The African Studies Center (ASC) sponsors conferences, lectures, exhibits, film series, and cultural performances throughout the year. These events are designed to foster understanding of Africa among members of the U-M community and the public and to advance the exchange of resources and knowledge between U-M and its partners in Africa.
In addition to our yearly programming, ASC considers funding requests to cosponsor lectures, events, performances, and activities that coincide with the our mission to promote a broad and deep understanding of the region. Request to cosponsor an event»
DAAS Africa Workshop: Spirit, Movement, and the Religious Imagination: Decolonial impulses in African Pentecostal Worship
with Kyama Mugambi (World Christianity, Yale Divinity School)
Abstract: This talk assesses Pentecostal worship in Africa as a powerful expression of religious imagination that is profoundly different from historic mission Christianity. Here faith healing, glossolalia, and other transcendent experiences generate what adherents perceive to be a tangible connection between spiritual and social realities. The creative and pragmatic engagement with existential issues in worship provides insights into how African Pentecostals make meaning and inspire hope in rapidly modernizing urban environments. This analysis offers a fresh perspective on decolonial impulses within the indigenization and vitality of Christianity in Africa.
Biography: Kyama Mugambi joins the YDS faculty as an Assistant Professor of World Christianity, focusing on Africa. Prof. Mugambi comes to us from Africa International University, where he has been serving as a senior researcher and faculty member at the university’s Centre for World Christianity. He specializes in ecclesial, social, cultural, theological, and epistemological themes within African urban Christianity. His 2020 book, A Spirit of Revitalization: Urban Pentecostalism in Kenya, which traces the history of Pentecostalism in Kenya, has been hailed as a singular contribution to the fields of mission studies, world Christianity, and intercultural theology.
Biography: Kyama Mugambi joins the YDS faculty as an Assistant Professor of World Christianity, focusing on Africa. Prof. Mugambi comes to us from Africa International University, where he has been serving as a senior researcher and faculty member at the university’s Centre for World Christianity. He specializes in ecclesial, social, cultural, theological, and epistemological themes within African urban Christianity. His 2020 book, A Spirit of Revitalization: Urban Pentecostalism in Kenya, which traces the history of Pentecostalism in Kenya, has been hailed as a singular contribution to the fields of mission studies, world Christianity, and intercultural theology.
| Building: | Haven Hall |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
| Tags: | africa, african and african american studies, african diaspora, African Studies, African Studies Center, Christianity |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, African Studies Center |
