Financial resources and economic agency in the early history of the African Independent Churches

Abstract

The article examines how money issues were handled in the Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian and Congregational churches of South Africa when some of their most prominent indigenous ministers decided to secede in the 1880s and 1890s. Far from being financially incompetent, as suggested in the missionary literature, the first African Independent Church (AIC) leaders knew how to deal with money matters, having exercised important responsibilities in the mission churches before breaking away from them. Conflicts on the manner of managing church funds played an important role in their resolution to establish independent churches. Discrimination in respect of salaries, housing and working conditions also contributed to their sense of alienation. The breakaway churches' rapid development is testimony to the organisational capacity of their leaders.