The Manyano movement within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa : an expression of freedom of worship (1844-1944)

Abstract

The arrival of the Methodist/Wesleyan mission and missionaries in Africa heralded a religious stringency that did not afford the indigenous people religious freedom. In response, a number of movements were formed from within the church by indigenous people. Many of these emerged as Manyano movements. The various forms that these movements took were intended to address a range of Christian understandings of what may be termed a rite of passage with regard to age, gender, race and non-affiliation. The history of these churches in Africa, and South Africa in particular, has revealed the schism that later led to the formation of the African Independent Churches. These movements introduced a new trend in these traditionally European churches involving the expression of religious freedom and worship from within rather than imposed from without.