The Wisdom of Africa, Christianity & Unitarianism: Reimagining What a Community of Faith Can Be in Africa

Unitarianism has a small footprint in Africa when compared to other faith based communities. It is also relatively new compared to the longstanding presence of Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and Methodists on the continent. Due to their long history these denominations went through different stages of adaptation and inculturation in Africa. The theme of indi genisation, for instance, became an import ant driver towards the close of the 19th century. During this period, African leaders initiated an attempt to “indigenize the faith to a greater extent than had hitherto been the case” (Fatokun, 2005). The result of this initiative was the birth of the so-called Ethiopian Churches (or Afri can Independent Churches). Early in the 20th century, a second attempt “at strip ping Christianity in Africa of foreign cultural imperialism came about with the estab lishment of African Indigenous Churches” (Fatokun, 2005). These churches adopted elements of traditional African religion freely to make Christianity relevant to Afri can culture. In South Africa, the Zionist Churches are a good example. Outside of the religious sphere, much has also been done by African scholars to address burning issues on the African continent such as African identity, colonialism, racism and poverty. In African scholarship there is a long and admirable body of work for the restoration of African identity and dignity in post colonial times. In this article I reflect on the unique contribution Unitarianism can make in restoring identity and dignity on the African continent through its inclusive religious views and its emphasis on social activism. UNITARIANS IN AFRICA AND SOUTH AFRICA In Africa, Cape Town Unitarian Church is the oldest Unitarian congregation on the continent. Established in 1868 by Rev. David Faure, it has maintained a small yet resilient community up until the present time. Due to its history and its position within the broader South African society, its church services for the most part maintained European values and world views. The first Unitarian church on African soil that made a strong attempt to incorporate the cultural and religious needs of Africans was established by Dr. Bishop Adeniran Adedeji Isola in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1918.

According to Sayavedra & Walker (2015), the meetings of this new church were conducted in the local Yoruba language and incorporated Yoruba musical instruments such as native drums. Hill, McAllister & Reed (2002), as cited in Sayavedra & Walker (2015), maintain that Bishop Isola based his teachings “on knowledge of the Bible; but also on a deeper understanding of the Yoru ba concept of religion and faith in Ifa scripture”. (Note: the UNESCO archives states about Ifa “Ifa refers to the mystical figure Ifa or Orun-mila, regarded by the Yoruba as the deity of wisdom and intellec tual development.”) In more recent times, the yearning for a religious community that can embrace African culture and welcome people from different tribes is clearly expressed in the following the words of Isaac Choti, a Unitarian in the Kisii district of Kenya: “I had been a Christian all my life, but my church had policies I didn’t like. Some churches make it hard for us. They say you can only come with one wife. But Jesus said come as you are. In UU, they welcome everyone” (Scott, 2009). John Mbugua, director of UU congregations in central Kenya, describes his discovery of Unitarianism through a friend of his in the following way: “I had never heard of Unitarian Uni versalism, but when he told me that it was a faith where everybody was equal in the eyes of God, I was blown away. It broke my heart. Even Hindus, Buddhists, traditional faiths. All are equal. Now we are all brought together by faith.” (Scott, 2009) These quotes speak to the need for a restoration of dignity and the development of a new religious identity in Africa. When I joined the Unitarian Church in 2008, I was delighted to discover that the 6th source of Unitarianism makes room for earth-centered traditions and emphasizes the importance of nature in spirituality. It reads as follows “the spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which cele brate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature”. It dawned on me that indige nous African wisdom and traditions had a place within the Unitarian movement even though much still needs to be done to explore this possibility. During my years as full-time minister (2007 2017) of Cape Town Unitarians, I early on engaged with a group of traditional healers in Khayelitsha, one of the townships in Cape Town. In September 2007, I invit ed them to a celebration of African cul ture during our weekly Sunday Service. They were delighted and marveled at the ease with which they were accepted at the church. For the most part tradition al religious practices are rejected within many traditional Christian denominations in South Africa or at least frowned upon. Therefore, many Africans turned to the mushrooming African Independent Church es, where Christian and traditional African religious practices are blended. One such church in South Africa is the Zionist Chris tian Church better known as ZCC. Unfortunately, the competing worldviews of traditional African and Christian Euro pean culture has been an enduring and sometimes painful one. My own country, South Africa, entered a new democratic dispensation in 1994 bolstered by a new constitution that endeavors to make room for both African and European worldviews. Now, almost 30 years later, we as a coun try are still journeying toward the vision of hope and reconciliation that the late Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others, had for our country and for all of Africa. Many challenges remain. The outbreak of Covid-19 in March of this year will most probably present a massive challenge to the realization of this vision. