Regulatory body welcome

INDIGENOUS Christianity came into being in Africa through the initiatives of the concerned indigenous Africans who felt that Christianity should better be expressed in the African perception and world-view.

But, as it stands, with the current land struggle, we have still a long way to go to get our land back. It is important to remember that our Africanism was also stripped from us.

We’re now imbued with Christianity all under the ruse of imperialism.

So, indigenous churches should also have institutions in place to regulate them.

The Inkuleko YeSizwe Association seems to be the type of movement needed for this monitoring and regulation.

The founder, Prophet Radebe, said in establishing the association, they recognised “the need for religious, spiritual and traditional communities to set their own codes of practice with a view to guide and monitor their own conduct and practices”.

These codes of practice will also assist in holding the wrongdoing so-called “prophets” accountable for their fear-provoking actions.

One example of such prophets is the prophet who claims to be turning rocks into bread and snakes into chocolate, which he feeds to his congregation.

A recent one is the “kettle pastor” who claims to perform miracles by pouring boiling water on his congregation members’ hands.

With these concerning trends, the need for indigenous churches to be self-regulated becomes even more pertinent.

Relevant to such issues, this association formed by different church leaders is something to be commended.

Kelefang, Johannesburg