ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the contributions that Jacob Olupona’s pioneering work on African immigrant religion in the United States might make to our understanding of critical concepts in discussions of heritage culture and heritage language education in immigrant communities. It explores in particular the reasons why African immigrant Pentecostal churches have thus far been disinclined to invest in activities designed to promote heritage language and culture. By initiating a project on African immigrant religions in America, Olupona began to rectify the lack of attention to a growing and hitherto overlooked immigrant demographic while also providing new and intriguing material for scholars working on questions of language and identity.
