TOWARDS A THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS OF CHRISTIAN AND SHONA

VIEWS OF DEATH AND THE DEAD: IMPLICATIONS FOR PASTORAL

CARE IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF HARARE, ZIMBABWE.

by

WILSON T. SITSHEBO

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts

of the University of Birmingham
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Theology
Faculty of Arts
The University of Birmingham
August 2000
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 ABSTRACT

In this contextual study I investigate why and how the traditional approach to mission,

engaged by Anglican missionaries, gave rise to a dual observance of ritual among

Shona Anglican Christians. I begin by establishing the significance and essence of

Shona views of death and the dead, then investigate the missionaries' historical

background. I highlight that Christian arrogance, in the guise of racial superiority,

underlies the confrontational and condemnatory approach. Traditional views were

considered evil, in their place, Shona converts were forced to adopt western Christian

views as the only acceptable and valid way of coping with this eschatological reality.

These views did not usually fit the Shona worldviews and religious outlook, hence the

adoption of dual observance. For some, life continues to be classified as either

Christian or traditional and never both. However, some present Shona Anglican

practices reflect a desire to integrate the two. Unless there is this integration, the

Church remains other and irrelevant to the Shona people.

The ultimate aim of this thesis is to advocate for a theological synthesis of Christian and

Shona traditional views. I argue that such a synthesis, patterned on the interactive

dialogical model, could lead to the cessation of confrontation and condemnation and

its attendant dual observance, and enhance the development of a Shona Christian

theology of death and the dead which provides for relevant and sensitive pastoral care.
 DEDICATION

To Chipo Siphiwe, my comrade, friend and wife

And

Our children, Simbarashe, Phillip and Nonceba

Ivy and the whole extended family.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study would not have been possible if it were not for the support and

encouragement of colleagues, family and friends. In my vernacular Ndebele, I say to

you all, 'ngiyabongalakusasalingadinwa,' (Thankyou very much,when I approachyou

again tomorrow, do not turn me down).

On the financial front, I am grateful to the St. Augustine's Foundation for their generous

contribution towards my fees. I also thank USPG my employers, and TZABA along with

all who contributed financially towards this study.

I thank Amanda Davies for the technical support that she gave me. She was always

available to advise me when I had difficulties with my computer and actually typed one

of the chapters. My wife, Chipo Siphiwe, also spent long hours on the computer typing

this dissertation. I am indebted to Lynn Jacob for helping me with proof reading, and

to all those who assisted me in any other way.

I also acknowledge with gratitude all my informants who volunteered information and

insights which helped to shape this study. I apologise to those informants who felt

uncomfortable with the interviews and also confess that there were times when I felt

as if I was milking a stone for information.

Many thanks go to Prof. John K. Parratt, my supervisor, for the way he challenged and

ü
guided me through this study. He inspiredme throughhis constructivecriticism,and his
knowledge of African Theology helped me to keep my enthusiasm.

Finally, I express sincere gratitude to my wife and children for the support they have

given me and for the space to go to my office in early mornings, evenings, weekends

and vacations to work on this thesis. This enabled me to fit the research into my busy

schedule,as Acting Principalof the United Collegeof the Ascension,with relativeease.

in
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication i
Acknowledgements ii
Glossary x
Map of Anglican dioceses xii
INTRODUCTION 1
1. Preamble 1
2. Statement of problem 1
3. Purpose of the investigation 5
4. The Shona people 8
5. Research methodology 8
6. The structure of the thesis 14

CHA PTER ONE SHONA TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS VIEWS 16

1.1 Introduction 16
1.2 Shona (African) world views 19
1.2.1 The Shona people 19
1.2.2 The world-view 22
1.2.3 Relationshipsof the inhabitants 24
1.3 Understanding humanity 25
1.4 Views of death 29
1.4.1 Death as a phenomenon 30
1.4.2 The burial 35
1.4.3 Ceremonies immediately after burial 47
1.4.4 The tool cleansing rite 50
1.5 Views on the dead 53
1.5.2 Kurova guva 55
1.5.2a Relationship between the living and the dead 65

IV
 1.5.2b Significance of the relationship between the living

and the dead 66

1.5.3 Family membership of the dead 68
1.6 Conclusion 70

CHAPTER TWO THE MISSIONARY ERA 73

2.1 Introduction 73
2.2 Historical setting 74
2.3 Missionary approaches 78
2.3.1 The village visits 85
2.3.2 Mission stations 88
2.4 Missionary teaching 94
2.4.1 Burial practices 98
2.4.2 Church literature on burial 102
2.5 Winding up the missionary era 105
2.6 Conclusion 107

CHA PTER THREE SHONA RESPONSES TO CHRISTIANITY 110

3.1 Introduction 110
3.2 Anthropological responses 111
3.2.1 Demand for labour 112
3.2.2 The hut tax 115
3.2.3 Religion and world views 118
3.2.4 Response options 122
3.3 Responses to Christianity 125
3.3.1 Early responses 129
3.3.2 Adaptive responses 132
3.3.2.1 The economic factor 132
3.3.2.2 Education 1ý5

V
 3.3.2.3 The Bible 138
3.3.2.4 Denominationalism 141
3.3.2.5 Jesus Christ 143
3.3.3 Christianity and its Shona context 146
3.3.4 African Initiated Churches 150
3.4 Conclusion 154

CHAPTER FOUR CHRISTIANITY AND SHONA TRADITIONAL

RELIGION IN DIALOGUE 156
4.1 Introduction 156
4.2 Present practices 158
4.2.1 Urban setting 159
4.2.2 Rural setting 166
4.2.3 The wake-keeping 168
4.2.4 The day of interment 173
4.2.5 Interment and its observances 175
4.2.6 Variations in observances 178
4.3 Textual analysis 183
4.3.1 Hymns 184
4.3.1.1 God 185
4.3.1.2 Jesus Christ 189
4.3.1.3 The Holy Spirit 191
4.3.1.4 Death 192
4.3.1.5 The dead 194
4.3.2 Choruses 196
4.3.3 Prayers 198
4.3.5 Bible readings 203
4.4 The Dialogue 204
4.5 Kurova guva 209

vi
4.6 Conclusion 210

CHAPTER FIVE TOWARDS A THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS 212

5.1 Introduction 212
5.2 Methodological considerations 214
5.2.1 Missionary approaches 214
5.2.2 Missionary and colonial collaboration 218
5.2.3 African Theology 222
5.3 Contextual considerations 225
5.3.1 Social changes 232
5.3.2 Culture and theology 234
5.3.3 A theological understanding of culture 239
5.4 The bible and its translation 242
5.4.1 Biblical hermeneutic 243
5.4.2 A theological hermeneutic 247
5.5 Towards a theological synthesis 251
5.6 The need for a theological model 254
5.6.1 The interactive dialogical model 258
5.6.2 Assumptions of the interactive dialogical model 262
5.6.3 A critique of the interactive dialogical model 267

CHA PTER SIX IMPLICATIONS OF ENGAGING THE INTERACTIVE

DIALOGICAL MODEL 276
6.1 Introduction 276
6.2 The Zimbabwe social setting 277
6.3 Theological insights 279
6.4 Application of the model 286
6.5 Present patterns of Anglican theology 288
6.5.1 Missionary or Official Anglicanism 289

vii
 6.5.2 Folk Anglicanism 290

6.5.3 The Sceptics 293

6.6 Analysis of the Church's official approach 297

6.7 Towards an official contextual practice 299

6.8 Gospel and culture in relation to Shona traditions 302
6.9 Conclusion 308

CHAPTER SEVEN IMPLICATIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE 309

7.1 Introduction 309
7.2 The relevance of the church 312
7.3 The bible and Shona traditions of death and the dead 317
7.3.1 Contextual reading of the bible 320
7.3.2 Contextual relevance of the bible 324
7.3.3 Understanding pastoral care 328
7.4 Shona views of death and pastoral care 333
7.5 Shona views on the dead and pastoral care 335
7.6 The quest for relevant pastoral care 340
7.61 Varying positions 341

7.6.2 Symbolism and rituals 346

7.6.3 Dealing with dual observance 349
7.7 Implications for pastoral care 351
7.8 Conclusion 356

CHA PTER EIGHT CONCLUSION 358

8.1 The communal nature of Shona life 358
8.2 Confrontation and condemnation 360
8.3 Christian and Shona traditional views 363
8.4 Towards a synthesis 367

viii
8.5 The way forward 372

APPENDICES 378
BIBLIOGRAPHY 448

ix
 GLOSSARY OF SHONA WORDS
baba : father
chiKaranga : speech, customs, manner of life of the vaKaranga people
chimutsamapfihwa : substitute wife given to widower to replace wife who has died
chirikadzi : widow
chirongo : earthenware pot for carrying and storing drinking water
dariro : circle of people (especially in dance). Playground
deuka : spill
doro remvura : beer for the ceremonial washing of the tools used at burial
enda ;.go
famba zvakanaka : travel very well
fuko garment for dead person
gadzira : repair or tame
gara nhaka : inherit a widow
gonye : maggot
harf : general name for earthenware pot
hatikude : we do not like you
kanganwa : forget
kubata maoko : offering sympathy in bereavement
kudarika uta : ritual to test widow's fidelity, done at kurova guva
kudzora munhu : with reference to death, it is to control the dying person's posture
kurova guva : ceremony of calling home the spirit of the deceased
kurwa : to fight
kusuka nhumbi washing the tools; see doro remvura, above
kusuma : represent, report to higher authority. Make preliminary remarks
mabasa : works
matambudziko : affliction, suffering, tribulation
mbudzi : goat
mhandu : hostile person
mhondoro : guardian spirits
mombe yenheedzo : beast slaughtered to accompany the deceased
mubatanidzwa : Inter-denominational fellowship
mudzimu : ancestor
mukombe ladle
mumvuri shade of dead person who dies grieved; Shadow
munhu : person; someone who observes traditions

X
mupfuti : brachystegia boehmii tree
musha mutema : literally, the home is black; people are still in mourning
mutupo : clan name
muvengi : one who hates
muviri : body
muzeze : small tree: peltophonum African um
muzukuru : grandchild, nephew, niece
mweya : soul or spirit
n'anga : traditional healer
nema : abuse jokingly
ngozi : revenge afflicted by an aggrieved spirit
nhamo : bereavement
nhanzva : shrub: pouzolzia hypoleuca.
nhoroondo : narration
nhorwa : strangers
nyama : meat or flesh
nzira : path or way
ora : rot
pera : come to an end
rara : sleep
riga mazembe : knock down the wall of silence and disclose the cause of death
sadza : stiff porridge
sahwira : ritual friend
shaya : die
shavi : spirit (patronal, as opposed to family or tribal), that takes possession of its human host
shungu : emotional upset
shura : bad omen
tiva : immerse body in water
tsika : Custom or good manners
vana : children
vapenyu : the living
varikumhepo : those in the winds
varipasi : the dead; this word is also used to intimately referto the ancestors, illustrating their link
with the land.
viga : bury person
zorora murugare : rest in peace
zumbani : lippia javanica, plant

xi
 THE ANGLICAN DIOCESES OF ZIMBABWE

ANGLICAN DIOCESES
ZIMBABWE

xii
 INTRODUCTION

1 PREAMBLE

In this introduction a synopsis of the problem underlying this research project will be

presented. After this, a justification for the study will be offered. Since this is a

contextual, theological study which deals with a particular tribal group, the Shona

people, we shall account for why they have been chosen. Following that, we shall

outline the methodology adopted for the research. To conclude this introduction, I set

out the structure of the thesis.

2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Christian missionaries to sub-

Saharan Africa tended to despise the indigenous cultures of their host communities.

They often regarded them as barbaric and uncivilized. ' The traditional approach to

mission usually involved complete rejection and negation of traditional cultures and

religious beliefs and practices. ZAsa result, the form of Christianity that was established

1 William Peaden, a Methodist missionary in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) acknowledges the

failure of missionaries to respond to Shona culture. He says, 'the missionaries working in Rhodesia were
children of their time. They lived in a period before the scientific study of anthropology had revealed the
significance and logical coherence of the Shona culture. There is a tendency to despise what is unknown
or not understood! W. R. Peaden, Missionary Attitudes to Shona Culture, Salisbury: The Central African
Historical Association, 1970, p.41.

2 Baeta, writing from a Tropical African perspective, echoes this by noting that, `these problems
arose from the points of sharpest conflict between Christianity as it has been preached and the traditional
way of life: polygyny, ancestor worship or veneration, religious therapy, forms of worship involving

I
 in sub-SaharanAfrica was basically Western in cultural outlook.

Anglican missionaries who came to Mashonaland3 in 1891 were not different. It is

necessary to note that in this study we are dealing only with the Shona among the

peoples of present day Zimbabwe. With determination and zeal, the Anglican

missionaries sought to destroy Shona culture and replace it with their own. Because

they did not understand Shona culture, they were not prepared to grant it any credit,

but they saw it as a live demonstration of the enslaving presence of the devil. " They

condemned and confronted it without compromise. This became the official attitude of

the Church towards Shona culture, an attitude which persists in spite of the fact that

we now have indigenous Shona Christian leadership.

This negative approach to Shona cultures, coupled with the historical realities which

surround the establishment of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, are the basic sources

of the problems behind this study. Historically, the Anglican Church (hereafter referred

to as the Church) came into Zimbabwe as part of the settler, Pioneer Column.' Three

of its clergy were chaplains to this settler group; one of them was in fact the senior

drumming and dancing and other activities emphasizing physical self-expression. * C.G. Baeta,
Christianity in Tropical Africa, London: OUP, 1968, p. 141.

