A CASE STUDY ABOUT WORSHIP IN AFRICAN CONTEXT

INTRODUCTION

The term ‘worship’ has been variously defined by different writers, in most cases to suit the purpose of their writing. Writing for evangelicals, Adeyemo describes ‘Christian worship’ as the deliberate act of seeking to approach reality at its deepest level by becoming aware of God in and through Jesus Christ and by responding to this awareness. The English word for worship literally means, “Worth ship” denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth. Worship is the spontaneous act as the heart of the worshiper mediates on the glory and majesty of God as revealed either special or general revelation. Mbiti simply writes: “worship broadly means man’s act or acts of turning to God” Dr. Stanton said that according to R. B. Allen true worship is: “The peoples grateful response to the Living God; Done according to His command; Each from a free and willing heart; Seeking to bring glory to His person.”

DEFINITION OF WORSHIP IN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

The concept of worship is so broad and approached differently in African context. This gives an idea that there is no necessarily the grand and universal but it embraces the general understanding about worship by most Africans. Mbiti argued that, “to consider

Worship from an African perspective is to consider the human body in all of its abilities\disabilities—senses and movements—in actions not limited to the mind’s capacity to reason.” Despite all the differences, the view of worship in African context is not far away from the biblical perspective. In most cases churches have equated worship to the Sunday service or programs. The failure to understand the definition of worship brings slow spiritual development in most African churches. One of the African writer by the name Omondi argued “To worship God is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, feed the mind with the truth of God, purge the imagination by the beauty of God, open the heart to the love of God and devote the will to the purpose of God” In this definition we can see that worship is broad and focus to God as object of worship “The audience in Christian worship is God. We as the worshipers offer to God sacrifices that we will be acceptable.” It is an active response to God where we declare His worth. This is what I exactly witnessed at the Deliverance church where people were actively participating in worship with joyous. Africans regard worships not as passive, but participative.

For instance at the Evangelical Pentecostal church, during the whole service people were so active through singing, dancing raising up their hands and do so many expressive actions. During worship service congregants ascribe to Him supreme worth; for He alone is worth. The essence of worship is also related to cerebration in African context. “Christian worship is always cerebration; this is so because of victory is the basis of Christian worship. No wonder most African worship styles today are contemporary styles. Whatever is done in Christian worship is done as participation in God’s victory through Jesus Christ” In Africa Worship is both regarded as the act of an individual as well as corporate though corporate seems to be adopted most and preferred to individual by most Africans. The understanding of the former makes the latter to be effective.

THE ROLE OF WORSHIP IN AFRICAN CONTEXT

The understanding of the concept of worship by the African it’s not really contrary to the Biblical view of worship. Of course Africans do admit that the way our grandparents used to worship it’s not exactly the way we worship today. However the concept of worship is all about giving reverence to “somebody” worthy in this case God. “Africans find it very relevant to worship God for several reasons. Many African Christians see worship as the communion and communication with God, the Creator, the Provider, the Sustainer, the Friend, and the Healer of mankind.” I remember one of the churches that I visited; Deliverance Church Ongata Rongai had a banner in front of it written “We enter in the glory of Almighty one God, Jehovah” Throughout the five churches that I have visited, I have been able to collect data both during the service as well as personal interviews. 

Why Africans worship? 

The following are the reasons that most African Christians gave me why they worship: 

• It nourishes the spirit. It assists in achieving spiritual growth. 
• Worship  reveals God to you. 
• When one is worshiping he or she meet God. 
• It helps one to know God better. 
• It encourages others in their spiritual development. 
• It shows the world where your priorities are. 
• Worship is also regarded as a means of expressing my love for God. 
• It is an avenue God has provided by which man can praise His name. 
• It is the offering of spiritual sacrifices. 
• God gave us the spiritual gifts so we have to use them in worship. I
• t is a way of showing my thanksgiving to God for all He has done for me. 
• It is a period of communion with God with the world shut out entirely. 
• It helps to sustain and expand the fellowship in African community.

WORSHIP STYLES IN AFRICAN CONTEXT

“African” worship is necessarily dynamic, incorporating the entirety of creation’s experience. “As human beings our expressions of worship are informed and shaped by our environments—including that which is ecological, cultural, socio-political, historical and contemporary.” It is difficult to point out that there is one particular worship styles that fit all African churches. Despite the issue of denominations, worship styles in African context are shaped by different cultures. It is common to find two different worship styles in one denomination depending on the cultures where the church is located. 

