Kimbanguism

Kimbanguism (Kimbanguisme) is a Christian new religious movement professed by the African initiated church Jesus Christ's Church on earth by his special Envoy Simon Kimbangu (Église de Jésus Christ sur la Terre par son envoyé spécial Simon Kimbangu) founded by Simon Kimbangu in the Belgian Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1921. A large, independent African-initiated church, it has an estimated 6 million believers and has its headquarters in Nkamba, Kongo Central. The denomination became a member of the World Council of Churches, the All Africa Conference of Churches, and the Organization of African Instituted Churches. In June 2021, the World Council of Churches withdrew membership on doctrinal grounds. Christianity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo In April 1921, Kimbangu, a Baptist mission catechist, inaugurated a mass movement through his supposed miraculous healings and biblical teaching. His teachings attracted working people, who left jobs to hear him speak about liberation. This threatened the colonial labor structure and thus the Belgian regime. The Belgian authorities treated the faith with suspicion and imprisoned Simon Kimbangu until his death in 1951. The church was formally recognised by the Belgian colonial authorities in 1959. Some smaller, more loosely organised groups in Central Africa regard Kimbangu as God's prophet. According to the church, Simon Kimbangu is said to have come down to Earth from Mount Zion as a Congolese infant. His father had been a traditional religious leader, but both parents died and Kimbangu was orphaned and put in the care of his maternal aunt. She took him to Baptist missionary school where he studied for many years. He grew up to be a Baptist. The church eschews politics and embraces Puritan ethics, rejecting the use of violence, polygamy, magic and witchcraft, alcohol, tobacco, and dancing. Its worship is Baptist in form, though the Eucharist was not introduced until 1971.