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. [1]
John Alexander Dowie was a Scottish evangelist and faith healer who ministered in Australia and the United States. He founded the city of Zion, Illinois, and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church.
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and had grown to 24,413 as of 2010.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
The Zionist Churches proliferated throughout southern Africa, and became African Independent Churches; research in 1996 suggested that 40% of all black South Africans belonged to a Zionist church. [2]
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics, and including several countries. The term southern Africa or Southern Africa, generally includes Angola, Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, though Angola may be included in Central Africa and Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe in East Africa. From a political perspective the region is said to be unipolar with South Africa as a first regional power.
The church is unrelated to the Jewish political movement of Zionism.
Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel. Modern Zionism emerged in the late 19th century in Central and Eastern Europe as a national revival movement, both in reaction to newer waves of antisemitism and as an imitative response to other nationalist movements. Soon after this, most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired state in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
The Old Cornerstone Apostolic Church in Zion of South Africa. Under Archbishop Mawethu Anthwell Zionist beliefs grew out of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth religious missions to southern Africa. In particular the churches owe their origins to the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church of John Alexander Dowie, based in Zion, Illinois in the United States.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The arrival of Dowie's emissary, Daniel Bryant, in 1904 led to the formation of a formal Zionist church. Prior to this, two concentrations of sympathizers, energized by Dowie's publication, Leaves of Healing, had existed on the Witwatersrand and at Wakkerstroom in the Transvaal. This initial Zionist church did not flourish for long due to Dowie's disgracing in America. In 1908, however, the arrival of the former Zionist-turned-Pentecostal John G Lake led to most former Zionists embracing the newly formed Apostolic Faith Mission. The vast majority of all Zionist sects derive from secessions from the Apostolic Faith Mission, which fused Pentecostalism with Dowie's Zionist ideas about faith healing.
The Witwatersrand is a 56-kilometre-long (35 mi), north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "ridge of white waters" in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west.
Wakkerstroom,, is the second oldest town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town is on the KwaZulu-Natal border, 27 km east of Volksrust and 56 km south-east of Amersfoort.
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.
Several key African-led secessions from the AFM led to the explosion of Zionist sects in the 1910s and 1920s. The first was led by Daniel Nkonyane, who was Le Roux's deputy in Wakkerstroom. In 1908 Le Roux became an important AFM official and spent most of his time in the Johannesburg headquarters thereafter. In his absence Nkonyane took effective control and insisted on several key changes to doctrine. Perhaps most importantly, he stressed the need for his followers to propitiate their ancestors—a practice abhorred by the AFM and most Christian denominations. Nkonyane maintained that “Whoever forsakes his ancestors is also forsaken by his ancestors and he becomes an easy prey for disease.” [3] Secondly, he insisted that the form of ornate religious dress worn by Dowie, including robes, staffs, and other paraphernalia, should be used in his congregation. [4] In 1910 Nkonyane's defiance versus the AFM and local authorities led to his expulsion from Wakkerstroom. Eventually, he and about two-thirds of the Wakkerstroom congregation pooled their resources and obtained freehold property in Charlestown, Natal, where they built the first South African "Zion". Many dozens of offshoots from Nkonyane's church formed small Zionist churches, especially in Swaziland and Natal. [5]
The next significant secession from the AFM was by a little-known member, Isaiah Shembe. Shembe was a member of the AFM for only a year in the Orange Free State, when the Ethiopian church that he preached for joined the AFM en masse. [6] In 1911 Shembe left the Free State and moved to Natal, where he used the AFM's faith healing techniques to build up a following across the province. Harnessing the meager resources of his followers, he formed the Narazeth Baptist Church and purchased freehold land at Ekuphakameni, the second South African "Zion". Shembe's Nazarite church was to become the largest Zionist congregation until eclipsed by the Zion Christian Church in the 1950s. Shembe's church was distinct from most other Zionist sects in that he insisted that he was a prophet sent directly from God to the Zulu nation. Most other Zionists were distinctly non-ethnic in outlook. [7]
Edward Lion's Zion Apostolic Faith Mission (ZAFM) was also a critical early Zionist sect. Lion, an early Zionist convert, was appointed AFM leader in Basotholand in 1912. Prior to this Lion had received extensive training as a faith healer by John G Lake. [8] After obtaining land from a sympathetic chief, Lion began to build his own Zion in Kolonyama, Basotholand (now known as Lesotho), and formed ZAFM in 1917. Still under the AFM umbrella, he moved his followers to Kolonyama in 1920, and had an increasingly fractious relationship with the AFM until he was expelled in 1923. A number of doctrinal innovations, including sexual confession, brought him negative attention from the authorities, and Lion was eventually jailed for rape and subsequently expelled from Basotholand in 1927. [9] Following his expulsion, Lion raised funds by garnishing his congregations' wages and bought several pieces of freehold land in the Transvaal that he attempted to turn into another "Zion". [10] Lion's organization failed to grow significantly after his expulsion. Among its more important offshoots was the Zion Christian Church, whose founder, Engenas Lekganyane, was Lion's Transvaal leader in the early 1920s.
Schisms and succession disputes during the twentieth century led to the foundation of thousands of different congregations, of which the largest is the Zion Christian Church, with around 3 million followers, led by Engenas Lekganyane.