3 See map of Zimbabwe, Appendix 20, p.446.

4 In 1891 Canon Francis Balfoursaw the country as 'steeped in witchcraft and the grossest forms
of paganism' St J.T. Evans, The Church in Southern Rhodesia, London: SPCK, 1945, p. 12.

EA. Walker, A History of Southern Africa, London, New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green and
.5
Co., 1957, p.420. He discloses that after the Pioneers found Salisbury they were disbanded.

2
 6
chaplain. The arrival and settlement of the Pioneer Column had a great impact on the

lives of the Shona people. They lost their land and their freedom. The settler community

displaced them from their ancestral land on the pretext that the British South Africa

Company had granted them the right. '

Through false pretences the settler community evicted the Shona people from their own

land, and forced them to be labourers to the various settlers. As if that was not enough,

they were also forced to pay a hut tax. Shona people resolved to confront this

concerted effort by the settlers, including the church, to strip them of their identity and

8
personhood. Their general resistence to this trend of events culminated in the uprisings

of 1896/7, which Terrence Ranger dubs a war between two religious systems."

On the religious front, the condemnation of Shona religious beliefs as evil and

superstitious continued. The major area of conflict was that of death and the dead. With

determination and resolve the Shona people held on to their views throughout the

6C.J. M. Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939, Gweru: Mambo Press,
1996, p.3. Kendall sees this as a missionary weakness. He says, "the first weakness was that the
European missionaries were palpably in association with the overseas administrators, and were part of
the whole European invasion of Africa. Often the chaplains at the forts orat the governor's administrative
centre were the agents of mission. ' E. Kendall, The End of an Era: Africa and the Missionary, London:
SPCK, 1978, p.53.

7 E.W. Smith, The Way of the White Fields in Rhodesia, London: World Dominion Press, 1928,
p.38. He notes that '... all this, in spite of the fact that Lobengula had granted no land rights, nor any
power to make laws in any part of his territory and dependencies. '

a See Chapter three under 'Anthropological Responses', p. 111, below.

9 T. O. Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia 1898-1930, Nairobi. London. Ibadan:
East Africa Publishing House, 1972, p.2. A full discussion Is given under the title, 'Responses to
Christianity' in Chapter three, p. 125, below.

3
 turbulent times. In the process dual observance10 was being firmly entrenched in

African Shona Christianity. Some of the writer's informants demonstrate how deep-

seated this dual observance has become; they do not see any chance for Christianity

and Shona traditional views to be openly integrated. "

With the advent of local indigenous Christian leadership, it might have been anticipated

that missionary Christianity would give way to Shona Christianity, that is, condemnation

and confrontation of Shona views should have ceased, and better, more sensitive

methods adopted. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Dual observance prevails, and

most Shona people continue to see life simultaneously on both Christian and Shona

traditional lines. Usually Christianity is adopted as the religion of respectability,

practised when all is well, but when confronted by the harsh realities of life, people turn

to Shona Traditional Religion. 12At the same time there are some people for whom

Christianity is the sole religious belief, just as there are some for whom Shona

Traditional Religion is the religion. The problem is where the two religious belief

systems co-exist in a duality; that is, when they are practised alternately. That results

from the effects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century condemnatory and

confrontational missionary and colonial mentality of the church which has persisted

after independence. It reveals a lack of mutual dialogue between Christianity and

lo Dual observance is the term I am giving to the problem of holding Christianity and Shona
Traditional Religion as separate but meaningful religions, caused by the missionary approach.

11See interviewswith Mr T. Mukwishu,p.407 and Mrs V. Mutandwa,p.414.

12See Preliminary Report of the Commission of Enquiry, p.429.

4
 Shona Traditional Religion. This has implications for pastoral care in that it shows the

Church as having failed to penetrate the Shona traditional views and thus not caring

about the people who retain traditional views. Such a situation begs the question, `what

is the relevance of the Church in the Shona context? '

As an Anglican clergyman, I have been a participant observer at a number of funeral

gatherings where people have freely integrated Christian and Shona views. At these

gatherings, a wholesome theological understanding is displayed at grassroots Christian

level. God is understood as the God of all, so prayers are said alongside traditional

practices. But when one looks at such grassroots Christianity in the light of official

clerical Christianity within the Anglican Diocese of Harare, there are variations in

approach. It is these methods of approach which are the problem.

3 PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION

This kind of research is necessary for the Church because traditional religion has a

strong influence on both the attitudes and practices of its adherents. It is significant

particularly in the light of the fact that "what people do ... is profoundly affected by what

they think. What is happening in our heads determines our whole behaviour - morally,

practically and politically. "13Field work helps to enhance the understanding of peculiar

Shona beliefs and practices which relate to death and the dead. In the Zimbabwean

13M. Cassidy, The Passing Summer, Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1990, p.460. See also
chapter one p. 16 where the same citation is used with slight modification.

5
 context, this is particularly important because African Traditional Religion and

Christianity co-exist as essential religions, with essential roles in the lives of their

respective followers.

The Diocese of Harare, at its 1993 Synod aptly articulated this observation, when it

agreed that:

when one observes the daily lives and activities of some of our people and takes
account of the rites or ceremonies connected with the various stages of their
lives, one soon realises that a great deal of the normal communal activities lie
outside their Christian activities and that for all their influences; the Christian
Church is still an alien institution, intruding upon, but not integrated with the
cultural institutions. 14

But the manner in which it dealt with the stated problem does not seem to have been

satisfactory, hence this study.

Both African Traditional Religion and Christianity, in their own right, offer communities

and individuals symbolic structures for the understanding of life changes. The subject

of death and the dead challenges every religion; it also exposes divergences between

the official teaching of a religion and the beliefs and practices of individuals. This is well

demonstrated by pluralists; 15those who at once hold to theirold way of life and embrace

the new faith, as opposed to the popular use wherein a pluralist would be someone who

holds that all religions are valid. The justification for this investigation lies in the

14See p.428

is We use this word in the sense in which Professor Bhebe uses it. N. Bhebe, Christianity and
African Traditional Religion in Western Zimbabwe 1859-1923, London: Longman Group Ltd., 1979,
p. 115.

6
 observation that, in spite of the fact that a number of main-line Christian denominations

in Zimbabwe celebrated their centenaries this last decade, African Traditional Religion

is still a force to reckon with even among church members, particularly in the area of

death and the dead.

If African Traditional Religion was all superstition, as was suggested by early Christian

missionaries, the hundred years of Christianity would have rendered it ineffective. To

the contrary, the fact that people are prepared to hold simultaneously two different

religious world views is an indication that somehow African Traditional Religion has

something to offer, which the Christian faith and rituals seem not adequately to provide.

It is partly because of these observations and partly because of a quest for an African

theological identity, that an investigation by the wider African scholarly world becomes

necessary.

The conviction of the church is that Christianity has something special to contribute to

the religious outlook of the Shona people, a special revelation - Jesus Christ. So, the

desire to root firmly Jesus into Shona culture, and the need to make him part of the

people's lives is essential. This becomes an urgent need especially if we look at the

official position of the Church in the light of present practices within popular

Christianity. 16

16In Chapterfourwe discuss the present practices in the light of popular (the common people's)
and official (clerical) Christianity. Popular Christianity is the people's Christianity which freely integrates
Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead in a practical way, while official Christianity
is the Christianity that the Anglican Church, through its clergy and teaching, upholds as orthodox.

7
 The Diocese of Harare has tried to address the problem without success, and there is

need to investigate the reasons why this is so. I shall examine why the diocese saw

dual observance as a problem, and seek to establish why, despite three attempts it

failed to come up with an adequate solution. It is my submission that some of their

theological methods need to be examined and modified for contextual relevance. The

process of contextualization demands that the theological methods engaged should

speak to their context.

4 THE SHONA PEOPLE

The Shona people are part of the Bantu" tribes, and have a lot in common with their

fellow Bantu. They share similar belief systems and the supporting world views. The

reason why I chose the Shona people is that they were the first tribe in Zimbabwe

among whom the Anglican Church was established. Of the two tribal groups of

Zimbabwe, that is, Ndebele and Shona, they were the more settled and established

group, with a distinct civilization. 18

4- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

17According to The Chambers Dictionary (new edition), 1998, Bantu is a "name given to a large
group of African languages and the peoples speaking them in Southern and Central Africa. "

18The whole of Chapter One is devoted to the Shona people. The Zimbabwe Central Statistical
Office puts the present Shona and Ndebele groupings respectively at 71 % and 16% of the population
of twelve million people, 1995 Census.

8
I shall examine Christianity and Shona traditional religious views of death and the dead

and seek to demonstrate how African theology can participate and help, not only in the

conflict between Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion, but also in reconciling the

conflict between the practice of the individual believers and the religious teaching of the

church. This means that I seek to address the issue theologically, not only to help, but

to let theology be the engine by which I seek a solution. I shall adopt the interactive

dialogical model19for my theologising process in the belief that it helps to uphold the

wholistic nature of life.

With that theological objective, the research methodology adopted for this study

consists of two categories of research; one referring to approaches (or viewpoints), the

other to tools to be used. The research itself is based on a twofold approach, an

anthropological and a theological approach.

(1) The anthropological approach facilitates a full analysis of Shona views and beliefs

regarding death and the dead, and their impact on individuals, families and society. (2)

These findings will provide the material which will be evaluated from an African

contextual theological standpoint. By introducing the concept "contextual" theology

here I express the conviction that each theology is conditioned by the context in which

it is developed or developing, that is, by the culture and world views and the socio-

political setting of the people doing such theology. This conviction applies to European

19See Chapter five, p.258, for a description of this model.

9
 (Western), as well as African theology. However, though all valid theology is

contextual, not all theologians are conscious of their 20

context. Asa consequence we

have to admit that there is no ready-made theology which can be used as a fixed model

for evaluating whether a certain praxis or understanding deserves the epithet

"Christian". It is probably this observation which led MacQuarrie to state that, "there is

no final theology". The basic source for Christian theology is the Biblical tradition, but

culture and context form sources for developing a contextual theology. All this is said

in the light of the fact that context shapes both comprehension and the interpretation

of the Bible and theology. 21

To achieve that theological goal, we engage two basic tools, namely, interviews and

literature. I carried out two categories of interviews, formal and informal. I began to

conduct some of these interviews in 1983 following the death of a close clergy friend, 22

and a considerable number were done during the Summer of 1999, when I was in

Zimbabwe. In addition to the interviews, I also collected information through observation

of, and direct participation in rituals. I was involved in numerous discussions on the

subject of death and the dead with friends and acquaintances from whom I gained

useful insights. It was not always easy to get information; at times it felt like milking a

stone, so the question and answer format was used. This exercise made me realise how

20See what we said in the Preamble, p.1, for what this study is.

21F.J.Verstraelen, The Christian Bible and African cultural religious realties', in I. Mukonyora
(et al) Rewriting the Bible: the real issues, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1993, p.240.

22See the full account in Chapter four, under 'The Wake-keeping', p. 168.

10
reluctant some people are to talk about death.

Although no scholars have handled this subject in exactly the same way as this work

is intended to, there is a good deal of literature on this area of study. This literature

tends to treat the views of Shona (African) Traditional Religion and Christianity rather

as irreconcilable. Perhaps it is because of this approach that the two religions have

continued to develop separately, thus creating pluralists. There area number of factors

which could have contributed to this state of affairs, among them the cultural differences

between the Christian missionary and the Shona (African) convert. These fundamental

differences have shaped the understanding of death and the dead in a peculiar way.

For example, in the eyes of the missionary, the convert tended to over-emphasize the

role and significance of death and the dead, while to the convert the missionary under-

emphasized the significance of this vital area of life. This is because the western

understanding of death and the dead is different from that of the Shona (African).

Scholars have not sufficiently addressed this dual observance. Instead of allowing

Shona views to be a formative factor of their theological formulation, the missionaries

brought detached, worked out solutions. This undermined the total commitment of the

African (Shona) convert to Christ. According to Professor Imasogie, this lack of

commitment to Christianity could be problematic. It highlights both the methodological

weaknesses and the lack of attention to divergences between Christian theology and

11
 (Shona) African Iife,23whichmake them seem incompatible. Theology, however, should

be linked to experience, though not limited to that experience. Dialogue is necessary.

My basic contention is that Shona views are part of the context, and as such should be

brought centre stage, so as to give content to the death rituals of Shona Christians.

Death itself is interpreted in different ways, and so are'the dead'. In Christian theology

there are diverse views of death, some positive and some negative. If we understand

Christianity as the religion which regards the death of a certain man, Jesus Christ, as

the most fundamental event in the history of salvation and the world, death is positive

(cf. Rom. 6:4 and Col. 1:22). It is seen as providing for new life. On the negative side

death is seen as the wages of sin (Rom 5: 12) and the enemy (1 Cor15: 26). This,

however, contradicts the simple fact that nature dies. 24 Christianity also holds that

death does not annihilate life, it is a part of the progression to the final goal. This

suggests that the dead continue to exist somehow, this echoes IThessalonians 4: 13

which implies that they are "asleep*. Or, as Schwarz says, "God continues his

relationship with us beyond biological death. "25This tells us something about death and

the dead from a Christian perspective, which is, that death is the irreversible cessation

of active participation in our environment and yet somehow the dead continue to exist.

