Editing Kimbanguism

{{Short description|Christian new religious movement}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon                = 
| icon_width          =
| icon_alt            =
| name                = Kimbanguism
| native_name         = {{langx|fr|Kimbanguisme}}
| native_name_lang    = 
| image               = File:Drapeau EJCSK.svg
| imagewidth          = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Flag of EJCSK
| type                = [[New religious movement|New christian religious movement]]
| main_classification = [[African initiated church]]
| orientation         =
| scripture           = 
| theology            =
| polity              = 
| governance          =
| structure           =
| leader_title        = Father
| leader_name         = Simon Kimbangu Kiangani 
| leader_title1       = 
| leader_name1        = 
| leader_title2       = 
| leader_name2        = 
| leader_title3       =
| leader_name3        =
| fellowships_type    =
| fellowships         = 
| fellowships_type1   =
| fellowships1        =
| division_type       =
| division            =
| division_type1      =
| division1           =
| division_type2      =
| division2           =
| division_type3      =
| division3           =
| associations        = 
| area                = Democratic Republic of Congo
| language            = [[French language|French]], [[Lingala language|Lingala]], [[Kikongo language|Kikongo]]
| liturgy             = 
| headquarters        = [[Nkamba]] [[Kongo Central]], [[Democratic Republic of Congo]]
| origin_link         =
| founder             = [[Simon Kimbangu]]
| founded_date        = April 1921
| founded_place       = 
| separated_from      = 
| branched_from       = 
| merger              = 
| absorbed            =
| separations         = 
| merged_into         =
| defunct             =
| congregations_type  =
| congregations       = 
| members             = 20 million<ref name="q052" />
| ministers_type      =
| ministers           = 
| missionaries        =
| churches            =
| hospitals           = 
| nursing_homes       = 
| aid                 = 
| primary_schools     = 
| secondary_schools   = 
| tax_status          =
| tertiary            = 
| other_names         = ''Jesus Christ's Church on Earth by his special envoy Simon Kimbangu''
| publications        = 
| website             = https://www.jccesk.com/jccesk_home1.html
| slogan              =
| logo                =
| footnotes           = 
}}
[[File:Nkamba 25 mai 2016.jpg|thumb|Members of the Kimbanguist Church in [[Nkamba]] celebrating [[Christmas]], 25 May 2016. The church shifted observance of  [[Nativity of Jesus|Christ's birth]] to the birthday of leader Salomon Dialungana, who is believed to be Christ reincarnated.]]
'''Kimbanguism''' ({{langx|fr|Kimbanguisme}}) is a [[Christianity|para-Christian]] [[new religious movement]] professed by the [[African initiated church]] '''Jesus Christ's Church on Earth by his special envoy Simon Kimbangu''' ({{langx|fr|Église de Jésus Christ sur la Terre par son envoyé spécial Simon Kimbangu}}, '''EJCSK''') founded by [[Simon Kimbangu]] in the [[Belgian Congo]] (today the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]) in 1921. A large, independent [[African-initiated church]], it has an estimated 6 million believers{{cn|date=September 2022}} and has its headquarters in [[Nkamba]], [[Kongo Central]]. The denomination became a member of the [[World Council of Churches]], the [[All Africa Conference of Churches]], and the [[Organization of African Instituted Churches]]. In June 2021, the World Council of Churches withdrew membership on doctrinal grounds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WCC shares overview of June central committee meeting {{!}} World Council of Churches |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-shares-overview-of-june-central-committee-meeting-2021 |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.oikoumene.org |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|Christianity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
In April 1921, Kimbangu, a [[Baptists|Baptist]] mission [[catechesis|catechist]], inaugurated a mass movement through his supposed miraculous healings and biblical teaching. His teachings attracted working people, who left jobs to hear him speak about liberation. This threatened the colonial labor structure and thus the Belgian regime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nzongola-Ntalaja |first=Georges |title=The Congo from Leopold to Kabila : a people's history |date=2002 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=1-84277-052-7 |location=London |pages=48–49 |oclc=46822313 |author-link=Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja}}</ref> The [[Belgium|Belgian]] authorities treated the faith with suspicion and imprisoned Kimbangu until his death in 1951. The church was formally recognised by the [[Belgian overseas colonies|Belgian colonial authorities]] in 1959.

Some smaller, more loosely organised groups in [[Central Africa]] regard Kimbangu as [[God]]'s [[prophet]].

