of contact between faith and the city. Section Three, “Directions”, explores in two chapters the trajectories of the three churches through the mobility of spiritual geographies and the second generation of membership. The Conclusion suggests a vision of “Catholicity” for how the West can respond to the presence of African Christianity. I contend that New York’s African Christianity is an embodied faith that is growing because of its location in global urban networks, its social importance for everyday life, and its theological meaning to persons in a new setting.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:651644 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Gornik, Mark R. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19810 |
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