It is this paradoxical understanding of death which we will investigate, with a view to

23O. Imasogie, Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa, Worthing: African Christian Press,
1983, p. 13.

24H.Schwarz, On the Way to the Future, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing house, 1972, p.167.

25Ibid., p. 176. See also Mk. 12:27, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. '

12
 bringing it into a theological dialogue with Shona (African) Traditional Religion, in

search of a possible theological synthesis.

Shona (African) Traditional Religion also presents 'death as paradoxical. It is

considered unnatural, because "no one should die. Man should live for ever. Death is

not natural. Even a very old person should never die and life is only removed by an

offended mudzimu"26(ancestral spirit). A further paradox is that when an old man dies

'naturally', this will be seen as a fulfilment of life. On the other hand, the death of a

young person cannot be seen as natural, but as there is no way of reversing death, this

too has to be viewed as part of the rhythm of life, and thus natural. 27

African traditional religion has some significant ideas on the celebration of death, which

go a long way towards demonstrating how death and the dead are understood. K. A.

Dickson in his book, Theology in Africa. accurately lists six such ideas; 1. that death

is caused by evil, 2. that death does not end life, 3. that death does not sever the bond

between the living and the dead, 4. that death is an occasion for seeking more life, 5.

that death does not negate natural self-expression, and 6. that death affects the whole

community. 28As can be seen from the above, African Traditional Religion also believes

26J.J. Seymour, The ChangincqTrends of the Shona Family in Zimbabwe: How the Church
can
help, Harare: Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, 1990, p. 19.

27J. S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p.29.

23K.A. Dickson, Theology in Africa, London: Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd, 1984, pp. 192-5.

13
 that "death means not annihilation but a departure to the spirit world. "29There, the dead

assume a different role which has some connection with the living, hence they become

what Banana calls the `living-timeless'. 3°

It is against such a background that we think a synthesis is possible. It should however

be noted that such a synthesis is only possible if there is open interaction between both

Shona (African) traditional religious and Christian understandings. The views and

beliefs of both religions have to be adequately listened to. It may not be easy, but 'the

effective communication of the gospel to Shona (African), or any other people, requires

that the essentials of Christianity become an integral part of their culture and lives. In

simple terms, this means that such people should be given room to wrestle freely with

an understanding of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. This could inform pastoral

care and the formulation of relevant contextual theology, in dialogue with official

Anglican Christianity.

6 THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS

The thesis has seven chapters; the first six chapters deal with specific topics. Chapter

one deals with the Shona people, analyses the essence of Shona (African) Traditional

29J.S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p. 129.
See also what Banana says about the death of a very old and senile person, C.S. Banana, Come and
Share: An Introduction to Christian Theology, Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research, 1991,
p.81.

30C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.81.

14
Religion and establishes the significance of their views of death and the dead. In

chapter two I examine the background of the missionaries, and survey the changing

attitudes and developments relating to death and the dead in the West which

contributed to shaping their views. Most importantly, I examine their approach to the

Shona people, and their teaching on death, and the effect this had on the emerging

Church. Chapter three explores the Shona people's responses to both missionaries and

settlers, and then concentrates on Shona responses to Christianity as a rival religion.

These three chapters together discuss the historical and theological developments

relating to the establishment of the Anglican Church among the Shona people.

In chapter four I examine the present practices of the Shona people in the light of

official Anglican Church teaching with reference to death and the dead. I also analyse

how Christian texts are making an impact on the Shona people. Among the texts that

I look at are the Bible, songs and prayers. I also give attention to the way in which the

Church has attempted to handle the problem of dual observance. In chapter five I offer

insights that point towards a possible synthesis of Christian and Shona traditional views

of death and the dead. I suggest the interactive dialogical model as a solution to the

problem of dual observance. In chapter six I highlight some of the practical problems

that my proposed model might encounter, at the same time offering a way forward. I

discuss how this theological model addresses the problem of dual observance and

provides for sensitive pastoral care. In chapter seven I bring the thesis to an end by

offering wide ranging, concluding reflections.

15
 CHAPTERONE

SHONA TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS VIEWS

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we explore the views of Shona (Bantu) Traditional Religion under four

headings, (1) World views (2) Understanding of ' humanity (3) Views of death and (4)

Views on the dead. (1) and (2) provide the context for understanding the next two. We

undertake this task fully understanding that Shona Traditional Religion, like any other

religion, has a strong influence on both the attitudes and practices of its adherents,

including some who have become Christians. As the Roman Catholic cleric Aylward

Shorter observes, "traditional values and outlook continue to live on and exercise an

influence among all sections of the population. "' It should however be noted that not

all people are affected by traditional values in exactly the same way, or to the same

degree.

This is an obvious fact, particularly if we realize that "what people do is profoundly

...
affected by what they think. What is happening in our heads determines our whole

behaviour - morally, practically and politically and even religiously. ' Since Shona

1 A. Shorter, African Christian Theology: Adaptation or Incarnation, London: Macmillan

Publishers, 1975, p.2.

2 M. Cassidy, The Passing Summer, Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1990, p.460. Italics are
mine, to highlight the fact that in Shona anthropology, 'understanding of community does not divide

16
 (African) Traditional Religion is a living, organic religion, it is always with the people,

at every moment of life, great or small. It permeates the whole social life of a traditional

Shona (African); ° it is the total traditional world view with all the values and beliefs. n3

African Traditional Religion is ontological in both its nature and outlook. It permeates

traditional being in its wholeness "vis-a-vis environment, attitude towards life, values

and self awareness. °4 No wonder its influence goes beyond the grave. This is of

significance because the Bantu believe that the community consists of the unborn, the

living and the dead. Death is seen as a mere change of state and not an end. Placide

Tempels rightly identifies this fact when he notes that In the minds of the Bantu, the

dead also live; but theirs is a diminished life, with reduced vital energy. "5 This applies

to those for whom rituals have not yet been done, but when appropriate rituals have

been done, the dead have enhanced powers to bless and curse.

I describe Shona religion as traditional because it (a) is passed on, (b) has shaped, and

reality into `secular' and *religious"; it is all one community. Everything revolves around it; and outside
the community is mere emptiness. God is the source of life, and the community draws its existence from
God. ' S. Bakare, The Drumbeat of Life, Geneva: WCC Publication, 1997, p. 14. Mbiti states the same
thought thus, 'Africans are notoriously religious. ' J. S. Mbiti, Introduction to African Religion, Oxford,
1975, p.30; also African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 1990, p. 1.

3 R.J. Gehman, African Traditional Religion, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd,
1989, p. 18.

4 Judith M. Bahemuka, ' The hidden Christ in African Traditional Religion, ' in J. N.K. Mugambi
& Laurenti Magesa, (eds) Jesus in African Christianity: Experimentation and diversity in African
Christology, Nairobi: Initiatives Publishers, 1986, p.2.

P.Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, Paris: Presence Africaine, 1959, p.43.

17
 been shaped by society down the ages and (c) is communally owned. 6 This makes it

the indigenous or aboriginal foundational religion of the Shona people which is

practised as the religion of the forebears; used and practised by the people of today. '

As we have already noted, the Shona (African) people understand community as

drawing its life from God. So being born into a Shona community means that, as with

most other African communities:

a child grows into adulthood not only physically but also

socially and religiously. Therefore rites and ceremonies
are performed to mark the passage of a child from one
to
stage of growth another. 8

As a practical religion, it is best understood in concrete terms, as lived out and

practised by the people themselves. People's practical participation in life gives their

religion its content. It is people-centred, hence Mbiti aptly describes African religion

as "anthropocentric. "9 What this means is that traditional Shona (African) religious

conceptions have a human-centred character, rather than being centred on the

Creator. 10 This conception of God is the common thread which runs through the

religion(s) of the sub-continent, uniting them into a structured or distinctive religion.

6 See interviews with Mrs V. Mutandwa p.414 and Mr.T. Mukwishu p.407 in response to the
question, 'How did you learn the Shona traditions? ' They both highlight this communal ownership.

See interviews with Mr. Munhikwi, p.411, Mr. R. Chenzira p.378 and the Revd G. Dete p.387.

8 R.J. Gehman, African Traditional Religion. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd,
p.52.

9 J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 1990, p.90.

10C.G. Baeta, Christianity in Tropical Africa, London: O. U.P., 1969, p.229. Baeta adds the
spirits and the ancestors, the energies inherent in nature, whether beneficent or malevolent, and even
God Himself, are thought of in terms of whether they can do good or harm to human beings. ' p.229.

18
 This frees us to draw on the work of scholars of African Traditional Religion anywhere

in the sub-continent. " Clearly, Shona Traditional Religion provides beliefs and

concepts which help people to cope with life changes as well as make sense of the

world. Let us now consider how it does so by looking at selected topics, starting with

world views.

1.2 SHONA (AFRICAN) WORLD VIEWS

Zimbabwe is roughly divided into two major language groupings, Shona and Ndebele.

These groupings account for seventy-one and sixteen per cent of the Zimbabwean

population of about twelve 12

million, respectively. The Ndebele occupy part of the

Southern half of Zimbabwe, called Matabeleland, while the Shona occupy the

remainder. The Shona grouping is substantially larger than the Ndebele one. The

Anglican Diocese of Harare, on which we shall concentrate, is predominantly Shona.

1.2.1 The Shona people

The Shona are part of the Bantu tribes of Southern Africa. Of the two Zimbabwean tribal

groups, they were the more settled people, who practised agriculture and pastoralism. 13

11E.B. Idowu, African Traditional Religion, London: SCM Press Ltd, 1973, p. 103.

12Zimbabwe Central Statistics, 1995 Census, see p.8 above.

13S. I.G. Mudenge, A Political historyof Munhumutapa c1400-1902, Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing
House; London: James Currey Publishers & New Jersey, USA: Heinemann Educational Books, 1988,
p.8.

19
 Historians agree that they entered present day Zimbabwe during the Iron Age (post AD

1000), 14

According to Samkange:

it is this group which, they assure us, definitely spoke a Bantu language and
arrived in successive waves from the north. Today it is credited with having built
throughout this area various stone structures of which those known as the Great
Zimbabwe are only the largest and the most famous. It is this group which today
is believed to have established the great empire of Mwene Mutapa. 15

It is perhaps important to note that this group of people were so established that up to

three of their dynasties can be traced in history. " Even with such a history, they did not

seem to have a group name. D.N. Beach sheds light on this when he states that:

Until the twentieth century, Shona-speakers had had no common name for
themselves. Most of them used terms like 'Shawasha', 'Hera', 'Duma' for their
local groups, and found them perfectly adequate in local politics. In the
eighteenth century, more general terms like 'Zezuru' or 'Ndau' were beginning
to come into use, but they were by no means generally accepted by 1900. The
spread and acceptance of those terms came as a result of missionary
influence.... the word 'Shona' was first used by the Ndebele in the 1830's, to
refer to the Rozvi, and was gradually applied by Europeans in the nineteenth
century to Shona-speakers as a whole. "

14M. F. C.Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples: An ethnography of the contemporary Shona, with
special reference to their Religion, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, pp. 19-20. See also S. I.G. Mudenge, op.
cit. p.22.

's S.Samkange, Origins of Rhodesia, London: Heinemann, 1973, p.2. Stan Mudenge in his A
Political History of Munhumutapa c1400-1902, gives a more detailed account of this empire which he
calls 'Munhumutapa. '
16M.F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, pp.24-26, Bourdillon gives a fuller treatment of the (a)
Mutapa in the middle of the 15thcentury, (b) the Changamire Mambos in the middle of the 17"' century
and (c) the Rozvi Changamires who ruled the South West until they were defeated by the Invading
Ndebele people in the 191'century.

17D.N. Beach, War and Politics in Zimbabwe 1840-1900, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1986, p. 14.

20
 Whatever the origin of their name, suffice it to say that this Bantu group has a proud

past. They are a people with long deep roots; a people with a distinct civilisation. 18

They also engaged in economic production including mining, hunting, trading,

manufacturing, fishing and gathering. Natural, social and technological factors often

influenced the type of economic activity practised at a particular time and place.19

Stan Mudenge, a Zimbabwean historian, is probably right to suggest that'Karanga' was

the historic name for most of the people known today as the Shona of Zimbabwe. 2°

Their use of the word 'chiKaranga' with reference to customary rituals adds weight to

the suggestion. Nevertheless, the term 'Shona' is now the accepted one. It takes care

of six dialect groups, namely, Kalanga, Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau and

Zezuru.21These are the bearers of the (Shona) culture which once flourished between

the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, stretching eastwards as far as the sea.22These

groups have very similar views of death and the dead, though there is no uniformity of

practice and observance among them.

11S.Samkange, Origins Rhodesia, 6.

of p.
19D.N. Beach, War
and Politics in Zimbabwe 1840-1900, p.8.
20 S. I. G. Mudenge, A Political History
of Munhumutapa 1400-1902, p.21.

21H. Kuper, (etal. ) The Shona

and Ndebele of Southern Rhodesia, London: International African
Institute, 1954. pp. 10-11,
corroborates the ethnic distribution of Shona groups. G. L. Chavunduka,
Traditional Healers and the Shona patient Gwelo: Mambo Press, 1978, 6.
p. states that, The Shona are
divided into six dialect groups: Zezuru, Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau
and Kalanga. ' See map on
p.447.

