THE INDIGENOUS MUSIC OF CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN NIGERIA AND THE DIASPORAS: A PROOF OF CHRISTIAN TRANSFORMATIVE MUSICALITY

Abstract

One of the distinguishing identities of any Church movement is music. Christ Apostolic Church (C.A.C) in Nigeria and the Diasporas at her inception came with her peculiar music firmly rooted in the Pentecostal theology of the church and in indigenous African musical culture. It became a great tool in the spirituality, evangelisation and proselytisation processes in the Church. Today, not only has C.A.C. influenced Nigerian Christian music greatly, but also dominated the gospel music, one of the most popular music genres in Nigeria. This paper, hinged on transformative and functionalism theories, aims at exhuming the philosophical theology, performance practices and the evolution of this Pentecostal brand of music, both at home and abroad. Employing theological, musicological and historical approaches, the paper as a sacred musicological study, discovers that C.A.C. music is highly functional with deep metaphysical connotations. From indigenous native airs, anthems, hymnody, art music and lyric-airs to gospel music, its style forms one of the manifestations of indigenous Pentecostalism; as it has been instrumental to the diverse operations, spread and acceptability of the Church. The Church extended overseas through migration, had her music ‘carried’ along, though not without re-contextualised modifications. This paper concludes on the note that the Church, bearing in mind her leadership roles, should strive to uphold the legacies that earned her identity; especially her musical culture.