Africanisation of Christianity at the crossroads: A reflection of white garment church spirituality in Zimbabwe

The study which has culminated into this monograph, is broadly situated in the domain of Church History under a sub theme „Africanisation of Christianity‟. Though Africanisation of Christianity is not a modern-day topic in Church History, the study posits that the theme should continue enjoying intellectual traction. The reason to this proposal is that it seems there is again a problem today, on how African Indigenous Churches (AICs) interface with local traditional spiritualities in communities they are planted. Thus, this current study deals with the blurred interface and religious boundaries between African spiritual elements of faith and traditional Christian spiritual elements of faith as depicted in the Johane Masowe weChishanu yeNyenyedzi (JMCN) Church in Zimbabwe. The assumption of the study is that the traditional African spiritual elements of faith are domineering the JMCN Church spirituality at the expense of traditional Christian spiritual elements of faith. It is this unconscious and inadvertent adapting and adopting of „incompatible‟ African spiritual elements of faith by the JMCN Church that has whet the appetite to examine whether JMCN Church spirituality can be described as a genuinely Christian In an endeavour to understand genuineness of JMCN Church spirituality the study grouped AICs into two categorises those that are said to be „undisputed‟ and those that are said to be „disputed‟.  While both groups have inculturated African Spiritual elements of faith, the study argues that the undisputed AICs conscious selected compatible African Spiritual elements of faith against the disputed AICs who unconscious selected incompatible African spiritual elements of faith: A case study of the Johane Masowe weChishanu yeNyenyedzi Church spirituality in Zimbabwe. This research critically explores the sacred places, objects of faith beliefs systems and practices of the Johane Masowe weChishanu yeNyenyedzi Church (hereinafter, the Church) in relation to the sacred places and objects of faith of the predominantly Karanga people of Chirumhanzu in Zimbabwe. Thus, the spirituality of the Church is identified by its appropriation of African/Karanga spiritual elements of faith like praying in traditional sacred caves and baptising church members in traditional sacred pools and dams. Critical to JMCN spirituality, is the removal of faith in Jesus Christ‟s death, resurrection and faith in the Bible as the word of God for Human salvation replaced by belief in the power of water spirits and tsanangudzo dzeMweya, the sayings of the spirit respectively.  The primary methodology grounding this study is the phenomenological method of inquiry. This phenomenological method was utilised because it has two essential strands; the descriptive and the hermeneutical strands. The descriptive aspect helps the researcher to describe the spirituality of the Church accurately, and the hermeneutical phenomenological approach gives the researcher the ability to interpret the spirituality of the Church in light of other Christian Church spiritualities.