‘The Future of Christianity Is Already Here’: Gospel Spreading at an ‘Explosive’ Rate in Africa
Evangelicalism is growing around the world but nowhere more so than in Africa where the increase has been “explosive”, says researcher Jason Mandryk.
By contrast, growth in Western nations remains “modest”, he told the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) on the first day of its World General Assembly taking place in Seoul this week.
In a detailed presentation tracking growth, delegates heard how in 1960, evangelicals accounted for only 8% of the global body of Christ. Today it stands at over 25%, said Mandryk, a Christian researcher with Operation World. The total number of evangelicals worldwide, he estimates, sits between 600 million and 650 million.
“We are many …, we are increasing,” he said, explaining that the growth is down to a combination of factors, including natural reproduction, evangelism, and the “evangelicalisation” of Christians who were not previously evangelical.
Around 70% of Christians in general, many of them evangelicals, live in Africa, Asia and Latin America, he said. In Africa specifically, this growth has gone hand in hand with “rapid urbanisation”, with many rural Christians migrating to cities. (Read more from “‘The Future of Christianity Is Already Here’: Gospel Spreading at an ‘Explosive’ Rate in Africa” HERE)
