Kimbanguists

The People of Simon

Kimbangu members on church grounds after a day of celebration.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of about 84 million. About 50 percent of the population identify as Roman Catholic, 20 percent as Protestant, 10 percent as Kimbanguist, and 10 percent Muslim. There are other religious groups represented in much smaller numbers, including those who practice indigenous religious beliefs. Nearly 90 percent of the population attends religious services each week.

Kimbanguism is a new religious movement professed by the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth by his special envoy Simon Kimbangu, and was founded by Simon Kimbangu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1921. Kimbangu, who was a Baptist mission catechist, inaugurated a mass movement through his supposed miraculous healings and biblical teaching in April 1921. Suspicious about the movement, Belgian authorities exiled Simon Kimbangu to Lubumbashi and imprisoned him until his death in 1951. Many years after Kimbangu’s death, the Kimbanguists maintain their rituals and processes guided by their belief in the power of their revolutionary founder Papa Simon Kimbangu, their black messiah.

Early on a warm April morning, a sea of green and white can be seen moving across the Kimbangu compound in Lubumbashi. It is April 27 and every year on this day, the Kimbanguists commemorate the death of Maman Mwilu Kiawanga Nzitani, the wife of Papa Simon Kimbangu, who they consider to be the Holy Spirit.

Head of the Kimbangu Church in Lubumbashi sits watching the festivities of the day, guarded by members of the Corps de Gard. Church leaders are highly respected and idolized.

The ceremony revealed an African expression of Christianity, rooted in African tradition and embodied in cultural and ritual patterns, with a strong use of music and performance.

Orchestra members play their instruments.

Reenactment of the death of Maman Mwilu.

Reenactment of the death of Maman Mwilu.

The colonial regime considered Kimbanguism a pan-African movement, thus not only religious but politically inclined. The militant style of dress and marching to the sound of music plays to the narrative of the movement having started and continued as a revolution.

Women members of the Corps De Garde division

Shoes are removed before entering places of worship as they are seen as holy ground.

Members march in front of the head of the church to give their offerings during collections.

While the church follows biblical teachings, it subjects the authority of the scriptures to Kimbanguist traditions born from Simon Kimbangu’s prophetic activities.

Kimbangu booklet bearing the image of the late Simon Kimbangu.

Kimbanguism is primarily rooted in an African understanding of Christianity, in a sense appropriating Christianity and engaging in a new interpretation of the Bible which plays a role in helping to structure their identity.

All women are required to cover their heads. Here, a woman ties her granddaughter’s head with a scarf.

Young people are also given roles in the church. Here, a young member of the Corps de Gard Division stands on guard.

Kimbanguists often attribute their belief in Kimbangu as the Holy Spirit and his sons are the three persons of the Holy Trinity, because of the testimonies about miracles he performed and the rereading of biblical passages. However, they have also often been quoted as saying, “because it is said in our hymns, which are not works of art, but inspiration from above.” Three significant beliefs Kimbanguists hold are:

1. Jesus est noir (Jesus is black)

2. Il est Africain (He is African)

3. Il est Ne Le 25 Mai (He was born on May 25th)

Kimbangu man inside the church.

Sarah Waiswa is one of six selected visual storytellers of World Press Photo’s 6x6 Global Talent Program, in Africa.

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