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An African-initiated church (AIC) is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than chiefly by missionaries from another continent.
A variety of overlapping terms exist for these forms of Christianity: African-initiated churches, African independent churches, African indigenous churches, and African-instituted churches. [lower-alpha 1] [2] The abbreviation AIC covers them all. The differences in names correspond to the aspect that a researcher wishes to emphasise. For instance, those who wish to point out that AICs exhibit African cultural forms, describe them as indigenous. These terms have largely been imposed upon such groups and may not be the way they would describe themselves.
The term African refers to the fact that these Christian groupings formed in Africa, but AICs differ from one another. Not all African cultural systems are the same. Regional variations occur among West, East, North, Central, and Southern Africans, and the AICs will reflect these. AICs can now be found outside Africa.
African-initiated churches are found across Africa; they are particularly well-documented in southern Africa and West Africa. Pauw suggests that at least 36 per cent of the population of Africa belong to an African-initiated church. [3]
During the colonial era starting in the 1800s, when European powers took control of most of the African continent, Black converts to Christianity were unable fully to reconcile their beliefs with the teachings of their church leaders, and split from their parent churches. The reasons for these splits were usually either:
Some scholars argue that independent churches or religious movements demonstrate syncretism or partial integration between aspects of Christian belief and African traditional religion. Often, these churches have resulted from a process of acculturation between traditional African beliefs and Protestant Christianity and have split from their parent churches.[ citation needed ] Bengt Sundkler, one of the most prominent pioneers of research on African independent churches in South Africa, initially argued that AICs were bridges back to a pre-industrial culture. [4] Later, he recognized instead that AICs helped their affiliates to adapt to a modernizing world that was hostile to their cultural beliefs.[ citation needed ] In 1925, the Cherubim and Seraphim (Nigerian church) was established as the first African-initiated church. [5]
There are thousands of African-initiated churches (more than 10,000 in South Africa alone), and each one has its own characteristics. Ecclesiologists, missiologists, sociologists, and others have tried to group them according to shared characteristics, though disagreements have arisen about which characteristics are most significant and which taxonomy is most accurate. Although it is possible to distinguish groups of denominations with common features, there is also much overlap, with some denominations sharing the characteristics of two or more groups.
Many AICs share traditions with Christians from other parts of the Christian world, which can also be used to classify them. There are AICs that share some beliefs or practices with Protestant churches[ example needed ]. [6] Some are Sabbatarian, some are Zionist, and others neither.
Ethiopian churches generally retain their mother church's Christian doctrine in an unreformed state. Ethiopian African-initiated churches, which are recently-formed Protestant congregations mostly in southern Africa, arose from the Ethiopian movement of the late nineteenth century, which taught that Black people should control African Christian churches. They should not be confused with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church or Coptic Orthodox Church, which have a much longer and distinct doctrinal histories. Some denominations that arose from the Ethiopian movement have united with these earlier denominations.
Zionist churches, such as the Zion Christian Church, trace their origins to the Christ Community Church, founded by John Alexander Dowie, with its headquarters in Zion, Illinois. Zionist churches are found chiefly in Southern Africa. In the early 1900s, Zionist Christian missionaries went to South Africa from the United States and established congregations. They emphasised divine healing, abstention from pork, and wearing white robes.
The Zionist missionaries were followed by Pentecostal ones, whose teaching concentrated on spiritual gifts and baptism with the Holy Spirit, with glossolalia as the initial evidence of this. The predominantly white Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa arose out of this missionary effort and emphasised the Pentecostal teaching.
The Black Zionists retained much of the original Zionist tradition. The Zionists split into several different denominations, but the reason for this was the rapid growth of the movement rather than divisions.[ citation needed ] A split in the Zionist movement in the U.S. meant that after 1908, few missionaries came to southern Africa. The movement in southern Africa and its growth resulted from Black leadership and initiative[ opinion ]. As time passed, some Zionist groups began to mix aspects of traditional African beliefs, such as veneration of the dead, with Christian doctrine. Many Zionists stress faith healing and revelation, and in many congregations, the leader is viewed as a prophet.