For example worship in the church of the Nazarene in Swaziland is different from the way people in the church of the Nazarene worship in Malawi. So I legitimately say that denomination does not appear to be an important issue for many African congregations. Nkhata pointed out that some churches in Africa follow contemporary styles of worship while others liturgical style of worship. But it seems many Pentecostal churches in Africa today preferred the contemporary style to liturgical. There are churches that strictly emphasize the liturgical styles for instance Roman Catholic. On the other hand, other churches prefer contemporary like what I witnessed at. I noted that hand clapping, a loud cry of excitement and foot stomping during the praise songs were almost encouraged at Nairobi Pentecost Church. The church had full set of Modern equipments that made worship so interesting and joyous. The equipments such as guitars, drums, and electronic keyboards, piano were available. Reed in one of his articles argued that worship styles in African context are also influenced by the culture where the particular church is located. For instance the use of drums, its debatable when it comes to worship depends on the culture. People in Swaziland for example or the Lomwe tribe in Southern part of Malawi they don’t use drums because it is associated with witchcraft or calling the ancestors for worship and performing some rituals and sacrifices. Some churches also in African context follow Revivalist style of worship for instance, Seed of Life Pentecostal church. The style is always organized on the premises of saving the lost, encourage the believers to witness. Sometimes they organize the crusades for evangelism purpose.

ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP IN AFRICAN CONTEXT

Prayer

Prayer is one of the aspects of worship. It is the essential mark of the church; it is the center of the church’s spiritual power and pilgrimage. Nthamburi identifies that prayer is the climax of worship in most of the independent churches. It is taken seriously in the worship life of the African congregations. Many congregation values both intercessory prayers especially before they begin the Main service. This is what normally takes place at the University church of the Nazarene every Sunday. Other forms of prayer include invocation, pastoral and others in the midst of worship service. “Authentic worship includes some moments of prayers. In his book worship in our community Kamwana contented that, “Prayer begins by intellectual adjustment. By thinking of God earnestly and humble to the exclusion of other objects of thoughts, by deliberately surrendering the mind to spiritual things, by preparing the consciousness for the inflow of new life.” Muzorewa said, Prayer in Africa is the act which accompany the sacrifices and offerings, here someone need to pronounce the words. For example “the kikuyu of Kenya pray to their Supreme God, ‘Mwene-Nyaga,’ expecting their prayers to be favorably answered in return for the present given.

Proclamation

The proclamation of the word of God is one of the essential parts of the worship in African context. In most evangelical churches, worship service without the preaching of word is considered as incomplete. Rev Wambui of African Inland Church pointed out that preaching of word is not always pleasant to hear in many Africans than singing and dancing, but it is for our own good. No wonder many churches allocate only an average of 15 or 20 minutes of proclamation. For instance the church that I attended in Rongai- Grace of God church, the preacher preached only 10 minutes sermon. The preaching of word during worship must convince, rebuke, and exhort. Some churches, the schedule for preaching is well developed and people knows what type of sermon and the speaker before the actual date comes. Sometimes preaching is also done in series or theme. For instance during the month of June, University church of the Nazarene, has been emphasizing on the theme ‘Spirit filled life.’

Praise and Adoration

One of the elements of worship is praising and adoring God. During this time, the worshippers sing the songs that focus on adoring and praising God. Regardless the worship styles or cultural influences, music is part of the African worship. In these Modern days, African churches have variety of worship songs including local and classics. In his thesis Magaya wrote; “Africans do not consider music as mere motif in worship but very essential phenomena in worship. Singing has shaped the African worship. The instruments that Africans use are also determined by the songs that the congregants sing. In the African context, the worship service without music is regarded as incomplete. Muthengi argued that Africans emphasizes music that allows dancing, shouting and making a lot of noise with vigorous jumping and more. Most contemporary styles of worship allocate long time of singing than any other element of worship. This is exactly what I witnessed at Rongai Church of the Nazarene where singing and dancing took forty five minutes. Music prays a great role in African worship. Bishop Mzimbi said; “God has provided human beings with voices and songs to sing for the Lord. Music is allows any and all of the Africans to say something of real importance to and about God. “Some churches in African regard music as one of the very best ways to teach Biblical truth. What we sing we remember because we have combined power of intellect with emotion”

Testimony

It is rare to visit the worship service in African context and fail to single out any manifestation of testimony. Testimonies are part of the worship services in many churches. All the five churches that I have visited, testimony has been part of the worship service. Testimonies are done in different ways such as, speech, special as well as congregation songs. Sometimes a church choir is required to present a song as a form of testimony. I have witnessed this at House of God church where the youth choir gave a testimony through the presentation.

Response

Response is one of the elements of worship that is so much promoted in most churches in African context. Kanjoka pointed out that the response entails finding ways in which the church can invite the congregation to respond to the preaching of the Word. I would acknowledge that different churches has different mode of expressing their responses. Nevertheless, it is common for many preachers to invite people’s response especially at the end of the message. Sometimes people respond also by giving out willingly either their finances or non financial items. For instance during the Compassionate awareness Day at the University church of the Nazarene, a lot of people responded to the message of compassionate by giving clothes, soap, Notebooks and other staffs.

