Opening the 13th General Assembly of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), Bishop Dr. Goodwill Shana delivered a far-reaching and impassioned keynote address calling the African Church to rediscover its prophetic identity and take full responsibility for the continent’s future.
Held in Nairobi from May 21–23, the triennial AEA General Assembly brought together evangelical leaders from across the continent to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing Africa.
In his address, Shana, who serves as AEA president, called on the Church to rise beyond mere growth in numbers and embody a transformative presence that shapes societies in line with the values of God's kingdom.
“We have growing churches, but stagnant societies,” he said. “We have abundance of resources, yet our people live in poverty. We have the largest Christian demographic in the world, and yet little transformation to show for it.”
The ‘oxymoronic dilemma’ of the African Church
Shana's address unfolded around the central paradox facing African Christianity today: rapid church growth on the one hand and the persistence of moral, economic, and political dysfunction on the other. He described this as an "oxymoronic dilemma" that demands sober self-examination.
Citing examples from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya, Shana emphasized that Christian demographics have not translated into societal change. In nations where Christians make up a significant majority, corruption, poverty, weak governance, and violence still thrive.
“There is no other continent as blessed in abundance and diversity as Africa,” he said. “Yet, this blessing has not resulted in economic, political, or technological transformation. We are the most Christian continent on earth, yet we continue to struggle under the weight of systemic dysfunction.”
The contradiction, he stressed, must be addressed not just with spiritual fervor but with deep and painful reflection on the nature and witness of the Church.
The Africa God wants
Referencing the African Union’s vision document, "Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want," Shana said the AEA responded with its own theological reflection: “What is the Africa God wants?”
"To get the Africa God wants, we need the Church God wants," he said.
According to Shana, the African Church must shed outdated paradigms of escapism, withdrawal, or uncritical power-seeking that have long shaped its social posture. In past generations, many Christians saw the world as something to be endured or escaped. Others adopted the Good Samaritan model, stepping in only when there was crisis. Still others pursued dominionist approaches, seeking to impose Christian control over political and social institutions.
But these responses, he argued, have proved inadequate. “When the church aligns too closely with power, it becomes as corrupted as those who held it before. The Church loses its saltiness,” he said.
Instead, the Church must engage society with a prophetic vision grounded in righteousness, justice, humility, and truth. The prophetic voice, he insisted, is not just a matter of criticizing what is wrong, but embodying and articulating what is right.
A prophetic voice that does not only speak against, but also points to solutions
Shana outlined three understandings of the prophetic voice. The first is the traditional role of declaring God’s truth—what he called “forthtelling,” which involves biblical teaching and moral clarity. The second, often misunderstood, involves “foretelling” or predicting future events under divine inspiration.
This second category, he said, has become a source of embarrassment in Africa due to the rise of celebrity prophets who manipulate followers for personal gain. “We all know the proliferation of so-called major prophets, Papa this and that,” he said. “They offer no moral direction, only promises of personal breakthrough.”
Such figures, Shana warned, have undermined the Church’s credibility and moral witness. Rather than challenging injustice or modeling integrity, they have created spectacles that mirror the very abuses they should denounce.
The third and most needed form of prophetic voice, he said, is the collective witness of the Church standing for justice, equity, repentance, and societal transformation. “It is not enough to speak against,” he emphasized. “We must also speak for. We must propose alternative models and solutions that bring life and healing.”
The African Church must recommit to the three ‘V’s: vision, virtue, and values
To fulfill this prophetic role, the African Church must cultivate three essential qualities: a new vision of itself, a renewal of its virtue, and a commitment to lived values that reflect the gospel.
Shana challenged leaders to reimagine the church not as an institution of power or prosperity, but as a servant community modeled after Christ. Too often, he said, the church envisions transformation but fails to live it because its own virtues do not align.
“We call for integrity in public life while harboring financial misconduct in our own institutions. We denounce injustice while failing to model accountability. This contradiction weakens our voice,” he said.
He further warned that without personal and institutional transformation, the Church would remain disqualified from shaping national transformation. Discipleship, he said, must move from the abstract to the practical.
Prophetic leadership is costly leadership
The problem, Shana emphasized, is not only theological or moral, but also one of leadership.
Quoting Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, he said, “The trouble with Africa is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.”
Shana argued that the Church must produce a new kind of leader—one who is willing to speak truth, pay a personal price, and withstand public criticism. He spoke candidly about his own experience serving on Zimbabwe’s Anti-Corruption Commission, where his efforts to expose high-level corruption made him the target of defamation campaigns and threats.
“If you are going to be a prophetic voice, you will be a person in trouble,” he said. “The prophets of old did not speak truth and walk away untouched. There is a cost to prophetic engagement.”
This cost, he said, includes resisting the temptation to be co-opted by political elites or swayed by popularity and profile.
“Our priorities must remain fixed on transformation, not self-promotion,” he warned.
The challenge of relevance
Shana also highlighted the need for the African Church to engage constructively with contemporary culture, particularly in the digital sphere.
“The next generation does not live where we live. They live in a media and digital world,” he said. “If we do not engage there, we will lose them.”
While he did not propose a wholesale embrace of digital culture, Shana urged churches to take seriously the platforms, languages, and modes of communication that define younger generations.
Failure to do so, he warned, will leave the Church speaking to itself while a generation drifts into spiritual confusion.
Shana also spoke bluntly about what he described as a "degradation of commitment to biblical truth."
He condemned the idolization of religious leaders, warning that placing "men of God" on pedestals has led to spiritual abuse, doctrinal error, and the erosion of gospel fidelity. He also criticized prosperity theology and the obsession with supernatural spectacle, arguing that such distortions distract from the gospel’s call to holiness, service, and justice.
“When people gather not to hear the Word of God but to receive a blessing from a man, we have lost our way,” he said. “When churches become centers of entertainment rather than formation, we lose the prophetic edge.”
In response, Shana called for a renewed commitment to Scripture, sound doctrine, and theological education that equips leaders to disciple with clarity and conviction.
Africa must take responsibility as it leads into the future
Shana ended his address with a sweeping look at the future of global Christianity, charting the dramatic shift in its center of gravity from the global North to the global South.
“In 1910, only one delegate from Africa attended the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh,” he said. “Today, Africa is home to over 630 million Christians and growing.”
This demographic shift, he argued, must come with a shift in responsibility. While the theological capital and financial resources remain concentrated in the West, the energy and future of the global Church now reside in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
“This means Africa must now lead,” Shana said. “We must take responsibility for shaping the future of Christianity—not just in numbers, but in theology, in mission, in justice, and in spiritual depth.”
He warned, however, that growth without transformation is not enough. “We cannot inherit the center of global Christianity and repeat the same colonial patterns, the same compromises with power, or the same neglect of the poor,” he said.
Shana concluded on a hopeful but challenging note. The African Church, he said, must not only address present crises but prepare the next generation to lead with faithfulness and vision.
“We are not just speaking for now. We are speaking for generations to come,” he said. “The prophetic voice is not about profile or popularity. It is about responsibility. It is about what kind of Africa we will hand to our children.”
The 13th AEA General Assembly continues through May 23 addressing mission, discipleship, digital innovation, and the theological and social engagement of evangelicals across the continent.
Founded in 1966, the Association of Evangelicals in Africa represents 40 national evangelical fellowships and is headquartered in Nairobi. AEA is a regional affiliate of the World Evangelical Alliance.
