Abstract:

This article examines the transnational significance and impact of the
Church of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all nations
(Embassy of God), a Nigerian-led Pentecostal church based in Kyiv,
Ukraine. It shows that the church’s uniqueness lies both in its huge fol-
lowing and in the fact that the majority of its members are white Eastern
European. In this sense, it represents a “negative instance” of current
trends within African-led migrant churches, where membership is pre-
dominantly African. The church’s popularity is explained in terms of
its Pentecostal spirituality, which satisfies the spiritual hunger fostered
by socialism in Eastern Europe and challenges the staid religiosity of
older denominations such as the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its deliber-
ate pursuit of a transnational agenda is evident in the extensive foreign
engagements of its leader, Sunday Adelaja, its international media ministry, the growing network of pastors attached to its ministry and its global missionary vision.

Author: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu