Book review 18: Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches Are Quietly Shaping Our Democracy Pontsho Pilane 

Growing up in an African home we are not given much of a choice about whether you want to go to church or not. By we, I am referring to my sisters and me.  

Church in African communities is an instruction and if you fail to obey that instruction there are consequences to face. One of the options I was given when I was younger was either to go to church or be threatened with being locked outside our home. 

Sundays were reserved for church and everything in our lives had to be completely put on hold. 

Yes, everything. 

The night before church is used to organise and prepare for the week ahead. This is when laundry, cooking and cleaning were done. Everyone had to be involved because Saturday was considered the only day available.

However, in my case, being raised in a staunch Christian home meant that church was our everything. If we weren’t in church we were searching for a church or church hopping. By the time I was thirteen, I  had even lost count of the number of churches I had attended in my life. 

To answer the question you didn’t ask: I wasn’t given much of a choice. Being a minor meant that my guardians–well, parents in my case–had control over where I could be on a Sunday. Church it was.

Then everything took a complete turn when I turned seventeen. 

Our Church-Hopping Days Came to an End

Our church hopping days came to an end on the eve of new year in 2009. 

My mothers late best friend invited us to a church service to celebrate the coming new year. Once again, we were given no choice but to attend the church crossover service, as they called it. It was an all-night prayer service, something many evangelical churches frequently hold to celebrate and commit the year ahead.

Upon our arrival, it was the first time we had seen a church that was so beautifully built and decorated. Even the toilets were inside the church and this shocked me because of what I had been exposed to during my church hopping days. 

I had never in my life seen an African church that was so well built, with facilities that were well maintained.

At the churches I had attended, we were constantly being asked to donate to building funds that never materialized. To date, some of those churches have not built any form of permanent structure. Where structures do exist, some are incomplete or dilapidated, while others are tents seemingly at the brink of falling apart. 

I mention this not to mock the state of these churches. However, it is concerning because church members make contributions with the hope of seeing change. There should be some form of accountability when people contribute their hard-earned money towards a specific purpose.  

Back to this new found church. 

I forgot to mention that it was also my first time encountering such beautiful singing accompanied by powerful musical instruments. We entered the church service  and enjoyed it. 

New Year, New Church: 2010

It was January 2010 and we started attending church. 

This time around, we filled out membership forms and officially joined. The gloried church hoppers have a home. 

In the beginning, it felt good to be a part of a church community. However, as time passed, everything gradually began to change. 

It felt as though the church was interfering with our home–and later it did. 

Our decisions and lives in general were shaped by the church and what the church considered acceptable. We slowly lost our sense of self and with it, our ability to think independently. 

It dawned on us that we could possibly be in a cult because we had been informed by many people that this evangelical church was known to be one. 

Although it took time for us to see it, the signs were very visible. 

We were isolated from our families and had little to no contact with them.  We attended church almost every day of the week without fail, even on days when we had no means of getting there.

There was also an expectation to be at church and we were serving in the church,  which took a bulk of our time. 

We barely rested or had time to ourselves. 

Church stopped being about spirituality and community but became more about pleasing the Prophet and following the “Prophets instructions”. 

Personally, when I look back now, what disheartens me most is the amount of injustices that took place in that church–things I cannot forget. 

Forced or planned marriages.

Witnessing professionals being instructed to resign from careers they had spent years building so that they could work in the church for stipends. 

But the one that pains me the most is seeing elderly people being encouraged–or pressured– to resign from their jobs and tithe in the church, only to later find themselves financially struggling or bankrupt. 

I think I have said a mouthful.

A Call To Safeguard Our Democratic Future 

When I read the book Power and Faith: How Evangelical Churches Are Quietly Shaping Democracy suddenly it all came back to me. 

Reading Pontsho’s book confirmed many of the things I had experienced and struggled to articulate. It made me think deeply about the influence evangelical churches have on our society and democracy, and whether stronger protections are needed in South Africa.

Elderly people cannot be coerced into giving their pension funds to churches only to later struggle during retirement. We need mechanisms that protect vulnerable people from exploitation, particularly when religious authority and people’s faith are involved. 

What concerns me is how easily people’s vulnerability can be exploited in the name Jesus. 

Ponstho, thank you so much for writing this book. 

For the longest time, I was afraid to talk about evangelical churches and my experiences. Every time I wanted to educate fellow believers or raise questions, I was called names and accused of hating Jesus. 

Hence, my reason for being silent. 

But your book gave me the courage to confront some of those experiences and think about them differently.

We are not petitioning for evangelical churches to be closed. 

We are not trying to convince you to leave church or turn you against Christianity. 

The intention is to provoke all of us to think about the role we play in the machinery of evangelical Christianity and the power structures that exist within it.

We are doing what we can to safeguard our democratic future, both individually and collectively.

And church is church. This does not only happen in African churches. We also need to look at churches in affluent communities led by people of different races. It is not only the headlines about “grass eaters” that we need to consider. 

There are many stories that simply aren’t making the headlines. 

As for me, I have personally put going to church on hold. It has been years since I have been to church. 

I still have so much unlearning, relearning and deconstructing to do. 

What saddens me most is that people  can use the name Jesus to cause destruction. 

And perhaps that is one of the questions this book leaves me with:

What happens when faith, power and unquestioned authority become intertwined?

This book is a must read. 

Book 18 of 2026 

Eye-opening and very insightful read.

Phiwe Mncwabe is a Communications & Public Engagement Writer, Pan-African storyteller and Founder of Botlhale Hub Afrika. She writes on governance, leadership, public policy and African affairs through research-informed storytelling that encourages thoughtful public dialogue. 

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