Celestial Church Of Christ
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The Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) is a Pentecostal church in the Aladura movement, which was founded by Samuel Oshoffa on 29 September 1947 in Porto-Novo,
Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
. It has spread from West Africa to countries in Europe, such as Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom, but a number of its parishes are located in Nigeria, particularly in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
and
Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...
.


History

Oshoffa was a former
carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...
born in
Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...
(now Benin) in 1909. Raised as a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
, he had a divine revelation while lost in a forest on 23 May 1947 during a
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
. (The nearest recorded solar eclipse visible in
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 ...
occurred on May 20, not May 23, of that year.) He felt called to pray, to heal the sick, and to raise the dead. He founded his church in September 1947. Having appointed himself Prophet, Reverend, Pastor, and Founder, he occupied the highest office of his movement. The hegemony he exercised on doctrine and discipline issues made succession difficult when he died in 1985 in Lagos, Nigeria. The CCC was recognized and authorized by the Republic of Dahomey in 1965. From 1976, the church launched an evangelistic campaign in that country, a former colony of
French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
, which had become independent in 1960. From the late 1990s, the CCC church has utilized the internet as a means of evangelization, thus allowing the many existing branches of the church within the
African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...
in such nations as the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, to maintain contact with each other and with
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, the nation in which the CCC is currently most popular. The movement has continued to grow since Oshoffa's death, but has also suffered setbacks, the most immediate being severe difficulties related to the matter of succession. Oshoffa was succeeded by Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada, who was head of the church until his death on 8 September 2000. Bada was briefly followed as leader by Philip Hunsu Ajose, who died in March 2001. A dispute followed over the succession to Ajose. Some declared Gilbert Oluwatosin Jesse as the new leader, while the majority recognised the Reverend Emmanuel Oshoffa, son of Samuel Oshoffa. Following Jesse's death, his faction declared that Superior Evangelist Paul Suru Maforikan was the new spiritual leader of the church. Contrary to the procedure of succession in Nigeria, Porto-Novo, the supreme headquarters, successfully chose Benoit Agbaossi (1931–2010) to be the head of the church, who in his turn appointed Benoit Adeogun as the next Rev. Pastor shortly before his death in 2010.


Beliefs

The CCC is a prophetic one with a Christian background. The faithful are called Celestians, and the church is sometimes informally called “Cele”. The formal name of the church is inspired by a vision, in which Jesus said that Church members adore him as do the angels in
heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
, and from
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...
26:15: "Look down from thy Holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel and the land which thou hast given us, as thou didst swear to our father, a land flowing with milk and honey". The church claims inspiration from God through the manifestation of the
Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
among the faithful. Its doctrinal teachings are based on the Bible, and any superstition or animist belief from traditional African religions is excluded, as in other churches in the Aladura movement. The church is governed by twelve major recommendations, consisting of several prohibitions, including food, common to a number of other monotheistic religions.
Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
, and the consumption of
pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...
are forbidden. The faithful wear white one piece garments during worship, and must not wear their shoes whilst wearing their garments or while within the main church. Men and women are separated at the church. Menstruating women and those who have recently given birth are considered to be unclean and must not enter the church building or wear the garment for seven days, after which they would be "sanctified" by the use of water, candle, sponge and soap with palm fronds. Members of CCC are forbidden to engage or participate in any form of
idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...
, fetish ceremony or cults, black magic and charms. Only men who are "anointed" are allowed access to the altar. Services often use candles and perfumes during prayers. The church uses
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
Bibles, as well as Yoruba translated versions. The church supposedly takes elements from Gungbe and Yoruba thought. It also has strong similarities to the "purification movements" against paganism that are relatively common in African Christianity. Oshoffa believed he had a mission to combat " atan 'fetish priests' and other 'powers of darkness'"( Marburg colloquy).


