African Initiated Churches Research Articles

African Initiated Churches’ potential as development actors

African Initiated Churches (AICs) are not yet recognised as relevant actors of community development interventions. While it has been acknowledged that many of them provide coping mechanisms in adverse environments, support in social transformation and social capital, little information is available on their role as development actors. In this article, we evaluate the potential of AICs as partners of international development agencies for community development. We draw on interviews and focus group discussions with leaders of various AICs conducted in South Africa in February and March 2016. In particular, we examine the churches’ understanding of development, their view on the separation of spiritual and development activities and their priorities. Moreover, we outline the development activities which they are currently engaged in and analyse the structures they have in place to do so. Our findings indicate that AICs are increasingly active in community development and offer various entry points for possible cooperation.

Historicising Penteoostal Christianity in Zimbabwe

This paper is a first attempt to systematically present a history of Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe. The paper first discusses the introduction of the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe before moving on to discuss some of the Pentecostal churches born out of the AFM. This is followed by a discussion of the 1980s and 1990s explosion of American type Pentecostal churches and the current Pentecostal charismatic churches that seem to be sweeping the Christian landscape in the country. The paper acknowledges the difficulty of writing a history of Pentecostalism in the country due to a lack of sources. It identifies AFM as the mother church of Pentecostal movements in Zimbabwe, but also acknowledges the existence and influence of other earlier movements. It has shown that the current picture of Zimbabwean Christianity is heavily influenced by Pentecostalism in mainline churches, African Initiated Churches (AICs) and the various Pentecostal movements.

아프리카의 기독교와 이슬람

By the 21st century, the interpretation regarding sociology of religion has a concern about the results of a survey on the world population breakdown of Christianity. A particular article of “The Changing Face of Christianity” was released from the Newsweek report on April 16, 2001. The article contains an eye catching picture. It shows that young African Jesus has the black skin with a traditional African costume in the article. The reason why it is so controversial because it deviates from the type of Christianity. The researcher wonders why the article introduces Black African Jesus. The mission theologians examined the figure of black Jesus and pointed out that the central focus of the future Christianity is moving toward Africa. It means that the mission for Africa regarding the propagation of Christianity is evolving as compared to the western.BR The missionaries and theologians have higher expectation of success regarding the mission in Africa, regardless of that Africa has a long history of conflict between Islam and Christianity. As the major religions, Islam and Christianity have been spread for many years in Africa. Frist of all, Christianity of Africa have been spread since 1900s with the European colonial policy. After two centuries, the churches of Africa had to deal with difficult issues such as “racism” and “religious colonialism” under the influence of European colonialism. Churches in Africa has grown as indigenous churches since its independence. They have developed AIC (African initiated Churches). Throughout this movement, there are thousands of African Churches at present. Southern Africa has the highest ratio of Christianity. On the other hand, Western Africa has the lowest ratio of Christianity.BR Secondly, as one of the major religion, Islam has certain characteristics according to regional tier of Africa. In North Africa, Sufism has occupied over the whole area since the 12SUPth/SUP century. Algeria and Morocco of Khawārij are Islamised because of its tribal ties and trades. In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, many Muslim merchants have played a key role in spreading of Islam. A group of Muslim merchant of Sudan has been extremely in active in order to propagate Islam and set up a cooperative system with elite politicians. This effort has resulted in spreading of Islam widely in Ghana, Mali and Kanem. The propagation of Islam of Africa have been disturbed by European colonialism. However, it is important that Islam of Africa plays a key role as universal values beyond tribal ties and powerful resistance to European colonialism. Since its independence, Islam of Africa have been growing more than before. It is the most important foundation in forming the Islamic state. Also, the different types of Muslims started activating for Islamization including Muslim Brothers(Islamism), nationalism, folk Muslim and etc.BR Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent in the world after Asia. Currently, Africa has 61 territories and there are 1.1 billion people by 2014. It is a 14.8 percent of the world population ratio. Islam and Christians in Africa are very eager in each mission work. In addition, the relations between Islam and Christianity has caused a variety of conflicts in policy, culture and economy. As mentioned previously, Mission theologians have an interest in mission work in Africa. To be successful, missionaries need more proper ways to approach Africa. The researcher has confidence in that many Africans spread the gospel to their family, friends and coworkers. Also, many missionaries of indigenous African send out a message to the Middle East as an evangelist.

Spirituality of liberation: A conversation with African religiosity

The arrival of a salvationist, authoritative religiosity through Western Christianity in South Africa, in the company of a capitalist modernity, did not only dismantle and subvert the African indigenous dispensation of religiosity. It also sought to destroy it completely and arguably continues to do so in subtle forms in the 21st century, by attacking the imagination and consciousness of black Africans. This article argues that African religiosity as expressed in African Initiated Churches (AICs) is the site of the spirituality of liberation. Employing the notion of mokhukhu – a shack – the article places the sanity of black Africans, the spirituality of liberation, black African agency and consciousness within the narrative of African religiosity. It concludes by offering African religiosity as a resource for an alternative civilisation and an important agenda in the current debates of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

Religious Affiliation and Fertility in a Sub-Saharan Context: Dynamic and Lifetime Perspectives.

We use uniquely detailed data from a predominantly Christian high-fertility area in Mozambique to examine denominational differentials in fertility from two complementary perspectives-dynamic and cumulative. First, we use event-history analysis to predict yearly risks of birth from denominational affiliation. Then, we employ Poisson regression to model the association between the number of children ever born and share of reproductive life spent in particular denominations or outside organized religion. Both approaches detect a significant increase in fertility associated with membership in a particular type of African-initiated churches which is characterized by strong organizational identity, rigid hierarchy, and insular corporate culture. Membership in the Catholic Church is also associated with elevated completed fertility. We relate these results to extant theoretical perspectives on the relationship between religion and fertility by stressing the interplay between ideological, social, and organizational characteristics of different types of churches and situate our findings within the context of fertility transition and religious demographics in Mozambique and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Religion and Interconnection With Zimbabwe

The author argues that the continuous connection between Zimbabwean Diasporic Canadians (ZDC) and their homeland Zimbabwe is facilitated by the ZDC’s ongoing relationship and involvement with Zimbabwean African Indigenous Religion (AIR) and Zimbabwean African Initiated Churches (AICs). The two spiritual institutions are used as vehicles to alleviate cultural and racial discrimination as well as the socioeconomic challenges faced by the ZDC. The methodologies of interviews and participant observation were used. Research indicates that ZDC maintain their ties with Zimbabwe through continued engagement with AIR and AIC, who establish and assert themselves as vehicles of interaction and interdependence between Zimbabwe and the ZDC. In addition to their religious preoccupation, these institutions also play an important economic and social role in the lives of the ZDC. The conclusion is that ZDC did not make a complete break with their homeland.

A critical analysis on African Traditional Religion and the Trinity

To what extent do the resources of African Traditional Religion (ATR) contribute towards Christian theological discourse and benefit the African church? ATR is accommodated in the African Initiated Churches (AICs). The members of these churches aim to be Christian without losing their African identity. ATR is a religion that was practised throughout Africa before the arrival of the Western missionaries. The core premise of ATR is the maintenance of African culture and its main feature is loyalty to the ancestors and the accompanying rituals that express this loyalty. This study addresses the appropriateness of ATR’s resources in terms of their contribution to the doctrine of the Trinity. When the early church worshipped God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) in the presence of the Holy Spirit, a tension developed. The questions of monotheism versus polytheism and the nature and position of Jesus within the Trinity were put forward and addressed. The doctrine of the Trinity is uniquely Christian and includes the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who alone mediates between God and men. There is, on the other hand, an understanding that Africans worship one Supreme Being and venerate ancestors as intermediaries to the one Supreme Being, without clear roles being ascribed to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This article enquires whether the process of Africanisation and contextualisation consciously or unconsciously downgraded Jesus Christ as Mediator who came to reveal who God is and to reconcile humankind to him.

Civic Sacrament and Social Imaginaries in Transition: The Case of the South African Churches and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

This article reflects on a seminal moment within South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC): the appearance of the African Initiated Churches (AICs) before the Commission in 1997. It demonstrates how this moment brought into relief divergent contestations of the public within South African Christianity in three ways: first, by situating the TRC within the liturgical performance of a reimagined South African nationality, making it a "civic sacrament" of reconciliation; second, by highlighting the formative role churches themselves played within this liturgy, deploying theological language to create a healed, secular body politic; third, by displaying the different social imaginary of the AICs—a social imaginary which interrupted the TRC's liturgical recreation of time and space, as well as challenging the historical relations between church and state in South Africa. The paper concludes with the question posed in this "interruption," a question that challenges the broader church with regard to fulfillment of the liturgy not in the secular nation-state, but in that City which is to come.

The role of religious values in extending social protection: A South African perspective

This article reflects critically on the role played by religious networks – in particular the African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches (AICs) – in enhancing social protection by means of informal coping mechanisms in the South African context. It also examines various factors that contribute towards informal social security dependency in AICs, namely the influence of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the limited scope of social security coverage, the restricted family concept (underlying much of the formal system which does not reflect the family context in South Africa), African traditional values, and Christian principles. In addition, the article investigates the nature of the relationship between informal coping mechanisms (such as those in AICs) and formal social security, i.e. whether informal social security strengthens or weakens formal social security. It finally explores ways and means of strengthening informal social security, in particular in the wake of challenges such as HIV/AIDS, urbanisation and migration.

