Apostles of Johane Marange is an

African Initiated Church An African-initiated church (AIC) is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than chiefly by missionaries from another continent. Nomenclature A variety of overlapping terms exist for these forms of Christianity: ...

movement that was started by Johane Marange (1912–1963) in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

in 1932. The "Apostolic Church of John Marange" (as it is officially called) numbers over 300,000 adherents in five

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n nations. It is one of the largest movements in the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

churches of Africa. The Zionists take on some symbols and practices of Judaism as well as emphasizing

faith healing Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healin ...

and prophecy. The Apostles of Johane Maranke forbid pork, alcohol, tobacco, and both African and Western medicine. The

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

is on some of their religious garments. The church is

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. At their services, men sit on the east side and women on the west side. Women are believed to have healing powers. All services are performed outside. Initiation into the church is through water

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, usually in pools of running water in rivers and streams. In urban environments, the practice has been restricted as many streams and rivers in urban vicinities are polluted by industrial or domestic effluent. On baptism, the convert is given a new name (usually a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

or biblical one) by a prophet which name he will be called by from thence. After a verbal catechism on the dos and don'ts the convert is allowed to be adorned in the church's regalia. For male converts this consists of an ankle-length white robe; a white undercloth; and a long staff, usually with a loop on the upright end. From then all males are required to shave their heads and keep a goatee permanently. For women, it consists of an ankle-length white robe and a long head veil worn backwards and wide enough to be wrapped around the body like a cloak. The veil is marked by a long red stripe that runs its full length in the centre. Although they use the whole

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

for preaching and instruction, most of the church's doctrines are Jewish and Old Testament oriented.

External links

Exploring Africa
African initiated churches Protestantism in Zimbabwe Supernatural healing {{Zimbabwe-org-stub