LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
3.7 African Indigenous Churches
person fUl1her earned a better salary compared to them.
With the emergency of nationalism and the rise of Black political parties such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. the Black Christian leaders felt an urgent need to stm1 Black led Churches away from the White domination and control.
They wanted to start Churches that will accept and accommodate the African cultures and customs but which are not contrary to the Christian faith. It must be understood that Black leaders did not desire to be separated from their White brothers and sisters. but they, the Whites were the main cause of this act because of their SUPP011 of apm1heid system. whether, consciously or unconsciously. The following is a brief history of the African Indigenous Churches.
quasi-Christian. millennia!' magico-religious. neo-pagan. syncrestic and cultic churches (Pretorious and lath 1997: 211). It is clear that most of the terms used to refer to the AIC's go together with derogatory terms such as Kaffirs. Natives, Bantus and plural names often used by the apartheid government officials or authorities to refer to the Black people in South Africa (Makhubu 1988: I).
It is the truth that some of these churches' names included words such as Bantu or Natives. It was only so to please the government and its officials in order to secure registration for churches to operate officially and to obtain properties or land to bui Id meeting places for Sundays and sometimes during the week. Even though things are changing, for a long time. the leaders and the people of AIC churches had to live with names. which suited the bureaucrats. but not themselves. Most of the time they would not even be regarded as churches or denominations. but mere sects or movements.
(Makhubu 1988: I). Strassberger says:
It is obvious that many of the African Independent Churches can hardly be classified as Christian Churches. This would apply, above all. to the Zionist and Messianic types who exalt a leader to the rank of a saviour, thereby denying the unique position Jesus Christ holds as a central to the Christian faith (Strassberger 1974:89).
What is of great concern is that the apartheid government and its officials. together with the researchers who wanted to please their promoters by producing new knowledge or rather giving new information. gave these churches names without asking them what they would prefer to be called. Makhubu says many leaders of these churches prefer to be called "African Indigenous Churches" or "African Initiated Churches":
The title 'indigenous' churches is better. since it tries to demonstrate that these churches originate from thc people themselves. They have not been initiated by Europeans or Americans or other outsiders. They were started by African people themselves ....
We therefore prefer the use of the word indigenous even if this can be interchangeably used with independent. The word independent is unsatisfactory because there are many White churches that have
broken away from their mainline families. and these churches are obviously not independent in the sense of African Independent (indigenous) Churches. By using indigenous as an adjective, we hope to educate our people to discover who they are (Makhubu 1988:1-2).
The word "indigenous" rather than "independent"" churches shows a positive desire by African Church leaders to adapt the gospel message to the cultural heritage of the African people in South Africa. It also suggests a deep desire to be rooted and contextualized in the African system of thought and practice in the presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. rather than being merely independent from the Western churches. Mzimba said that the aim is to plant the spirit of self-support. self-governing and self-propagating amongst the Black people. so that African Indigenous Churches would produce a truly African type of Christianity suited to the distinctive spirit of African people in their specific country and time in their own languages and through their culture. to meet their specific needs (Mzimba 1928:89). Makhubu agrees with Mzimba when he says:
... an African Independent or Indigenous Church means a purely black-controlled denomination with no links in membership or administrative control with any non-African church. In contrast with the Black congregation that have been given self-supporting status by their missionary parents. the Ales are churches that have completely broken the umbilical cord with the western missionary enterprise (Makhubu 1988:5)'"
These churches are a true retlection of what Christianity in Africa or amongst the African people should be and how it should have been propagated. This does not mean that everything done or practiced within the AIC churches is correct or Biblical. However, it shows those things that are important which were suppressed by the missionaries and their institutions, the apartheid government and the White Churches in aeneral amonust~ e e the South African Christian community. Sundkler says that:
... in these churches. one could be able to see what the African Christian, when left to himself: regarded as important and relevant in Christian faith and in the Christian Church ... to be able to
discern tendencies that could be utilized in the practical task of building Christ Church in Africa ( Sundkler 1961: 17-11).