INDIGENOUS AFRICAN CHURCHES

Another set of churches had no historical relationship with previously established Christian churches. African prophets started them. They go by various names: African indigenous churches, African independent churches, African-initiated churches, and African-instituted churches. The prophets who started these churches emphasized the ability to control spirits and heal by the power of Jesus. They offered protection against witchcraft. They also urged people to abandon traditional African religions and to destroy their traditional religious images (see IMAGES, IDOLS, ICONS IN RELIGION). Some who heard them, such as followers of the Congo prophet Simon Kimbangu (1889?–1951), built large bonfi res to do just that. Members of these churches also often wear white as a symbol of purity. Many African prophets made colonial authorities nervous. As a result, some of the most famous spread their messages for only a short time, until the government stopped them. Nevertheless, their churches often continued. Several churches are now quite large and well known. The prophet William Wade Harris (early 1860s–1929) (his middle name is an African name pronounced way-day) received his revelations from God while in prison for political activities. Although he was from Liberia, his most effective preaching was done in the Ivory Coast. Instead of founding churches, he told his followers that missionaries would come bringing the message of Christianity. In 1924 Methodist missionaries did come to the Ivory Coast for the fi rst time, but the Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast dates its founding to 1914, the year of Harris's missionary activity. The relationship between Harris and the Methodist missionaries was not always good. For example, following the example of ABRAHAM, JACOB, and others in the Bible, Harris allowed polygamy; the Methodists did not. Some of Harris's followers formed their own churches. Two churches in this tradition are the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Ghana, founded by Grace Tani (d. 1958), who thought of herself as one of Harris's wives, and the Deima Church in the Ivory Coast, founded by Marie Lalou (d. 1951). A prophet in the Belgian Congo who had a similarly short career but left a lasting legacy was Simon Kimbangu. After less than a year of ministry, which included healing, the government threw Kimbangu in jail, and he stayed there for decades. His church, however, eventually received offi cial government recognition. Named L'Eglise de Jesus- Christ sur la terre par le prophete Simon Kimbangu (The Church of Jesus Christ on Earth through the prophet Simon Kimbangu), it is the largest independent church in Africa. Some indigenous African churches have emphasized fervent prayer, fasting, dreams, visions, and healing. These features characterize the Aladura churches of Nigeria. (Aladura is a Yoruba word meaning "Owner of Prayer.") An example of the Aladura churches is the Christ Apostolic Church, begun in the 1920s. It rejects the use of either traditional or scientifi c medicine. The same features also characterize the Zionist churches of South Africa. Zionist churches get their name because their inspiration originally came from the Evangelical Christian Catholic Church of Zion, Illinois. Both Zionist and Aladura refer to groups of churches rather than to a single church. While some founders of African churches have been prophets, some have been more than prophets: They have been Messiahs. A famous example is the Zulu religious leader, Isaiah Shembe (1867– 1935). He received a call from God in a vision and founded a church in the Zionist tradition known as the amaNazaretha Church. In 1912, after an experience similar to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, he received the power to heal and cast out demons. He saw himself as a Messiah sent to the Zulu, as MOSES and Jesus were sent to the Jews. His church's worship practices include dances in traditional Zulu style and hymns that Shembe himself wrote.