22S.Samkange, Origins Rhodesia, 3.

of p.

21
 1.2.2 The world-view

The Shona people believed and still believe in a divinity referred to by Westerners as

a 'high god'. 2' Mudenge confirms this belief in a divinity, for he writes, "broadly

speaking, all communities have a concept of a High God known at different places by

different names but today generally referred to as Mwari in Zimbabwe. n24D. N. Beach,

echoes the observation and also sums up the debate by pointing out that, "Shona

traditional religionists today believe in a single, supreme creator-God, Mwari. '25There

is a lot of debate around this topic, but a full debate on the matter is beyond the scope

of the present study. However it is important to note that an understanding of Mwari

had, and still has a bearing on the understanding of life. Mwari, as the creator, is

believed to have power over the ancestors, the dead (that is, those for whom the

appropriate rituals have not yet been done) and the living.

Ancestors are usually referred to as varikumhepo (those who are in the air), while those

awaiting rituals are referred to as varipasi (those who are below) literally referring to

the fact that they are still buried. At times ancestors and those awaiting rituals are

2' D. N. Beach, War

and Politics in Zimbabwe 1840-1900, pp. 120-122. See also Mudenge, A
Political History of Munhumutapa 1400-1902, p.28. This term was meant to show that there was a
difference between God as understood and worshipped by the Shona and God as understood and
preached to them by the missionaries. Even a renowned scholar like Michael Bourdillon calls'Mwari"a
remote high god' MFC Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, op. cit. p. 320.

24Mudenge, op.cit 28.

p.

u D.N. Beach, op. cit. 100. Both Mudenge and Beach agree that the Shona people were
p.
monotheists. Mudenge states, 'In addition to being monotheists, the Shona venerate their ancestors and
believe in spirit possession." p.28.

22
 26
collectively referred as varipasi. This demonstrates that there is a very thin line that
to

separates them, since they have both entered the spiritual domain.

These 'worlds' are not geographical locations, but they are portrayed as residences,

the spirit world (varikumhepo), the land of the living (the earth) and the land of the

departed, the underworld(varipasi) respectively. Patron spirits (mhondoro) are believed

to live on the earth. Together, spirits and beings make up the Shona world, which is

understood in terms of community.

The 'three worlds' and their respective inhabitants make the real Shona world of life

whole. It is the duty of the living to maintain a relationship with those in the spirit world.

This is because they 'believe in life as a spirit after death, during which a dead person

can continue to bear influence on the community he/she has left.'27 What Ezeanya

observes of a different community also describes the Shona people. He notes that 'the

world of the African is characterised by its unity and coherence ... and a correct

understanding [of African life] can only be obtained by surveying life as a whole.'28

There is a sense in which one can refer to only two worlds, that is, the physical and the

26 These
spirits are classified either as mudzimu (sing. ) midzimu (pl) (family spirits) or
mhondoro (regional or tribal spirits). See Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, p.232 for midzimu and p. 293
for mhondoro. See also G. Chavunduka, The traditional Healers, p. 99. See Interviews with T. Mukwishu,
p. 406 and V. Mutandwa, p. 414 for an understanding of the world.

27M.F.C. Bourditlon, op.

cit p.263.

28S.N. Ezeanya, 'God, Spirits

and the Spirit world: with specific reference to Igbo speaking
people of Southern Nigeria, ' in K. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical Revelation and African
Bliefs, London: Lutterworth Press, 1972, P.M.

23
 spiritual worlds. This is because when we look at how the world is ordered and how

things are done, the spirit world is perceived as a photocopy of the physical. This also

means that the activities of the dead and the spirits are understood in the light of those

of the living. The essence of this distinction is in the understanding that those who are

in the spiritual world have attained superior powers, including the ability to deal with

other spirits on behalf of their living kinsfolk-29

1.2.3 Relationships of the inhabitants

To understand clearly the relationships of the inhabitants of these three intertwined

spheres of the world we need to start with the living. The Shona people organise their

society hierarchically, with the most senior person, usually the chief, at the top. He is

usually not addressed directly but through a mediator. It is only in emergencies that he

can be addressed directly. If one seeks to present a request to this senior person, it

has to go through a process known as kusuma (presenting a request). The most junior

member in attendance is the one who is told what the request is all about. At an

opportune moment he invites all present to note the request (kusuma).30 He then

presents the request to the next senior person who in turn passes it on till it reaches the

29 M. F. C. Bourdillon,
op. cit p. 263. See also Chavunduka, Traditional Healers, p. 12, where he
echoes the same observations. He says, 'many Shona people believe that deceased kinsmen (and
women) continue to take an interest in the affairs of their descendants. It is believed that they protect
their descendants at all times. They have power to prevent evil and they also help the living in solving
daily problems. '

30"Kusuma is the
ceremonial handing over or presentation of person or object: the passive is
'ku-sumwa'... kusumwa is a very important aspect of Shona life; it is a dominant feature of the Shona
way of life.' See J. Kumbirai, 'Kurova Guva and Christianity,' in M.F.C. Bourdillon, Christianity South of
the Zambezi Vol. 2, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1977, p.124.

24
 most senior person present. All this is passed on in the most appropriate language,

accompanied by clapping of hands. 31

According to oral tradition, this hierarchy is believed to obtain in the spirit world as well.

The youngest member, one who has just joined the ranks, be it in the spirit world or the

land of the departed, 32 is assumed responsible for receiving the requests and

presenting them. He/she has to use acceptable language which he/she should have

learnt soon after joining the ranks. So requests in the spiritual world follow these

channels till they reach God. And, as in the land of the living, in emergencies God, the

Supreme Being, may be addressed directly. The dead become a vital link with the spirit

world. Midzimu are believed to have a role in death; either they prevent it or they

cause it.33If they are neglected they are believed to stop extending their protection.

Such withdrawal could result in death. They are also responsible for receiving the dead

into the land of the departed and admitting them into ancestorship when appropriate

rituals have been carried out to their satisfaction.

1.3 UNDERSTANDING HUMANITY

31See interviews with Rev'd G. Dete p.387 and Mr Munhikwi p.411.

32See p.22 above, for the difference between these two.

33Chavunduka, Traditional Healers, p. 12. Chavunduka explains that 'if, for example, a man
commits incest, or fails to perform the necessary ritual for a dead kinsman, the ancestors may punish
him with illness and, in extreme cases, with death. The ancestor spirits can do this by withdrawing their
vital protection and so permitting evil influences such as witchcraft to harm the individual. '

25
 The Shona people share with most Bantu peoples a common viewof humanity. In Bantu

Traditional Religion the human being is portrayed as essentially "dichotomous in

nature. °" This is because humanity is seen as a combination of two interwoven but

distinct elements; the body and the spirit. These, together, constitute the individual

person. The Shona, along with other tribes, hold that humanity was created by God with

capabilities to relate to both the physical and the spiritual worlds simultaneously.

Sidhom's observation, in a different context, can also be applied to the Shona people.

He says:

The origin of man (humanity) exhibits, according to African Tradition one

common factor: man was created by God and that he has his origin in Him. The
African, like a good pragmatic, produced no theological systems to frame his
beliefs. He regards God with great awe as the origin of all good and evil, and as
the remote, uncomprehended Being to whom to conjure, pray and adore rather
...
than to ask or beg should be directed in worship. God is: hence man is that
... -
is the core of African belief. Details might differ with the different tribes.35

The vernacular Shona words for body, muviri or nyama, 33describe the physical nature

of the human being, which enables one to be seen and be identified. It is perhaps

necessary to point out that this physicality may either be lifeless or live. Lifeless

physicalness denotes death, so one can still be identified even when dead. Live

physicalness on the other hand confers the ability to relate. It enables the individual "to

34R.J. Gehman, African Traditional Religion, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd,
1989, p.56. The word is not used to imply opposition, but to emphasise the two different natures.

35S.Sidhom, "The Theological Estimate of Man," in K. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical
Revelation and African Beliefs, London: Lutterworth Press, 1972, p. 100.

36See M. Hannan, Standard Shona Dictionary, Harare, Bulawayo: College Press, (reprinted)
1987. See interviews with Mr. T. Mukwishu p.406 and Mrs V. Mutandwa p.414. See also what Canaan
Banana says, "the spirit is immortal: chinoora inyama mweya hauori. This Shona statement means that
what perishes is the flesh but the sprit is immortal. This belief is evident in death and burial rituals." C.S.
Banana, Come and Share, op.cit., p.81.

26
 maintain a vital relationship with nature, God, the deities, ancestors, tribe, the clan, the

extended family and self ."37The spirit, mweya, animates the body to show life and this

emphasizes that uthe spirit is the life-principle and its existence is manifest through

breathing. "38

Through its anatomy, female or male, the body determines in tradition the operational

relationship with the spirit. A female is treated differently from a male and the rites and

rituals that honour them are also different. The spirit of life in each is supposed to know

its appropriate rites. 39Thisconception of the spirit, mweya, highlights that it is immortal.

Shona people believe that "the mweya, although it develops in a temporal milieu as the

individual grows, is in itself immortal. It is the'life-principle' of man, incarnate in him and

developing its personal and unique characteristics while he is alive, but surviving the

death of the body. "40

The nature of humanity in a traditional setting is such that while the person is still alive,

the spirit, mweya, already has some relationship with the ancestors. They are intimately

referred to as varipasi, those beneath the earth. It is essential to maintain this

relationship because it has significance for the spirit's transformation Into a mudzimu

37S. Sidhom, in K.. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical Revelation, 102.
, op. cit. p.
38R.J. Gehman, African Traditional Religion, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd,
1989, p. 56.

39See interviews with Revd G. Dete p.387

and Mr Munhikwi p.411.

40M.W. Murphree, Christianity and the Shona, London: The Athlone Press, 1969, p.32.

27
 whereby it takes its place in the spiritual hierarchy of the ancestors. "a'

The dichotomous nature of humanity is further confirmed in the belief that though one

is an individual, with a personal name, one is also more than an individual body and

spirit. In any one individual, as we noted, there is the collective reality of family, clan

and tribe. - This one individual is also community, that is, the individual is also the

spiritual personification of a community. This sums up the African way of life, as

Swailem Sidhom notes, "existence-in-relationship sums up the pattern of the African

way of life."42Community spirit and existence-in-relationshippermeate the whole of

traditional life. It is the basic principle of life, which Mbiti articulately spells out thus, "I

am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am. In traditional life, the individual

does not and cannot exist alone except corporately He is simply a part of the
...
whole. "43The significance of community for the individual cannot be overemphasized.

Ndeti, a Kenyan exponent of African Traditional Religion aptly echoes this complex

solidarity as he states that:

this community extends beyond the living members of the clan and tribe. It
...
incorporates those who have died and those who are yet unborn. (The
individual) is a physical representative of the dead, living and unborn. Thus (the
individual) is a community incorporating three principles - life, spirit and
immortality. ""

41 Ibid. P. 32

42 R.J. Gehman, African Traditional Religion, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd,
1989, p.52.

43J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 190, p. 106.

44K. Ndeti, Elements of Akamba Life, Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1972, p.114.

28
 A third aspect of the dichotomy relates to double existence; according to tradition,

humanity is both mortal and immortal. The human person has a mortal body, muviri

or nyama, and an immortal spirit, mweya. At death the body remains to be buried, while

the spirit sets off on its journey towards ancestorship. This understanding of human

nature helps us to apprehend the intricacies of the rituals that surround death and the

dead. It also helps us appreciate the importance of maintaining community relationships

with the dead.

1.4 VIEWS OF DEATH

Death is the separation of the two elements of humanity. When it occurs the body

becomes lifeless and is considered dead, a corpse, mutumbi'45or chitunha. The spirit,

which is believed to be immortal, makes its journey to the land of the departed. Those

who witness the death weep and wail as a way of notifying others that something has

happened. This is a peculiar weeping and wailing. It marks the beginning of mourning,

as Mandaza attests:

Mourning begins and all the people from the neighbouring villages converge on
this home. Upon entering the village, one is deeply moved not only by the
weeping crowds, but by the sight of the blood relatives of the deceased wailing
in grief, dashing themselves against the walls. Short drums are played and
traditional songs are sung for the dead. 46

In addition to notifying others that something has occurred it is also a plea for mercy to

45S. Hannan, Standard Shona Dictionary, p.421.

46D.M. Mandaza, "Traditional Ceremonies which Persist, " in Clive & Peggy Kilef (eds) Shona
Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, p.54.

29
 the spirits. Since "death affects the whole community,"47those who hear this cry leave

whatever they are doing and head in its direction. 48When they reach the village, they

will then be advised of who died, how he or she died, and what he or she said, if

anything, before he or she died. These new arrivals then salute the other people

present with the words nenhamo/nematambudziko (you witnessed the hardship), or any

other appropriate form. 49In some regions they shake everyone's hands as well; this is

known as kubata maoko, holding hands. 50 This procedure is repeated by subsequent

arrivals. The corpse is then wrapped up in a blanket and laid on a mat. From this time

on it is to be treated with respect since it is the physical, but lifeless, presence of the

individual person whose spirit is on its way to the land of the departed.

1.4.1 Death as a phenomenon

Death is believed to be both a natural and an unnatural phenomenon which is always

regarded as being caused by some external force. It is therefore important to establish

47K.A. Dickson, Theology in Africa, London: Darton Longman & Todd Ltd, 1984, p. 192.

