This paper considers Pentecostal churches whose names include such globalising terms as “all nations”, “global”, “international”, “universal” and “world”, with a view to uncovering the nature of their language management, as it has not been made explicit in any document. The data come from some 35 churches located in various residential areas of the city of Yaounde. In each church, five members were contacted i.e. one pastor, one church official, one choir leader and one male and one female congregants. The instruments used were a questionnaire, informal discussions, interviews and participant observation. A total of 40 highly motivated research assistants were involved in the data collection process, which took place in January and February 2016. The framework used for the analysis was the structural-functional model. The analysis revealed that the services of these churches contained four to 13 parts and that the languages used to realise these parts were French and English, with translation from one language to the other being systematic. When tongue speaking was used, translation was not done. During Testimonies, congregants not sufficiently competent in French or English occasionally switched to Pidgin or a few Cameroonian languages. Most of these churches were found not to be represented in other countries outside Cameroon and those that were said to use English singly or in combination with other languages, not with French.
For some years, a number of Pentecostal churches in Cameroon have changed their names, adopting new names that usually contained globalising terms like “all nations”, “global”, “international”, “universal” and “world”, which are subsumed in this work by the term “international”. The purpose of the present study is to look into the language policy of these “international” churches, which has not been made public in any document. As Spolsky ( [
The situation of languages in Cameroon and that of Pentecostal churches in this multilingual country are considered in turn. Cameroon has a very high number of ancestral languages which have not even been counted by Government. Figures ranging from 120 to close to 300 have been put forward by various researchers (see Dieu and Renaud [
Regarding Pentecostal churches in Cameroon, there is very little documentation on them. While Catholic and Protestant churches―which may be referred to as mainstream churches here―were planted in the country in the colonial days, Pentecostal churches came after independence in 1960. They recruited their faithful from two major sources: the mainstream churches and the pool of animists. Actually all Cameroonian ethnic groups had been worshiping God before colonisation started and this same God is still worshiped today on week days while Sundays are reserved for church worship by a handful of people. Pentecostalism soared in the 1990s when Cameroon was seriously hit by a devastating economic crisis. Civil servants’ salaries were reduced to barely 30%; bankers had to reschedule bank loans; worse the CFA Franc―the Cameroon currency―was devalued, which caused serious social unrest. It was at the peak of this crisis that impoverished people heard of pastors who could heal with mere prayers, who preached prosperity, who could perform miracles, who could break the yoke of bondage by simply quoting a verse from the Bible, who could make barren couples have babies, who could deliver people from demonic dens and who could make predictions accurately. Weeks upon weeks, scores of people who claimed to have received divine blessings stood up in church to testify. Many people went to church to see for themselves what they had been hearing around them. People whose families were disintegrated because of the economic crisis found a new family in church, as most devotees referred to one another as brothers and sisters of the same family. The situation today seems to have changed.
A number of scholars have worked on language management and language use in religious contexts. Language management is an orientation within language policy and planning as understood by researchers like Kaplan, Shohamy, and Spolsky. To Kaplan ( [
It is often the case that formal language documents become no more than declarations of intent that can easily be manipulated and contradicted. Yet, it is essential that these mechanisms, or policy devices… must be included in the general picture for understanding and interpreting LP (language policy).
This means that, when language policy is not laid down explicitly in a document, it must be worked out implicitly by observing the various de facto practices used in the society. To Spolsky [
Regarding language use in religious contexts, sociolinguists like Kouega [
A related study was conducted in Ghana, where Albakry and Ofori [
Kouega and Ndzotom [
Kouega and Baimada [
Afutendem [
Kouega [
The setting of the study, the informants, the instruments and the method of data collection are outlined here. The investigation took place in the city of Yaounde. It was conducted by a researcher assisted by 40 highly motivated assistants who were language and sociolinguistics students practising other faiths including Animism, Catholicism and Mainstream Protestantism. These research assistants were taught how to segment a church service, drawing from video-recorded materials. Then they rehearsed the acquired skill in a crowd-pulling worship service of the Full Gospel Mission Cameroon (see Kouega [
The method of data collection was clearly outlined. During their initial contact with a pastor in the premises of a targeted church, the research assistants were to copy or film pieces of information pasted on walls or contained in flyers handed over to visitors. These pieces of information generally included church programmes, week schedules, announcements and the like. Then, the research assistants were to go back to the church premises at a time when they could meet the targeted informants. Working sessions were arranged during which various techniques including interviews were used to collect as much information from these informants as possible. Next, drawing from the information gathered by the assistants, the researcher designed a questionnaire to facilitate quantification. Finally, research assistants sat through a complete worship service, and immediately after the service, they assisted each selected informant with filling in the questionnaire, with the pastors occasionally interacting with other selected informants who were waiting. It should be noted that several activities go on after a church service and one really needs to be patient to get the selected informants. As five informants were to be contacted in each of the 35 churches identified, a total of 175 questionnaire returns were gathered, giving a 100% response rate achieved thanks to patience.
