Zionist Churches
Zionist Churches are a group of Christian congregations primarily found in southern Africa, known for their emphasis on prophet-healing and spiritual practices. They originated from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church established by John Alexander Dowie in Zion, Illinois, in the late 19th century. Dowie's teachings, which included a focus on healing through faith and strict lifestyle regulations, were brought to Africa by missionaries around the early 1900s. Over time, various offshoots emerged, leading to the establishment of several Zionist denominations, including notable groups like the Nazareth Baptist Church and the Zion Christian Church.
These churches typically have a homogenous population consisting largely of Black African members and engage in elaborate baptism rituals, spiritual purification, and communal worship that includes music and dance. Adherents often reject conventional medicine and are guided by charismatic leaders who are viewed as prophets or messianic figures. Zionist Churches are a part of a broader movement that includes African Independent and Indigenous Churches, with millions of adherents across multiple African nations, emphasizing cultural identity and spiritual healing in their practices.
Zionist Churches
Zionist churches are a group of prophet-healing institutions that derived from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion, Illinois, which was founded by John Alexander Dowie. Members of the church arrived in South Africa in the early 1900s. Soon after, Zionist churches were founded throughout southern Africa. While the churches were not intended to be exclusive of any race, because of the region's history, they tend to have a homogenous population of Black Africans. The term Zion stems from the location of the parent church as opposed to the Zion of the Jewish religion.
History
John Alexander Dowie was the founder of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church from which Zion churches descended. Dowie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1847, but his family moved to Australia when he was thirteen. There, he studied with a private tutor to prepare for the ministry. After this, he returned to Scotland to attend Edinburgh University. However, at his father's request, Dowie left the university before graduating and was ordained a congregational minister in Australia. He remained with the congregational church for nearly a decade before practicing prophet-healing. Dowie founded the International Divine Healing Association in 1886.
Dowie arrived in the United States in 1888 for what he intended to be a short stay; he had planned to travel to London after completing several healing missions. However, he found great success in the United States, where he remained for two years practicing healing missions. After settling in Chicago, Dowie became a well-known evangelist and healer. In 1896, he founded the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was similar to many Protestant churches except that it focused on spiritual healing.
Several years later, Dowie set up the City of Zion along Lake Michigan. Dowie wanted a place for his followers to be safe from the world's evils; he planned for them to live and work on the more than 6,000 acres of land that would become Zion. Dowie owned all the property in Zion, and his followers built houses on the land they leased from him. Their money and all profits from the city went into a bank in the city.
As General Overseer of the City of Zion, Dowie imposed strict limitations on its occupants, forbidding them from visiting doctors, drugstores, and theaters among other locations. He also preached against smoking and drinking. By 1906, after a court battle with his former followers, Dowie was removed from church leadership in part because he had taken several expensive trips to convert populations in New York and Mexico. He paid for the trips using Zion money, which left little to sustain his followers.
In 1904, when Dowie was still leading the church, a missionary from the church named Daniel Bryant traveled to South Africa and formed the first Zionist church. Two groups of sympathizers had already formed there in response to a leaflet that Dowie had written and distributed. This initial church did not survive because of the disgrace Dowie had faced when he was removed from power. However, in 1908, John Lake, a Zionist who had become Pentecostal, led former Zionists in Africa to the Apostolic Faith Mission, which combined Pentecostalism with Dowie's Zionist ideas about faith healing.
Daniel Nkonyane, one of the first recruits, made significant changes to the doctrine. He stressed the need for his followers to gain favor from their ancestors and insisted that they wear the elaborate religious dress that Dowie had worn. His actions led him to be removed from the Apostolic Faith Mission, but he and his loyal followers joined together to purchase property on which they built the first South African Zionist Church. Many offshoots of this church formed other small Zionist churches.
Later, a member of the Apostolic Faith Mission named Isaiah Shembe built up a following. Collecting resources from his followers, Shembe established the second South African Zionist church. He established the Nazareth Baptist Church, which was the largest Zionist congregation until the Zion Christian Church formed in the 1950s.
The grouping of Zionist churches includes African Independent Churches, African Indigenous Churches, and African Initiated Churches.
Beliefs
Zionism is a branch of Christianity. One of its main focuses is a commitment to faith healing. Members of the church condemn all types of medicine—from folk medicine to Western medicine. Members believe in healing through confession, repeated baptisms, purification rites, and exorcisms. Baptisms in a Zionist church are elaborate ceremonies, described as "Jordan baptisms," performed in rivers such as the Jordan River. They involve a ritual of three immersions to represent the Trinity and are performed on adults only.
Members of a Zionist church are prohibited from eating certain foods, such as pork, and cannot consume alcohol or use tobacco. While the church strictly limits its members' lifestyle, some denominations condone polygamy.
Worship in a Zionist church is ritualistic and incorporates festive garments along with singing, dancing, clapping, and drumming. Some churches practice wheel dancing, which is dancing in a circle, and prayer circles. Robe colors symbolize meanings, such as white for purity, blue for water, and green for vegetation.
Organization
Zionist churches are founded on the belief that they have a mandate from a prophet in a dream, a vision, or another experience. They have a leader, often called a bishop, who is sometimes considered to be a messiah, and is more of a healer than a preacher. Leadership is passed down through families from father to son. Each church is established on land that it acquires.
As many as 18 million people belonged to this religious movement in Africa in the early twenty-first century. Members lived across the continent, in South Africa, as well as Eswatini (Swaziland), Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and various other countries.
Bibliography
Dorian, Alex. "What Is a Zionist Church?" Christian Ministry EDU, 8 Dec. 2022, christianministryedu.org/faq/what-is-a-zionist-church. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
"Early History." Zion Historical Society, zionhistoricalsociety.weebly.com/early-history.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Gibbney, H. J. "John Alexander Dowie (1847–1907)." Australian Dictionary of Biography, adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dowie-john-alexander-3434. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Grundmann, Christoffer H. “Heaven below Here and Now! The Zionist Churches in Southern Africa.” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, vol. 6, no. 3, 2006, pp. 256–69, doi.org/10.1080/14742250600877125. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Strohbehn, Ulf. The Zionist Churches in Malawi: History, Theology, Anthropology. Mzuni Press, 2016.
Venter, Dawid. Engaging Modernity: Methods and Cases for Studying African Independent Churches in South Africa. Praeger Publishers, 2004.