7b. The Churches of Africa

Question 1

Church Missionary Society

Answer 1

The Church Missionary Society (CMS) related to the Anglican Church was established in April 1799. It drew its membership from the Evangelical wing of the Anglican Church, and it sent missionaries to West and to South Africa.

Question 2

Mekane Yesus

Answer 2

The largest of the Protestant groups in Ethiopia today appears to be the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus – affiliated with the Lutheran World Federation. Formed in 1959 with some 20,000 believers, it currently embraces 4 million believers, nearly all of whom are Charismatic in their liturgical practice.

Question 3

NGO

Answer 3

A. The issues that surround uprooted people at the beginning of the 21st Century are issues that face not only the nations, but also the churches. Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and churches have all studied these issues.

Question 4

What were the percentages for Christians in Africa in 1900 and 2000?

Answer 4

9.2% and 48%.

Question 5

What is the three things that makes it hard to know the exact numbers of Christians in Africa?

Answer 5

The HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Muslim/Christian Relations.
War and Famine.

Question 6

shari’a

Answer 6

Islamic law

Question 7

Nelson Mandela

Answer 7

Former president of South Africa.

Question 8

Desmond Tutu

Answer 8

Anglican Archbishop, who contributed significantly to the success of the transition by providing the model of confession and forgiveness for the race and reconciliation process.

Question 9

Thabo Mbeki

Answer 9

Former president of South Africa. President Mbeki’s biggest failure was his long denial of the HIV/AIDS situation in South Africa that did not allow the country to come to terms with that plague in a timely manner.

Question 10

Jacob Zuma

Answer 10

Current president of South Africa.

Question 11

Where did Christianity first come to Africa?

Answer 11

A. Christianity came to Africa first in Ethiopia, then to Egypt, and finally to Carthage, further west along the Mediterranean coast in what is present day Tunisia.

Question 12

Haile Selassie

Answer 12

Former emperor of Ethiopia.

Question 13

Coptic Church

Answer 13

Church in Egypt.

Question 14

Pope Shenouda III

Answer 14

From 1971, the Coptic Church was led by Pope Shenouda III, a dynamic leader who died, March 18, 2012. Unfortunately, in recent years, Pope Shenouda made public statements disparaging the newer, Evangelical churches in the region. His motivation appeared to be fear.

Question 15

Pope Tawridas II

Answer 15

New pope of the Coptic Church

Question 16

Who were the two competing churches in Zimbabwe in the 50s and 60s.

Answer 16

The Elim Church that served England and Ireland. About the same time, a Carmelite order of Southern Irish Catholics appeared on the scene.

Question 17

Kairos Document

Answer 17

Calling upon Christians to work to bring apartheid to an end, it was well received at many levels, but because it was produced from what some believed was a Liberation Theology position, they were unwilling to accept it. The Kairos Document was circulated widely throughout Southern Africa.

Question 18

Evangelicals did not like the Kairos Document because of its Liberation Theology, what did the offer instead?

Answer 18

Evangelical Witness in South Africa

Question 19

What percentage of Christians are Catholic in Africa? How many diocese?

Answer 19

19%, 500 dioceses.

Question 20

Why is Catholicism so hard to make inroads in Africa?

Answer 20

Every African diocese still depends heavily on financial assistance from Rome and elsewhere to carry out the essential services of formation, catechesis, and evangelization.” As a result, the Roman Catholic Church continues to struggle to become a truly indigenous, local church.

Question 21

Lineamenta

Answer 21

The concerns of all Bishops were first solicited in five categories, through a series of 81 questions. These questions were known as the Lineamenta. Basically, the 81 questions asked by the African Synod.

Question 22

Instrumentum Laboris

Answer 22

The answers to the lineamenta. From the results of this questionnaire, a working paper, known as an Instrumentum Laboris, was developed and when the Bishops gathered in Rome, they were asked to address their comments in light of this document.

Question 23

What was one of the major questions asked by the African Synod, and what conclusions did the come up with?

Answer 23

The first of these had to do with how one turns what had been a missionary church into a truly local, indigenous church? The conclusion was to provide considerable discussion and thought on the nature of evangelization and inculturation.

1. Proclamation. To evangelize is to proclaim in word and deed.
2. Transformation. evangelization should be centered on transforming encounter with the living Christ.
3. Sacraments. Sanctity, especially through sacraments.
4. Word. Meeting God in the Sacred Scripture.

Question 24

What suggestions did the African Synod make?

Answer 24

1. translate scripture into local languages.
2. putting a bible in the hands of all believers.
3. in-depth biblical formation at all levels
4. well-prepared celebrations of the word
5. reactivation of a biblical center for Africa

Question 25

What was the second major question addressed by the Synod?

Answer 25

The second major question addressed by the Synod had to do with how the Church was to relate to the society around it.

Question 26

What three suggestions did the Synod make to help the church relate to society?

Answer 26

1. As an African church, it must speak to and participate fully in the African context. This means that the Church needs to speak up more clearly when dealing with secular society, and make its own commitments known, even if it must act prophetically.
2. The Church needs also to become more ecumenical in its relationships to other churches.
3. The Church needs to undertake a sustained discussion with Islam; indeed, interreligious Dialogue must become an important part of Catholic life.

Question 27

What is an AIC?

Answer 27

It may refer to African Independent Churches, African Initiatives in Christianity, African Instituted Churches, or African Indigenous Churches.They are, therefore, non-European in their origin and they are entirely African controlled. They have no missionary ties and no formal external financial support. They are principally composed of Africans who have banded together around some charismatic leader.

