Bishop Goodwill Shana, who opened the 13th General Assembly of the African Evangelical Association (AEA), gave a wide and passionate keynote address calling on the African Church to rediscover its prophetic identity and take full responsibility for the future of the continent.
The Triennale AEA General Assembly, held in Nairobi from May 21-23, brought together evangelical leaders from all over the continent to look back on the challenges and opportunities facing Africa.
In his speech as President of the AEA, Shana called on the church to embody a transformative being that rises beyond mere growth in numbers and shapes society in line with the values of God’s kingdom.
“We are growing our churches, but society is stagnant,” he said. “We have a wealth of resources, but our people live in poverty. We have the largest Christian demographic in the world, but there is little change to show that.”
The “Oxygen Dilemma” of the African Church
Shana’s speech unfolded around a central paradox facing Africa’s Christianity today. On the one hand, there is the rapid growth of the church, and on the other hand, there is the persistence of moral, economic and political dysfunction. He described this as an “oxygen dilemma” that requires a calm self-examination.
Citing examples from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, Shana emphasized that Christian demographics have not been translated into social change. Corruption, poverty, weak governance and violence are still thriving in a country where Christians are the majority.
“No other continent is blessed with richness and diversity like Africa,” he said. “But this blessing has not brought about economic, political or technological transformation. We are the most Christian continent on the planet, but we continue to struggle under the weight of systemic dysfunction.”
He stressed that contradictions must be addressed not only with spiritual enthusiasm, but with deep and painful reflections on the nature of the Church and witnesses.
The Africa God Wants
Referring to the African Union’s vision document, “Agenda 2063: Africa we hope for,” Shana said the AEA responded with its own theological reflection.
“To get the Africa that God wants, we need the church that God wants,” he said.
According to Shana, African churches must sway an outdated paradigm for escape, retreat or uncritical power that has long shaped its social attitudes. In past generations, many Christians saw the world as something that can withstand or escape. Others adopted a good Samaritan model and only intervened in times of crisis. Still others have pursued a Dominionist approach that seeks to impose Christian domination over political and social institutions.
However, he argued that these responses have proven insufficient. “When the church is too closely aligned with power, it becomes as corrupt as those who previously had it. The church loses its saltiness,” he said.
Instead, the church must engage society with a prophetic vision based on justice, justice, humility and truth. The prophetic voice he insisted was not only to criticize what is wrong, but to embody and clarify what is right.
A prophetic voice that not only opposes it, but also points to a solution.
Shana outlined three understandings of the prophetic voice. The first is the traditional role of proclaiming God’s truth. What he called “secrets” involves biblical teaching and moral clarity. The second, often misunderstood, involves “prophecy” or predicting future events under divine inspiration.
He said this second category became a source of embarrassment in Africa due to the rise of celebrity prophets who manipulate followers for personal gain. “We all know the spread of what is called the main prophet. “They don’t offer moral direction, they’re just personal breakthrough promises.”
Such figures undermined the reliability and moral witnesses of the church, Shana warned. Rather than challenging injustice or modeling integrity, they created glasses that reflected the highly abuse they should blame.
He said the third and most necessary form of prophetic voice, he was a collective witness of the church standing for justice, fairness, repentance and social transformation. “It’s not enough to oppose it,” he emphasized. “We have to talk about it too. We have to propose alternative models and solutions that will bring about life and healing.”
African churches must recommend to three ‘v’s: vision, virus, and values
To play this prophetic role, the African church must develop three essential qualities. It is a new vision of its own, a renewal of its virtues, a commitment to living values that reflect the gospel.
Shana challenged her leaders to rethink the church not as an institution of power or prosperity, but as a servant community modeled after Christ. He said that in many cases the church assumes transformation, but cannot live it because its own virtues do not coincide.
“We are hoping to be honest and sincerely in public life while we are harboring economic misconduct in our own institutions. We condemn fraud while we do not model accountability. This contradiction weakens our voices,” he said.
He further warned that without personal and institutional change, the Church will remain disqualified from shaping national transformation. The disciple must move from abstract to practical, he said.
Prophetic leadership is costly leadership
The issues that Shana highlighted are not only theological or moral, but also a part of leadership.
Quoting Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, he said, “Troubles with Africa are simple and totally a failure of leadership.”
Shana argued that the church must produce a new kind of leader. Someone willing to tell the truth, pay a personal price, and endure public criticism. He spoke candidly about his own experience with Zimbabwe’s Anti-Corruption Committee. There, his efforts to expose high levels of corruption made him a target for a campaign of honor and threat.
“If you become a prophetic voice, you will be a person in need,” he said. “The old prophet spoke no truth and left untouched. Prophetic involvement costs money.”
This cost includes resisting the temptation to be employed by political elites or shaking their popularity and profile.
“Our priorities must remain fixed on change, not self-promotion,” he warned.
Relevance challenges
Shana also highlighted the need for African churches to engage constructively in contemporary culture, particularly in digital fields.
“The next generation doesn’t live where we live. They live in a world of media and digital,” he said. “If we don’t engage there, we’ll lose them.”
Although he had not proposed wholesale of digital culture, Shana urged the church to take the platform, language and communication modes that define the younger generation seriously.
Otherwise, he warned that the church would speak to itself while the generations fall into spiritual confusion.
Shana also spoke openly about what he described as “deteriorating commitment to biblical truth.”
He condemned idolatry among religious leaders and warned that placing a “man of God” on a pedestal leads to spiritual abuse, doctrinal errors and erosion of gospel fidelity. He also criticized theology of prosperity and his obsession with the supernatural sight, claiming that such distortions distract us from the gospel’s call for holiness, service and justice.
“We lost our way when people gathered to receive blessings from others rather than hearing God’s word,” he said. “When the church becomes the center of entertainment rather than formation, we lose our prophetic edge.”
In response, Shana called for a new commitment to theological education that equips the Bible, healthy doctrines, and a leadership that equips disciples with clarity and conviction.
Africa has to be responsible for its future
Shana finished her speech by overtaking the future of global Christianity, and illustrated the dramatic change in the center of gravity from the global north to the global south.
“In 1910, only one representative from Africa attended the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh,” he said. “Today, Africa has over 630 million Christians and is growing.”
He argued that this demographic change must involve a change in responsibility. Theological capital and financial resources remain concentrated in the West, but the energy and future of the world’s churches now exist in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
“This means Africa has to lead now,” Shana said. “We must be responsible for shaping the future of Christianity, not just numbers, but in theology, mission, justice and spiritual depth.”
However, he warned that growth without change is not sufficient. “We cannot inherit the heart of global Christianity, and we cannot repeat the same colonial patterns, the same compromises and the same negligence of the poor,” he said.
Shana concluded with a hopeful but challenging note. He said African churches must prepare the next generation to not only deal with the current crisis, but also to lead in loyalty and vision.
“We’re not just talking for now, we’re talking for the future generations,” he said. “The prophetic voice is not about profiles or popularity. It’s about responsibility. It’s about what Africa we give to our children.”
The 13th AEA General Assembly will continue through May 23rd to address missions, disciples, digital innovation, and theological and social engagement of evangelicals across the continent.
Founded in 1966, the African Evangelical Association represents 40 National Evangelical Fellowships and is headquartered in Nairobi. AEA is a regional affiliate of the world’s Evangelical Alliance.
