Acta Theologica

2015 35(2): 104‑119

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/actat.v35i2.7
ISSN 1015‑8758
© UV/UFS
<http://www.ufs.ac.za/ActaTheologica>

L. Ntombana

THE TRAJECTORIES OF
CHRISTIANITY AND AFRICAN
RITUAL PRACTICES: THE PUBLIC
SILENCE AND THE DILEMMA OF
MAINLINE OR MISSION CHURCHES

ABSTRACT
In South Africa, there are mainly two Christian traditions on Christianity and African
ritual practices. One being from missionaries and now mainly trailed by most white
Mainline Churches and Pentecostal Churches. The other is by African Independent
Churches (AIC). The first group oppose and condemn Christian involvement on
any rituals related to ancestors. However, the second group perceive no conflict
between Christianity and African rituals. This paper presents a brief discussion on
the beliefs and views of various Christian groups on African rituals, focusing mainly
on black members of the Mainline Churches. In this paper I examine literature from
the 18th century and also revisit my ethnographic work which focuses on this theme
in the democratic South Africa. Findings of this study suggests that black members
of mainline Churches are still caught in between two identities; one being the
Western package of Christianity and the African ritual practices.

1. INTRODUCTION
There have been various studies, both theoretical and ethnographic work
done by various academics such as Turner (1967), Barret (1968), Mbiti
(1975), Sundkler (1961 & 1967) and some of the latest writings written by
members of Mission or Mainline Churches (MC) as it will be shown later.
However, there is a dearth of literature and ethnographic studies on the

Dr. Luvuyo Ntombana, Department of Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology.

University of the Free State. E-mail: [email protected]

Produced by SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein

Acta Theologica 2015: 2

stance of MC in relation to African ritual practices. Members of the MC

have written extensivley on the history and beliefs of African Independent
Churches or African Innitiated Churches (AIC) but are silent on their
position as far as Christianity and ancestor relationship are concerned.
The main problem resonates from the fact that members of MC do not
freely express their Africanness in Church, but when they are outside the
Church they freely perform African traditional rituals and customs which
include practices such as ukubuyisa (the ritual reincorporation of the
living-dead), imbeleko (ritual inclusion of babies into the clan), ukwaluka
(rite of passage into adulthood), and visiting of traditional healers to seek
guidance from ancestors. The other reality is that as much as elders of the
MC are comfortable with the practice of African rituals behind the Church
doors, young people find problems with this as to them it translates into
two identities. The main problem is not the practice of rituals but the
fact that they are practiced away and kept a secret from other Church
members, moreover that they are members of Churches that are known to
be against such practices. The following abstract by Njeza et al (1998:1) is
a reality of a situation young people find themselves in.

I am an African and I am a Christian. I grew up in an environment

where it was quite normal to accept mainline Christian beliefs
and lifestyle, however, my parents also practised certain African
traditional rituals like ukubuyisa (the ritual reincorporation of the
living-dead), imbeleko (ritual inclusion of babies into the clan) and
ukwaluka (rite of passage into adulthood) and lobola (the traditional
process followed in customary marriage by isiXhosa speaking
people). ……However this latter dimension in my parents’ identity
was exercised discreetly outside the Church. Apparently, the
inevitable predicament from this did not appear as a problem for
my parents as it does for me. For the individual the existence of the
two systems co-existed even though for the Church the African one
did not exist. However, as I begin to reflect on my personal African
Christian identity I discover that I have inherited a legacy of confusion
and identity conflict in my life. The problem for me is that ‘the other’
dimension which acknowledged our African traditional heritage was
somehow tagged on and operated in disguise. This resulted in what
seemed to be a split personality and an identity crisis because it led
to the denigration and destruction of Africanness.