There are over 10,000 such groups in Africa, and in 1993, Johnstone suggested that they numbered some 39 million adherents. Today, the largest organization that represents these churches is called the Organization of African Instituted Churches

Question 28

What is one of the main thing that is celebrated in AIC’s?

Answer 28

Inculturation. It is within the context of the celebration of African cultures that African Instituted Churches find their meaning and their message. It is the inculturation of the Gospel or the Gospel viewed through a particular African cultural lens.

Question 29

ubuntu

Answer 29

a humane society without poverty, exploitation, or disease

Question 30

What are the different categories of AICs?

Answer 30

1. Ethiopian Type of Instituted Churches
2. Zionist Type of Instituted Churches
3. Apostolic/Pentecostal Type of Instituted Churches
4. Messianic or Judaistic Type of Instituted Churches

Question 31

What is a major weakness of these AICs?

Answer 31

Some of them embrace African culture and reject some things that are mandated by scripture. For example, some of them practice polygamy.

Also, they believe that “blackness” and/or “Africanness” is essential to being a Christian.

Question 32

Ethiopian Type of Instituted Churches

Answer 32

The Ethiopian-type churches, the earliest type to emerge, is mostly tribal in its makeup. Thus, these churches have frequently been linked to issues of anti-colonialism and nationalism. Ethiopia has traditionally been a symbol of all that is truly African.

Question 33

What is another word for Pan-Africanism?

Answer 33

Abyssinianism or Ethiopianism

Question 34

Why did the Ethiopian Type of Instituted Churches form?

Answer 34

It was in part a response to racist attitudes and an attempt to provide Black African Christians greater opportunity to exercise their gifts.

Question 35

Zionist Type of Instituted Churches

Answer 35

1. Of all the AICs, the Zionist type churches are the most numerous. The impetus for these Zionist type churches can be traced to the United States and to the influence of John Alexander Dowie and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church of Zion [Illinois].

Question 36

John Alexander Dowie

Answer 36

Dowie was born in Scotland, but as a young teenager, his family moved to Australia. Dowie became known throughout Australia for his vigorous stand against the use of alcohol, for his energetic commitment to divine healing, for his insistence on triune immersion baptism, and for his belief that the return of the Lord was imminent. During the 1893 World’s Fair held in Chicago, Dowie attracted great attention by holding controversial healing tent meetings directly across the street from the gateway to the fair.

Question 37

Leaves of Healing

Answer 37

A magazine published by John Dowie.

Question 38

What happened to the Zionists churches?

Answer 38

1. Many of them became Pentecostal after the Azusa Street Revival.
2. Some of them assimilated into the Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa.

Question 39

What are some of the characteristics of Apostolic/Pentecostal Type of Instituted Churches?

Answer 39

Characteristics common to many of these groups may be described as broadly “charismatic.”

1. Old Testament, to Old Testament figures such as Moses or some prophet, and a more or less literal interpretation of Scripture
2. trance-like behavior and/or Spirit possession plays a role
3. manifestations of divine healing
4. utterances, and/or glossolalia
5. They enjoy singing songs of indigenous origin, often accompanied by dance and with drums.

Question 40

Twelve Apostle Church

Answer 40

Apostolic Type

Question 41

Kimbanguists of Zaire

Answer 41

Pentecostal Type

Question 42

What is the main difference between Apostolic Churches, and Pentecostal Churches?

Answer 42

The so-called Apostolic groups tend to be more sectarian than the others, keeping to themselves, while the Pentecostal groups as well as some Apostolic groups are derived originally from other Pentecostal groups that do not trace their origins to the Zionist churches.

Question 43

Messianic or Judaistic Type of Instituted Churches

Answer 43

The fourth type of AIC is typically called the Messianic or the Judaistic type. It is found most frequently in Central and South Africa and it is probably the smallest of the AIC types.

Question 44

El Shaddai

Answer 44

the Hebrew name referring to the “Mighty” or “Powerful” God of Israel

Question 45

Progressive Pentecostal Churches

Answer 45

Fast growing churches in Africa that are engaging in social issues.

Pentecostal congregations differ from one another in many respects, but Miller and Yamamori decided to call these fast-growing, socially active, self-supporting, indigenous congregations in the developing world, “Progressive Pentecostals”.

Question 46

1. The Church in Africa has had a long and noble history. There have been good centuries and bad ones. During the 20th Century, Africa has seen a great deal of the best and worst in the development of the Church. Based upon your reading, and this lecture, describe in broad strokes the history of the development of the Church in Africa during the 20th Century. If you chose the African regional readings, please make reference to the 19th and 20th Century church based upon your regional readings.

Answer 46

NEED readings. Look at outline.

Question 47

2. The African Instituted Churches (AICs) constitute a phenomenon that is worth watching if for no other reason than because of their explosive growth. Write an essay in which you name the four major streams of the AICs, describing each of them in some detail. Be sure to include two of the strengths and two of the weaknesses for each type.

Answer 47

Look at outline.

Question 48

3. In 1994, the African Synod of the Catholic Church in Africa produced some results that are context specific. They addressed problems that are intrinsic to Africa. Describe in some detail the goals and expectations that the Bishops set for the African Church in the following three areas: (A) Evangelization, (B) Ecumenical, and (C) Interreligious Relations.

Answer 48

Look at outline.