The Nazareth Baptist Church (Alternatively called "The Nazarite Church" "iBandla lamaNazaretha") is the second largest,

African initiated church An African-initiated church (AIC) is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than chiefly by missionaries from another continent. Nomenclature A variety of overlapping terms exist for these forms of Christianity: Af ...

based in South Africa, founded in 1910. It reveres Shembe as a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

sent by God to restore the teachings of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, the prophets, and

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. Members are Sabbath-observers and avoid pork, smoking, and premarital sex. It was divided into two groups after the 1976 death of Johannes Galilee Shembe. The larger group was led by Bishop Amos Shembe until his death in 1995, while Rev. Londa Shembe led the smaller group. As of 2009, it was divided into three factions in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

and one in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. The religion uses

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

skins as part of their ceremonies, which some activists are trying to stop or replace with synthetic leopard skin. On 18 October 2016, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban declared Vela Shembe the legitimate leader of the Nazareth Baptist Church after a protracted court battle, which had dragged on since 2011. Despite this, the previous leader's son Mduduzi Shembe, who lives in the large village of Ebuhleni, remains the de facto head of the church and most church members have ignored the ruling.

Pilgrimages

The Shembe begin each year with a Holy

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to iNhlangakazi, but approximately 6.7 million followers of amaNazaretha no longer go to Inhlangakazi because of court interdicts. As a result, iNkosi uNyazi LweZulu avoided court battles and founded Mount Khenana which is at Ozwathini, on the first Sunday of the New Year. It is said that Isaiah Shembe was drawn to the area where the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

told him to start the Church. They also hold a month-long celebration in Judea near

Eshowe Eshowe is the oldest town of European settlement in Zululand, historically also known as Eziqwaqweni, Ekowe or kwaMondi. Eshowe's name is said to be inspired by the sound of wind blowing through the more than 4 km² of the indigenous Dlinza ...

every year in October, where members gather to receive the blessings of Shembe.

World Cup legal challenge

In early 2010 the Nazareth Baptist Church claimed that the vuvuzela horn, used by fans attending football matches in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, actually belongs to their church. They threatened to pursue legal action to stop supporters from playing the vuvuzela at the South African World Cup, but no legal proceedings were initiated.

Vodacom partnership

In April 2017 a partnership between the African mobile communications company

Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include ...

and the Vela Shembe faction was announced in which the church would distribute Vodacom products and services. Landile Shembe, the Shembe Family Trust representative, stated that the faction had 6.7 million members of which approximately 2.4 million subscribed to Vodafone.

References

External links

Holy hair: The long and short of it
{{Religion in South Africa African initiated churches N Christian organizations established in 1910 Baptist denominations established in the 20th century Pentecostal churches Pentecostal denominations Seventh-day denominations 1910 establishments in South Africa