ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the context of a contemporary rural African community, the relationship between religion and socio-economic action. It describes the religious ethic of a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses among the Serenje-Lala of Zambia and discusses the position that Jehovah's Witnesses occupy in the changing social and economic structure of the community as a whole. Jehovah's Witnesses in Zambia form part of a wider international, American-based organization which, in 1963, served 181 countries. The doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses centre on the belief that people are now living in the 'time of the End' after which God will inaugurate 'a new heaven and a new earth'. The ethic of Jehovah's Witnesses commends a certain style of life. The characteristics associated with this are the wearing of good clothing, and the buying of good furniture and household equipment.