The above is Njeza’s personal experience in quest for possibilities of

African Christianity within Mainline Churches. The view and belief of MC
might be taken obvious and straight forward, but it is not. As one can note
that Njeza’s parents comfortably practised both the mainline tradition and
African rituals, while Njeza was uncomfortable with the practice; as a result
he felt like he was living a double life style. What makes matters worse

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for Njeza is that his parents performed the African rituals away from the
Church practices. The main struggle is not just the secrecy of performing
certain African rituals but an issue of two identities where one has to
put the other aside when practising the other. For example, one cannot
openly talk about or announce during a Church service that they will have
a ritual practice and the Church members are invited, or a Church minister
cannot openly practise as a traditional healer like the case of the African
Independent Churches.
For more than one hundred years, Africa has been a meeting place
for fundamentally two different Christian traditions (Amanze 2003:43:
Matobo et al. 2009:105), i.e. the African tradition-orientated Christianity
and Western-influenced Christianity. Each of these two traditions
possesses its own worldview regarding African traditional practices and
rituals. The latter has been due to the influence of missionary teachings
and the other broke away from MC in order to embrace an African
contextualised Christianity. The first category (with black and white)
includes Churches such as Presbyterian Churches, Methodist of Southern
Africa, Anglicans and Roman Catholics and Charismatic, Evangelical and
Pentecostal Churches (the self-acclaimed born-again churches). The
second category (mainly black people) is made up of various AIC such
as Ethiopian Churches, Presbyterian Church of African, African Methodist
Episcopal and various Zionist Churches. Due to Western missionary
influence, the first group regarded all forms of African practices and
rituals as “ancestral worship”; consequently, members were forbidden to
participate in any of the rituals (Mills 1939:1). Since breaking away from
the MC, the second group embraced African rituals and most incorporated
them in their Church services. The African Independent Churches have a
clear stand in relation to African ritual practices; they fully practise their
rituals and have incorporated them in their Christian faith. For them, there
is no conflict in practising rituals and ancestral veneration while being a
committed Christian. According to this viewpoint the African perspective
of religion is not the same as the western definition,

religion is closely bound up with the traditional way of life, while

this way of life has shaped religion as well (Mbiti 1975:9).

Religion embraces the tradition (history and identity), the state of being
(prosperity, wellbeing, sickness suffering and oppression) and the future
state of the person (sickness, ageing and ancestors). Life itself is a spiritual
journey hence in all phases of human experiences there is the existence of
uQamata, uThixo (God) or uNkulunkulu (Supreme Being).
However, Mainline Churches are silent on the issue, which leaves
space for individuals to decide on whether to practise African rituals or

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not. Furthermore, there is a proliferation of literature regarding life and

practices of African Independent Churches while the experiences of
African Christians within the mainline Churches are under recorded. To
make matters worse, the mission Church leaders write more about the belief
and views of African Independent Churches and not about themselves. The
findings of this study suggest that currently in most Mainline Churches, the
issue of ancestral relationship and ritual practices is left with individuals
to decide. Mission churches like the Presbyterian and Methodist do not
have a specific stand on the matter. Findings further show that black
congregations are caught in between the package of Western Christian
and practising their traditional rituals. The main contentation of this paper
is that although leaders can hold various views on certain matters and
congregations can be diverse on various practices and influences, they
cannot afford not to have a stand on a matter that relates to one’s being
and one’s identity. The issue of ancestral relationship cannot be left to
individuals to make a personal choice due the fact that it was exactly the
gist of missionary preaching and is what set apart igqoboka (converted)
from iqaba or umntu ibomvu (a red person or a heathen). Secondly, the
fact that others within the same denomination refer to it as evil and a sin,
then it must be attended to and deliberations must be made in relation to
their teaching and doctrine. Here I intend to show that it is a known secret
that most MC members still practise African rituals but they do not talk
about it more especially in the Church.

2. BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH METHODS

The idea for this paper was triggered between 2009 and 2011 while I was
doing fieldwork on the role of Xhosa male initiation in behavioural change
of the boys as they graduate to manhood. While I was visiting initiation
schools, I met abakhwetha (initiates) and also interacted with them after
their graduation. I did not necessarily ask the informants about their
church affiliation as it was not part of the study at the time. However, it was
interesting to find that among some of the abakhwetha and amakrwala
(new men) there was some pride in how they were initiated; as a result
they volunteered information about their church affiliation. Some did not
necessarily mention their specific church affiliation but said that they were
“born again” and some said they were “saved” and that their initiation was
different from those who were initiated traditionally. Most of them said that
“soluke isicawa, hayi isiXhosa” (we were initiated in a church manner, not in
the orthodox manner). The assertion of the abakhwetha and amakrwala and
the observations challenged me to wonder exactly how Christians vary in the
practice of initiation and other ritual practices more especially those related

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to ancestral veneration. Consequently, between 2012 and 2013, I pursued

further research to ascertain perceptions and practices of different churches
members on various ritual practices. During this study, 50 Christians from
Mainline and African Independent Churches were interviewed and further
group discussions with various people were conducted. Various rituals were
attended and observations were done in some areas of Mdantsane and
King Williams Town. In addition, individual interviews were conducted with
some leaders and ministers of the Methodist Church of South Africa, Uniting
Presbyterian of South African, African Presbyterian of South Africa also called
amarhabe amnyama (black Presbyterians) and various Zionist Churches. All
ethical procedures for this study were followed including making sure that
the rights and privileges of informants were respected.

