Zionist Churches

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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 Scottish evangelist

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, Illinois City in Illinois, United States

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 Republic in the southernmost part of Africa

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.

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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 southernmost region of the African continent

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 Movement that supports the creation of a Jewish homeland

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.

United States federal republic in North America

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.

Witwatersrand mountain range

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 Place in Mpumalanga, South Africa

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.

Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa

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.

Succession disputes

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.

Characteristics of Zionist churches

Zionist churches are characterised by the following features:

See also

African Initiated Church

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Isaiah Shembe South African Charismatics leader

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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.

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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 Lekganyane founder of Zion Christian Church

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.

References

  1. ↑ Oosthuizen, G C (1987). The Birth of Christian Zionism in South Africa. Kwa-Dlangezwa: University of Zululand.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Allan (1992). Bazalwane: African pentecostals in South Africa. Pretoria: UNISA. pp. 11–12. ISBN   9780869817865.
  3. ↑ Speaking for ourselves: members of African Independent Churches report on their pilot study of the history and theology of their churches. Institute for Contextual Theology. 1985. p. 17.
  4. ↑ Sundkler, Bengt (1976). Zulu Zion and Some Zwazi Zionists. London: Oxford University. pp. 49–50.
  5. ↑ Sundkler, Zulu Zion, passim.
  6. ↑ B. Morton, "Shembe and the Early Zionists: A Reappraisal," New Contree 69 (2014): 79-86. https://www.academia.edu/7946640/Shembe_and_the_Early_Zionists_A_Reappraisal
  7. ↑ Vilikazi, A; et al. (1986). Shembe: The Revitalization of African Society. Pietermaritzburg: Skotaville. ISBN   9780947009083.
  8. ↑ "Who Was Engenas Lekganyane?". Dean Ministries. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Rosenberg, Scott (2013). Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. 2nd Ed. Lanham MD: Scarecrow Press. pp. 272–3. ISBN   9780810867956.
  10. ↑ Murray, Colin (Aug 1999). "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: Resistance and Abuse in the Life of Solomon Lion (1908-1987)". Journal of Religion in Africa. 29 (3): 356–7. doi:10.2307/1581529.
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