Becoming Pentecostal on the Copperbelt

This chapter explores the relationships in which Pentecostal adherence embeds believers. For many people in Nsofu, Pentecostal membership is constituted by their connection to a church leader, whose superior spiritual power is able to transform what they call “stubborn situations” such as childlessness or unemployment. The other relational axis on which Pentecostal membership turns is lateral networks of collective prayer. Prayer in Pentecostal groups creates a rolling tide of ritual energy that carries everyone along with it, and like connections to church leaders, the relationships that form through prayer also have the power to effect change. The pivotal role of these relationships reveals moving by the Spirit as a central Pentecostal value, and the chapter concludes with a discussion of how moving by the Spirit is realized in displays of charisma and prosperity.