SA is one of only 3 countries where religious participation has increased

Gugs Mhlungu spoke to Professor of Public Theology at the Vrije University of Amsterdam, Dion Forster.

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.

In a recent article in The Conversation, Forster shared his research on new denominations of Christianity that are growing in the country.

Foster believes this has a lot to do with the changing religious, cultural, social and political sentiments of South Africans.

In Forster's piece, he notes that studies show South Africa as one of only three countries globally where religious participation has increased in recent years. The other two countries are Italy and the United States.

Foster writes: "In South Africa, there has been a steady decline in membership of the so-called “mainline” Christian churches, such as the Methodists, Anglicans, Catholics or Dutch Reformed. At the same time, the country has seen the membership of African indigenous Christian groupings (such as the ZCC and the Johane Masowe and Johane Marange churches), and postcolonial Christian groupings (like prosperity and neo-Pentecostal groups) increasing significantly." 

He adds that recent research shows that some religious groupings are growing because people find themselves very dissatisfied and searching for meaning.

"People long for a sense of community, they long for a place of support when they are going through tough times, a place of joy where they can share their happiness. People are connecting with these communities again - a sort of a return to the religious in many societies because they've seen the emptiness of capitalism." 

- Dion Forster, Professor of Public Theology at Vrije University of Amsterdam

"People are finding their religious meaning in decentralised ways. They are becoming more religious but they are not necessarily going back to churches or mosques."

- Dion Forster, Professor of Public Theology at Vrije University of Amsterdam

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