The first question (Q1) asked the 175 informants to indicate how many chapels of their church there were in the city of Yaounde and the numbers reported ranged from five to one: the Winners’ Chapel International was said to have five, the Vraie Eglise Internationale de Dieu du Cameroun had four, the Light World Mission International had two, and the Triumphant Ministries International had one. Usually, different numbers were given by each informant. Actually it is difficult to tell how many churches there are in a town, as some of these churches are still to complete the process of registration.
Q2 enquired about the hierarchical structure of the church i.e., whether there was a supervisory body above and below the resident pastor. From the answer to this question, one could make a guess to the answer to Q7 below.
As
Q3 asked the informants to name other countries where branches of their churches existed, with the assumption that if a church was represented in one country only, it could not be termed “international”. The result is displayed in
As
Supervisory body above the pastor | Supervisory body below the pastor | Total |
---|---|---|
25 14.29% | 150 85.71% | 175 100 |
Number of countries | 0 | 1 - 2 | 3 - 4 | 5 and above | Blanks | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Informants | 100 57.14% | 20 11.43% | 10 5.71% | 15 8.57% | 30 17.14% | 175 100 |
have a supervisory body above the pastor in Q2 above. As many as 17.14% of 175 informants skipped the question, despite the various attempts made by the research assistants to reformulate it. Some 11.43% of 175 cited one or two countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast and 5.71% cited three or four countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, and the USA. Lastly, 8.57% of 175 informants reported that their churches were in five and more countries. Actually, the following churches―Winners’ Chapel International, Christian Missionary Fellowship International, Faith Covenant Ministry International, and Universal Church of the Kingdom of God―were said to be found in several countries in all continents.
Q4 asked whether these informants had the addresses of their churches in any two or more countries. Most informants could not provide the addresses except those from the churches which claimed to be represented in five countries and more listed in Q3 above. Q5 inquired whether their pastors organised meetings with other pastors of their churches, be they monthly or annually, with the aim to check what languages these pastors use in such encounters. It turned out that the bulk of the pastors did not organise meetings with other pastors of their churches. However, the pastors of churches with a high international representation cited in Q2 above were reported to organise regular meetings and annual congresses. Q6 asked whether worship services were conducted in all countries in the same way and in the same languages and most informants said the structure of the services differed but the goals were the same i.e., “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matt 28:19). Some informants reported that in Nigeria, English was used in some churches while English and Yoruba were used in others. Similarly, English and Lingala were said to be used in Congo. This finding answered the third research question.
Q7 asked the informants to explain what the terms “all nations”, “global”, “international”, “universal” or “world” in the name of their churches meant to them (
To most informants including pastors of churches with a high international representation (85.71%), “international” meant that if they left Cameroon and settled anywhere in the world, they would find their churches. To the pastors of churches planted only in Cameroon (14.29%), “international” meant that their churches welcome believers of all nations, be they Black or White, European or Asian. In other words, there is a mismatch between what some pastors think about the “international” nature of their churches and what their faithful think.
Q8 asked about the duration of an ordinary worship service in the informants’ churches and it was reported that a service lasts for two hours in some churches and as many as six hours in others. Some informants said that in their churches,
Church found in all countries of the world | Church welcoming members from all countries of the world | Total |
---|---|---|
150 85.71% | 25 14.29% | 175 100 |
the starting time is known but the closing time is difficult to tell and they added that some demons take a long time to be cast out. Asked about the names of the parts of a worship service (Q9), many informants provided a list including five to 12 parts. It was found that related activities were given different names and what was considered as an accessory in one church was regarded as an essential part in another. An attempt is made here to group the names of related activities:
- Breakthrough/opening prayer
- Praise/worship/thanksgiving/adoration/exhortation
- Intercession/intercessory prayer/invocation
- Healing/deliverance/prophecy/anointing/chronicle of miracles/prophetic focus/prediction
- Testimonies/prophecy confirmation
- Tithes/offerings/offertory
- Gospel reading/reading of scriptures
- Preaching/Sermon/Message/Predication/divine liturgy
- Welcoming of visitors/altar call/first timers’ announcement
- Announcements
- Closing prayer
Q10 inquired about the languages that were used in the worship service the informants had just attended. It turned out that, in all 35 churches, English and French were used: anything said in English was simultaneously put into French and vice versa. In a couple of churches, the pastors were French-English bilinguals and they alternated the use of these two languages throughout the worship services. However a few other languages were heard when certain activities―testimonies and prayers―were going on. During testimonies, language choice was determined by the person testifying; any language (including Pidgin English and indigenous languages) could be used and a translator systematically passed on the message in either French or English. Similarly, during prayers, tongue speaking was used by some pastors (e.g. “kabala kobokili gorabaka chikere”) and translation was not provided. Asked why these languages were used, no answer was given. In short, language management in these churches is characterised by the joint use of two languages, French and English, with every message said in one language translated simultaneously into the other.