3. MISSIONARIES AND AFRICAN PRACTICES

Scholars agree that Christianity supported by European colonial powers
and European culture changed the face of religion, politics and culture
in the African continent (Wanamaka 1987:281; Nmah 2010; Anderson
and Pillay 1997; Jafta 2011). Early in the 19th century, various missionary
societies embarked on a campaign to convert African people to Christianity
by sending their missionaries to various African countries (Nmah 2010:484).
According to Nmah (2010:490), missionaries were part of a larger programme
of European colonisation of African and their beliefs and actions must be
seen in then light of their connection with the European trader, diplomat
and settler. As a result, missionaries viewed African people as “pagans” and
“objects” of missions, and missionaries were “good Samaritans” bringing
the civilising influence of Christianity to Africa (Clark 2005:143). There was
a common misconception among missionaries that African people had no
religion prior to their arrival; thus, Africa was called a “dark continent”. The
work of missionaries gave birth to Mission Churches or Mainline Churches
such as Methodists, Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Monrovian, and
various Charismatic and Pentecostal movements such as Faith Mission
and Full Gospel (Anderson and Pillay 1997:229; Clark 2005:144). From their
arrival in the 19th century in Southern Africa, missionaries generally required
that their converts abstain from practising most African customs and rituals
(Ray 2009:105). Missionaries perceived most African rituals and practices as
evil and referred to African people as “worshipers of demons” or worshipers
of ancestors (Anderson and Pillay 1997:76). Such customs included practices
such as ukubuyisa (literally means to bring back) - a ritual performed for
the late household head to bring their spirits back, polygamous marriages,
inheritance of wives, traditional dancing, and sacrificial rituals, paying of
ilobola, initiation practice and beer drinking (Pauw 1975:21). According to

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Jafta (2011:61), the teaching of missionaries played a role in detribalisation

and undermining the African society due to the fact that each of the customs
they condemned played a significant role in the maintenance of the tribal
society. It appears that the teaching of Christianity was that African people
could not follow their “pagan” ways and, at the same time, practise Christian
religion. Christian converts became a group or a community among the
African people without reference to their traditional kinship-based social
structures who were under missionary authority (Pauw 1975:21).
The teaching by missionaries created two communities, the amaqaba
or ababomvu (red, Unconverted and uneducated) and amgqobhoka
(educated and Christianised) communities. The Western lifestyle was
defined as enlightened or “better life”, which implied that the un-educated
were living in darkness or were backward. Missionary wives taught African
women converts to knit, sew gowns and shifts, and plait straw for hats; as a
result Western clothing was a symbol of civilisations and better life. The so
called Christian names in the form of Biblical names like John, Joseph and
Timothy were a symbol of new identity (Anderson and Pillay 1997:77). All
those who were found to be practising African rituals and practise were
disciplined and at times were excommunicated from the church. Those
who were found to contravening the missionary teaching were only allowed
back to the Church after undergoing the church ritual of repentance and
cleansing, which included public confession and assurance that they
would not do it again (Ray 2009:5; Matabo et al. 2009:15). Missionaries
perceived African people as polytheists due to the fact that they had a
very strong connection with ancestors and performed a number of rituals
related to them. The other reason for missionaries to oppose African
rituals and practices was that they did not know what was going on there
and had no access to the ritual meetings. For example, during initiation,
boys were taken away from the community and missionaries had no right
to visit them; as a result, missionaries viewed initiation as some kind of
secret society which they knew nothing about and whose influence on
the boys they could not control. Indeed, the details of the initiation ritual
used to be a well-guarded secret among men before it became a subject
of public debates as is the case today. The missionaries thus had reason
to be suspicious of its intentions, goals and long-term impact on society.
Literate shows that not only missionaries that objected African practices
and rituals but in general Mainline Churches inherited and adopted the
missionary rejection of rituals as an official stand (Theron 1996; Afeke and
Verster 2004:50).