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEELING AND THINKING The difference between African and European worldviews has been a field of study for many years. Some scholars believe that the difference lies in an approach to life that is orientated by either feeling or thinking. If this is true, there is no question in my mind that should Unitarianism want to make a meaningful contribution to reli gion and spirituality in Africa, it needs to seriously reconsider the role and place of reason within our religious and spiritual experience. The European philosopher René Descartes (1641) is well-known for the expression “Cogito, ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am”. Are Unitarians likewise insisting that the highest expression of being human is our ability to think? Or are we willing to discover the value of feelings and commu nity in our search for meaning and purpose in life? If we, as Unitarians in Africa, are open to consider this possibility, we will do well to engage with the work of the African scholar Leopold Senghor. This Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist (considered to be one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century) did much to articulate the differences between the African and European worldviews. He initially argued that Africans place a greater emphasis on emotion while Europeans value discursive reasoning. According to him, African knowledge comes by confrontation and intuition while European knowledge comes by analysis and discursive reasoning (Gbadegesin, 1991). According to Gbade gesin, Senghor later modified this position. Senghor (1964), as cited in Gbadegesin (1991), said that: “the vital force of the Negro African … is animated by reason”, but “it is not the reasoning-eye of Europe, it is the reason of touch … the reasoning embrace, the sympathetic reason.” Another contemporary African scholar and philosopher from Nigeria, Ada Agada, built on Senghor’s work and developed what he calls “consolation philosophy”. This philos ophy seeks to understand human beings as a unity of feeling and reason and as such gives a deeper philosophical foundation for African culture. Agada maintains that reason evolved from emotion. He therefore considers emotion to be a kind of primordial reason which he calls “mood”. Ada asserts: “Emotion sup plies the primal, motivational energy of life while reason structures the realities we embrace by simple faith.” (Ada, 2018) If Unitarian Churches in Africa wish to find ways to engage emotion and intuition as a valid and essential part of religious and spiritual experience, they need to pay attention to the following key elements: (1) reimagine their church structure and church servives (2) bridge the perceived gap between Chris tianity and African wisdom (3) re-discover how to live in harmony with nature. REIMAGINING CHURCH MEETINGS AND CHURCH STRUCTURES In the Zulu language in South Africa there is a phrase that says: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”. Translated it means a person is a person through other people, or “I am because we are”. This saying encapsulates the importance of community with Afri can society. The word “ubuntu,” roughly translates as “humanity,” has become a key expression of this value. Laurenti Magesa (1997), the Catholic theologian and priest in Tanzania, summa rizes the African worldview beautifully by citing these words from Charles Nyamiti, a compatriot and fellow theologian: “This African view of the universe contains the following major themes: the sacrality of life; respect for the spiritual and mystical nature of cre ation, and, especially, of the human person; the sense of the family, com munity, solidarity and participation; and an emphasis of fecundity and sharing in life, friendships, healing and hospitality.” An authentic African Unitarianism needs to find ways to encourage an expression of African values. For example, in Africa, meet ings often include dancing and singing as an integral part of coming together and they often last for far longer than a mere hour. Singing and dancing express the values of solidarity, participation and in some cases are associated with healing practices. In traditional African societies rituals also play an essential part in bringing people to gether and solidifying their communal ties. Meetings last longer because deep relations are not built through haste or speed. Can we develop rituals within Unitarian meetings in Africa that combine Unitarian and African values and express them in an authentic way? Unitarians will do well to heed the warn ing of Oosthuizen (2000) who asserts that “while Western theology has been the intel lectual foundation of the Western-oriented churches, these dispositions blindfolded theology to the issues at the gut level of Africa’s authentic existence. It smothered what is positive in the traditional African context.” To change this situation, Oost huizen suggests that greater emphasis be placed on the church as an organism rath er than an institution. Unitarians in Africa therefore will have to question an individ ualist approach to church life and find a structure that allows for a deeper sense of community. It needs to emphasize the building of relationships and community as the prime expression of church life and find a balance between love and reason. BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY & AFRICAN WISDOM Most Africans who become Unitarian still maintain a strong connection to Christianity. Therefore, a key task for Unitarian leaders is to help these African Unitarians to connect both meaningfully and critically with the Christian tradition. Similarly, it will benefit Unitarian communities to consider the African world view and religious experience. Unitarians are well positioned to facilitate a conversation between liberal Christian and indigenous African views. Apart from the African philosophers already mentioned, the Unitarian-Universalist theologian Rev. Dr. Thandeka’s exploration of “Affect The ology” can support this effort. She writes on her website www. revthandeka.org/con temporary-affect-theology (accessed 2020 06-04) : “Contemporary Affect Theology studies the heart of faith. It tracks how human emotions become religious feelings. The spiritual foundation of liberal faith, after all, is not a set of doc trinal claims or creeds or religious beliefs or ideas. Liberal faith begins with transformed and uplifted feel ings that exalt the human soul and let us love beyond belief, come what may”. Another leading light in the North American Unitarian-Universalist movement who points to community as an essential part of the spiritual life is Rev. William G. Sinkford, the 7th president of the Unitari an-Universalist Association. During his lead ership in the early 2000’s, he argued for the need to reclaim a “vocabulary of reverence” within the Unitarian movement. He became an ardent advocate for “The