Five Important Things To Consider When Addressing An African Audience

Each audience comes with its own expectations and reactions, this means that there are always careful considerations when addressing a specific audience.

When addressing an African audience, the are some things that one should be mindful of that maybe in a different setting you would not consider. The aspect of Ubuntu is an integral part of the of the African community as Dennis (Kilama, 2017) puts it as “a person is a person because of others”. In other words, it means I am because we are.

Stories play an important role in the upbringing and life of the African and should be a feature when preaching in an African setting (Gertzen, 2020). Songs, and depending on the mood and the passage that one is preaching celebrations plays a key part as it’s the normal lived experience of the people you are preaching to (Gertzen, 2020).

It is also important to be engaging in your talk as to avoid boring your audience.  You should look for ways to engage the audience through dialogue as a monologue tends to sound like a lecturer and is not generally the best way to communicate in an African context (Gertzen, 2020).

Also be mindful of the importance of history in the African context (Gertzen, 2020). When we say history, we do not just mean from the arrival of the European Settlers and Missionaries but before that. The role that colonization and apartheid (in the South African context) played, can’t be ignored and it is important to be sensitive about such things especially when preaching passages that talk about injustice and oppression and forgiveness (Gertzen, 2020). Try to limit using big English terms as literacy is still a problem to some as well as the lack of a having a high level of education (Gertzen, 2020).

Touch on present context like poverty, crisis and issues touching the everyday life of the congregate and do look at ancestors as that is when they are considered or consulted for everyday guidance in times of crisis and dealing with life everyday struggles (Gertzen, 2020). In your application preach hope and practical ways that we deal with everyday worries or crisis and not just pray for them show care and compassion in practical ways as that is what Ubuntu looks like and the book of Act 2:42-47 is a great example of this.

Respect and honor play a huge role in the society of the African culture so in how one conducts themselves when they preach and the terms that they use addressing elders is very important (Gertzen, 2020). When addressing the church members, it is frowned upon to address them with their first names, especially if they are elders, married and older than you. Generic terms like Tata, Mama or Bazalwane (Saints) are much better, when addressing them try to refrain from using first name or calling them friends as usually one is friends with peers of the same age and elders find it offensive when a younger person calls them friends.

The context plays a significant role in determining the mood of the talk so one needs to pay attention if is the mood of the Scripture one of sadness, celebration, rebuking and hope and so the tone and sometimes dress code should be determine the mood of the talk (Gertzen, 2020).

Bibliography

Gertzen, G. (2020). Lecture 15- Consideration for preaching in Africa, lecture notes, Preaching 3A PS352. Cape Town: George Whitefield College.

Kilama, D. (2017, September 17). https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/redeeming-ubuntu/. Retrieved from africa.thegospelcoalition.org: https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/redeeming-ubuntu/