Inculturation in the African Independent Churches
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Date
2000-02
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
For many years the African Independent Churches have been seen as the antagonists of the
Catholic Church and indeed of all Mission Churches. The attitude of the Catholics towards their
brothers and sisters of the African Independent Churches has been one of complacence if not
condemnation. Of course there are some weaknesses in these African instituted churches. but this is
also true for any other church. Furthermore, the shortcomings of one church should not blind us
from appreciating the good that is found in it. The effort to inculturate the gospel message in the
African context is above all the entry point that the Catholic Church could use to learn from the
African Instituted churches.
Drawing from the process of inculturation manifested in the African Independent churches,
this paper intends to show how this process is relevant to the Catholic Church in Africa. A serious
undertaking of inculturation should bring down the message of the gospel to the particular context
that the African men and women live in today. Inculturation will also help to reduce the influx of
the Catholics to African Independent Churches and other Christian denominations. It is
hypothesised here that some faithful leave the Catholic Church after realising that their affiliation to
the Catholic Church does not profoundly affect and satisfy their needs in life and also, their
membership does not seem significantly worthwhile to them.
Certainly, inculturation is not synonymous v‘rith disorder. Bosch is perfectly right to observe
that this process does not include the philosophy of "everything goes".' This implies that not
everything from a culture can be acceptable as positive for the evangelisation process. We think that
in order for a genuine inculturation to take place. there must be a marriage between the gospel message and African culture. In this marriage, just as in any other good marriage, dialogue, mutual
understanding and enrichment are paramount and important. In other words, any initiative in the
process of inculturation must bear in mind true gospel values. As Luzibetak puts it True
contextualization seeks first and foremost the Kingdom of God".2
The preoccupation of how the Christian faith can be expressed in the image and values
relevant to specific groups of people is as old as Christianity itself We read in the book of Acts of
the Apostles that it was exactly because of this enigma that the apostles had to gather in a council in
the first Century, to decide whether the Gentile converts were also obliged to observe the Jewish
Law. The ruling of the apostles on this matter was that Christianity could not be mistaken for
Jewish tradition and customs. Therefore, the Gentiles could as well become Christians without
necessarily observing the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:5-21). With this important decision in the history of
the church, the apostles seemed to imply that the gentiles and indeed all people could effectively
meet Christ in their own cultural contexts without being compelled to adopt cultural behaviours of
other people. It is unfortunate that the implementation of the decision of the apostles in the Catholic
Church here in Africa is taking the pace of a snail. In many dioceses the process of inculturation has
remained at a superficial level. Some exterior creativity may be made here and there, but the
essential part of this process is still far from being materialised.3
This paper is based on library research, direct non- participant observation and informal
interviews. It is divided into four chapters. Chapter one deals with the evaluation of the African
Independent Churches phenomenon. This will include the reasons responsible for the emergence, growth and divisions in the African Independent churches. Chapter two spells out the approaches of
the African Independent churches to the process of inculturation. Particular areas where this process
has born fruits are highlighted. Chapter three highlights the importance of dialogue between the
Catholic Church and African Tradition Religion. We believe this to be the point of departure
towards a complete process of inculturation. Finally, in chapter four, we give a general conclusion
of this paper, which followed by recommendations.
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Keywords
Inculturation, Church, Africa, Catholic Church