Christianity has been very much at the heart of religion in Zambia since the European colonial explorations into the interior of Africa in the mid 19th century. The area features heavily in the accounts of David Livingstone's journeys in Central Africa.
The 2022 census found that 98.0% of Zambians are Christian, while 74.5% of Zambians were Protestant (mainly Pentecostal and Seventh-day Adventist), 17.9% were Catholic and 5.6% were Jehovah's Witnesses.
Figures in 2020 suggested that 85% of the country had a Christian background, with 34% following Protestantism and 32% following Catholicism.World Religions Database at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-08
Establishing Zambia +Christian denomination in Zambia (2022 census)DenominationsPopulation%Roman Catholic3.220.21417.9Seventh day-Adventist 3.183.68517.7Pentecostal3.142.57517.5United Church in Zambia1.727.7839.6New Apostolic Church1.513.2258.4Jehovah's Witnesses1.009.5785.6Baptist651.1113.6Reformed Church in Zambia464.0532.6Church of Christ296.6971.7Anglican237.5971.3Methodist134.3820.7Brethren in Christ113.0700.6Salvation Army100.4790.6Presbyterian 72.0560.4Wesleyan54.2300.3Lutheran23.8640.1Episcopal12.7870.1Restorationism9.1420.1Other Christian1.999.8499.2Total Christians17.966.37798.0 Livingstone's exploration of the region coincided with an increased interest in missions in the Evangelical churches in Britain, and, despite his complicated motives, Livingstone became the darling of Evangelical expansion. This interest was largely influenced by, "the result of revivalism among Pietists and Methodists and among the Evangelicals of the Anglican church. People wanted to convert others to the same joyous religious experience they had had".Cairns 181: 401 The rise in missionary zeal was heightened with the expansion of European empires, opening up unknown territories and bringing other cultures to the attention of the newly formed mission societies. Yet another element of this increased mission activity was the desire not to see a repeat of the recent Indian Mutiny, that the Evangelicals, like Livingstone, felt was, "as a result of too little mission activity".Ferguson 2004: 154 It is possible the cause of the mutiny was actually of a religious origin with many of the Indians serving in the British Indian Army convinced, "that the British did indeed have plans to Christianize India",Ferguson 2004: 145 and thereby threatening their faith that was in their view indivisible from their vocation as a soldier, whether as a Hindu, Muslim or Sikh.
Livingstone inspired many Evangelicals in his speech at the Senate House in Cambridge University in 1857 in which he stated, "I consider we made a great mistake when we carried commerce into India, in being ashamed of our Christianity… those two pioneers of civilisation – Christianity and commerce – should ever be inseparable". He concluded the speech with the call, "I go back to Africa to make an open path for Commerce and Christianity; do you carry out the work I have begun. I leave it with you".Ferguson 2004: 155 Following Livingstone's death in 1873, at Ilala by the shores of Lake Bangweulu in North Eastern Zambia, and the subsequent development of preventatives and cures for malaria based on quinine, mission societies stepped in to take up where he had left off by establishing Christianity in Central Africa. In a report on the Church and development in Zambia the London Missionary Society (LMS) was the first organisation to establish a mission station based at Niamikolo close to Lake Tanganyika in 1885PAG 2000: 3 followed by numerous other mission stations throughout the country. Part of the reason for the rapid spread of these stations was their acceptance among some of the smaller tribes of the northern region of Zambia. They perceived that the, "missionaries… would provide effective protection",PAG 2000:4 from attackers, such as the more powerful Bemba tribe. Other mission stations followed the LMS example and established a presence in other regions. Examples include the Paris Evangelical Mission at Lealui 1892, The Primitive Methodists working among the Illa people in Western Zambia in 1892, the Presbyterians at Mwenzo in 1894. After independence in 1965 these four mission societies were to merge their works and become known as the United Church of Zambia (UCZ). Zambia's increased mission activity was not an isolated case though, globally the number of missionaries rose dramatically during this period. "By the end of the century there were as many as 12,000 British missionaries "in the field", representing no less than 360 different societies and other bodies".Ferguson 2004: 160
In shaping Zambia's Christianity, it is important that the influence of the Roman Catholic Church is noted. The, "Catholic Church [is] by far the most influential denomination,"Gifford 1999: 183 in the nation. Catholic missionaries first established a mission in 1895 among the Bemba tribe. The Bemba tribe had traditionally been hostile to church activity, partly due to the resistance to settlement by Europeans, but also because their presence strengthened the resolve of rival ethnic groups to resist the Bemba. With the death of the Bemba king Chitimukulu Sampa Kapalakasha and his replacement by a less antagonistic king the way was open for the Catholic White Fathers to establish the mission in the area that was to become the Copperbelt Province of Northern Zambia. In Southern Zambia the Catholic mission activity was undertaken by Jesuit Fathers in the early years of the twentieth centuryPAG; 2000, 5-6 along with the Franciscan friars. Zambia still retains the historical divisions of this early Catholic mission activity; the county is still divided into diocese administered by each of these groups.