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4. MISSIONARY TEACHINGS AND HYPOCRISY

Although Christianity appears to have won over traditional religions of
South Africa, the truth is more complex; the vast majority of African people
including Mainline Church members religiously practised their rituals and
ancestor practices. To some extent, more especially among the clergy,
there was some adherence to missionary teaching but most African people
secretly practised their rituals. According to Mills (1939:1),

[a]s subordinate agents, Xhosa clergy had very limited opportunities

to advance views and positions that differed from their missionary
mentors on any issue upon which the latter had categorical views.

Tiyo Soga was an example of the products of the missionary schools; as

a result, he was not initiated at a time when it was unthinkable for a Xhosa
man not to be initiated (Khabela 1996:10; Mills 1939:12). At school, Soga
was the object of spite from fellow black students which emanated from
the fact that he was not traditionally circumcised and it is reported that he
experienced this animosity all his life (Khabela 1996:53). Things became
worse when he practised as a preacher, the fact that he was not initiated
created problems for his ministry as the African traditionalists refused to
listen to inkwenkwe yomfundisi (un-initiated minister) (Williams 1983:2).
Even though some of the clergy followed missionary prescriptions,
the majority of African people still perform their rituals and other African
practices. In 1881, the Wesleyan Methodist clergy, James Lwana and
Abraham Mabula were disciplined for accepting lobola for their daughters
(Mills 1980:8). Nehemiah Tile, just before he withdrew from the Methodist
Church, was found guilty of contributing an ox for the circumcision of the
Tembu paramount heir, Dalindyebo (Mills 1980:8). Even in the 1960s and
1970s, it was observed that at the core of African Christians including those
in Mainline Churches was the rituals and practices related to ancestors
(Pauw 1975:140-144). Mainline members still risked suspension from their
leadership positions and excommunication from the Church because they
deemed their rituals as their identity and could not do without them. In spite
of the disciplinary measures enforced by missionaries and clergy, literature
shows that not every converted person adhered to missionary teachings in
fact a vast majority of the Mainline Church members secretly practised their
rituals without the knowledge of missionaries and the clergy. Reverend
J.J.R. Jolobe explained how he and his brother who were both Christians
had, under disguise of visiting relatives, arranged to be initiated and their
father Reverend James Jolobe did not know about it until some years later
(Mills 1980:12). Literature suggests that as time went by African people
carved a space within the perimeters of mainline churches where they

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could exercise these other aspects of their identity (Pauw 1975). It seems
that even though missionaries preached against African practises, African
people still secretly performed their rituals. Those who were in urban areas
often secretly went to emakhaya (rural homes) to attend to their rituals and
then went back to urban areas and continued with their Christian duties.
Missionaries were never successful in their campaign against traditional
practices; rather the only outcomes of their campaign were to promote
deception, breaches of discipline, disobedience of children and hypocrisy
Mills (1939:12). As a result, Xhosa Christians lived two lifestyles; one of a
Christian or Western nature and the other of a traditional nature with rituals
performed at the homestead (Pauw 1975:66).

5. THE BIRTH OF AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CHURCHES

Later in the 1900s there was a beginning of African consciousness and
African cultural identity sought which was led by some black clergy.
This influence gained momentum in the early 20th century when some of the
educated black elite sought to recover African symbols they could integrate
into their Christian faith. African people began to wrestle with questions of
identity, questions related to being an African and a Christian were asked.
Eventually, some of the amaqaba and amagqobhoka began to redefine
the meaning of faith and found that there was no conflict in practising
African rituals and in being a Christian. They then argued that African
people never worshipped ancestors as missionaries have suggested.
African people have simply venerated their ancestors and have always
been monotheist by worshiping uThixo (God - Xhosa) or uNkulunkulu (the
highest being - Zulu), Modimo (God - Sesuthu). Their explanation was that
umdali (the creator) is the most high and is in the spiritual realm and the
living cannot fully communicate with him due to the fact that they are not
in the spirit but in the flesh. They then relied on those who have gone (the
dead) or ancestors to camagusha (to intercede) on their behalf and so
various ceremonies were a way to appease ancestors to talk to umdali on
their behalf. Their contention was that they were misled by missionaries
who carried an agenda to westernise them and thus they labelled African
traditional practices “evil” or “pagan”. Some opted to continue with their
practices behind the backs of the missionaries, while some opted to break
away from white domination and started their own African Independent
Churches, a movement known then as Ethiopianism. AIC created a space
for African Christians to follow Christianity without being divorced from
their cultural activities while they could openly oppose white domination
(Pauw 1975:418). It has to be acknowledged that the rising of the Zionist

