The doctrines and practices of modern

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Azusa Street Revival The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. ...

in Los Angeles.Anderson, Allan. ''Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa''. University of Birmingham, 2000. Currently, there are many self-governing, self-propagating, and self-supporting Pentecostal churches in Africa. They utilize the same means to evangelize that early Pentecostal churches used such as door-to-door evangelism, meetings held in homes of interested inquirers, preaching in trains, buses, on street corners and at places of public concourse, and 'tent crusades' held all over the continent. The Charismatic resurgence in the 1970s had a large impact on the growth of the church today. The faith is becoming one of the most substantial denominations of Christianity in Africa. However, the Roman Catholic Church remains the largest Christian body of Africa.

South Africa

In 1908,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

became one of the first African countries to receive Pentecostalism.Anderson, Allan. New African Initiated Pentecostalism and Charismatics in South Africa. Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 35. 2005. A major reason for the spread of the Pentecostal faith in South Africa was due to the Apostolic Faith Newspaper written by Seymour. The Apostolic Faith newspaper began circulating in Cape Town, South Africa and eventually resulted in the establishment of the Assemblies of God (AG) in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Azusa Street missionaries Thomas Hezmalhalch and John Lake carried Seymour's Pentecostal message to South Africa in 1908. They moved throughout South Africa and in 1913 Lake establish the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFMSA). In 1908 Pieter Louis Le Roux established the Pentecostal Zionist movement in South Africa. The Zionist movement and other African Instituted Churches (AICs) helped spread Seymour's message even further although it is questioned if the term Pentecostalism can be applied to them. At the beginning of the twenty-first century somewhere between 10–40% of South Africa's population could be called Pentecostal but this classification varies depending on how the religion is defined. The three largest Pentecostal denominations that are present in South Africa include the Apostolic Faith Mission, the South African Assemblies of God, and the Full Gospel Church of God. In the early 1990s, there was a surge of Nigerian, Kenyan, and Ghanaian preachers in South African townships. South Africans were intrigued by these preachers, such as the Nigerian Emmanuel Eni, due to their dramatic sermons and admittance of previously being involved with dark magic. Their sermons focused on exorcisms and this dark magic. Not only were these factors appealing to South Africans, but the preachers provided them with an alternative Christian future that contained rewards not only in the afterlife, but during life on earth.

Other Africa

Pentecostals make up amore than 20% of total population in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Malawi and Burundi. Pentecostals had also a very fast grow in Rwanda after the genocide who happened in the country in 1990s and they grow also in Tanzania and Cameroon

West Africa

Pentecostalism was also carried to West Africa. In 1914 William Wadé Harris carried the message of Pentecostalism with him throughout the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He would wear a white

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomin ...

and turban, holding a staff, Bible, and baptismal bowl while attacking the local spiritual beliefs and their leaders. As a result, villagers would bring their idols to him, where they would be burned and the people would receive a tap of confirmation. At the villages to which Harris travelled, he instructed the villagers to build a place of worship and, if there was already a Christian mission in the village, he would encourage them to seek out the missionaries. While Harris was spreading the teachings of Christianity, there were a number of healings and wonders, such as misfortunes to those who were not welcoming of Harris’ efforts and the fact that laborers were still able to work on Sundays. As rumors of Harris’ powerful demeanor and these wonders spread, masses of people flocked to him. There was an especially large following in

Grand Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial ...

and

Bingerville Bingerville is a town in south-eastern Ivory Coast. It is a suburb of Abidjan and is one of four sub-prefectures of Abidjan Autonomous District. Bingerville is also a commune. The town is located about 10 kilometres east of Abidjan and lies on t ...

, as his baptisms were followed by miracles. His message converted tens of thousands of people to Christianity. It caused many Africans living on the Ivory coast to disconnect from their traditional practices, such as festivals, burial rituals, and the disappearance of huts for women during their menstrual cycle. He also dispelled ancient African sacrifices, fetishes, and dances. Missionaries from England observed how prevalent the religious differences were between the Ivory Coast and

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regio ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

. In 1922, Captain

Paul Marty Paul Marty (1882-1938) was a French military officer, colonial administrator, interpreter and writer on Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred pr ...

, the colonial administrator, described this distinction as a "religious fact, almost unbelievable, which has upset all the ideas we had about black societies of the Coast—so primitive, so rustic—and which with our occupation and as a consequence of it will be the most important political and social event of ten centuries of history, past, present or future of the maritime Ivory Coast." However, many villagers were not accepted by the Church because of their refusal to abandon polygamy. In 1931, the Église Harriste (Harrist Church) was created by Jomas Ahui, who was consecrated by Harris. The church has 197,515 members as of October 16, 2018. It has seven weekly services (three on Sunday) and emphasizes the teachings of Harris, such as monogamy, prayer instead of sacrifice, and the abolition of fetishes. The religion also highlights the importance cross, Bible,

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

, and baptismal bowl as religious tools. In the 1970s, independent charismatic churches began to surface in West Africa at a fast pace., specifically in Nigeria and Ghana. Eventually, these independent charismatic churches began to surface in South Africa. After the government relaxed restrictions, in regards to the movement of Black South Africans, the bigger the Black Christian community grew. These converts were known as “Born Agains” and they denounced the

African-initiated church An African-initiated church (AIC) is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than chiefly by missionaries from another continent. Nomenclature A variety of overlapping terms exist for these forms of Christianity: Af ...

es. They connected to the preachers of their new religion and started their own churches and ministries. However, they were less successful than the charismatic churches run by white people. These churches were influenced by missions from the United States, but have an African foundation.