4SE. B.Magava, `African Customs connected with the burial of the dead in Rhodesia, " in J. A.
Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 1, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1973, p. 152. Magava says,
"according to custom, women bring to the kraal mealie meal in baskets and if possible vegetables as
well. This food is to be used to provide hospitality for mourners. Similarly men may bring some money
for the same purpose of assisting the bereaved. " Rev'd G. Dete and M. Munhikwi, while agreeing with
E.B. Magava, add that it is the responsibility of men to fetch big blocks of firewood for the purpose of
cooking for, and warming mourners.

49 E. B. Magava, Ibid., p. 152. Magava says, 'it is well to note the employment of the term
matambudziko or inkathazo (caused suffering) when referring to any death that has taken place. '

soThese acts are done for a variety of reasons. From a community perspective, they are an
expression of solidarity and sympathy. From a religious point of view they are believed to enhance
community spirit, and to appease the spirits. If that is achieved, the mweya of the deceased is somehow
assured of a good journey.

30
 its cause, so that the appropriate propitiatory rituals can accompany the burial.

Seymour captures some of the feelings of the Shona people perfectly when he notes

that for them, at one level, "no one should die. Man should live forever. Death is not

natural. Even a very old person should never die and life is only removed by an

offended mudzimu"a' (ancestral spirit). It is interesting to note that though an African

community is only complete when it incorporates the dead, death is not regarded as

natural. We are therefore presented with a picture of death which makes it ambiguous

and paradoxical in nature. 52What probably makes it unnatural is the way in which it

affects relationships, depriving people of each other's physical companionship by

separating the living from their loved ones. Obviously it is a "disrupting, suspicious

phenomenon, unnatural, shocking and dreaded, "53normally unacceptable.

Existence-in-relationship is radically changed and the natural way of life disturbed. A

dual fear accompanies the observance of death, namely, (a) the prospect of facing the

future without the loved one, and (b) not knowing what the ancestral involvement in it

was. Eli Magava's words, though referring to the Ndebele people, also apply to the

Shona, "like all humans, the Ndebele people, fear a lot of things. Among the things that

we fear is the natural phenomenon- death, which many of us believe that it is caused

sl J.J. Seymour, The Changing Trends of the Shona Family in Zimbabwe-How the Church can
Help, SLSA, Doctoral Thesis, Harare Zimbabwe, 1990, p. 19.

52While death is both natural and unnatural, it is also a fulfilment of life, especially if one dies
in old age. Canaan Banana notes that, on the other hand, there is a paradox in the acknowledgement
of a `timely death'. After a serious and long illness or senile age (kana munhu wodzurwa nendove
kumusana), it is at this time when people talk of a timely death. C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.81.

53C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.81.

31
 by angry ancestral spirits. "54These words express the paradoxical nature of death, and

at the same time reflect a fundamental belief, that it is caused, in this case by angry

spirits.

Death, as we noted, is received with mixed feelings, but it is important that death be

spoken of with respect, for fear of offending the ancestral spirits further, should they be

involved in causing it. One would surely not want to aggravatethe situationfurther. An

attempt to respect death is found in the words that are used to describe it. They still,

however, express the sense of loss and bereavement. Here are a few such

euphemisms, 55which could be parallelled in most cultures:

Waenda : has gone

Wapera : is finished

Washaya : has vanished

Watisiya : has left us

Wazorora : has rested.

Most of these expressions of death implicitly convey the idea of moving from one place

to another. This indicates that the dead person continues to be a member of the family,

because moving from one place to another does not sever bonds of relationship. Death

is believed to be the gateway into the other world and the beginning of the journey to

saE.B. Magava, Ndebele people with their Ancestral Spirits BUT no table of the Lord with the
table of Demons, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1986, p. 19.

55C.S.Banana, Come and Share, p.79. Banana observes that among the Shona, 'death is rarely
expressed sharply as death. Some blunt euphemistic words or phrases are used to refer to death. '

32
 the spiritual world of the departed. Mbiti captures this vividly when he says, "death

transposes the music of life from one key to another, switching it from the rhythm of the

physical to the spiritual world. "' So whatever happens, the deceased continues to be

a member of the family. The observation that, "death means not annihilation but

departure to the spirit world, "57finds full expression in this understanding of death.

If we take our cue from the view point that death is not annihilation, we are faced with

the question, 'How should we understand death? ' Addressing this question, in a

different context, Mulago offers the folowing insights:

This life is not destroyed by death, although death may subject it to a change of
condition. It does not move in a straight line: it is better to compare it with the
circumference of a circle. In other words there is no break between life and
death, but continuity between the two. 58
-

This understanding of death accommodates the other aspects of traditional life and

community in full. It presents a way of looking at life as a whole, including the death

aspect referred to as a musical key transposing the rhythm of life. When we look at life

as a whole, the traditional landmarks should be acknowledged. Mbiti notes the

wholeness of traditional life:

56J S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p. 131.
.
57Ibid. P.129.

58V. Mulago, "Vital Participation, " in K. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical Revelation and
African Beliefs, London: Lutterworth Press, 1972, p. 138. See also Banana, who notes that among the
Shona 'death is not death; it is a vehicle from the ontology of visible beings to the ontology of the
invisible beings. Death is part of life, it is a gateway to eternity, it is a gateway to life in the here-after.
LIFE - DEATH - LIFE. ' C. S. Banana, Come and Share, p.79.

33
 Human life follows also another rhythm which knows neither end nor radical
alteration, this is the rhythm of birth, initiation, marriage, procreation, old age,
death and entry into the company of the departed. 59

We should note that though death is part of the rhythm of life its acceptability remains

problematic. The other elements of the rhythm including old age, are acceptable, but

it
when comes to death the 60
picture changes. However there are times when death has

to be accepted, as Banana observed. " In traditional thinking, death seems natural only

for the elderly, particularly those who have had children.

Oral tradition has it that news of the death of an individual should be passed on to all

relatives as a matter of urgency. If this is not done, some of the relatives may be

adversely affected by it. They may experience mishaps, known in Shona as mashura

(bad omens). On the other hand, the death of the dying person might be painfully

dragged out because one wishes a particular relative to be present. Or at times, the

dying person expresses a desire to die in familiar surroundings; this may also prolong

the dying process, it is believed. When the awaited relative comes, the dying person

might peacefully pass away, or say something to him or her or even just hold the hand

of the relative till death occurs. ' Likewise, restoring the dying person to familiar

59J S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p. 13.

60The popular view of tradition has it that death is discontinuity because it puts an end to
personal relationships. On the other hand it is continuity because the dead are believed to live on, and
are present with their living, protecting them from a spiritual vantage point.

61C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p. 81. See footnote 52, above.

62Perhaps it is important to note that oral tradition holds that death away from home may have
an effect on the rest of the spirit, partly because what we have described does not happen. Maybe it
could be because the deceased was not buried in accordance with his or her customs, or because none

34
 surroundingscan lead to the release of a peaceful death. While this has significance
in later rituals and ceremonies, it also lends weight to the observation that "death binds

up relationships in the society, revitalizing the living and underscoring their sense of

community."

1.4.2 The burial.

Burial is the act of disposing of the corpse, the physical part of the human being. It is

the last rite done for and with the deceased. At burial "a lot of complicated things take

place. "64 The rite is important to the deceased, since it is a commendation, and

important too for the remaining living relatives, as a farewell. High emotions and great

solemnity characterize it. We should note that burial rites and practices vary from place

to place even among the Shona people. All the same we shall explore the general

pattern of burial and the beliefs that go with it.

The grave is the pivotal point in the burial process. Some people, long before their

death, indicate where they want to be buried. This personal choice, though unwritten,

has to be honoured. Somefamilies or clans have special burial places, in which case

of his relatives marked the grave. Being buried away from one's home also means that the person does
not have a chance to say what he or she would really want to say if he or she was among relatives, in
other words they are deprived of giving the dying testament. This could affect the'rest'. See'The Burial'.

63K.G. Molyneux, African Christian Theology: The Quest for Selfhood, USA: Mullen Research
University Press, 1993, p.69.

64M. Gelfand, Growing up in Shona Society, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1979, p.58. See page 39
for details of some of the complications that might present themselves.

35
the deceased's grave will be in that burial place. 65If the deceased has not chosen a

grave site, or there is no family burial place, then the family representative will choose

where the deceased will be buried. What makes the grave so important is the fact that

it is looked upon as the house, or final resting place of the deceased.

In a traditional Shona setting, when a member of the family wants to build a house, the

family elder or representative marks the spot by thrusting a pick into the ground. The

reasoning behind this is that the place is thereby officially recognized as part of the

grounds to be visited and protected by the ancestors. In the same way, the grave is part

of the community, because it is the visible link with the land of the departed. So the way

in which it is dug, and the way in which the dead is laid to rest in it, should be in

keeping with traditional customs, so that the ancestors do not take offence. Because of

this awareness of the presence of the ancestors "the body must be buried with every

sign of respect and regard and heed must be paid to the grave. "66

Early in the morning, on the day of the burial, the family representative or elder leads

a group of people to where the deceased is to be laid to rest. When he or she gets to

the spot, he or she crouches and commends this place to the ancestors. After this he

or she marks the grave with a pick, or other digging instrument. The elder then thrusts

65See Chapter four, p. 173 below, for an example.

66M. Gelfand, Shona Religion, Cape Town: Juta & Co Ltd, 1962, p. 120.

36
 the digging instrument once into the ground within the outline of the grave; " this

indicates where the head should lie. This is a symbolic act, depicting the reality of

traditional Shona life, that no one builds his/her own house without the family elder or

representative's blessing. So this is both an approval and an acceptance of the grave

as being of significance to the family. After this, those who had come with him or her do

the digging. 68

The family representative returns to the homestead, this time to lead a group of elderly

men to the cattle kraal, where they are to slaughter a beast, if one has not been

slaughtered by then, to (a) provide people with food and (b) equip the deceased with

a burial blanket, the skin. The beast is known as mombe ye nheedzo, the beast to

accompany the deceased. ' Back in the village, the women are busy preparing the food

which will feed all the people who come for the funeral. Some of this food will have

been provided by the mourners themselves. Each family brings an amount of mealie

meal, and whatever else they can afford, to help the bereaved neighbours.

While the digging of the grave and the preparation of the food are going on, close

67E.B. Magava, in J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 1, p. 152. Magava clarifies
the situation by stating that, the person who digs the first sods must be a near relative of the deceased
person, regardless of the sex of that person.' Banana emphasizes the ritual element of practices relating
to death, so he points out that, 'grave-digging is done ritually. ' C. S. Banana, Come and Share, p. 82.

68See interviews with Munhikwi p.411 and Mrs Kiyase Shumba p.419.

69J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 1990, p. 146. See also
interviews with Gideon Dete p.387 and Mrs. M. Chikonamombe p.381.

37
 relatives, led by the same family elder, prepare the corpse for burial. 70In some regions

this task is undertaken by the sahwira (ritual or joking friend), usually the deceased's

best friend. Inside the hut or room, they clap their hands in unison commending the

deceased to the care of the ancestral spirits. They also ask each other if there were any

signs which could be interpreted as discontent on the part of the deceased.

The way in which these observations are received and interpreted is reflective of the

depth and wealth of oral tradition, illustrating the belief that death is not annihilation. It

is believed that if the deceased died as a result of someone else's machinations, he

or she will react if that person attends the funeral. On the other hand, if the deceased

was angry at death because certain things were not done according to his or her

instructions and wishes, his or her spirit in silhouette (mumvun), will be seen in shadow

form near the corpse. Some people make a distinction between the shadows, since

they hold that a person has two shadows; a black one representing the flesh (nyama)

and another white one, representingthe spirit (mweya).

Depending on the region, oral tradition holds that the shadow of a dissatisfied male is

seen in a standing position, while that of a woman is seen in a lying position. Others
further interpret the position of the shadow as an indication of the sex of the person

70The preparation might include the washing of the corpse. Magava states that `the custom of
washing the corpse before burial obtains throughout Rhodesia, although in some cases only the face is
washed; in other cases the whole body is washed. ' E.B. Magava, in J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the
Zambezi. Vol. 1, p. 152. For Banana this preparation is part of the ritual, so he says "the body of the
deceased is ritually washed, it is ritually smeared with oils and is ritually wrapped in a blanket or an
animal skin in certain traditional practices. ' C.S. Banana, Come and Share, pp. 81-82.

38
 who caused the deceased the annoyance. For our purposes, suffice it to say that there

are signs which traditional practitioners can interpret. The absence of such signs is

indicative of normalcy. Those responsible then prepare "the bodyfor burial by wrapping

it with pieces of cloth (which replace the traditional skin) bought by the deceased's sons

(if they are old enough to do this). °" It is also believed that the dead father can refuse

the cloth from his son, if the relationship between them was strained. It is believed that,

"if a shadow from the dead body appears while the body is being wrapped, it means the

father or mother has refused the cloth of the son because of wrongs committed against

him or her. The son has to put things right immediately or face future trouble. P72If this

shadow, mumvuri, was ever noticed prior to this stage, the elders would want to know

why before the burial, so that the burial rite might accommodate this displeasure.

Taking no cognisance of the hard feelings thus indicated could create problems for

those engaged in the burial or even the whole family. '

Among the many things that might possibly take place are, (a) that the coffin could

become so heavy that even the strongest of people present fail to lift it, or (b) the coffin

might not go through the doorway because it will have become wider, (c) the corpse

might start bulging to the extent that the coffin will begin to crack, or (d) the corpse

71D. M. Mandaza, 'Traditional Ceremonies

which Persist, ' in Clive & Peggy Kilef (eds) Shona
Customs. Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, p.54.

