ABSTRACT
Bishop Armstrong, guest preacher for the occasion, was introduced. There was great applause even before he had said anything. It was obvious that most of the Kenyan pastors gathered knew him. In his opening remarks, “Bishop” as many called him, thanked his “network of Christian brothers and sisters,” some of them members of SMC, who prayed for him and sent him monetary gifts during the death of his mother. These gifts assisted him greatly in his travel to Kenya to bury his mother the previous month. He then gave a 30 minute homily on the need to maintain a sanctuary as a sacred place of worship. It was filled with images and illustrations from life in Kenya as well as the United States. The first part of the ceremony ended with a dedication of the building at 6 pm, and was followed immediately by a dinner. As we ate chapatti, mokomo and other Kenyan dishes served at the dinner, I asked
Bishop Armstrong, “Which church in Kentucky are you bishop of?” Pausing briefly to swallow a morsel of food in his mouth then responded, “I don’t serve as Bishop in Kentucky; I’m a bishop who lives in Kentucky.” I did not quite understand his answer. Sensing my puzzlement, he explained that he was the presiding bishop and overseer for the Fountain of Life Ministries (hereafter FOLM), a fellowship of over one hundred churches in various cities and towns in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.2 In Kentucky, where he earned a Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) from Asbury Seminary and lives with his family, he works as a hospice chaplain and is a member of a local congregation. As Presiding Bishop of FOLM, he oversees all the projects and activities of the
churches in the fellowship. Each year, he therefore makes a number of visits to various regions in East Africa, particularly Kenya to assist member churches with their outreach and training programs and fundraisers. Bishop Armstrong’s ministry, as indicated earlier, traverses many locations in
different countries. He shuttles between Kentucky and Africa and crosses a number of national and “tribal” borders each year. The travels are always a combination of family and church related visits. Sometimes he brings some Americans – often sponsors – on these trips to witness and participate in some of the programs they sponsor. Also, in the United States, he maintains a network of pastor friends and church leaders many of them his former students and fellow church workers in Kenya. These leaders often invite him to participate in their church and social programs. It is mostly among these Kenyan congregations and fellowships therefore that he is considered a bishop. The description of the church celebration and the transnational life and work
of Bishop Armstrong above is mainly aimed at providing a window into the religious and transnational lives of many African immigrants in the United States. Since the 1970s, persons from a number of African countries have migrated into cities and towns in the United States. Like other post-1965 immigrants in the United States, these African immigrants generally do not completely assimilate into American social-cultural and religious life. Many of them are simultaneously imbedded in both their home countries and the United States and
therefore often maintain transnational lifestyles and networks. Religion plays a crucial role here. It facilitates their cross-border movements by providing the purposes, means and resources for travel to and from their home countries and other places. It also provides needed resources for dealing with the inherent psychological and social challenges of migration and transnational life. In addition, religious practices and congregational formation among these immigrants shows a hybridity reflective of their transnational connections. This chapter attempts to answer the question, “What is the nature and role of
transnational religious networks in the lives of post-1965 African immigrants in the United States?” Based on data collected through ethnographic research in the past decade among African Immigrant Churches in the New York metro area, the chapter describes and analyses the transnational religious lives of African immigrant Christians in the United States. It outlines the modes of transnational religious networks created and maintained by these mostly first-generation African immigrants and examines some of the social, psychological and religious benefits they derive from the networks. Transnational religious networks, the chapter argues, provide African immigrants in the United States extra support systems needed to counter marginalization and the psychological effects of downward social mobility they often suffer, and also help them to reinvigorate religious (in this case Christian) belief and practice.