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and other African Independent Churches (AIC) brought a change in the

understanding of church and the African way of life (Pauw 1975:436).
Amanze (2003:143) also observed in Botswana that the issue of
veneration of ancestors created another brand of Christianity which
attracts many Christians because they find it relevant for them as Africans
in their struggle for human existence both spiritually and materially. For
instance, in the 1980s, the African Independent Churches were found to be
attractive to African Christians and to researchers because they seemed
to offer a more “authentic”, Africanised version of Christianity than the
presumably Western-oriented Mainline Churches (Mayer 2004:448). In both
Anthropological and Christian literature the African Independent Churches
are well known and well defined (e.g Sundkler 1961; Pauw 1975; Appiah-
Kubi 1979). The anthropological work published on the African Independent
Church in the 1960s and 1970s show how the AIC instigated the development
of alternative to the then still dominant structural-functionalist paradigm,
which failed to address “social change” in a theoretically adequate way
(Mayer 2004:447). Not only anthropologist but even African Independent
Churches leaders like Mzimba, (1928) Makhubu (1988), and Ngada and
Mofokeng (2001) themselves have taken time to write about their beliefs
and values. Both in Anthropological and in Christian literature one cannot
deny the fact that at the core of AIC is their relationship with ancestors
and rituals performed for them. Hence, academics like Mbiti (1976) have
taken time in detailing with the role and meaning of the living dead as he
calls them in the lives of African people. Some of these Churches, like the
Zionist Christian Church and other independent churches were started by
black Africans who were not necessarily clergy or evangelists in mission
churches. The African churches recognised the practices which were
opposed by missionaries such as polygamy, initiation practice, ukubuyisa
(ceremonies for appeasing ancestors) etc (Pauw 1975:425). The church
history that has been discussed above led to the current situation in the
African Independent Church.
Christians were also influenced by politics; as they sought their identity
they began to see a need to stand for themselves and sought not only
their cultural freedom but their political freedom as well. In the 20th century,
Christian converts were well-educated; as a result, they were independent,
self-sufficient and self-propagating so they had the freedom to choose
their religious beliefs. At this time, there was also a strong growth of cultural
nationalism and black consciousness among Africans in South Africa and
in Africa at large. Some of the church clergy and leadership were also
political leaders, so this created a bond between African local churches and
the society. Leaders of African Independent churches were at the forefront
of politics which led to the formation of various South African political

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movements and parties such as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the
Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), and the African Native National
Congress (which later became the African National Congress – ANC).

6. THE CURRENT STANCE OF THE BLACK MAINLINE

CHURCHES AND AIC
During my ethnographic study, I found out that there were two views
and practices related to ancestral veneration, i.e. the view of Pentecostal
Churches and the view of Mainline and African Independent Churches.
Pentecostal Churches clearly describe themselves as churches that have
nothing to do with ancestors. In fact they share the same opinion with
missionaries by regarding any consultation of ancestors as “worshiping”
them; thus they regard that as evil and sinful before God. One can conclude
that just as the practice of ancestral rituals defines the belief and faith of
African Independent Church, the non-practice of African rituals is what
defined Pentecostal Churches. One would hear them in their testimonies
and in their preaching confessing their faith in Jesus Christ and saying the
Jesus freed them from ‘worshiping’ ancestors. It was also interesting that
Pentecostal Churches did practice initiation but performed what they called
ukoluka kwecawa (Church initiation) which included full observance of the
practice not ceremonies they deem to be associated with ancestors and
those that they perceive to be against their Christian principles. For instance,
they did not have 1intsonyama, they did not talk to ancestors during the
ceremony and they did not have alcohol like the case of AIC and MC and
also did not have an igqira (traditional healer) present during initiation.
In practice there is no difference between most black Mainline Church
members and African Independent Churches. Both the African Independent
Church and most Mainline Church members practise African customs
and rituals including initiation with all their traditional and orthodox
practices including the existence of all rituals and use of alcohol. All ritual
activities of initiates who were said to be members in these Churches
were performed in the traditional or orthodox manner, the coming in and
the graduation ceremonies were similar to all rituals associated with it.
Even the intsonyama practice was done and in some cases there was the
presence of a traditional healer and all that was not questioned and viewed
as anti-Christian. The main difference between the AIC and MC is that the
AIC as a collective has taken a stand to redefine themselves openly as
African and not Western Christians. The AIC incorporated African rituals

