Communalism and hospitality in African urban congregations: pastoral care challenges and possible responses

Abstract

This article investigates the problem behind the protracted crisis of how hospitality ought to be understood and practised in the urbanised and pluralistic congregations of Zambian Society ("the problem of hospitality"). The focus is not only on the Zambian context, but explores in general the traditional African way of life. The activities of the early missionaries, colonialism and the incompetence of independent African states are discussed with particular emphasis on their role in communal life and hospitality. It reveals that in the aftermath of colonialism and of the missionary era, where African traditional patterns were disrupted, the traditional communalism and hospitality were distorted. The article therefore argues that Africans are at a crossroads, and the resulting effects are uncertainty, disillusionment and despair. Both religious and philosophical worldviews are now developed along the lines of cultural idolatry, that is, culture is emphasised above God. Consequently, there is a defective and deceptive view of life in relation to others, as can be noticed in the problem of the practice of hospitality among Zambians. Thus the article proposes practical guidelines for a relational response within pastoral ministry as an approach to addressing the challenge of hospitality