72Ibid. pp. 54-55.

73It is very difficult to ascertain

who is supposed to see the shadow since there are variations.
However, indications are that it is the main burial party, and not everyone present, who see the
shadow.

39
 might produce an offensive smell which makes the hut uncomfortable to live in, or (e)

the grave diggers might strike rock before they have dug deep enough. 74The family

elder should lead the close relatives in acknowledging to the deceased that his or her

anger has been noted. The elder addresses the deceased, letting him or her know that

the gathered relatives want to lay him or her to rest and that all the other problems will

be dealt with fully afterwards. The corpse is addressed as if it were alive, from a

crouching position, with clapping of hands. We should note that all this is done in the

understanding that whatever is done to the corpse affects the spirit. Mbiti aptly

comments that, "it is the general feeling that if the dead are not properly buried they

may take revenge upon the living or remain unpeaceful in the land of the departed. "75

Traditionally, there are set times for burying the dead, early in the morning and late

afternoon. Under normal circumstances no one would be buried at mid-day or at night.

Midday is far too hot and night is considered to be the time for witches. With this

knowledge at the back of their minds, all the people engaged in burial tasks make sure

that they are not responsible for causing any delays. The people digging the grave are

the ones who normally dictate the pace for all the others. When they have finished

digging they send word to the family representative so that the grave can be inspected

74 See interviews with M. Shoko p.411and K. Shumba p.419. Eli Magava also writes OAsthe
digging continues, great care is taken to see that no rock obstructs it. If some obstruction prevents the
digging of the grave or makes continuation difficult, this is interpreted as an objection to the spot by the
deceased and, in deference to him, a fresh spot must therefore be sought. This can happen several
times before burial takes place. ' Magava in J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 1, p. 152.

75J. S. Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, London: SPCK, 1970, p.257. See also interviews with
V. Mutandwa p.414 and Munikwi Shoko p.411.

40
 and certified ready. Once this has been done, the elders and the close relatives go into

the hut or room where the corpse is for a rite within a rite, that is, a rite for close blood

relatives only.

The leader of the team addresses the corpse, telling it that they are taking it to its final

resting place. Depending on how the place has been chosen, appropriate words will be

said; such as, 'we are taking you to where your grand father Iies' or 'to the place you

chose for yourself. ' They also ask for the assistance of the ancestral spirits so that this

task can be properly carried out. Clapping accompanies these formalities as usual. 76

After this the coffin or corpse is ready to be taken outside. In some places the corpse

is conveniently placed so that all present, particularly those who wish, may view the

face of the deceased. After this the corpse is then carried to the grave. To indicate that

this is a journey, the procession is punctuated by halts, meant to give the deceased

some rest. While the body is being carried to the grave some people sweep the room

or hut where the corpse has lain. This is done for two reasons: the main reason being

to remove the smell from the hut, and secondly to drive away the infection and the

magic powers that have caused the death. " The fear of death and suffering come into

people's minds and consequently this rite is a very important one. The dirt is taken to

the grave, so that it is also interred with the corpse. 78

76See interviews with G. Dete p.387 and M. Shoko p.411.

77W. Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1983, p.28.

78 It is important to note that this process also takes care of any pollution that might have
occurred following from the illness. John Kurewa, when he was Vice Chancellor of the All Africa
University once read a paper at the Zimbabwe Christian Council in which he elaborately explained how

41
 At the grave, there are selected people who should lay the corpse to rest; one such

person is the sahwira. He is assisted by other relatives, but not very close ones. There

is an expression which goes'munhu haazvivigi', meaning'a person does not bury him

or herself. ' This is said with reference to close relatives of the dead, that they should

not do the burying, though they should remain in attendance to advise on procedure.

Their involvement is only that required by ritual, including the fact that they are the last

to leave the grave. This has to be observed because the "vadzimu (ancestral spirits )

may be angered if a person is not accorded proper burial, as, for instance, not putting

the body in a proper position when burying it."'s

Those who receive the coffin in the grave to lay the deceased to rest, do so according

to local custom, under the guidance of the elders. 80When this has been satisfactorily

done, those in the grave come out. This is to enable the family elder to lead the

procession of relatives in bidding farewell to the deceased. He or she does this by

throwing a handful of soil into the grave onto the coffin, uttering some words. The words

that accompany this action vary from place to place, and from person to person. The

most familiar phrases are zororai murugare (rest in peace), or mufambe zvakanaka, (go

well), or some other heartfelt expressions. In some places, local custom dictates that

all relatives of the deceased should be in attendance at the funeral to bid the deceased

traditional Shona burial rites were hygienic. He emphasized that sweeping the hut and smearing it with
fresh cow-dung as soon as the corpse is taken out is comparable to using a modem disinfectant.

79J.J. Seymour, The Changing Trends of the Shona Family in Zimbabwe-How the Church can
Help, SLSA, Doctoral Thesis, Harare Zimbabwe, 1990, p.20.

soSince it varies from place to place, in some places it is the Sahwira and any other person, in
others it is strictly elderly close relatives of the deceased.

42
farewell. When this is not possible, those who are present throw handfuls of soil on

behalf of absent family members. The normal procedure is thatwomen represent female

absentees while men represent their male counterparts. After this, other people may

also join the queue to bid the deceased farewell.

This completed, according to Munhikwi, 81the sahwira jumps into the grave to receive

shovels full of soil, with which he gently covers the coffin. He does this till the coffin is

completely covered with soil, and the grave about one third full, then jumps out. This

is to prevent heavy lumps of soil hitting the coffin directly, which could be misconstrued

as lack of respect for the dead. Filling the grave continues, till it is half full or

thereabouts. At this point the dirt that was swept from the hut or room, and the other

items used on the corpse, are put into the grave. Selected clothes of the deceased are

also thrown into the grave at this point, once it has been ascertained that they do not

have buttons and zips on them. This indicates accommodation of western dress into

traditional views.

Metal objects are only included when the deceased is believed to have been murdered.

The words spoken over them are very explicit, munhu anozvirwira (a person fights for

him or herself). It is believed that the spirit of the deceased knows the circumstances

surrounding the murder, including whether he or she was guilty or innocent of some

wrongdoing. At the burial, assuming that the deceased was innocent, or even believing

81See interview with Munhikwi p.411.

43
 that he or she deserveda chanceto be heard, his or her spirit is encouragedto settle

the score. Such a burial is not marked by much ritual, but is characterized by words

inciting revenge, such as usarara ukakanganwa (don't sleep and forget), or some such

words. Knobkerries, spears and the like are thrown into the grave as a way of equipping

the deceased for the battle. The deceased's spirit is expected to find its way to the

home of the person who murdered him or her and wreak havoc in it. It will kill the

murderer's children and/or livestock. This is known as ngozi (avenging spirit). The only

way out for the murderer is to go to the home of the victim and openly confess his or her

crime. A settlement is called for, which, if honoured to the satisfaction of the victim's

relatives, marks the end of the battle. At times the services of a n'anga have to be

sought because the ngozi spirit has to be exorcised, in which case an experienced

n'anga "endeavours to transfer the troublesome spirit from the person to a black fowl

or black goat. The n'anga, surrounded by the people of the village, says to the evil

spirit, 'Go away! We don't want you' (Chienda zvako hatikude). u

There is also a noticeable difference at the burial of a social misfit of any kind, including

witches and wizards. No one is particularly concerned about how the body should be

laid to rest, as long as it is buried. This burial is more a matter of duty than anything

else. It is as if the people present, usually not very many, and the relatives, are saying

"good riddance". Everything done at such a burial reflects the social standing of the

82D.M. Mandaza, 'Traditional Ceremonies which Persist, ' in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona
Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, pp. 59-60. Note that the spirit of one who has died a violent death
wanders about. The reason being that there was no respect shown to the body. See above under 'The
burial', p.35.

44
 deceased,and not many people would want to talk about the burial. Words such as

enda namabasa ako (go with your works), are said by the family representative, who

speaks on behalf of all present. The burial is the official cut-off point for all ties with the

deceased. He or she is not included on the ancestor's roll because his or her spirit is

left to wander indefinitely. The belief that "at all ceremonies of any importance, at birth,

marriage, death, burial and investiture, it is the ancestors who preside and their will is

subordinate only to that of the Creator, "" shapes and influences rituals.

We mentioned earlier that one's sex determines appropriate rituals; at burial one's

maturity and social status are important factors too. For instance, the burial rituals for

the father of the family are slightly different from those for the mother, and so are those

for unmarried adult children from those for infants. Let us briefly look at these

differences and their implications.

In some places the father of the family is buried near his home or his cattle kraal and

there is usually very little argument about this. As a married person something of his

wife is buried with him, be it a dress or a tuft of hair. When it is the mother, there should

be proper agreement between her maiden family and her marital family as to where she

will be buried. The way she is to be buried is also a matter for discussion. When she

is buried, a symbol of her marital status is interred with her; this could be any item.

83V. Mulago, `Vital Participation, ' in K. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical Revelation and
African Beliefs, London: Lutterworth Press, 1972, p. 139.

45
 A grown up, but unmarried person, is buried with either a rat or an expended mealie

cob tied round the 84

waist. This is to show that he or she was not married, and further,

that it was not the wish of the remaining members that he or she should have died

single, so the deceased should not be angry with anyone of them. He or she should be

content with the provisions and rest in peace. Infants are buried in river beds, or any

other wet place. If this is not possible, some water weeds are planted on their graves

or interred with them. 85This is probably because infants are considered to be fluid, like

water, as demonstrated in the language describing the death of an infant: it is said

yadeuka (it has spilled). In a traditional setting, there is no weeping and wailing for an

infant, and people are not supposed to gather. Men are not part of the burial party of

an infant. An infant is closely associated with the womb, so people who identify with the

womb are the ones who should take care of it. The womb is a wet place, so burying the

infant in a wet place is giving it its natural environment. In turn this will not adversely

affect the mother's womb. It is held in some places that if an infant is buried in a dry

place with no water symbolism, the mother's womb will be affected and she might not

be able to have any more children, her womb will be dry.86

After the burial everyone present is expectedto make their way to the home through

designated points where dishes of water, mixed with herbs, are strategically placed for

84See interviews with T. Mukwishu p.407, E. Chinyeke p.384 and M. Shoko p.411.

85E.B.Magava in J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 1, p. 152. See V. Sachikonye
p.432 below, and interviews with M. Chikonamombe p.381 and E. Chinyeke p.384.

86E.B. Magava, in J. A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 1, p. 155.

46
 them to wash at least their hands. The herb is called zumbani, a smelly plant with small

bright green leaves. 87It is used as a disinfectant. As people wash their hands the grits

of soil stuck in their fingernails drop into the water, and any contaminants are taken

care of by the zumbani. This is done to ensure that no one transports this death to their

own homes. As people enter the home they are asked to sit down so that they can be

fed. In keeping with tradition, this feeding process marks the conclusion of the funeral.

On leaving people just make their way without necessarily telling anyone that they are

leaving. This is because it is believed that if you bid anyone farewell at a funeral you

are actually inviting death. At an opportune time "the sahwira sprinkles some medicine

in the house of the dead man to make it habitable for the living. " In all circumstances

the sahwira should be respected and given what is due to him for his duties. Even after

this he continues to play a vital role in receiving those who come to express their

condolences to the blood relatives, and shows them the grave.

1.4.3. Ceremonies immediately after burial

After the burial, close relatives of the deceased remain behind tidying up the

surroundings of the grave. In some places they actually sweep the place so that they

will be able to detect if the place has been tampered with by witches in the night.

97Eli Magava, in JA. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi, op. cit., p. 155, says zumbani, is
usually used as a strong smelling shrub that may remove the smell of death. " Once again the idea of
avoiding pollution can be traced in this practice.

S8D.M. Mandaza, `Traditional Ceremonies which Persist, ' in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona
Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, p.56.

47
 Because of this concern, the elderly relatives are the last to leave the site. They also

commend the deceased to the ancestors as Mandaza vividly describes:

When burial is complete, everybody goes away while the old men of the clan
gather round the grave and hand over by prayer the spirit of the dead to the
ancestors. They all clap and the head of the family says, 'Here is your person
whom you have taken from us. We now hand him to you, welcome him in the
spirit world and also look after us who are left outside. '89

As they come back home they are not to wash their hands in the water that everybody

else has used. The reason for this is simply that for them death has already struck; it

is in their home. What they need is strength to cope with it. In traditional thinking they

also need protection, for themselves and the home, that death does not strike again.

They gather together in the hut or room where the deceased was, and there they

undergo a kind of purification rite usually led by a herbalist, before they mix freely with

the rest of the people. 90Meanwhile the people are being fed and those who have been

fed are leaving.

In the evening of the day of the burial, family members come together for consultation

and delegation of duties. There are people who are given the duty of checking on the

state of the grave Some are assigned to go to a n'anga to find out what caused the
.
death and whether the deceased has any grievances. Some people send this

delegation secretly before burial, in which case this would be their reporting back time.

Other people are appointed to take care of the black cloths, the pieces of cloth that all

89Ibid., p.56.

90This small ceremony is meant to prevent further deaths in the family. See interviews with
G.Dete p.387 and G. Mashura p.400.

