African Independent Churches

In the late 19th century, Africans in locations across the continent grew frustrated with European and American missionaries and decided to form their own Christian churches.

African Independent Churches combine local African religions with Christianity in variable ways, placing different amounts of emphasis on each tradition. Some, but not all, affiliate with Catholicism or with a particular Protestant denomination.

Some AICs were established by a charismatic African religious leader or "prophet," such as Simon Kimbangu, Isaiah Shembe, or William Wade Harris.

The Bible is considered authoritative and found to contain empowering messages. AIC leaders and laypeople read it carefully and on their own, believing that missionaries' interpretations were incorrect and biased because of their interests in colonial domination.

Although AICs produced less written documentation of their activities than did missionary churches, scholars have worked to understand their theology and their social and historical significance using oral histories and ethnography to supplement the available records.

Early AICs differentiated themselves from missionary churches by incorporating local traditions into their practices of Christianity. Often, they permitted the use of African languages, dancing, and drumming in their services and allowed their members to be polygynous and practice female excision.

There are thousands of AICs, each with its own distinct characteristics. Some scholars and practitioners classify them into groups, including Ethiopian, Messianic, Apostolic, Pentecostal, and Zionist.

AICs often maintain relatively amicable relations with neighboring Muslims and practitioners of traditional African religions. There have been significant exchanges and sharing of religious ideas and practices among these three groups over time.

Due to the work of AIC missionaries, there was a dramatic spread of Christianity throughout the African continent in the 20th century. AIC missionaries also established branches of their churches in parts of western Europe and North America.

AICs help Africans survive in the modern world without losing their African culture. Since the 1930s, there has been a proliferation of Pentecostal or Charismatic AICs, some of which were inspired by Evangelical movements in the United States.

Many AICs have sacred narratives about their church's establishment or the life of its founder that include events and symbols that parallel ones from the Bible.

Experiences of all kinds (e.g. birth, illness, environmental changes, gain or loss of wealth) are attributed to spiritual causes. While the Holy Spirit of God is the reason for positive occurrences, negative ones are often attributed to witches or harmful spirits.

Members of AICs strive for a kind of wellbeing that is not only spiritual, but also involves physical health, social connections, and economic security. Each person's wellbeing is intertwined with that of others in their community.

Suffering and evil have distinct causes, usually attributed to evil spirits or witches. AICs try to cure the suffering of their members and often devote significant attention to their physical ailments.

AICs promote Christian ideas about the afterlife, but they vary in whether they emphasize personal salvation upon death, a collective, millenarian salvation, or earthly salvation through making practical improvements in one's daily living conditions.

AICs follow a Christian religious calendar, often adding dates to it to commemorate important events in the lives of their founders.

For some AICs, the birthplace of their founder is a sacred site, a "Zion" or "New Jerusalem." The church's headquarters are located there and it is where religious festivals, ceremonies, and pilgrimages occur.

Rituals are performed to mark each stage of a person's life (e.g. birth, coming of age, marriage, and death). Drumming and dancing may be used, possibly to stimulate possession by the Holy Spirit.

AICs may follow the worship structure of their Christian denomination, but often conduct services in local African languages. Members pray and fast regularly, usually abstaining from pork and perhaps also tobacco and alcohol.

The symbolic systems of AICs are complex, combining western Christian symbolic meanings with local African ones. Water, fire, crucifixes, and the staffs are important symbols in many AICs.

To act as an AIC leader, one should be called or receive a vision from the Holy Spirit. Laypeople strive to distinguish the leaders who act on authentic calls from those who prophesize falsely.

Besides being places of worship, AICs form communities of people who are concerned about each other's wellbeing, whether they participate in religious activities regularly or only when experiencing a particular misfortune.

AICs cherish African notions of community and social structure, while helping their members to achieve social and moral progress.

AICs desire for African people and societies to be healthy, productive, and modern. Many AICs have been politically active, working to unite and empower African people against external domination.

Although women outnumber men in AIC congregations, most AICs are led by men. Recently, some women have been founding their own churches and leading them themselves.