Redeemed Christian Church of God

YET ANOTHER SIGN of the rising influence of African Christianity in the rest of the world -- The Redeemed Christian Church of God founded in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1952, is building its North American headquarters on the outskirts of Greenville, Texas -- the heart of the Bible-belt.

Their goal is to establish congregations within five minutes' driving distance of every family in the US. So far they have 250 churches in the country. Worldwide they report 2-5 million adherents (depending on what statistics you read) and 5,000 parishes. They want to be seen as a multi-cultural church. Link to NY Times article

Not everyone is happy about their arrival in Greenville. Some people are thinking deja vu Waco. Others feel threatened by anything "foreign" -- especially black foreign. Still others wonder why they need another church -- after all, there are Baptist churches every 500 feet in Texas -- and that's real Christianity.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God is a holiness-pentecostal group with plenty of rules and regulations -- not unlike what you would have found in Pentecostal groups in Texas 50 years ago. Even though I'm not particularly fond of the Pentecostal approach, I'd say that they are a lot more grounded than many of the popular and flamboyant versions of Christianity already in Texas. This isn't another Branch Davidian-style group. Greenville can relax. Africa is coming to help.