48
close relatives pin to their shirt or dress sleeve. These can even start working on their

materials that evening, if they have not already done so. This consultation can be

viewed as the summing up of the death formalities and the beginning of the

acknowledgement of the dead.91

Early the next day, all the relatives go to their various assigned duties. Those assigned

to check on the grave are the ones everybody most wants to hear from. If anything is

the matter, the concern will be passed on to those who go to consult a nanga. The

n'anga will then help them to know who tampered with the grave. If all is well with the

grave, the grave inspectors simply come back home and join the rest of the family in

waiting for the time of other ceremonies. When that time comes, all members are

gathered together, their heads are shaven, as a sign of (a) the bareness that has

befallen them, (b)solidarity, (c) symbolically acknowledging that death defaces. 92

Depending on the region and local customs, this is also the time when they are given

pieces of black cloth to stick onto their shirt or jacket sleeves, as a sign of their

bereavement. The widow or widows, are given black dresses and black head gear. 93

This is a modification of traditional usage under European influence, as Magava notes,

"before the Europeans came to Rhodesia an African who was bereaved had a

customary way of showing this ... and in Mashonaland it was the wearing of mupfuti

91See interviews with Munhikwi Shoko p.411 and R.Chenzira p.378.

92This explanation was given to the writer while he was a participant observer, Harare, 2.8.99.

93E.Magava, in J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi, op. cit. p. 152.

49
fibre round the neck. "94 Elderly women help to dress the widow(s). These clothes are

to be worn at all times till the big ceremony of kurova guva, calling home the dead, is

completed. This dress should not be sewn, or patched up should it start wearing out,

as it is believed that sewing or patching it will have adverse effects on the wearer. She

will be a perpetual victim of death. Where the family cannot afford a new black dress,

the widow(s), will continue to wear their usual dresses, but turned inside out. Both the

black dress and the wearing of dresses inside out symbolize that the sprits have treated

the widow(s) unfavourably.

A widower puts on a black arm band, which should go round the whole arm. This

symbolizes that he has lost his other hand. Society in general is considerate towards

these people because it understands the symbolism. The mourning period up to kurova

guva, varies from six months to a year, depending on circumstances and local customs.

During this whole period no joyous occasions such as marriages and anniversaries are

celebrated in this home. It is black, musha mutema, literally meaning that the home is

black, a traditional way of referring to bereavement. The bereaved may however go to

joyous occasions celebrated in the community.

1.4.4. The tool cleansing rite

Traditionally, about one or two weeks after the burial the rite of the cleansing of the

94Ibid., p. 152.

50
tools takes place in the home of the deceased.We should note that on the day of the

burial no special care was taken of the digging tools. This is probably because the

diggers were tired and hungry as they were absorbed into the group of mourners, for

the interment. They did not have time to clean the tools they were using. Traditionally,

tool cleansing is important enough to need a separate rite, so these tools are stored in

the home of the dead for sometime until the rite is performed. At this ceremony the

diggers take stock of all the tools they used, which are then cleansed and handed back

to their owners.

The purpose of this ceremony is twofold: (a) to cleanse the tools and those who were

involved with the grave, and (b) to console the bereaved. Its Shona name actually

explains it clearly; kusuka nhumbi, meaning cleansing the implements or doro retsvina,

(the beer of dirt). As the alternative name suggests, there is beer drunk at this

ceremony. This beer "is brewed by the sahwira's wife or wives at the deceased man's

home. This is a very simple ceremony and beer drinking and tribal dancing are the

important features. "95The most important guests at this ceremony are those who dug

the grave and those who carried stones to put onto the grave. They drink this beer and

also use it to cleanse themselves and the tools they used, and they share it with other

people present. Because this beer is for a special purpose it is dedicated to the spirits,

and in some places it is treated by a n'anga. This is done so that 'contamination is

removed from the implements. ' Chabudapasi explains the procedure for us:

The beer is put in clay pots. The washing starts with the first person who dug

95Ibid. p.57.
fOF1

51
 the grave. These people are washed so that they are free from any misfortunes
which might come from burying the dead person. The person who first dug the
grave takes beer with a cup (mukombe) in his hand. He pours beer on his legs.
The others wash their hands in the beer and the main guests come in turns to
be washed. The process of washing is called kutiva (swimming) and the pot is
called harf yamativo (the pot for swimming). 1

As the beer is drunk and the tools washed the bereaved are encouraged to think

positively about the death, and accept their plight, since death does not end life. They

are actually teased about it. Should anyone be overcome by emotion and burst into

tears or even break down, he/she is not frowned on. Instead this is considered a healthy

way of dealing with the reality of death. Traditionally people are not supposed to bottle

up emotions relating to death. So if anyone is overcome by emotion in the process, the

ceremony is hailed as a success. The cause of death is then revealed to the people.

"If the deceased was murdered, the spirit maybe told here not to be angry with its family

members, but to punish the offender(s) or murderer(s). "97This is known as kuriga

mazembe. "Then the rest of the beer is given to the people and they drink while beating

drums and singing traditional songs in honour of the ancestors. "98

Those who had lent their tools: shovels, picks, crowbars, hoes and whatever else, are

free to collect them. They no longer have the dirt and contamination of death on them.

96 T. Chabudapasi, 'Three Ceremonies for the Dead,' in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona
Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, pp. 64-65.

97C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.83.

98T. Chabudapasi, in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona Customs, p.65.

99W. Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, p.29.

52
 It should be noted that 'the dedication of the beer to the spirits is the only conscious

invocation of the spirits. ' This means that there is no set way of concluding the ritual. 100

1.5 VIEWS ON THE DEAD

In Shona Traditional Religion, immortality is part of the espoused beliefs about God

and humanity. For the Shona it is an inherent God-given quality rooted in human

nature. 101The body, by its nature, must die, but the spirit cannot. There is therefore

little doubt that immortality is an integral element of the African understanding of

humanity. Not only does it give content to what is done with the dead* at death; it also

shapes the rituals thereof. For this reason the African will want to engage with the

rituals of death and the dead in a traditionally responsible manner. Ezeanya explains

why, when he observes that the African's:

most important reason for believing what he believes and doing what he does is
that it was handed down to him: his father and his grandfather believed and
practised those things, and any deviations would be calling for trouble from the
invisible world. 102

Given that "without exception, African peoples believe that death does not annihilate

life and that the departed continue to exist in the hereafter, "103 this is a fitting

100See p.52, above.

'ol C. S. Banana, Come and Share, p.78-9. In his research Banana found that they (the Shona)
maintain that after the physical death of the body the soul continues to live. The immortal soul
'resurrects' and comes to live again in its community or family. '

'°2 S.N. Ezeanya, *God, Spirits and the Spirit world, " in K. Dickson & P. Ellingworth, (eds) Biblical
Revelation and African Beliefs, London: Lutterworth Press, 1972, p.35.

103J. S. Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, London: SPCK, 1970, p.264.

53
observation. Death and the dead have to be taken seriously, if the living are to enjoy

the wholeness of community. For example, the occurrence of death is regarded as a

message from the spirit world. It could be communicating that (a) the living have

offended their ancestors or (b) that the ancestors have lost their protective powers. Both

interpretations of death call for a consultation of some kind, so that the death's real

cause can be established. In the light of this understanding of death, the dead cease

to be considered as detached from the lives of their living relatives. They become `the

living-dead' proper, simply meaning that though they are physically dead they are

spiritually alive. This adequately qualifies the Shona people's immortality beliefs; that

the dead are in the family all the time.

The dead are believed to be part of the family. This is bom witness to by the fact that

what the deceased said before his or her death is highly respected, especially if the

deceased lived a traditionally exemplary life. Such a deceased's wishes are happily

fulfilled, provided they are known, that is, they are a kind of 'last will and testament. '

These mostly deal vviththe issue of inheritance of the property and/or the wife or wives.

At times the deceased handles the distribution of his or her own estate before he or she

dies. In this case he or she gives family members what he or she wants each of them

to have. This is highly honoured, when it occurs. 104

The living-dead, varipasi (the departed), are generally believed to be endowed with

104See interviews with G. Mashura, p.400 and K. Shumba p.419.

54
 supernaturalpowers. They are traditionally expectedto use these powersto protect

their living family members from any possible harm. This understanding presupposes

a form of communication between the two. Rituals and sacrifices are the means through

which this relationship is maintained. If the living neglect these rituals, the living- dead

are believed to demand them in diverse ways, including allowing or causing sickness

to strike, or even death. Under normal circumstances, it is the living who voluntarily offer

the living-dead something. The language used at such an offering is intimate and free

of formalities; in this the Shona people are similar to the Akamba, of whom Mbiti says:

Words are uttered not in the form of prayers but to the effect that, "may you
(living-dead) receive this beer or piece of meat! " Another formula is, "We give
you, the community of our grandfathers, this little amount of beer so that you may
drink it with us."105

On account of this belief in immortality the living-dead are held in great intimacy. These

friendly insinuations are to ensure that they continue to be benign towards members

of their living family. This belief is anchored in the conception that umandoes not depart

from his physicalness even if he dies, but becomes a living-dead, and finally a spirit. °108

1.5.1 Kurova guva

Kurova guva, literally "beating the grave", or kudzora (to bring back), or kugadzira (to

repair or to tame), are terms used variably to describe the ceremony of officially inviting

105J. S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, pp.
91-92.

106Ibid. p.63. See also interviews with M. Chikonamombe p.381 and N. Manatsa p.393.

55
 home the spirit of the deceased. 107This ceremony has significance for both the dead

and the living, for it breaks the barrier between them. The dead person's spirit is

brought back home as an act of repairing the relationship which was broken by death.

Giving the spirit of the deceased a place in the home through ritual observance, is

synonymous with giving it a place in the spirit world. Perhaps it is correct to state that

the dead technically become the effective ancestors after this ceremony.

The ceremony is usually held any time from six months after the burial. In some

regions it is held as close as possible to a year after the burial depending on when the

gonye is noticed. The gonye is the worm that signals the deceased's readiness to be

brought back home. When it appears it means that the body has decayed. The

ceremony is "intended only for adults; (usually those with progeny). "108It is usually held

in their honour. This is because adults are expected to use their parenting experience

more effectively from their place in the the spirit world. When they are invited back

home, they are to fulfill their parental role effectively by advising and guiding

proceedings. In these beliefs we are actually reminded of some of the significant ideas

on death and the dead, namely, that (a) "the occurrence of death is not considered to

mark the cessation of life..... " and (b) "death does not sever the bond between the living

and the dead. "109These conceptions of death and the dead give the kurova guva

107This is one ceremony on which there is much written material. That partly demonstrates its
Importance in (a) Shona understanding of death and the dead and (b) establishing the continuity of
relationships between the living and the dead.

ios I. Daneel, Quest for Belonging, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1987, p.237.

109K.A. Dickson, Theolocy in Africa, London: Darton Longman & Todd Ltd, 1984, p. 193.

56
 ceremony its force. Bourdillon, from a sociological viewpoint, recaptures these beliefs

andtheir implicationsconvincinglyby lookingat the whole processfrom death to kurova

guva as ontological stages. He argues that the dead have to go through these stages

before being reintegrated into society, stating that:

typically they are divided into three main stages: a rite of disassociation in which
the person departs from the community and from his/her old status, sometimes
symbolised as death: a rite of separation, in which the person is cut off from the
community for a while and learns his/her new role: and a rite of reintegration, in
which the person is accepted back into community in his/her new status. 10

This is probably why kurova guva is considered as "the most important ceremony after

burial at which the deceased is given a passport to other ancestral spirits. °"' Since this

rite is meant to bring together the living and their dead, all the procedures relating to

it must be ritually acceptable. This involves the proper invocation of the spirit being

called back home. Our concern is to look at how this ceremony helps us to understand

death and the dead.

Those assigned the task of preparingthe grain and the beer for the ceremonyshould

be of acceptable moral standards. Sexual abstention is required before one may offer

sacrifice or engage in ritual. The time of the year in which the ceremony is to be held

is also of very great concern. Tradition has it that thunder frightens and disorients the

ancestral spirits, so the ceremony is not to be held during the rainy season. Therefore,

if the efficacy of the ceremony is to be guaranteed, the months from June to September

110M. F. C. Bourdillon, Religion and Society, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1990, p. 21. See also the
classic, A.van Gennep, The Rites of Passage, London: Routledge & Kegen Paul, 1960.

111M. Gelfand, Growing up in a Shona Society, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1979, p. 58.

57
are the most appropriate. It is also after harvest, when food is readily available.

The grain, with which to prepare the beer for consumption during the ceremony, must

be handled by old women who have passed child-bearing age. They are assisted by

young girls who have not yet reached puberty. Usually these are close relatives of the

deceased. This is because "it is believed that such people, who do not menstruate, are

undefiled and are the right ones because menstrual blood is believed to be
...
dangerous to the spirits. "12 It defiles.

There are four possible methods of soaking the grain. (a) Grain is measured and put

into a jute bag, which is tied and soaked in a drum, where it should be fully submerged

in water. It stays in the water for anything between twelve and twenty-four hours. (b)

In some places the grain is poured directly into the drum of water for an appropriate

period. When it is taken out of the drum it is then put into a jute bag. (c) Where there is

plenty of water the grain might even be soaked in a stream. (d) Where there is a

shortage of water, the grain is put into a bag which is then sprinkled with warm water.

