'Arrowhead' of Nigerian Pentecostalism: The Redeemed Christian Church of God, 1952-2005

This is a historical study of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), an indigenous and fast-growing Pentecostal church in Nigeria. The recent explosion in the church is presented here as a response to both local and external stimuli. The ingenuity of the church leadership is further reflected in the way it appropriates crucial moments from its collective past as a means of keeping the establishment mobilized. On the whole, the RCCG presents an interesting ambivalence. On one hand it tries to distill a distinctive religious ethos, while on the other hand it epitomizes the different nuances in Nigerian Pentecostalism. The implication of this situation on the internal stability of the church is further probed in this study.