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Rosebell is a multimedia communications specialist, journalist and award-winning blogger with experience in gender, peace and conflict. Currently works on public interest litigation for gender justice with focus on Latin America -Africa learning. Rosebell holds a Masters in media, peace and conflict studies from the University for Peace in Costa Rica. She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Masculinity, Marriage And Gender Roles In Rising Mega Churches in Africa
You cannot escape them, whether it is through street preaching with loud speakers, late Tuesday night voices wailing and worshipping in a residential area, or on TV with "exotic accents". Men of God, an extension of the American-exported evangelicalism in the 70s and 80s, is still growing in many African countries.
These Men of God and their churches come with new vigour, courting a young population struggling for answers. Where government fails to provide social services and aiding programmes that could enrich youth in their free time, churches step in to provide counselling and care for the under-privileged.
The majority are what we call the "prosperity gospel" churches in Uganda, often led by super rich evangelical pastors helping their followers "figure out" life's puzzles.
On Sunday, groups of people are praying for a wide range of things from visas to school fees, happy marriages and better finances. The Men of God prophesy, give blessings and also know the way you can fix your endless problems.
They are unquestionable, many are politically connected and they often demand from their followers a certain unattainable level of righteousness.
They are commentators on all sorts of things and experts of none. The last time I attended one of these churches in Kampala - four years ago - the pastor, a white Canadian man who had lived in Uganda for decades, told a church full of African people that "colonisation was God's plan for Africa". I was left dumbfounded and wondered how much questioning the hundreds of people in the church did.
Social behaviour makes up a big part of their commentary since many followers seek these Men of God to solve or make meaning of social conflicts. Women and how they should behave is also a top issue. They introduce new, and invigorate old notions of masculinity. In this piece, Akosua Adomako Ampofo, professor of African Studies at the University of Ghana, brings insights into the gospel of submission and the problematic messages on gender in Africa.
