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A STUDY OF THE PERCEIVED CAUSES OF SCHISM IN SOME ETHIOPIAN-TYPE CHURCHES IN THE CAPE AND TRANSVAAL, 1884-1925 by JOAN ANNE MILLARD submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject CHURCH HISTORY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROFESSOR GJ PILLAY JUNE 1995 ***************** I declare that A study of the perceived causes of some Ethiopian type churches in the Cape and Transvaal 1884-1925 is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Joan A Millard SUMMARY During the period 1884-1925 Ethiopian-type schisms from mission churches occurred for a number of reasons. Generalisations of these reasons have been made by numerous authors. By generalising the causes of schism the particular reasons why each independent church 1eader 1eft the mission church are ignored. The thesis shows how each schism was due to unique circumstances in the mission church as well as to factors, for example, the personal feelings of the independent church leader. In each case there was a point of no return when the founder of the independent church no longer felt he could accept the status quo. There were two government commissions that investigated the independent or "separatist" churches during these years - the South African Native Affairs Commission of 1903-1905 and the 1925 South African Native Affairs Commission which investigated the "Separatist Churches". The testimony of the white government officials and missionaries and the black church leaders has been compared with the findings in the reports. Four case studies are investigated to show how general causes of schism may occur for a number of years until a reason, peculiar to the particular independent church, manifests itself and leads to the formation of an independent church. The case studies are the Ethiopian Church and related independent groups, the independent churches which joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1896 with the Ethiopian Church but later left to form their own churches, for example the Order of Ethiopia, schisms from the Presbyterian Church during the 1890' s and the Independent Methodist Church. KEY WORDS Ethiopian movement, government commissions, African Methodist Episcopal Church, schism, testimony, African Independent Church, report, witnesses, synod. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the years that I have spent researching this thesis a number of people have expressed interest in the work and encouraged me in what I was doing. I would like to acknowledge their contribution and thank them for their encouragement. I am grateful to the Human Sciences Research Council for the bursary they awarded me to help me conduct the research needed for the thesis. My promoter, Professor Gerald Pillay questioned and advised and helped me formulate the ideas that I wanted to present. I thank him for the incisive guidance that he gave me. Professor GC Oosthuizen of the NERMIC (New Religious Movements and Independent Churches) has al ways shown an interest in what I was researching and I appreciate his encouragement. I want to thank him for allowing me to present the work that I was doing at the yearly NERMIC Conferences. The discussion of the papers helped to direct the path the research should take. To those colleagues in the Faculty who encouraged me and showed interest in the thesis I want to say "Thank you" - I appreciated your interest. A number of other people have shared in the thesis. I want to thank Mr Khumalo and the members of the Independent Methodist Church who allowed me to address their Conference and then spent time providing me with their memories of the oral history of the Church. Various archives and museums gave me access to documents in their possession. I would like to thank the following institutions for their help: * African Methodist Episcopal Church Archives - University of the Western Cape *Central Methodist Church Archives, Johannesburg *Church of the Province Archives - University of the Witwatersrand *Cory Library, Methodist Archives - Rhodes University *Fort Hare University Library, Alice *Queenstown Museum *School of Oriental and African Studies, London *State Archives - Pietermaritzburg *State Archives - Pretoria *State Library, Cape Town *South African Missionary Museum, King William's Town *University of South Africa - Archives and Library Finally, I would like to thank my family Robert, Kathryn, Andrew and Ian for their encouragement. I would especially like to thank my husband, Ray, not only for his support and encouragement, but also for proof-reading some of the manuscript. ABBREVIATIONS AFM Apostolic Faith Mission AIC African Independent (or Indigenous) Church AMEC African Methodist Episcopal Church (also AME) ANC African National Council ANMC African Native Mission Church BMC Bantu Methodist Church CACinZ Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion c of E Church of England GZEC Gazaland Zimbabwe Ethiopian Church IMC Independent Methodist Church O of E Order of Ethiopia SANNC - South African Native National Council ZAFM Zion Apostolic Faith Mission zcc