Beloved Com munity”. This term was first coined in the early 20th Century by the philosopher-theo logian Josiah Royce, and was popularized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He envisioned the Beloved Community as a society based on justice, equal opportunity, and love for one’s fellow brothers and sisters. Unitarians in Africa will do well to engage with the call for social justice nestled within the idea of “The Beloved Community”. Furthermore, it is important to reflect on what “The Beloved Community” means within the context of our human depen dency on the natural environment and as such become a call to action to mitigate the effect of climate change that is already ravaging parts of the African continent. RE-IMAGINING OUR RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE Laurenti Magesa (1997, p. 60) points out that in African religion the participation of the human person in and through its community is of prime importance. However, the human community cannot be sustained without a sense of community with the earth and the natural environment. The relationship between traditional African views and nature is beautifully expressed by Fr. Edward Kanyike (2018): “For traditional Africans, nature meant the entire world or universe, comprising both living and non-living things, vis ible and invisible powers, the natural phenomena, land, rivers, bushes, for ests, jungles, animals, birds, insects, minerals and whatever they knew had not originated from them. Tradi tional Africans found themselves sur rounded by nature and perceived it as an immense womb on which they depended for food, shelter, tools, medicines. It was a womb, warm and pulsating with life and reality. Even the spirit world was tacitly understood as inclusive in nature. To this womb they felt ‘related’ (= religion), bound fast by an indissoluble bond. From it, they got insights into the future, thanks to the signs coming from it, which they learned to interpret. All this made them look at nature as a partner, or an ally in the fight against death. Nature was not a ‘thing’ to use, but rather a partner; more than that, a caring ‘mother’ to whom they owed love.” It is a theme largely lost within the modern-scientific and technologically orientated European worldview developed between 1800-1980, though partly recovered in the global post-modern digital age and with the current threat of climate change and Covid-19. African Unitarians will therefore do well to explore the wisdom that the African traditions offer in terms of the natural elements. Dominique Zahan, in his article called “Some Reflections on African Spirituality,” makes extensive reference to the various shrines dedicated to the four “basis” elements: air, earth, fire, and water. In his book, The Healing Wisdom of Africa: “Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual and Community”, Malidoma Patrice Somé shows how the life of indige nous and traditional people offers a para digm for an intimate relationship with the natural world that both surrounds us and is present within us. He also explores the importance of rituals within African society and shows how it speaks to the loneliness, anonymity, and ritual starvation of many Westerners. I believe his book is an import ant resource because many people living on the continent of Africa have been deeply influenced by Western worldviews while, at the same time, they hold indigenous views in high regard. Somé’s teachings offer a bridge between these two worlds. Cait lin Hoover concludes her reflection on his book, The Healing Wisdom of Africa, with these words: “Somé argues that the individualistic thinking in the West which puts self-interest before all else is detri mental to Western society.” He proves this point by examining the role community, ritual and healing plays in the lives of indigenous people. Without making room for healing through ritual and creating ties with community, the West is truly living a life absent of all facets of human nature, it is enveloped purely in the physical realm (Hoover, 2016). Given the crisis of climate change and the global Covid-19 pandemic, we are in serious need to rethink our relationship with each other and the community of life in which we all participate. CONCLUSION Unitarianism has a small yet significant footprint on the African continent that is growing. As the Unitarian community grows and establishes itself on the continent, it needs to address the issues that other spiritual communities also grapple with, namely indigenization of the faith. At the root of this indigenization lies the reconciliation of head and heart and the relation of the individual to the communi ty. To bring this about, Unitarians need to acknowledge the importance of community and feeling within African society and find ways to foster its expression through dancing and singing for example. Church structure needs to emphasize the cultivation of community as the prime value of church life and administrative control as secondary. It also needs to find ways to help its members connect to Christian values in a new and liberating way because many who come to Unitarian Churches in Africa were only exposed to fundamentalist views of the Biblical message. It also needs to bridge the gap between Christian and indigenous worldviews so that members can have the best of both worlds. Lastly, given the vast resources of living in harmony with nature, community and spirit available in the wisdom of Africa, it can develop creative ways to incorporate it within its ministry. Finding an authentic African Unitarian expression will not come easily. It will take courage and a willingness to experiment. It will ask for innovation instead of slavishly copying existing forms and church structures from America and Europe. This quest does not have to be an either-or quest though. It can rather be a quest towards integration and wholeness. An either-or quest easily leads to violence while a quest for integration and wholeness can follow a non-violent path. In this sense this work goes beyond merely seeking an African expression of Unitarian values. It participates in the larger work in the world to seek to relate in more equal and equitable ways that originate in the heart and then seek a structure to express itself. It is seeking a new relation with nature, with each other, ourselves and with the unknowable larger whole in which we all participate.

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