ABSTRACT

The relationship between evangelism and social action has received considerable attention in academic discourse. This is partly because many evangelical Christians such as Pentecostals initially did not see social action and economic development as an integral part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There was overwhelming emphasis on winning souls for heaven with little thought about how to address the mundane needs of society of which Christians are a part. The situation in Africa was even more evasive until the 1990s, when many Pentecostals, particularly the Charismatics, begun to address some social concerns such as provision of schools of higher learning and encourage their members to excel in their businesses. The Church of Pentecost has emerged as one of the outstanding classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana which has deliberately taken steps to address the socioeconomic needs and challenges of not only its members but the wider society. For example, the church has established a number of schools and a university. The church also offers scholarship schemes for the poor to continue with their education. It also has a number of clinics and health posts and continues to activate a number of social interventions such as an environmental care campaign in the communities. These activities have since caught the attention of the government, which has initiated a dialogue with the church to learn ways in which the Church of Pentecost mobilises local resources for development. It is the recent activities of the Church of Pentecost, which provide the basis of this chapter.