The first Anglican mission station would not begin until 1911. This was established by Leonard Kamungu, a priest from Malawi, at Msoro. Kamungu perhaps reflects an aspect of Christianity that set it apart from many of the other structures of colonialism that severely limited if not actively restricted the ability of the local population to take a part in their development, becoming isolated and voiceless from the ruling European elite. "Though white settlers ... were able to organize themselves in Formal groups… the colonial authorities provided little space for urban indigenous people to formally organize. Although there was some tolerance of group activity under the umbrella of the church.Howell & Pearce 2002: 179-180 Traditional Anglican involvement in Zambia was undertaken by the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), which had been founded in Cambridge as a direct result of the fiftieth anniversary of Livingstone's call for African evangelism. Though unlike many of Livingstone's original audience the UMCA held to a less Evangelical and more Anglo-Catholic form of Christian theology. Consequently, although highly influential, despite its small numbers, modern-day Anglicanism in Zambia does not have the Evangelical fervour that is evident elsewhere in modern-day African nations that were formally British colonial possessions.
Livingstone, though certainly at the vanguard of the colonisers, and in that capacity he spelled the end to traditional Zambian society, he is still held in high regard by many contemporary Zambian's. This perhaps reflects an understanding of Livingstone as less of a coloniser and more as a bringer of the Christian faith that today over seventy five percent,Gifford 1999, Smith 1999 more recent surveys put it as high as eighty-five percent,Johnstone & Mandryk 2001; 686 of the population embrace in one form or another. Christianity is still, "growing at a rate of nearly 4 percent per year",Phiri 1999: 325 in a nation with an annual average population growth rate of 2.7 percent from 1990 to 1999.World Bank: 2001 279 Possibly some of this affection is also because Livingstone is perceived as a defender of the traditional societies as he defied the slave traders who were already destroying communities; one of his multiple motives for being in the region was anti-slavery and towards the end of his life a primary drive in his work. Though, as with many interventions of this nature, the possible motives were not as philanthropic as they first appeared to those under threat. Livingstone saw the oppressed communities as a basis for his "potential village preaching centres",Cairns 1981: 403 to spread the gospel and in so doing provide a stable base for European culture. Like much of what Livingstone undertook the reality is complex and in many of his wanderings he was actually forced to rely on the slave trade's logistical networks.Ferguson 2004: 159 Again Livingstone's legacy lives on in many development initiatives undertaken on the continent both in religious and secular capacities, a seemingly positive intervention, which carries wider motives and implications.
Colonial era During the period of colonial rule in Zambia, up until independence in 1964, the church attempted to straddle the gulf between ministering to the needs of the local population without antagonising the colonial administration and bringing the local population to a point of passive acceptance of colonial rule. The administration viewed church activity as a possibly practical tool of indoctrination, but at times a vehicle for dissent against colonial rule too.
The traditional view of the Church during this period was to provide social welfare. Churches became primarily involved in education and healthcare.Gifford 1999: 189 Other initiatives such as orphanages, skills training and agricultural extension were also evident in the development of Zambia during this period. Though at times its role extended into advocacy and the formulation of law and the penal code.
In the matter of healthcare the churches saw the provision of affordable healthcare as vital to a population that could not afford private medical treatment. Even in current-day Zambia, the Catholic Church alone is running 15 hospitals, 28 health centres, 54 home based care institutions.PAG: 2000 25 The provision of healthcare had a twofold motivation. Firstly, there was the concern driven by Biblical principles of care for the incapacitated. Examples include the parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37, then Jesus' encouragement in Matthew 25:36 "I was sick and you looked after me, " and the Old Testament reprimand to the leaders of Israel, "you have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured," Ezk 34:4, Secondly, it was driven by a perception that the only alternative medical care available to the local population involved traditional healers and their use of, in colonial eyes, unscientific and crude methods as well as possible appeals to animistic or ancestral powers. These latter elements were of particular concern in ecclesiastical circles as, the Church has generally tried to change or discourage cultural practices that are contrary to Christian teaching.PAG: 2000, 31 Christian missions were at the forefront of social change in Zambia. On the question of traditional penal codes, that were either considered too lenient or too harsh depending on the change the missions wished to see imposed, as opposed to a legal code more in line with that in Britain the Church was instrumental in pushing through reform.Chanock 1985: 128 The involvement of missionaries was "more than providing correctives – spiritual or otherwise… their real ambition was power".Smith 1999: 529 Generally though healthcare had impact on indigenous society it was seen as a reasonably neutral activity by the colonial authorities.