African Christianity and African Independent Churches

EMQ » April–June 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 2

Reviewed by George F. Pickens who served in theological education in Ivory Coast and Kenya, and is currently professor of theology and mission at Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

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The demographic shift of Christianity to the Global South has both fascinated and bemused scholars, yet one result is certain. Africa is now the most Christianized continent, and for students of African Christianity, it is clear that African Independent Churches (AICs) have been central to Christianity’s growth and spread throughout the continent. 

These indigenous movements emerged in reaction to and apart from western missions. They contributed significantly to an indigenized African Christianity. Outsiders often misunderstand these communities, and consequently, AICs have sometimes been marginalized within world Christianity. Many Christian communities have avoided or tried to convert members of AICs, yet one group has taken another approach. 

North American Mennonites began to work alongside AICs in Nigeria in 1959. Over the following 60 years, they expanded their ministries to include many AICs in ten sub-Saharan African countries. This volume narrates this ministry from the perspectives of over 50 Mennonite and AIC colleagues. The book seeks to “cast light on the nature, texture, and significance of the experience” (2). 

The titles of the eight chapters reflect agricultural activities that express the slow but steady development of the ministry. From the tilling stage in which the partnerships were formed, to the sowing and weeding stages when mutual ministry persevered through struggles, and finally to the harvest when visible fruits begin to appear, the testimonials from Mennonite and AIC colleagues are truly inspiring. These engaging eyewitness accounts express the significance of this ministry for this most recent age of World Christianity.   

The contributors offer transparent accounts of the personal, familial, and congregational rigors and blessings of cross-cultural ministry as both North Americans and Africans endeavored to bear witness on the terms of the other. Such vulnerable emic accounts of the textures of incarnational ministry are rare. And in this age of a global Church, these accounts can enhance the nature and quality of intercultural relationships by inspiring sincere efforts that are forgiving and embracing of self and others. Faithful witness through a diverse, global body of Christ requires such learning, unlearning, and re-learning.

This volume makes another significant contribution by providing a linear example of what mutuality in mission looks like. North American Mennonites and AIC members sustained this 60-year-long partnership in mission only because both groups were willing to take risks to humbly yet confidently teach and learn. 

It required both groups to surrender any sense of superiority or inferiority, and this example of North/South partnership in the global Church was a precursor to the present context where new relational patterns are emerging. As relationships between majority and minority world Christians expand and deepen, these examples of mutual learning while serving together are instructive.

This engaging and readable book is recommended for missionaries and mission educators interested in learning more about African Christianity, the nature of cross-cultural service, and partnerships between Christians in the northern and southern hemispheres. The volume also contains an extensive list of additional resources related to AICs.

For Further Reading

Mission from the Margins, edited by James R. Kraybill (Wipf & Stock, 2019)

Mission in an African Way, edited by Thomas Oduro et al. (Christian Literature Fund, 2008)

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EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 2. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.