From the Charismatic pulpit to the community: an exploratory analysis of the involvement of Pentecostal/Charismatic religious denominations in community development

Purpose

This study sought to determine the association between religious denominations, with a special focus on Pentecostal/Charismatic denomination and some core community welfare indicators. The study also constructed some religious performance indices to compare the performance of various denominations in poverty reduction activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study come from the seventh round of Ghana Living Standard Survey and Religion in Poverty Reduction Survey (RPRS) from Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Descriptive statistics and the logit model were used to analyze the data.

Findings

The study found that the presence of Catholic denomination is significantly associated with increased odds that water will be provided in rural areas (odds ratio = 2.88297, p = 0.008). The results also show that the presence of Protestant denomination as the major religion in the community is significantly associated with a reduction in the odds that social amenities will deteriorate in rural areas (odds ratio = 0.236, p = 0.062). However, it was found that in rural areas, the presence of Pentecostal/Charismatic church as the major denomination significantly reduces the odds for the provision of water (odds ratio = 0.24994, p = 0.025), increases the odds of deterioration in social amenities (odds ratio = 2.095, p = 0.062) and poverty (odds ratio = 1.4879, p = 0.094). The various indices show that in urban areas, the performance of religious denominations on social service delivery, poverty reduction and awareness raising on poverty issues are comparable.

Originality/value

This study is the foremost to construct indices that could be used to objectively assess the involvement of religious denomination in community development in any developing country.