ABSTRACT
During the 1990s, migrants from West Africa developed New Pentecostal Mission Churches as they settled in European metropoles. These churches are characterized by intense transnational connections and aim to incorporate their members into a global Christendom. Focusing on the Christian Church Outreach Mission International (CCOMI), a church founded by Ghanaians in Hamburg, this article explores when and how transnational competences, and interactions beyond linguistic, cultural and ethnic boundaries, can be described as cosmopolitan sociabilities. It asks whether we can use the term ‘cosmopolitanism’ as an analytical tool, beyond ‘benign universalisms’, to shed light on cosmopolitan moments which can emerge as side-effects of Christian moral missions. It also asks how precisely Pentecostal churches create transnational ways of being and belonging, and how far the politics of locality play into the intensity of connections.