African Christianity in the Jewish State: Adaptation, Accommodation and Legitimization of Migrant Workers' Churches, 1990-2003

AbstractThis paper examines the role of African Initiated Churches (AICs) in the lives of African migrant laborers in Israel. Its aim is to attain a deeper understanding of religion and church affiliation among African migrant laborers in Israel from the perspective of the Africans themselves. It traces the creation and development of the AICs in Israel, including the various services and activities that the churches provided for their members in the social, economic and political arenas. It argues that the African churches in Israel occupied a particularly large and central place in their members' lives compared to migrant churches in other western diasporas, taking on roles of other traditional social, economic, political and civil actors in Africa. The paper examines the AICs' multiple adaptations to unique conditions in Israel and to the needs of their membership. Though many of the patterns identified are similar to those found in other diaspora communities, certain features of Israel and its society, mainly those connected to the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and the limited civic horizon open to non-Jews, made for substantial differences. These features forced Africans to create their own Afro-Christian space to fulfill their needs and became the key anchors in the spiritual, emotional and practical lives of the African migrants in Israel. Finally this article argues that the churches became the main space for the production of a sense of belonging within the Israeli civic context, in spite of the fact that the migrants' religious identities and institutions were not used as vehicles for recognition or channels for gaining legitimacy in Israel's public sphere.

A “Failure in Love”? Western Missions and the Emergence of African Initiated Churches in the Twentieth Century

Several theories relating to the emergence and development of African Initiated Churches (AICs) are discussed, particularly that propounded by David Barrett, who saw AICs reacting to a “failure in love” on the part of Western European missions. The widespread “reaction to missions” view in missiological writings on AICs, although having some validity, tends to detract from more important underlying causes. This and other causes like Protestant denominationalism, Bible translations, theological and religious causes, and precipitating factors must together be seen as a complex whole and in the context of the macro-history of African Christianity and the innovative contributions of African missionaries.

THE QUEST FOR SPACE IN THE GLOBAL SPIRITUAL MARKETPLACE

AFRICAN RELIGIONS IN EUROPE The globalization concept Globalization is a concept that is gaining increasing prominence in academic discourses such as communication, economics, sociology, political science, cultural studies, advertising, environmental studies, religion etc. Hitherto, a legion of world system theorists have been primarily concerned with politico-economic phenomena, without an adequate approach to so-called issues of culture in such a framework, nor even a unified approach in which cultural specificity is an aspect of other social phenomena. Robertson and Hannerz, for instance, have complained of the lack of culture in the analyses of world system researchers. [1] A marked trend towards the globalization of all sorts of relations has been observed over several decades and has, directly and indirectly, led to a system of extensive international economic and political cooperation. The place of Africa at the periphery and semi-periphery of the global economy and polity is apparent, and was so especially in the 1990s. This somewhat disadvantaged status is probably untrue. Africa has conspicuously demonstrated vigour and vitality, and been pivotal for the dramatization of religion. This paper will show that Africans are involved in the globalization process; they have moved from a local phenomenon to a global context. They are not only searching for more space in the global religious marketplace, but their presence has in fact become conspicuous on the religious terrain. African new religious movements and globalization in Europe There are three basic categories of African Christian religious groups in Europe. In the first and most popular of these are religious groups that exist as branches or parishes of mother churches with headquarters in Africa. Examples are the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide, the Church of the Lord -- Aladura, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the Church of Pentecost International, and the Kimbanguist Church. The second category refers to those groups that began and have their headquarters in Europe, but also had the intention to establish or open branches in Africa and elsewhere. Examples are the True Teachings of Christ's Temple (Holland), the Christian Outreach Mission Church (Hamburg), the Aladura International Church (London), Victory Ministries e. V. (Oberhausen), and the Born-Again Christ Healing Church (London). The third category of African Christian religious groups is made up of inter-denominational groups or para-church organizations, which exist as somewhat loose groups (prayer/fellowship) without proper or formalized administrative structures. There are also quite a number of Christians without any church or religious affiliation. They either choose to attend services with a denomination of their choice or any church within their locality or within easy reach of their homes. However, a large number of African Christians simply do not attend any church services or programmes due to the nature of their jobs, or because of social, cultural and other reasons. Tendencies towards globalization The characteristics of African initiated churches include their vitality, dynamism and great capacity for incorporating change, such as that witnessed in the contemporary era due to shifts in global migration patterns. One remarkable fall-out of the globalization process is the increasing dispersal of Africans beyond their continental context, thus moving them from a local to a global presence. Consequently, the bridging of the gap brought about several strategies through which religious interchanges were exerted on the worldwide religious landscape. Ter Haar notes that: Their spread overseas has involved these churches in international networks of relations to which they did not have access until the late twentieth century. There is now a two-way channel of communication between churches inside and outside Africa, whether they belong to the first or the second generation of African-initiated churches. …

Spiritual healing A comparison between New Age groups and African Initiated Churches in South Africa

AbstractThis article explores and compares spiritual healing in two contemporary guises: the New Age movement and African Initiated Churches (AICs). A third component which cannot be ignored is the traditional African healing practices which (to a large extent) have shaped practices in the AICs. Firstly, the current growth in the prevalence of these groups is considered. Secondly, the two major components are compared with regard to illness and its causes, gifted healers, rituals, and transformation. And finally, the possible effects of these practices on the restoration of the country is considered.