Some researchers[ example needed ] have described some AICs with strong leadership as messianic, but opinions have also changed. The churches that have been called messianic focus on the power and sanctity of their leaders; often, the leaders are thought by their followers to possess Jesus-like characteristics. Denominations described as messianic include Kimbanguism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Nazareth Baptist Church of Isaiah Shembe in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; the Zion Christian Church of Engenas Lekganyane with headquarters in Limpopo, South Africa; and the Ibandla Lenkosi Apostolic Church in Zion of South Africa and Swaziland. Kimbanguism is estimated to be the largest African-initiated church. [7]
The Aladura Pentecostal churches originated in Nigeria. They rely on the power of prayer and baptism of the Holy Spirit. Today, such churches include Christ Apostolic Church, the Cherubim and Seraphim movement, Celestial Church of Christ, and Church of the Lord (Aladura). The first Aladura movement was started in 1918 in Ijebu Ode, now in Ogun State, Nigeria, by Sophia Odunlami and Joseph Sadare. They both attended St. Saviour's Anglican Church. They rejected infant baptism and all forms of medicine, whether Western or traditional. Consequently, they initiated the "Prayer Band", popularly called Egbe Aladura. Joseph Sadare was compelled to give up his post in the Synod[ which? ]; others were forced to resign their jobs and withdraw their children from the Anglican School. The Aladura began as a Christian revival in search of true spirituality.[ opinion ]
A revival took place during the 1918 flu pandemic. This consolidated the formation of the prayer group, which was named Precious Stone and later the Diamond Society. By 1920, the Diamond Society had grown tremendously and started forming branches around the Western region of Nigeria. In particular, David Odubanjo went to start the Lagos branch. The group emphasised divine healing, holiness, and reliance on the divine—three cardinal beliefs of the Church today. For this reason, the group associated with Faith Tabernacle of Philadelphia changed its name to Faith Tabernacle of Nigeria.
The Nigerian revival started in 1930, and the leaders of the Cherubim & Seraphim, The Church of the Lord (Aladura), and the Faith Tabernacle played important roles. Adherents believed that the leaders—Joseph Sadare of "Egbe Aladura", David Odubanjo of "Diamond Society", Moses Orimolade of "Cherubim & Seraphim", and Josiah Ositelu of "The Church of the Lord (Aladura)"—performed several miracles. The revival started in Ibadan in the southwest of Nigeria and later spread to other parts of the country.
The group went through several name changes until, 24 years after formation, it adopted the name Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in 1942. Today, the CAC has spread worldwide and is the precursor of Aladura Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria. The church has established several educational institutions in Nigeria, including Joseph Ayo Babalola University and primary and secondary schools.
These African responses to Christianity have been described variously as African initiatives in Christianity, African Independent, African Indigenous, African Initiated or African Instituted Churches. The term "African Independent" indicates that these churches have originated in Africa and have no foreign financial or ecclesiastical control. "African Initiated Churches" indicates that they were started as a result of African initiative in African countries but they may be affiliated to wider bodies that include non-African members. African indigenous indicates that they have retained an African ethos and that their ideology has a distinctive African flavour. "African Instituted Churches" hints that their establishment and growth have taken place on African soil, under the initiatives of Africans. [1]
Zionist churches are a group of Christian denominations that derive from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was founded by John Alexander Dowie in Zion, Illinois, at the end of the 19th century. Missionaries from the church came to South Africa in 1904 and among their first recruits were Pieter Louis Le Roux and Daniel Nkonyane of Wakkerstroom who continued to evangelize after the Zionist missionaries left in 1908.
The term "Aladura" means "praying person" in Yoruba. Aladura is a classification of indigenous churches that started in Yoruba land in the early 20th century. These churches believe in the efficacy of prayers and practical guidance by the Living God through his Holy Spirit in all its programs.
Christianity and Islam are the two main religions practiced in Nigeria The country is home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim populations, simultaneously. Reliable recent statistics do not exist; however, Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the northern region, and Christians, who live mostly in the southern region of the country. Indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, have been declining for decades and being replaced by Christianity or Islam. The Christian share of Nigeria's population is also now on the decline, due to a lower fertility rate relative to the Muslim population in the country.
Christianity in Africa arrived in Africa in the 1st century AD, and in the 21st century the majority of Africans are Christians. Several African Christians influenced the early development of Christianity and shaped its doctrines, including Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo. In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, followed by the Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia and several Christian Berber kingdoms.
