Thesis (D. Min.)--Temple Baptist Theological Seminary, 1992. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-170).

Of the estimated 6 000 African independent churches in Africa, approximately 3 000 are to be found in Southern Africa. Most of these are in the Republic of South Africa, where the history of the independent church movement goes back nearly a hundred years. The greatest concentration of independent churches in South Africa is to be found in the urban complexes round the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the Southern Transvaal. Soweto, the complex of townships to the south-west of Johannesburg which houses about one million people, has about 900 of these independent churches. This study deals with independent churches in Soweto, and their relationship to their urban environment.

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, 1994. / The need for a psychology that addresses problems of all racial groups in South Africa has long been documented. Studies have indicated that modern health care services are inadequate and not accessible to all population groups in this country. The needs and problems in South Africa are too complicated to be treated by Western therapies alone. What seem to have been a viable alter¬native are the services rendered to Blacks by traditional doctors, diviners, faith healers and the African Independent Churches. The aim of this study was an exploratory psychological investigation into the nature of helping human relations in an African Independent Church. A sample of 18 respondents was randomly selected from members of the St. John's Apostolic Faith Mission Church, Harrismith. The phenomenological research methodology was used to elicit descriptions from the subjects regarding their experiences and meaning of being members of that particular church. The descriptions of the respondents were tape recorded, transcribed and dissected into natural meaning units which were blocked into themes. The natural meaning units and the themes of each subject were synthesised into a general concise description in psychological language. This descriptive statement, which was referred to as situated structure, disclosed the unique and es¬sential meaning the phenomenon had for each individual. Those themes that were expressed and shared by the majority of the sub¬jects were grouped into a general structure of six categories, namely, spiritual helping, prayer healing, holy water, cohesive-ness, existential assistance and catharsis. The researcher validated the descriptions by going back to respondents and asking them whether his synthesis accurately revealed their experiences. Each respondent commented on the general structure by stating on a subjective eleven point scale (0-10) the degree to which the general structure reflected his/her experiences. The respondents' ratings indicated that the general structure was a fairly accurate reflection of their experiences as members of this particular church. There was sig¬nificant agreement among the eighteen respondents in ranking the six categories. This means that there was significant agreement¬about what the subj ects generally experienced as members of the St. John's Apostolic Faith Mission Church and about their ex¬periences . In view of literature review of other African Independent Churches the researcher could generalize that human helping rela¬tions in the African Independent Churches exist essentially in the aforementioned six main forms. It was recommended that similar research be conducted in other African Independent Churches such as the ZCC, Church of Nazarites and the Mahon Mission. The practices of the AIC's could be in¬cluded in the curricula of the training of mental health care workers, clients could benefit from cross referrals between West¬ern practitioners and the healers of the African Independent Churches.

Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 203. Thesis director: Benedict Carton. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 3, 2008'). Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-202). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic University of America, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-92).

Part one establishes the problematic of this primarily historical and theoretical work on indigenous churches in South Africa. The existing literature is surveyed, explanatory themes isolated and a critique of the dominant functionalist framework offered. A different theoretical framework - historical materialism - is proposed, in order to bring new insights into the explanation of indigenous churches. A periodisation of the South African social formation, and three corresponding forms of indigenous churches is proposed. Part two considers each of these in a schematic form. It is hypothesized that Ethiopian churches arose at the turn of the century in the Transvaal and Eastern Cape amongst the emerging African petit-bourgeoisie. They were the religious response to unequal incorporation in the developing capitalist social formation. An early form of Zionism, Zion City Churches, arose between the two World Wars, in a period of intense resistance to proletarianization. In each region they were shaped by the particular conditions and conflicts. An attempt is made to demonstrate that, in contrast, Zionist-Apostolics arose after World War II as a church of the black working class. Instead of explaining them in terms of acculturation, it is hypothesized that their healing form can be understood as an expression and a protest of the alienation of the black working class. As a religious-cultural innovation they succeed in subverting missionary hegemony and gaining control over the means of salvation, and in this way, of their own lives. Part three attempts to evaluate the contribution of a historical materialist analysis to understanding religion, and to isolate directions for future research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--International Faith Theological Seminary University College, London, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-302) and index.

In this dissertation I shall give a brief historical survey of Black Theology and the African Independent Churches (AI Cs). The study focuses mainly to the developments of the two trends in South Africa. This was done after realising that Black Theologians often ignored the history of Black people, including that of the AI Cs which has in the end stymied their efforts. The immediate effects were negative in that little results were produced. ATCs and Black Theology have interesting histories which complement each another. I will present the current state of affairs and give some guidelines on how the future debate can be carried out. The two theological trends have weaknesses and strengths which are clearly identifiable. In chapter four I give guidelines for future debates and possible new developments. This study is also carried out to expand the scope of dialogue and constructive debate among the two. / Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation looks into the ministries of Isaiah Shembe and Emmanuel Milingo to examine their contributions to African Christianity. It also seeks to investigate their endeavours at 'affirming African identity in the process of inculturating Christianity into the African culture. Their contexts are, respectively, South Africa and Zambia. The dissertation also seeks to find a model that could help the mainline churches refer to in the quest of assuming a true African church that addresses the questions of Africans within their world view. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the study. The second and third chapters look into the profile of both Shembe and Milingo and also examine the context that influences their ministries. They also bring to the fore the neglect that has set in due to missionary teaching eventually leading to the current problems besetting the mainline churches owing to ignoring the African world view. The chapters four and five discuss the healing ministries of the two leaders and the patterns of inculturation emerging from their ministries. These chapters show how healing forms an integral part of the African society and cannot be ignored, and the essence of inculturation in the African church as demonstrated by Shembe and Milingo. The final chapter discusses a model of the church that emerges from Shembe and Milingo' s ministries which can serve as something the main line churches can learn from in order to affirm their ministries. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.