In the introduction to the volume, the editors make the bold claim that their collection of essays represents a milestone in studying and researching the East African Revival – better known by its African name Balokole – that started in the late 1920s. And for once the reviewer is ready to back such a ‘biased’ judgement. First of all, the book lifts the East African Revival out of its geographical confinement and puts it into a general context of revivalism in church history. In research on African church life, the phenomenon of revival has hitherto been squeezed between a strong focus on the development of the mission churches and a strong drive towards African independent churches and the charismatic and Pentecostal movements. Emma Wild-Wood discusses this important historiographical question in her excellent concluding chapter.
Secondly, the book marks and celebrates the foundation of an archival collection for the East African Revival. In 2008, the papers of the leading figure in the East African Revival, Joe Church, were handed over to the Henry Martyn Centre for the Study of Mission and World Christianity in Cambridge. It is a huge and outstanding archive now available for researchers and in perfect order, thanks first of all to Terry Barringer's engaged and masterly effort.
A third point deserves to be added. The present volume, originating from the handover conference in 2008, appeared first in East Africa published by Fountain Publishers in Kampala in 2010. It means that the discussion of this important state-of-the-art survey of the Balokole movement could start in its home area. This leads to a significant characteristic of the collection of essays. The fourteen authors represent an interesting mixture of people who may be called insider historians offering us autobiographical testimonies, and of scholars who update us on recent research on the Balokole. The collection paints a vivid picture of how the movement spread from its core areas in Uganda and Rwanda to other districts and neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Congo. In some cases, an insider and a researcher address the same theme from different angles.
The discussions surrounding two wider themes are important for a detailed understanding of the Balokole movement. The first theme deals with the issue of continuity with traditional culture after conversion and public confession. In her paper on polygamy in western Kenya, Esther Mombo pinpoints the tensions between the two traditions. In the Revival movement, polygamous marriages were of course not accepted, and divorces freed women from many social constraints. But in the local context, divorce also meant that women were pressured into re-marrying, which some women considered to be against Christian principles. John Karanja emphasizes that the Revival movement could not extricate itself from its own cultural environment. He explains public confessions as a re-inscription of existing African practices, in which the movement functioned as a substitute for the extended family. Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton supports John Karanja's notions of continuity by pointing to several features in the traditional religion that suggest that the East African Revival was not ‘a fundamentally new awakening’. But other authors challenge the notion of the Revival's continuity. Simon Barrington-Ward argues that the Revival's emphasis on conversion and confession challenged more collective or communal ways of existence and promoted individualization.
The second thematic discussion in the book deals with the social and political consequences of the Revival. John Gatu describes his transformation from a political activist in the days of the Mau Mau crisis to abstaining from partisan politics thanks to the influence of the Revival movement. Derek Peterson questions the general assumption of political neutrality among Revivalists, and instead emphasizes the movement's political nature. Based on a case study among the Luo in western Kenya, he argues convincingly that ‘conversion was an act of political agency’ (p. 117). Becoming a Balokole meant being on the move, crossing accustomed boundaries and disputing the given pattern of authority.
The special character of the book provides us with a lot of new insights into the history and present situation of the East African Revival. It even offers some prospects for the future of the movement by pointing to major changes in the East African environment; these are brilliantly summarized in Kevin Ward's concluding chapter. First of all, the charismatic or Pentecostal movement is becoming a major force in East Africa, even to the extent that ‘Pentecostalism is simply the modern way of being Balokole’ (p. 196). As Amos Kasibante points out, this is even reflected in the terminology: the name Balokole is now used to refer to membership of these new churches.
The effects of Pentecostalism are further strengthened by the fact that it attracts the youth in great numbers, thus becoming ‘a substitute for revival’ (p. 66). When one takes into account the fact that the ordinary churches are incorporating Pentecostal features into their worship, the space left for the Balokole is becoming more and more narrow. With the ongoing generational shift, the longer-term prospect could easily be that the Balokole movement might be absorbed by one side or the other.
The Balokole may be at a turning point, but the book under review represents a turning point itself in the study of the East African Revival. It summarizes the present knowledge of the movement; the different authors offer new insights and lead us into a deeper understanding of the importance of the Revival in East African Christianity; and it sets new challenges for future researchers.