Zionist churches are characterised by the following features:
Pentecostalism or Classical Pentecostalism is a renewal movement within Protestant Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, as described in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
The Apostolic Christian Church (ACC) is a worldwide Christian denomination in the Anabaptist tradition. Its theology is Arminian. The Apostolic Christian Church practices credobaptism, closed communion, greeting other believers with a Holy Kiss, a capella worship in some branches, and the veiling of women during services. The Apostolic Christian Church only ordains men, who are authorized to administer baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the laying on of hands. Not every Apostolic Christian Church practices the veiling of women; however, it is seen in most.
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem.
Christ Community Church in Zion, Illinois, formerly the Christian Catholic Church or Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, is an evangelical non-denominational church founded in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie. The city of Zion was founded by Dowie as a religious community to establish a society on the principles of the Kingdom of God. Members are sometimes called Zionites.
The term black church or African-American church refers to Protestant churches that currently or historically have ministered to predominantly black congregations in the United States. While some black churches belong to predominantly African-American denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), many black churches are members of predominantly white denominations, such as the United Church of Christ.
An African-initiated church is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than by missionaries from another continent. The oldest of these is the Tewahedo which dates from the 4th century, and was one of the first Christian churches in the world. Such churches are often classified as Protestant or other Christian, with others being labeled Oriental Orthodox, as are located in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The Zion Christian Church, also known as Boyne, is the largest African initiated church operating across Southern Africa. The church's headquarters are at Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
John Graham Lake was a Canadian-American leader in the Pentecostal movement that began in the early 20th century, and is known as a faith healer, missionary, and with Thomas Hezmalhalch, co-founder of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. Through his 1908–13 African missionary work, Lake played a decisive role in the spread of Pentecostalism in South Africa, the most successful southern African religious movement of the 20th century. After completing his missionary work in Africa, Lake evangelized for 20 years, primarily along the west coast of the United States setting up "healing rooms" and healing campaigns, and establishing churches. Lake was influenced by the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie and the ministry of Charles Parham.
Isaiah Mloyiswa Mdliwamafa Shembe, was the founder of the Ibandla lamaNazaretha, South Africa, which was the largest African-initiated church in Africa during his lifetime. A self-styled prophet who claimed to have been sent directly by God, Shembe started his religious career as an itinerant evangelist and faith healer in 1910. Within ten years he had built up a large following in Natal with dozens of congregations across the province.The Shembe church eventually had well over one million members before it began to splinter into competing groups in the 1980s.
African Zionism, is a religious movement with 15–18 million members throughout Southern Africa, making it the largest religious movement in the region. Zionism is the predominant religion of Swaziland and forty percent of Swazis consider themselves Zionist. It is also common among Zulus in South Africa. The amaZioni are found in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. It is a combination of Christianity and African traditional religion.
The Apostolic Faith Mission Church of God is a Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1906 by F. W. Williams. In 2005, there were 10,730 members in 18 congregations.
Thomas Hezmalhalch, usually known as Tom Hezmalhalch, was an American missionary, who together with John G. Lake founded the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa and was its first chairman and president. He was influenced by the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie.
Pieter Louis Le Roux or PL Le Roux (1865–1943) was a South African missionary, who was a leading figure in the Zion Church movement in South Africa and the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. Le Roux was initially a missionary for the Dutch Reformed Church. He was heavily influenced by the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie and his Zionist movement which he later joined. Later he joined the Pentecostal movement of John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch. He was president of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa from 1913 to 1942. His involvement with black leaders in South Africa led to the establishment of a conglomerate of churches from both Zionist and Pentecostal backgrounds, most notably the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).
Engenas Barnabas Lekganyane (c.1885-1948) was the founder of one of Africa's largest churches, the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). He first formed the ZCC in 1924, and by the time of his death the church had at least 50,000 members. Under the leadership of his descendants the ZCC has gone on to have more than a million members primarily located in southern Africa. It is now by far the biggest of the various Zionist Christian sects that account for roughly half of all Christians in southern Africa.
Bishop Samuel Mutendi (c.1880-1976) was the founder of the Zimbabwean breakaway branch of the Zion Christian Church, which under his leadership grew to a membership of 250,000 at his death, and which is believed to be three times larger today and one of the largest religious organizations in the country. As the religious leader responsible for the popularization of Zionist Christianity into Zimbabwe, he is arguably the most influential religious personality in the country's history.
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-third of the South African urban population. Half 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 Zion Apostolic Faith Mission Church is one of the earliest Zionist sects in southern Africa. It was formed out of a secession from the Pentecostal Apostolic Faith Mission in 1919, and attempted to create southern Africa's second "Zion City" in emulation of John Alexander Dowie. Although ZAFM was initially an influential church in Zionist circles, it failed to develop and prosper over the decades. It is best known today for spawning two secessions of its own that grew into large churches—the Zion Christian Church and the Zimbabwean Zion Apostolic Faith Mission.
Edward Lekganyane, popularly known as "King Eddy", was the leader of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) from Easter Sunday, April 17, 1949, until his death eighteen years later. During this time he used his charisma and organizational abilities to expand the ZCC from about 50,000 to 600,000 members, while also reshaping numerous facets of the church. During his tenure as Bishop, the ZCC emerged as South Africa's largest independent church, while Lekganyane became arguably the wealthiest and most powerful African in apartheid-era South Africa.