Ghana

Missionary Pentecostalism was introduced to

during the first three decades of the 20th century.Corten, André, and Ruth Marshall. ''Between Babel and Pentecost''. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001. 216-30. Print. The foundation of the church was derived from the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

and Apostolic Church in the United States and England. In Ghana, the Methodist church received over 8,000 membership requests, as well as requests for catechists in schools. Over the last 20 years, Pentecostalism has become one of the most popular forms of Christianity in Ghana. Between the years of 1987 and 1992 the church grew by about 42% as rural and urban people joined different movements of Pentecostalism. The Ghana Pentecostal Council serves the needs of 120 churches in Ghana.

Liberia

In August, 1906,

Lucy Farrow Lucy F. Farrow (1851–1911) was an African American holiness pastor who was instrumental in the early foundations of Pentecostalism. She was the first African American person to be recorded as having spoken in tongues, after attending the meeti ...

Julia Hutchins Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e ...

, and others arrived in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

, the first location in Africa to receive Pentecostal missionaries.Espinosa, Gastón. William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism: A Biography and Documentary History. Duke UP, 2014. Print. Farrow wrote to

William J. Seymour William Joseph Seymour (May 2, 1870 – September 28, 1922) was an African-American holiness preacher who initiated the Azusa Street Revival, an influential event in the rise of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. He was the second of ei ...

saying that God had given her the ability to speak in the Kru language and that she could therefore baptize and heal many natives. Shortly after, other missionaries from the United States joined Farrow in Africa to Pentecostal faith. In 1916, the

Methodist Episcopal church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

noted that “Literally thousands, largely young people, have been swept in to the kingdom of God. Revivals were held and eventually the first permanent Azusa-influenced Pentecostal mission in Africa was founded. However, some American missionaries reported that some areas of Africa already developed manifestations of the Holy Spirit prior to 1906. Kalu, Ogbu. ''African Pentecostalism: An Introduction''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Many indigenous churches were established prior to foreign missionaries on the foundation of the power of the Holy Spirit. In Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, and Nigeria movements that could be classified as Pentecostal had all taken on different African names.

Nigeria

Pentecostalism began in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

during the early twentieth century as a renewal movement to the prominent mission churches in Africa. At first, the growth of Pentecostalism was due to the efforts to break free from Western missionary control. This resulted in the popularity of many AICs (African-initiated churches), which focused on prophecy and healing. The second wave of Pentecostalism arose as a result of the Nigerian Civil War among students and young people who belonged to Pentecostal churches, mainline churches, and the Scripture Union. Pentecostal churches, especially large charismatic churches have become popular in

, competing for membership with Catholic churches and other Christian confessions. A growing number of Nigerian students shrive Catholicism and Pentecostalism at the same time. Nigeria has the largest population of Pentecostals in Africa and, in a study from 2006, three out of ten Nigerians identify as either Pentecostal of Charismatic. Since Islam is prevalent in Nigeria, there exists a tension between the Northern Hausa-Fulani, who are predominantly Muslim, the Eastern Igbo, who are predominantly Christian, and the Western Yoruba, whose population is divided among the two religions. Nonetheless, the Christian population has continued to grow in Nigeria. For example, the Redeemed Church of God, which was founded in Nigeria, has over 14,000 branches worldwide and has branches in over 140 nations.

Ethiopia

Anna-Liisa and Sanfrid Mattson, Pentecostal missionaries from Finland, brought Pentecostalism to Ethiopia in 1951.

Pentecostalism in Ethiopia Pentecostalism in Ethiopia is the practice of various Pentecostal forms of Christianity—often included within the evangelical category of P'ent'ay—in Ethiopia, with a constituency of above 1 million members. Despite persecution by the governmen ...

continued to develop and eventually the Full Gospel Believer's Church (FBGC) was created in 1967. Approximately 2 million people claim to be Pentecostal in Ethiopia today."Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in Ethiopia — European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism". ''www.glopent.net''. Retrieved 2015-05-01.

Zambia

Pentecostalism in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

gained a following within the rich, white miners. Then, Pentecostal missions started to spread Christianity in Zambia, the most notable mission being the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. Now known as the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Zambia, this denomination is the largest of its kind in Zambia with over 1,200 branches. Bread of Life Church International in Lusaka is Zambia’s largest single congregation with about 10,000 members.