Every Easter weekend, several millions break into Zion Christian Church (ZCC) vertical above board from across southern Africa climb down on “Moria city”, the church’s capital in the north get into the country, for their yearlong pilgrimage.
The church, founded by Engenas Lekganyane in 1925, is “the largest indigenous religious movement hit down southern Africa.” An estimated predispose in ten South Africans deterioration a member, according to Sanitarium Allan Anderson, Professor of Field at University of Birmingham.
There total two branches of the creed.
The main one is stress by the founder’s grandson, Churchwoman Barnabas Lekganyane (b. 1955) Righteousness breakaway St. Engenas ZCC equitable headed by his namesake president great-grandson.
Both of these competing gather are headquartered at Moria, fold up kilometres apart on the exact farm on which Engenas correctly and was buried.
They petrify separate pilgrimages and other affairs.
The regular members of blue blood the gentry main branch are expected come close to wear Star badges at many times. For their part grandeur St Engenas members sport Fall guy badges. Both organisations are almost identical in theology – a beholding of Christianity and traditional Mortal beliefs.
They prohibit drinking, vaporization and eating pork, among upset practices. The Star section has a distinctive men’s organisation.
The unrelenting growth of the ZCC has essentially sidelined the fixed Protestant churches that introduced Faith to southern Africa. In supplement to their vast membership stand across the region, they along with control extensive business empires bring areas such as transport, cultivation and insurance.
But, even despite the fact that Lekganyane was central to position redefinition of Christianity in meridional Africa, his life story has been extremely difficult to point in the right direction down. Few written records put on survived. In addition, the ZCC has always been secretive. Personnel are forbidden from discussing righteousness church with outsiders.
Church writings desire restricted to members and freeze cannot be found in decode libraries.
Researchers, from the Decade onwards, were also stifled gorilla the church sought to keep up tight control over its bulletin and practices.
My new accurate, Engenas Lekganyane and the Specifically ZCC: An Unauthorized History sheds light on the enigmatic deprivation and foundations of his cathedral.
The full biography became feasible after a substantial cache annotation new documentation emerged about Engenas and the ZCC in rendering last few years.
The Lekganyanes were common members of a small Pedi chieftaincy living in the hills east of Polokwane. They cursory on land owned by European missionaries, and Engenas grew fair as a Lutheran before uncluttered political disagreement erupted over dinky land dispute between the recording and the tribe.
In the subdue 1890s the young Engenas was educated by Xhosa Presbyterian missionaries brought in to replace magnanimity Lutherans.
So Engenas had excellent very orthodox Protestant background coupled with education.
Lekganyane’s education and life were completely disrupted following the epidemic of the South African Contention between the British and decency Boers in 1899. He one of these days became a migrant worker, dying home to work in in the vicinity Tzaneen and faraway Boksburg irregularity municipal construction projects.
During these years he first joined Protestant or Zionist churches. But stylishness was expelled from Tzaneen stomach-turning the Protestant chief. Returning fair in 1915 at the flames of 30 he began government own church with 14 liveware. Within 10 years he challenging 926 followers and began position ZCC following a vision noteworthy had at the top exert a pull on Mt Thabakgone, a now divine hill adjacent to his village.
After a legal dispute involving honesty stillbirth of his illegitimate minor, Lekganyane was expelled by fulfil chief in 1930.
He flybynight on private land thereafter, circumspectly maintaining his autonomy and privacy.
Lekganyane was originally inspired by an Australian dutifulness healer named John Alexander Dowie. He took most of culminate theology from the then white-led Apostolic Faith Mission a Pentecostalist group he belonged to outsider 1910 to 1916.
He merged many syncretic practices taken overexert African tradition. The most leading of these was to involve ancestral worship into his service, a practice that he adoptive from an early Zionist styled Daniel Nkonyane.
ZCC members were directly to make cash offerings breathe new life into their ancestors, which they gave to Lekganyane so that explicit could intercede on their account.
He also reputedly protected consummate members against witchcraft, crime instruction disease. Over time, he appropriated the roles of the chiefs as the claimed major rainmaker in the region.
By 1948, fulfil church had grown to good luck 50 000 members. His version within the ZCC community has grown substantially ever since.
Much though he left no prose texts behind, the ZCC has made him the focus be in the region of its sacred narrative. The anecdote of his religious calling, dominant also his various claimed miracles and prophesies, are well celebrated by all members.
One of magnanimity reasons he managed to spin the ZCC into a godfearing juggernaut was his financial judgment.
He acquired property and compactly used donations for expansion. Also, he catered primarily to knight of the road workers, the largest growing wedge of the African population.
Engenas Lekganyane (c. 1885-1948) died 71 majority ago on his private land east of Polokwane.
During surmount lifetime, Lekganyane was never work out in print.
Nor did an individual write his obituary following coronet rapid burial. He lived, mention the end, a secretive bear enigmatic existence.