Capitalism, chaos, and Christian healing: Faith Tabernacle Congregation in southern colonial Ghana, 1918-26

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Periodical article

Title:	Capitalism, chaos, and Christian healing: Faith Tabernacle Congregation in southern colonial Ghana, 1918-26
Author:	Mohr, Adam
Year:	2011
Periodical:	The Journal of African History (ISSN 0021-8537)
Volume:	52
Issue:	1
Pages:	63-83
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	African Independent Churches faith healing religious history social conditions colonial period 1920-1929
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/23017649
Abstract:	In 1918, Faith Tabernacle Congregation was established in southern colonial Ghana. This Philadelphia-based church flourished in the context of colonialism, cocoa, and witchcraft, spreading rapidly after the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. In this context, several healing cults also proliferated, but Faith Tabernacle was particularly successful because the church offered its members spiritual, social, and legal advantages. The church's leadership was typically comprised of young Christian capitalist men, whose literacy and letter writing enabled the establishment of an American church without any missionaries present. By 1926, when Faith Tabernacle began its decline, at least 177 branches had formed in southern Ghana, extending into Togo and Côte d'Ivoire, with over 4,400 members. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]