Zion Congregational Church ZCongC- Zulu Congregational Church CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 ETHIOPIAN-TYPE INDEPENDENT CHURCHES - THE FIELD OF STUDY 6 Books exclusively about the separatist churches- pre 1961 18 Writers from wider Africa 30 Later South African writers on the independent churches 36 Black writers on the independent churches 40 Institutional studies on the African Independent Churches 48 Analysis and application of the perceived causes of Ethiopian schism 50 African nationalism 56 Methodist doctrine as a predisposing factor 57 CHAPTER 2 GOVERNMENT POLICY AND INVESTIGATIONS INTO INDEPENDENT 59 CHURCHES The context in which the 1903-1905 Native Affairs Commission was constituted 61 The 1903-1905 South African Native Affairs Commission 64 Desire to belong to the black-controlled African Methodist Episcopal Church as a possible cause of schism 65 Testimony of loyal mission church members 67 The testimony of newspaper editors sought in an effort to establish the causes of schism 70 Perceptions of the causes of schism articulated by whites 72 Independent church leaders provide their reasons for schism 74 Interviews conducted in Natal provide evidence of "hidden" causes and the attitude of whites 80 Further interviews by the Commission in British colonies 83 Assessment of the perceptions of the causes of schism 87 The Report of the Commission 90 Events in the years between the Commissions 93 The 1923 Native Affairs Commission 96 The 1925 Native Affairs Commission 97 The Bulhoek tragedy 100 Information on the causes of schism found in the answers to the questionnaires 103 Churches which seceded from the American Board Mission 105 Some schisms from the Zulu Congregational Church 107 Some schisms from the Apostolic Faith Mission 108 Some schisms from the Baptist Church 110 Some schisms from the Church of England 111 Some schisms from the Methodist Church 112 Doctrine and schism 115 Reasons for secession cited by witnesses before the Commission 116 The Report of the Native Churches Commission - 1925 120 Comparison of the report with the questionnaires 128 After 1925 129 Later Commissions that provide insight into causes of schism 131 The Tomlinson Report 131 The commission of enquiry into certain organisations - The Christian Institute 132 CHAPTER 3 CASE STUDY l:THE GENESIS OF THE ETHIOPIAN MOVEMENT IN THE CAPE AND TRANSVAAL 134 Mokone's reasons for leaving the Methodist Church 156 The Ethiopian Church 162 Reasons why the Ethiopian leaders joined the AMEC and why some did not remain 174 CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDY 2: ETHIOPIA REACHES OUT AGAIN 178 The Order of Ethiopia or Dwane's revolt 179 The Order of Ethiopia after 1900 187 The Ethiopian Catholic Church in Zion 192 The Ethiopian Church of South Africa 198 Reasons for leaving the AME Church 201 CHAPTER 5 CASE STUDY 3: PRESBYTERIAN INDEPENDNECE 202 The establishment of Lovedale as a training institution 204 A first independent Presbyterian church 208 The first national Presbyterian Assembly . 211 Reasons for the establishment of the Presbyterian 213 Church of Africa The Presbyterian Church of Africa 218 Later history of the Presbyterian Church of Africa 221 Analysis of the causes of the Presbyterian schism 222 CHAPTER 6 CASE STUDY 4: A FURTHER INDEPENDENT METHODIST INITIATIVE 225 The Methodist Church at Indaleni, Edendale and Driefontein 234 The Nzondelelo movement 238 The reopening of the Methodist church in Swaziland 241 The Rev Joel Ngadala Msimang - founder of the IMC 249 The Independent Methodist Church 251 The new church after its establishment in 1906 257 Expansion of the Independent Methodist Church 260 Critical assessment of the reasons for schism 262 Conditions in the Methodist Church 263 Historical predisposition to autonomy 263 Allison's training in leadership 264 Failure to ordain black minister timeously 265 Isolation of the mission community 266 Paternalism and the attitude of the white ministers 268 The imposition of the "English" model of worship 269 Disagreement over money 270 The Ethiopian movement 271 Conditions in Mozambique 272 Personal and family reasons for the formation of the IMC 273 Joel Msimang's family 274 Reluctance to leave Swaziland 276 Members of the IMC who left to join the Zionist movement 276 CONCLUSION 279 Analysis of the causes of schism in Ethiopian-type churches 281 The 1903-1905 Native Affairs Commission 278 The 1903-1905 Report 279 The 1925 Native Churches Commission 294 APPENDIX 1: "SEPARATIST" CHURCHES KNOWN TO THE 1925 COMMISSION 311 APPENDIX 2: DOCTRINES OF THE VARIOUS "SEPARATIST" CHURCHES AS SHOWN 313 IN THE EVIDENCE TO THE 1925 COMMISSION BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 1 INTRODUCTION Individual African Independent/Indigenous Churches (AIC's) are often considered only as part of a wider "independent movement", as if all the churches in the movement were established for the same reasons. Generalisation of the causes of schism often diminishes the understanding of the contexts of why particular groups of African Christians left the mission or main-line churches to establish their own churches.