===Life and works of Kimbangu===
According to the church,{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Kimbangu is said to have come down to Earth from [[Mount Zion]] as a Congolese infant. His father had been a traditional religious leader, but both parents died and Kimbangu was orphaned and put in the care of his maternal aunt.  She took him to Baptist missionary school where he studied for many years, until he grew up and became a preacher.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Some statisticians have estimated that the number of Kimbanguists to be thirty two million.<ref name="q052">{{cite book | last1=Brissman | first1=I. | last2=Linjamaa | first2=P. | last3=Makeeff | first3=T.T. | title=Handbook of Rituals in Contemporary Studies of Religion: Exploring Ritual Creativity in the Footsteps of Anne-Christine Hornborg | publisher=Brill | series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion | year=2024 | isbn=978-90-04-69220-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNH7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA294 | access-date=2024-09-27 | page=294}}</ref>

== Beliefs and practices ==
[[File:Universite kimbanguiste Kalamu.jpg|thumb|right|Kimbanguist university in [[Kalamu]], [[Kinshasa]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].]]

The church eschews politics and embraces [[puritanism|Puritan ethics]], rejecting the use of violence, [[polygamy]], [[Witch-hunt#Sub-Saharan Africa|magic and witchcraft]], [[Teetotalism|alcohol]], tobacco, and dancing. Its worship is [[Baptists|Baptist]] in form, though the [[Eucharist]] was not introduced until 1971.

The three key dates in the Kimbanguist calendar are 6 April (marking the date of the start of the ministry of healing), 25 May (marking [[Christmas]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=James|first1=John|title=Christmas comes late to DR Congo|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6692201.stm|access-date=15 September 2017|agency=BBC|publisher=BBC|date=25 May 2007}}</ref> falling on the birthday of Father Dialungana), and 12 October (Kimbangu's death anniversary). The church is largely non-[[sacrament]]al, with large services that are well-organised.

The church also believes that Nkamba is the [[New Jerusalem]] mentioned in the Bible.

The church also believes that Kimbangu is the [[Holy Spirit]],{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}} in accordance with John 14:15–17. Like many Christian groups, the Kimbanguists begin and end prayers with the [[Trinitarian formula]].

Alongside Kimbangu, the [[Trinity]] are Father Kisolokele (first son of Kimbangu) as God the Father, Father Salomon Diangani Dialungana (the reincarnated [[Jesus]] and second son of Kimbangu), Father Diangienda Kuntima (last son, reincarnation of Kimbangu and second human form of the Holy Spirit), and Father Simon Kimbangu Kiangani (grandson of Kimbangu, third human form of the Holy Spirit, and current spiritual leader of the church since 2001).{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}} 

The doctrinal status given by this church to Kimbangu has led to international controversy as contrary to the doctrine of the Trinity and therefore heretical. In 2021 the church’s membership in the [[World Council of Churches]] (WCC) was discontinued by the Central Committee of the WCC on theological grounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-shares-overview-of-june-central-committee-meeting-2021|title=WCC shares overview of June central committee meeting|website=World Council of Churches}}</ref>

==Hierarchy==
[[File:Simon Kibangu.jpg|thumb|right|Simon Kimbangu.]]
*The spiritual head (Diangienda)
*Adjunct spiritual heads (Dialungana and Kisolokele – the other sons of Simon Kimbangu)
*Bansadisi (healers)
*Legal representatives of churches in the various countries
*Regional representatives and their staffs
*Subregional representatives and their staffs
*Main parish ministers, evangelists and helpers
*Parish-section ministers, evangelists and helpers
*Congregants

==See also==
*[[Mandombe script]]
*[[Simon-Pierre Mpadi]]
*[[Bundu dia Kongo]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''Kimbangu: An African Prophet and His Church'' Marie-Louise Martin (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976) {{ISBN|0802834833}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Nginamau Ngudiankama |editor1-first=Adrien |title=Kimbanguism 100 years on: interdisciplinary essays on a socio-cultural movement |date=2023 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-3-031-37030-4}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gospelcom.net/dacb/stories/demrepcongo/diangienda_joseph.html{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ]{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.kimbanguisme.net/ Official Website (mostly in French, some German)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418044543/http://www.kimbanguisme.net/ |date=2009-04-18 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422094017/http://www.oskimbangu.org/ Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste (in French)]
* [http://perso.orange.fr/kimbangu.net/ Kimbangu resource (in French)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:African initiated churches]]
[[Category:Christian organizations established in 1921]]
[[Category:Christian denominations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:1921 establishments in the Belgian Congo]]
[[Category:Members of the World Council of Churches]]
[[Category:All Africa Conference of Churches]]
[[Category:Christian new religious movements]]