Imeko Convocation

Every December, usually, between the 21st and 24th, the church hosts an international event called the Imeko Convocation. It is mandated that every member of CCC attends as a pilgrim. The CCC believes the event attendance is a mandate made by Oshoffa following his declaration that God had chosen Imeko as the New Jerusalem for the fold.


Architecture

The temples of worship always face east. An altar stand has seven candle holders that represent the seven spirits of Jehovah as represented in Revelation 4:5. The church auditorium also has different rows for male and female seats. On days that services are observed during the week, such as the Wednesday and the Friday services, another altar is made which has three, rather than seven, candles.


Demographics and reception

In 2001, it was the second largest church in Benin by the number of its practitioners with nearly half a million followers. In France, the church is suspected by two anti-cults associations, ADFI and CCMM, of "cultic deviances" and of having committed acts of violence involving the death of a fifteen-year-old minor.


Bibliography

* Pierre Ndjom, ''Lumière sur l'Eglise du Christianisme Céleste'', Paris (France), 2016, 283 p. * Apollinaire Adetonah, ''Lumière sur le Christianisme Céleste'', 1972, 85 p. * Christine Henry, Pierre-Joseph Laurent and André Mary, « Du vin nouveau dans de vieilles outres : parcours d'un dissident du Christianisme Céleste (Bénin) », in ''Social Compass'', 2001, vol. 48, no 3, pp. 353–68 * Christine Henry, ''La force des anges : rites, hiérarchie et divination dans le Christianisme Céleste'', Bénin, Brepols, Turnhout (Belgique), 2008, 280 p. () * Codjo Hébert Johnson, ''Le syncrétisme religieux dans le golfe du Bénin : le cas du 'Christianisme céleste' '', Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, 1974, 139 p. * Joël Noret, « La place des morts dans le christianisme céleste », in ''Social compass'', 2003, vol. 50, no 4, pp. 493–510 * Laurent Omonto Ayo Gérémy Ogouby, « L'Église du christianisme céleste », in ''Les religions dans l'espace public au Bénin: vodoun, christianisme, islam'', L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008, pp. 46–48 () * R. Saint-Germain, « Les chrétiens célestes, description d'une Église indépendante africaine: Questions d'éthique en sciences des religions », in ''Religiologiques'' (Montréal), 1996, vol. 13, pp. 169–94 * Codjo Sodokin, ''Les 'syncrétismes' religieux contemporains et la société béninoise: Le cas du christianisme céleste'', Université Lumière, Lyon, 1984, 306 p. * Albert de Surgy, ''L'Église du Christianisme Céleste: Un exemple d'Église prophétique au Bénin'', Karthala editions, 2001, 332 p. () * Claude Wauthier, « L'Église du christianisme céleste », in ''Sectes et prophètes d'Afrique noire'', Seuil, Paris, 2007, chapter XV, p. 227 and f. () * Afeosemime U. Adogame, ''Celestial Church of Christ: the politics of cultural identity in a West African prophetic-charismatic movement'', P. Lang, Francfort-sur-le-Main, New York, P. Lang, 1999, 251 p. *(in English) Edith Oshoffa, ''The Enigmatic spiritual leader of our time S.B.J. Oshoffa: Celestial Church of Christ Beulah Parish,'' 1st Edition April 2014, Edith Oshoffa, ()


Filmography

* ''Regard sur le christianisme céleste'', documentary film produced by Albert de Surgy, CNRS Audiovisuel, Meudon, 1995, 40' (VHS)


References


External links


Celestial hymns, artists and reference documentswebsite of Celestial Church of Christ, CCC LondonHomepage of Celestial Church USA

Website of the Official headquarters in NigeriaConstitution CCCThe Spiritual Structural Foundation of CCCScriptural Foundations of the Celestial Church Mode of WorshipAmazing Facts About Some of Most Inspirational Spiritual Hymns in CCCMarburg Journal of Religion article

Brief mention
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celestial Church Of Christ 1947 establishments in French Dahomey African initiated churches Pentecostal denominations established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1947 Christian denominations in Benin Christian new religious movements