Offering

Just as the service without preaching is regarded as incomplete, the same applies to the service without offering. Mark agreed that Africans value offering so much as integral part of worship. Nowadays it has gone beyond whereby some churches are categorizing the money givers as the true worshipers. Monitory offering is so much encouraged in many African churches today. Bishop Mzimbi one day said; “some members stay at home when they do not have anything to give at the church.” This are some of the evidences to show that offering is so much valued in African churches. I once attended Seventh Day Adventist youth service in Rongai. I was surprised when the Master of the Ceremony announced that those who do not have monitory offering next week they should be prepared to give anything that they will be valuable to the kingdom of God. Despite monitory offering, it is also regarded as a symbol of commitment of all of our lives. It is a response to God in return for His faithfulness, His love, and His blessings.

Fellowship

The African people value communal way of living. People like corporate way of doing things and interact with each other. This has extended also to the worship services in many African churches. Fellowship is highly promoted in many denominations regardless the cultural or geographical setting. Pastor Selemani in one of his unpublished sermon said; “Africans are good either at home or in church in coming up with activities that create sense of belonging, family, an awareness of being a part of a loving community.” In many churches this is evidenced through greetings (mostly shaking hands), having a cup of tea, welcoming the visitors. For instance at the University church of the Nazarene, Senior Pastor immediately after the worship service he stands at the door shaking people’s hands as they go home. When I visited Nairobi Pentecost Church one Sunday, the Senior Pastor invited all the visitors to stand and greet the congregation. Fellowship is also expressed in Holy Communion. I experienced this at Rongai Redeemed church. Immediately when the Pastor finished preaching, he took us into the fellowship of Holy Communion

CHALLENGES THAT AFRICAN WORSHIP FACE TODAY

The world of today is not static. There are so many things that are happening across the world. Different worship styles have been adopted by churches in order to meet the demands of the day. Today the church in Africa is at stake. So many influences from Western countries are shaping the styles of worship in Africa. The issue of the songs is now a current debate in African whether people should continue with the old and tradition songs or Western songs. “The African churches that still hold and sing the old songs are regarded as primitive.” So many churches sing the songs that attract many young people. Technology has impacted much on the worship styles in African churches to the extent of losing its essence. “Worship services that are not accompanied with Modern instruments are regarded as backward and have less impact on the people.” This is what I observed in Diguna youth Ministry. We were all happy in adoring and praising God. Suddenly in the course of worship, electricity power went off. I was shocked to see that people stopped singing and the worship team members started to diagnose the problem and let people to sit down. This is one of the practical challenges that the church in Africa in facing. Many churches have made a vow not to sing worship songs without modern equipments. People schedule worship for the aim of fulfilling human emotions and desires. The other challenge still on the issue of songs is about the theology of African songs. Most worship songs carry the message that is contrary to the Christian doctrine. For instance when I visited Pentecostal Redeemed church, a group of young men and women presented the song which was in the language called Lingala. The song is called Tobina- kupepekale. This song is sung by the sexy dancers and it has no any message of glorifying God. Mbonyole in his article pointed out that if God seeks true worshipers His first field to search is in African churches.

Worship in African has been challenged by sycrenticism as well as norminalism. The African tradition religion has really affected the way of worship in most African churches. Cultural renewal in Africa has caused many people to rediscover their African past. Since culture and religion are so closely related in Africa, this has led to a return to tradition religion practices. Adeyemo pointed out that in African world view, God is often seen as distance and unapproachable. It is therefore seems quite reasonable that humans must relate to lesser spirits and divinities for the ordinary problems of their life and not bother God.” They do not realize that Jesus alone is more that able to meet their greatest need or crisis they may ever face. Some external challenges like poverty, hunger affect also worship in African context. As a communion of churches we live in various contexts all of which, in some form or another, challenge our confession that God has and does redeem creation. This challenge is explicit in much of modern day Africa, where war and disease, illiteracy and poverty, seem to counter our communal testimony that God, the Source of life, is just. How, then, in the midst of crisis, does the church proclaim with integrity God’s redeeming Word? More specifically, how does our worship, especially in African contexts, embody our conviction that all creation is restored and transformed through Jesus Christ? Venna Stanton pointed out that some other challenges of worship in Africa includes; less trained music leaders, poor theology, lack of preparation, and lack of equipments

CONCLUSION

As we have seen, worship in African context, it is difficult to single out that this is the most appropriate and universal style of worship for many churches. Despite all the worship styles that local congregation adopts; it seems contextualization plays an important role in worship. It is very possible to have worship that is acceptable in certain community but not acceptable in another community. But worship in African context has got its root from the biblical perspective though culture plays a big role especially when it comes to the worship styles and manifestations of the elements of worship. Today worship in African is quite facing a lot of challenges either from within or others. However, many worshiping styles in African context include all the elements of worship.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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