Fortress Press

Christianity has been growing in Africa at a geometric rate, and soon the continent will be home to one out of every four Christians in the world. Increasingly, Africans claim ownership of the question of what it means to be a Christian in the world today. So Christians worldwide need to know more about the character of the faith in places like eastern Africa. This book is a very timely and useful resource, whether you are a student just beginning to explore the topic, a more advanced scholar looking to move deeper into some of its finer points, or just a curious-minded reader with new African neighbors in church or down the street. Understanding World Christianity: Eastern Africa is a fine addition to a very important series.

This landmark study of Christianity in eastern Africa excels in breadth, depth, and insight. The history it discloses is rich beyond imagination, its standpoint bracingly ecumenical (Catholics, Anglicans, other missionary-founded churches [Lutherans, Quakers, Moravians], Pentecostals, African Independent Churches), its critiques boldly realistic. Most of all is the heartfelt empathy for all that the book describes. The authors succeed brilliantly in explaining what they call the vitality, the variety, and the volatility of their subject.

Like a striking, stained glass window, Paul Kollman and Cynthia Toms Smedley successfully piece together a myriad of fragments – dark, light, and colorful – of the stories of Christianity in eastern Africa into one compelling, interpretive whole. This work is groundbreaking in the world-Christianity perspective the authors advocate and demonstrate: remarkably comprehensive, yet concise and highly readable. It scrutinizes the past through the lens of present realities, rightfully noting missionary contributions while prioritizing African responses and initiatives that have primarily shaped contemporary expressions of Christian faith. It also analyzes the local region of eastern Africa in relation to the broader world Christian movement, past and present. Artfully crafted and insightfully narrated, this telling of the story of Christianity in eastern Africa is essential reading for anyone interested in the ongoing development of Christian tradition worldwide.

This balanced and readable volume explores the ‘vitality, variety, and volatility’ of Christianity in eastern Africa. With lively prose and meticulous documentation, it covers the historical, theological, and social issues essential to understanding the nature of contemporary eastern African Christianity. The authors have produced an excellent book, useful for both specialists and generalists alike.

This meticulously researched and comprehensive book eloquently unveils and analyses the variety, vitality and volatility of Christianity in eastern Africa, which has grown exponentially since the late nineteenth century to the present. It highlights the prominent role Christianity has played in social-political transformation of individuals and communities and in the development of theological thinking. This is the first book to draw out the historical development and character of Christianity in eastern Africa and relate it to the dynamics in world Christianity. The authors also provide biographies of key Christian personalities whose experiences disclose significant aspects of eastern African Christianity. Written in a readable style, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and lecturers across a range of disciplines, including church history, African history, religious studies, missiology and theology. It will interest anyone interested in the dynamics of Christianity in Africa.

"Like a striking, stained glass window, Paul Kollman and Cynthia Toms Smedley successfully piece together a myriad of fragments–dark, light, and colorful–of the stories of Christianity in eastern Africa into one compelling, interpretive whole. This work is groundbreaking in the world-Christianity perspective the authors advocate and demonstrate: remarkably comprehensive, yet concise and highly readable. It scrutinizes the past through the lens of present realities, rightfully noting missionary contributions while prioritizing African responses and initiatives that have primarily shaped contemporary expressions of Christian faith. It also analyzes the local region of eastern Africa in relation to the broader world Christian movement, past and present. Artfully crafted and insightfully narrated, this telling of the story of Christianity in eastern Africa is essential reading for anyone interested in the ongoing development of Christian tradition worldwide."