1 An initiate is fed a strip of meat cut from the right leg of the goat – this symbolises
introduction of the boy to his ancestors.

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into their church services and they are open about it. Currently, the African
independent churches in general still do not separate Christianity from
African cultural life, meaning that there is no conflict between Christian
conversion and the performing of African rituals and other practices.
There is no separate traditional and Christian life to them; all life is one and
complete so they do not have to hide that they performed traditional rituals.
They do not see ancestral practices as worship of ancestors as suggested
by missionaries but as a way of appeasing or venerating them. Generally,
African independent churches agree that ancestors are an important part
of African culture; therefore, they should not be demonised. As a result,
they have incorporated them in their church liturgy. For instance, it is
common among them to use language usually used by traditional healers
such as camagu (let it be so) and siyavuma (we agree) instead of “Amen”
used by most Christians. It is also very common that the church ministers
can also be traditional leaders and church members openly consult them.
At times, in church they even announce that a church member will have
a ritual ceremony and also encourage others to attend. Even in some
funerals, if the deceased was an igqirha, during the service the Minister or
elder gives a chance to amagqirha (plural of igqirha) to sing and perform
rituals related to the calling of ubugqirha (being an igqirha) and that is not
viewed as a religious conflict.
However, the Mainline Church members separate church life from
African ritual life, in the sense that individuals or family members can
perform their African rituals at home, even consulting an igqirha as long
that is kept a family matter. Members who are called to traditional healing
are also accepted in the Church as long as they only consult at their private
spaces and that they keep it to themselves, otherwise the Church does not
promote that. Contrary to the African Independent Church, in the Mainline
Church, traditional healers are not allowed to perform their rituals at funerals
even if the member was an igqirha. The view is that amagqirha can go and
perform the ritual at the home of the deceased and not in the Church.
Among the Mainline Church there were two groups, those who perform
rituals and those who do not, with the majority of those who openly
perform all their rituals. The two opposing views also included ministers
and Church leaders. For example, some ministers said that they did not
practise or support African rituals but allowed their members the space
to practise their beliefs. All members of the Church must understand
each other’s beliefs and practices. Literature indicates that in the 1960s
and 1970s, rituals were performed in secret, making sure that the clergy
and the missionaries did not know about the occurrence of these events;
presently, rituals are openly performed as long as they are kept away
from the Church. Each group did not report any discrimination even the

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minority one (those who do not perform rituals) were comfortable. Unlike
the Pentecostal Churches, the Mainline Churches do not preach against
ritual practices and ancestors; as a result when one attempts to criticise
the African rituals, others will whisper “yeka into zabantu” (leave people’s
things alone). Most Mainline Churches as a collective have not yet come
up with a stand on the issues related to rituals but there is a Church
tradition or doctrine adopted from missionary teachings that is against
ancestral venerations. During this study, the informants were aware of that
teaching and apart from the current status core of each person doing what
they want; the missionary stand has not been interrogated. In addition,
most elders among the informants said that they were very comfortable
with the current opinion and practice of Mainline Churches in relation to
ancestral veneration. However, during the interviews for this study most
youth expressed frustration that the Churches did not have a known stand
on the topic. Some said that it did not matter whether the Church was for
or against rituals practices but as long as there was a common stand on
the issue. Some expressed that they always feel embarrassed whenever
they are asked of the Church stand on the issue and they cannot clearly
articulate it. Some remarked that to some extent, the lack of opinion does
create argument among themselves as young people and such arguments
never come up with any solution and in the end it has to be the Church
leadership that gives direction on the matter. Some said that the church
does have seminars about African heritage and African culture but a clear
stand in relation to African ritual practices is never communicated.

