Women in the charismatic churches in Malawi: a historical and theological perspective

Abstract

This research work is first historical and theological study on the women in charismatic churches since the inception of the charismatic movement in Malawi in 1970’s. It is a historical and qualitative empirical research about the critical roles and experiences of women in the Charismatic Movement in Malawi. It therefore uses a feminist narrative method of enquiry. In order to get a full picture regarding the roles, and experiences of women in the Church, the study used the following research methods besides the historical: in-depth interviews, group discussions and participant observation. A group of twenty-nine pastors' wives from PAWLP are randomly selected and interviewed by the researcher. In addition, several audit focus group discussions are carried out in various Charismatic congregations under study. During these interviews, 150 church members i.e. men, women and the youths are also interviewed in order to determine different congregations’ perception on the roles of women in the Charismatic Churches in Malawi. In a nutshell, the purpose of this study was to investigate the history of the role of women in the Charismatic Churches in Malawi. By presenting a synthesis of the various perspectives on the experiences of women participation in the Charismatic Churches, this study has demonstrated that doctrine, ecclesiastic congregation and culture of society influence the participation of women in different positions of the Church. All these are embedded in patriarchal ideologies. The research hypothesis was that much as it seems that many Churches are now allowing women to take different roles in the church, Charismatic denominations seem to lag behind, as the core roles in the Church are monopolized by men while women take the more traditional roles. The research findings have shown that the charismatic churches allow few women to take leading roles in the church while men still dominates in church positions and in church activities in the charismatic churches. The critical analysis of the history and experience of women in the charismatic churches in Malawi has necessitated the re-reading of the Bible and critically analyzing it with the lenses of history of the religious revival background that is fortified by feminist theology, human