sacral rule and the Christian Church: An ... - ResearchSpace

ecome an institution for the edification and organisation of the converts. The African
church leaders focused on the organisation of the Church. However, the Presbyterian
structure of the Reformed Churches which they adopted seemed to be very similar to
the organisational structure of African sacral rule in the societies in which they found
themselves. But the churches have not investigated the meaning of Mrican ruling
systems in order to initiate a possible transformation and conservation of native culture.
The near uniform attitude of converts towards their pastors and their church elders was
probably deeply affected by the usual attitude towards the rulers and nobles of
traditional society. The converts have the same attitude towards the missionary and the
traditional leaders. It will be interesting to discover to what extent the converts are the
couriers ofintegration and assimilation.
While a strict boundary was observed between Christianity and African culture
in relation to the governing system in church regulations, that was not done in relation
to liturgy. The missionary songs, rites and attitudes were generally maintained but
enriched with new cultural elements. The Bamoun "Yaya" and the Bamileke
"Tambour", the Christian dances initiated by the indigenous leaders around 1914, and
accepted by the French missionaries, were improved by the movement for the
"Africanisation of the Church" championed in the Evangelical Church of Cameroon by
the Reverends T6toum Abraham and Nkwindji Abel in the 1970s. This movement
resulted in introducing African traditional instruments and rhythms into Christian
worship by the people who stand at the intersection of Christian worship and African
spiritual heritage.
As far as African rule is concerned, some native church leaders crossed the
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