Sociogenèse des Églises pentecôtistes africaines en France

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in Pentecostalism in a migratory context, studies on Charismatic Pentecostal Churches in France remain minimal. However, on account of sub-Saharan migrations, notably of Congolese, these Churches have grown significantly over the last three decades. This growth forms part of the restructuring of French Protestantism and, more generally, of the globalization of the contemporary world. This article adopts a historiographic and sociographic rather than ethnographic perspective. The author reviews the processes that led to the formation of these Churches in France during the 1980s by means of a joint analysis of the roles played by the Congolese migrations, which served as a crucible for the identity politics of these Churches, and by an Indian minister, whose influence and connection to the faith gospel networks have contributed to the internationalization of the French migrant context.