Q11 focused on the languages in which songs were executed and it was found that they were sung in French and English. Occasionally some lyrics in Nigerian languages were heard. Lastly, the informants were asked to comment on language use in their churches (Q12). They reported that French and English were the official languages of Cameroon and they were used to make sure that no faithful was left behind. It was expected that each congregant mastered either French or English and translation would facilitate understanding. This language policy, which is written nowhere, is well-established among Pentecostals. They seem to have chosen these two languages so as to claim that they are observing the language policy of Cameroon, which is French-English official bilingualism (Constable [
This work considered language management in 35 “international” Pentecostal churches, using the structural-functional model of analysis. Four research questions were set to guide the study. The first took up the elements of worship service structure that were shared by these churches; the analysis revealed that they share many key elements including healing, prediction, deliverance, testimony, offerings, Gospel reading, preaching, announcements, welcoming of visitors, even though they use different names to refer to related activities. The second question checked what languages were chosen in Cameroon by these churches to realise these shared worship elements and what factors determined the choice of these languages in the multilingual context of Cameroon. The analysis disclosed that French and English, the joint official languages of Cameroon, were chosen, perhaps to show that they adhere to the country’s official bilingualism policy. This adherence seems to be very strong; actually, just as Government had been ignoring indigenous languages in official transactions, so too have these churches excluded indigenous languages from their hidden language policy.
The third question checked what languages were chosen in similar churches in other countries to realise these same shared elements and it was found that first, most of these churches exist only in Cameroon and secondly, the few that exist in other countries used English singly or in combination with other languages. The last question focused on the international nature of these churches and a serious mismatch was uncovered: while the faithful believe that their churches are found in every country of the world, the pastors claim that their churches welcome members from all countries of the world. Needless to say, the use of the term “international” did not seem to influence language management in the practices of these churches in any way. The main contribution of the paper, which derives from the analysis of 35 tokens out of a total number which is un known, lies in the fact that it has clarified the meaning of the term “international” in the names of Pentecostal churches and has shown that there seems to be little relationship between the names of these churches and their language management practices.
Kouega, J.-P. (2018) Language Management in “International” Pentecostal Churches in Cameroon. Open Access Library Journal, 5: e4646. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104646
List of the churches visited and the globalising terms in their names
*All nations
- All Family and Nations Outreaching Ministry
- Heaven’s Gate of All Nations
- House of Prayer for all Nations (HOPFAN)
- Prayers for all Nations
*Global
- Eglise Frontière Globale
*International
- Breakthrough International Limited
- Christ Foundation Ministry International
- Christ Holy Church International (CHCI)
- Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI)
- Christian Unity Ministries International
- Communauté Missionnaire Chrétienne Internationale
- Eglise Pentecôtiste du Cameroun Ministère International Va et Raconte ce que Dieu a Fait pour toi―Le Temple des Nations―Le Rocher Guidal (Pentecostal Church of Cameroon Ministry of International Go and Tell what God has Done for you―Nations Temple―The Rock Guidal)
- Faith Alive Ministries International
- Faith Covenant Ministry International
- God Almighty Prophetic Ministry International
- God’s Stars International
- Kinship International Ministries
- Life Faith Ministry International
- Light World Mission International
- Lighthouse Chapel International
- Living Word Fellowship International―King’s House
- Ministère de la Plénitude de Grâce Internationale
- Ministère International de la Montagne Sainte
- Ministère International Maison de Prière
- Restoration Centre Internatonal
- Resurrection Ministries International
- Sainte Eglise du Christ International
- Salvation Gospel Church International
- Triumphant Ministries International
- Vraie Eglise Internationale de Dieu du Cameroun
- World Mission Agency―Winners’ Chapel International
*Universal
- Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
*World
- Bethel World Outreach Ministries (BWOM)
- Living Faith Church World Wide
- World Mission Agency―Winners’ Chapel International
- World Wide Mission
Questionnaire/interview/observation (to be filled in by the research assistants)
I am a language student at the University and I want to find out how language is used in your church. I have a few questions to ask five members of your church. I have already met a church elder/the Pastor and I will be grateful if you could agree to be the next person.
I will jot down what you say and, at the end, I will read out what you have said to you. Later on, if you so wish, I will email to you the answers of the five people from your church.
1) How many chapels of this church are there in the city of Yaounde?
2) What is the hierarchical structure of the church i.e. who is above and below the pastor?
3) What are the various countries in which branches of this same church exist?
4) Do you have the addresses of this church in any two or more countries?
5) Do you organise meetings with other pastors of this church―be they monthly or annually?
6) Are the worship services conducted in all countries in the same way? In the same languages?
7) What does the term “international” in the name of your church mean to you?
8) How long does an ordinary worship service last in your church?
9) What are the most important parts of an ordinary service called?
10) In this church service that has just ended, what language was (languages were) used to realise Part 1? Why was this language (were these languages) used?
Part 1 _________ Language(s) used __________________________________
Motivation____________________________________
Part 2 ___________ Language(s) used ________________________________
Motivation_______________________________________________________
Part 3 _____________ Language(s) used ______________________________
Motivation_______________________________________________________
Part 4 _____________ Language(s) used ______________________________
Motivation_______________________________________________________
11) In what language(s) did the choir(s) sing? ________________________
12) What comment can you make on the use of language in this church? ____
________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your cooperation!
If you wish to get a copy of your church members’ answers to these questions, do enter your email address here: ______________________________
You can also contact your pastor, who will be given a hard copy of these answers.