7. DISCUSSION
The findings of this study show that the character of black Mainline Church
members in relation to their ancestors and rituals is the same as that of the
African Independent Church. The main difference is that the black Mainline
Churches do not promote or talk about rituals in Church but in essence
most of them; more especially the elders find no conflict between being
a Christian and practising African rituals and practices. Undoubtedly,
from the onset, the missionaries were clear with regard to ancestors and
African rituals; the teachings of Pentecostal Churches and the African
Independent Churches are also clear, but surprisingly, the black members
of Mainline Churches are silent on the subject, which is the main concern
of this paper. The main issue is that in their own published literature they
write a lot about African people and their cultures including ancestral
veneration and rituals but do not come out on their stand as Mission
Churches with regards to the topic. We see that narrative with authors
like; Magoba, Dandala, Jafta, Mekoa and others. In a recent book written

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in honour of Dr. Mogopa there are various chapters on African practices

and African Independent Churches. For instance, Chapter 8, Mokoetsi
(2011: 146), talks about inherent traditional preaching and he quotes a lot
of Mbiti (1986: 1975) who openly argues that African traditional practice
and rituals including ancestral veneration constitute African Christianity.
Mokoetsi only contextualises his literature to preaching but fails to
scrutinise the broader black Methodist belief with regards to Mbiti’s
assertion. We find the same narrative in Chapter nine and ten by Mogopa
(2011:170-197) where a discussion of African traditional practices and
African Independent Churches are highly commended and appreciated but
still there is no way forward drawn for black Methodists. The only known
stand among the MC is by teaching of missionaries which forbids any kind
of ancestral relationship. The current stand and practice suggests that the
MC have now moved away from the teaching and influence of missionaries
with regards to ritual practices but have not yet come out with one voice like
they have done with regards to racism, discrimination and apartheid policies.
One can see their stand on their practice of African rituals at home, and this
leads one to conclude that they are at the same space as the black mission
Church members of the 1900s, who secretly practiced their rituals at home
in fear of missionaries. I also recall when I was at University of Fort Hare
between 2006 and 2007 teaching Theology; I often over-heard students from
African Presbyterian Church teasing students from Uniting Presbyterian and
Methodist Church, saying that at least as the African Independent Church,
they have come out and openly practise their rituals without fear of white
people. They further noted that Mainline Churches believe in ancestral
practices and rituals but are too scared to incorporate that into their liturgy
due to fear of white people. The difference in this instance is that they are
not afraid of excommunication, but they just do not want to offend their
white counterparts. The current situation of the Mainline Church seems to
perpetuate division among themselves; for example, black members who
oppose African ritual practices might easily offend those who are pro-ritual
practices and vice versa. Members are left on their own to decide what to
believe and to practice with regards to this issue. One would agree with
me that this is a doctrinal matter, for the fact that missionaries suspended
and excommunicated members who participated in them, that on its own
suggest that it cannot be left in the hands of lay people. There is a need for
the clergy to scrutinise this in reference to the current Mainline Church in the
democratic South Africa. The Mainline Churches need to deliberate on the
issue of African identity, culture, ancestral venerations and ritual practices
and take a stand on it. This will give direction to ordinary members and will
further assist them to know what they believe and reasons for the belief.

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8. CONCLUSION
It seems that in belief and in practice there is not much difference
between Mainline Church and African Independent Church members
regarding practice of African ritual practice. Even though in the Mainline
Churches, African rituals have not been incorporated in the Church, but
African Mainline Church members are free to participate in their rituals at
home. Some people like Njeza find this as a conflict while some like his
parents find no clash on the two. The main challenge is that even those
who are comfortable with it are aware of the teaching of missionaries
and the general stand of their Churches, which is against such practices.
Again just like in Pauw’s informants, the current situation to some extent
does create hypocrisy in sense that they know that the doctrine of the
Church is against ritual practices but they still perform them. This paper
poses a challenge to various faith groups to review their views, beliefs
and practices and also explain why they do things the way they do. The
young generation born in the democratic South Africa is not afraid to ask
questions and the elders must be able to give them information on such
important Church teachings before they depart from this world. It is hoped
that various Mainline Church groups will openly discuss these issues and
finally reach some kind of consensus.

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Keywords Sleutelwoorde
Mainline Churches Hoofstroomkerke
African Independent Churches Onafhanklike Afrika-kerke
African rites and practices Afrika rituele en praktyke
Ancestral veneration Voorvadervereering

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