The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) is a classical Pentecostal Christian denomination in South Africa. With 1.2 million adherents, it is South Africa's largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest religious grouping in South Africa representing 7.6 percent of the population. Dr. Isak Burger has led the AFM as president since 1996 when the white and black branches of the church were united. It is a member of the Apostolic Faith Mission International, a fellowship of 23 AFM national churches. It is also a member of the South African Council of Churches. The AFM is one of the oldest Pentecostal movement is South Africa with roots in the Azusa Street Revival, the Holiness Movement teachings of Andrew Murray and the teachings of John Alexander Dowie. The AFM had an interracial character when it started, but, as in American Pentecostalism, this interracial cooperation was short-lived. The decades from the 1950s to the 1980s were marked by the implementation of apartheid. After 1994, the white AFM moved rapidly towards unification with the black churches. By 1996, all the AFM churches were united in a single multi-racial church. The constitution of the AFM blends at the national level the elements of a presbyterian polity with an episcopal polity. Decentralization is a major feature of its constitution, which allows local churches to develop their own policies. The Apostolic Faith Mission displays a variety of identities and ministry philosophies, including seeker-sensitive, Word of Faith, Presbyterian, and classical Pentecostal.
The term Eastern Protestant Christianity encompasses a range of heterogeneous Protestant Christian denominations that developed outside of the Western world, from the latter half of the nineteenth century, and retain certain elements of Eastern Christianity. Some of these denominations came into existence when active Protestant churches adopted reformational variants of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox liturgy and worship, while others originated from Orthodox groups who were inspired by the teachings of Western Protestant missionaries and adopted Protestant beliefs and practices.
Christianity in Nigeria represents one of several religious traditions in the country, including Islam and Traditional African religions.
Moses Orimolade Tunolase (1875–1933) is the founder of the first African Pentecostal movement, the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, which was established in 1925. The church was born out of the Anglican church community among the Yoruba people in Western Nigeria.
Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is the first Pentecostal church present in Nigeria. It arose in the first half of the 20th century, in the then-British empire. It was founded in Ijebu-ode named Precious Stone Society in 1918 but was formally established in 1941 after a split from the Apostolic Church which the original Aladura organization had invited to Nigeria. Its growth was led by Joseph Ayo Babalola, a road construction driver who became its first General Evangelist.
The Cherubim and Seraphim Society is a Christian denomination from Nigeria. It was founded by Christiana Abiodun Emanuel as a split from the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim. The society is one of the Aladura churches. It has been claimed that the Cherubim and Seraphim Society is a case of syncretism between Christianity and African traditional religion.
Cherubim and Seraphim Church of Zion is a Christian denomination from Nigeria. It was founded by Elisha Ilene Ogunfeyimi in 1948. Its headquarters is in Ugbonla.
The Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church is an Aladura church originating from Nigeria. It is one of the first African initiated churches established back in 1925 with its founder known to be Baba Aladura St. Moses Orimolade Tunolase. The church was born out of the Anglican Church community among the Yoruba people in Western Nigeria.
The Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, also known as the esocs, is a church denomination in Nigeria that was founded by Moses Orimolade Tunolase in 1925. Orimolade received considerable media attention when he allegedly healed a girl, Christina Abiodun Akinsowon, from a long-term trance in which she could neither speak nor hear. After the healing event, Orimolade Tunolase and Abiodun Akinsowon teamed up, as father and adopted daughter, and offered their services to heal and pray for people.
Christian Church refers to what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus.
Christiana Abiodun Emanuel, born Abiodun Akinsowon (1907–1994), was a co-founder, along with Moses Orimolade Tunolase, of the Cherubim and Seraphim, an Aladura Christian denomination in Nigeria. After a schism in the church, she founded and led the Cherubim and Seraphim Society.
Pentecostalism began spreading in South Africa after William J. Seymour, of the Azusa Street mission, sent missionaries to convert and organize missions. By the 1990s, approximately 10% of the population of South Africa was Pentecostal. The largest denominations were the Apostolic Faith Mission, Assemblies of God, and the Full Gospel Church of God. Another 30% of the population was made up of mostly black Zionist and Apostolic churches, which comprise a majority of South Africa's African Instituted Churches(AICs). In a 2006 survey, 1 in 10 urban South Africans said they were Pentecostal, and 2 in 10 said they were charismatic. In total, renewalists comprised one-fourth of the South African urban population. A third of all protestants surveyed said that they were Pentecostal or charismatic, and one-third of all South African AIC members said they were charismatic.
The doctrines and practices of modern Pentecostalism placed a high priority on international evangelization. The movement spread to Africa soon after the 1906 Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles.
The Apostolic Church Nigeria is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in Nigeria with its national headquarters in Lagos and international headquarters in Penygroes, UK.
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