After the initial steps of soaking the grain are over it is put in a safe place, usually the

hut of the old lady. It is kept there till it sprouts. When most of the grain has shoots

about half an inch long, it is taken out of the bag for sun drying. The young girls look

after it, so that the chickens and the birds do not eat it up. When it is completely dry,

it is once again stored in a jute bag in the hut of the old lady.

112C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.84.

58
This grain is prepared and processed manually; it should not be ground at the grinding

mill, lest it take on the smell of diesel. Once it has this smell, it becomes unsuitable for

the ceremony because spirits are believed to take offence at it. An old lady or ladies,

and their assistants, the young girls, continue to be key players. The home brewed

beer takes anything up to seven days to prepare. So a week before the day of the

ceremony, those charged with the responsibility of brewing the beer start work.

Notification and invitation of relatives to the ceremony should have been done long

before then, as should all the other logistical preparations. Relatives who are free come

and witness the dedication of the grain, and the whole beer-making process, to the

ancestors. 113From then onwards, belief in the involvement of the ancestors consciously

influences the rest of the proceedings. On the actual day relatives, friends and

neighbours gather at the homestead of the deceased for the ritual. The atmosphere is

very relaxed. Large quantities of food, including some beer, are usually available.

I shall not here explore all the details of the ceremony, but only look at how it enhances

our understanding of death and the dead. Though the ceremony begins in the evening,

people start gathering during the day. As evening approaches the feasting intensifies,

followed by singing and dancing which continues right through the night. At the crack

of dawn, close relatives go to the grave with some beer in a calabash. They also have

something which they will use symbolically in the bringing home of the spirit; this is

113See X. Marimazhira, p.440.

59
 either a tree branch or some fibre, and some people sacrifice a goat. ' 14 The beer is

shared at the grave and some of it is poured on the grave, usually on the headstone,

(the stone which indicates where the head was placed).

The family elder calls the deceased by name and tells him or her that they have come

to take him or her home. Words to this effect are said, "Father or Mother, we have

brought you some food and we ask you therefore to come back home and guard your

family. '15 The climax at the grave site is the act of ritually taking the spirit of the

deceased home, kutora mudzimu. Some dancing takes place at and around the grave.

Symbolically the family representative pulls the branch or fibre, or whatever symbol,

around the grave once. He drags this symbol over the beer just poured out, and pulls

it round the grave again till he or she comes to this starting point. It is from this point

that he pulls the symbolic branch or fibre, leading the procession back into the home.

A lot of singing and dancing accompanies this triumphant moment.

The dragging of the fibre or branch into the homestead is symbolic of the act of

bringing home the spirit of the deceased. It marks the fact that the spirit has been

tamed ( kugadzira), for hitherto this spirit was believed to be dangerous and homeless.

The ceremony means that its wandering period is over, it is now expected to be

1141tis important to note that 'when the party first approaches the grave, they take care not to
disturb the spirit with excessive noise. When the beast is sacrificed, people try to prevent it from bleating
and disturbing the spirit. When a branch is cut from the ceremonial tree, the man who performs this rite
must take care to cut the branch with one clean stroke of his axe lest the sleeping spirit be awakened
and escape.' M. F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona people, p.247.

115T. Chabudapasi, in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona Customs,

p.65.

60
responsible. Those in the homestead join in the singing, as a welcome to the spirit

being brought home. They actually behave as people who are welcoming a real person

into the home and lead the one pulling the fibre or branch into the kitchen. Inside the

kitchen the symbolic item is placed either on a mat, if the spirit being brought home is

of a female, or on a stool, if a male. This is giving the spirit its rightful place in the

home. Chabudapasi clearly paints the picture in the home when he says, "there is

singing and eating and beating of drums. It is a day of rejoicing. The old people drink

to the health of the deceased's family. The cousins are allowed to steal as much meat

as they like; thus they are called hyenas. "' 16

To conclude the process of bringing the spirit of the deceased home, an additional goat

is killed and the meat, in some places, eaten without salt. This goat has different names

depending on the region. Some of the names are mbudzi yeshungu (goat of

vengeance), or mbudziyenhorwa (goat ' 17

of strangers). it is not to be eaten by the close

relatives of the deceased. The goat plays a vital conciliatory role, so its bones are not

to be broken, but disposed of through burning. This symbolizes that, if the deceased

had a grievance with anyone, it should not break the relationship but simply dissolve,

as the bones are consumed by fire.

After this, most of the relatives will leave the kitchen, but the wife of the deceased and

her escorts remain behind. The deceased man's knobkerries, spears orwhatever male

116Ibid. p.65.

117Gathered through informal interviews and being participant observer.

61
symbols, are brought to the doorway. They are laid across it so that the wife of the

deceasedjumps over them as she leavesthe kitchen.Though the escorts are not part

of the process, they respect the ritual by not jumping over the items. This is known as

kudarika uta. 18 It is believed that if the wife of the deceased had been engaging in

sexual relationships since the death of her husband, jumping over these items breaks

her back. So if she engaged in sexual relationshipsshe will refuse to jump over them,

in which case they are removed. On the other hand, if she maintained her purity she

will comfortably jump over them.

Male relatives of the deceased, including his children, are made to sit on a mat. The

eldest son is then ritually named after the deceased. This means that he has taken over

his father's responsibilities, as head of the family. At a particular time, the wife of the

deceased is given a dish of water which she should give to the male relative of her

choice, kugarwa nhaka, indicating willingness to be inherited as wife, by that relative.

We should note that she is not forced into being inherited, for she can hand the dish to

her own son. This means she wants to stay in her home and look after her children.

It is believed that the spirit of her deceased husband continues to assist her in this

responsibility, especially if he had indicated to her that she should not be inherited.

The mourning clothes and pieces of black cloth are taken off and burnt in the fire that

consumed the bones from the goat of reconciliation: Mourning is over, the black cloud

has been lifted, the home is clear and everything has returned to normal for the family.

118Corroborated by G. Mashura, p.400.

62
 The deceased, now a living-dead, will have joined the communion of ancestral spirits.

'A beast of the ancestors, ' usually a bull, is chosen. This beast hosts the spirit of the

deceased person for whom kurova guva has been done. The heir, the one who was

given the father's name, usually cares for it. In the traditional understanding the beast

is "the continuing presence of the living-dead in the family and among his people. "' 19

If such a beast is slaughtered during the heir's illness, this is believed to anger the

spirits, and hasten the death. However, the beast may be slaughtered after the death

of the family head, to provide food for the mourners, and a blanket for the deceased,

as already noted. 120

There is a ritual ceremony for the choosing of the beast of the ancestors. In some areas

the beast must be black, but even in areas where it is not strictly to be black, the beast

must have one colour. When the time comes to choose it, close relatives of the

deceased lead the heir to the cattle kraal. This is usually done in the morning before

the animals go for pasturage. The heir must pour water or beer on the beast's spine.

It is believed that if the beast shakes itself immediately after the pouring of this water

or beer, the ancestors have accepted it as a suitable host for the deceased. This beast

is from henceforth exempted from the yoke. Whenever there is a problem in the family

the beast is approached, as described by Bozongwana:

When there is illness in the home, the head of the kraal will go to the ox (which
symbolizes the deceased) very early in the morning and will talk vehemently to

119J S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 1990, p. 148. See also
.
interview with G. Mashura, p.400.

120See p.37. In which case this beast could then serve as the mombe yenheedzo.

63
 the spirits as he kneels beside the animal. In strong language the spirits are
told to stop molesting and causing illness to the family. "If you don't protect your
children, what is your work then? "121

If it was the spirit of the mother of the family being brought home, all other ceremonies

would have been the same except for:

(a) Giving of her name to someone; it is believed that she chooses the person

to inherit her name at her own time and through her own means. (b) Kudarika

uta; there is no equivalentritual for a man. (c) Kugarwanhaka; insteadthe man

might be given a woman by his in-laws, usually one who was liked by the

deceased. This is known as chimutsa mapfihwa (reviving the hearth). After the

ceremony the man is also free to remarry. (d) The beast of the ancestors for a

female person would not be an ox but a cow. 122

There is provision for doing away with the beast of the ancestors should it be

considered troublesome, or too old. Sango elaborates as follows:

Beer is prepared and on the day of the ceremony, the bull is slaughtered. Then
the guests and closest relatives drink its blood. They eat half the liver and other
parts raw. They sing songs of praise and drink beer throughout the night. At
daybreak a leader says a prayer. "'

Though the kurova guva ceremony is not conducted uniformly in the different regions,

121W Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1983, p.31.

122D.M. Mandaza, in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds) Shona Customs, p. 59.

123P. Sango, Some Important Shona Customs and Ceremonies', in Clive & Peggy Kilef, (eds)
Shona Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1970, p.74. Note should be taken of the fact that it Is only the
beast that has been taken away, the ceremonies are done to ensure that the ancestorwho relates to the
beast is still present and active in the home.

64
 one thing is the same, the belief that the dead are present with the living. The way in

which this presence is understood plays a major role in directing and shaping the

proceedings. What is clear is that the ceremony is believed to be a point of communion

between the living and the dead. Bozongwana helps us recapture the essence of this

ceremony, when he says:

The readmission of the recent dead man into the home in another form and
capacity underlines the importance of their belief in immortality and the
appeasement of the spirits. The sharing of the sacrificial meal secures
permanent acceptance for belief in communion between the dead and the
living. 124

1.5.2a Relationship between the living and the dead.

The relationship between the living and the dead is not physical but spiritual. This

spiritual relationship is modelled on the physical because "as a whole life beyond death

is a copy of what it is in this world. 025 Locating the world of the departed is problematic;

the Shona believe that, It is around the homes of the human beings. x121 For this

reason, the dead are believed to be part of their living families. They dwell here

because they are still interested in the welfare of their living family members. Their

relationship and interest, though spiritual, is intelligible to the living. Mbiti's observation,

though specific to the Akamba,also applies to the Shona people. He writes:

Information about the African societies seems to show that even where the dead

124W Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1983, p.30.

125J. S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Backnround, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p.157.

126J S. Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, London: SPCK, 1970, p.257. This is specific to the
.
Shona people.

65
 are buried with some of their possessions, the goods of this life are not
transferable into the next. Without any clear explanation, however, many
societies believe that if a person is rich in his human life he will continue to be
rich in the next life, just as the poor, or thief, or kind hearted person, etc,
continues to be as he was. 127

Following this lead, there is a" physicalisation of the spirit world which, as we have

noted above, is generally a carbon copy of the human world. n128

This also influences

how relationships between the living and the dead are comprehended. For both the

Ndebele and Shona people, the relationship between the living and their dead has

significance after the kurova guva ceremony. The ceremony "is partly a symbolic way

of reviving, summoning back, inviting back the departed, and thus renewing the contact

with him in the next world; and partly declaring a formal resumption of life. "129 The

deceased takes his or her rightful place within the family, and assumes spiritual

responsibilities. Understanding the dead as ° the living-timeless, "130probably sums up

the relationship between them and their living relatives.

1.5.2b Significance of the relationship between the living and the dead.

The living-dead or the living-timeless, as we have noted, are believed to be endowed

with supernatural powers. With these they provide protection to their living family

127J. S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African Background, Oxford: OUP, 1971, p.72.

128Ibid. p.72. See the Shona people's Kusuma process, p.24.

129J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Oxford: Heinemann, 1990, p. 147.

130C.S. Banana, Come and Share, p.81.

66
 members. A form of interrelating is assumed if this relationship is to prevail. Sacrifices

from the living are acknowledgements of the communion which exists between the two

groups. The intimacy of the language used at such ceremonies demonstrates the

significance of the relationship. On the other hand, the place of the dead in mediating

in the prayers of the living is also important. As Gelfand notes;

The Shona also point out that the ancestral spirits are intermediary to god since
it, is never permitted for anyone to approach direct an important family figure,
such as one's father, with whom contact can only be made on an important issue
by an intermediary, such as the father's sister or younger brother (baba mudiki).
It is quite contrary to Shona practice for a son to deal with his father directly on
an important issue. The same applies to Mwari. 131

Another factor which makes the relationship significant is that the departed appear to

the living. They do this in diverse ways, and for different reasons at different times.

From his general study of Africa, Mbiti notes that:

The departed appear generally to the older members of their surviving families,
for a friendly visit, to enquire about family affairs, to warn of impending danger,
or demand sacrifice or offering, or the observation of a particular request or
command. 132

One significant way in which the departed appear to their living is through dreams. To

a great extent, for the Shona, dreams are a very strong medium of communication with

the living-dead. At times solemn dreams are believed to precede spirit possession.

Generally, it is believed that " dreams signify that a strong link exists between the

131M. Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p. 111. It should be noted that
the Kusuma procedure guides and directs the interaction.

132J. S. Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, London: SPCK, 1970, p.266. Bozongwana from the
Zimbabwean context writes, 'dreams signify that a strong link exists between the dreamer and the
ancestors who visit people in their sleep. ' W. Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, p. 16.

67
dreamer and the ancestors who visit people in their sleep. "13' If they maintain good

relationships with their living-dead, their welfare is assured. The living neglect this

relationship at their own peril.

1.5.3 Family membership of the dead

Family membership of the dead is dual, that is, they are family members in both the

spiritual world and in the land of the living. This makes them special to the living. The

dead are part of the family, hence the terms, living-dead or living-timeless. Their

membership is spiritual, placing them nearer to God than the living. They have better

insights on matters of the other world, so they are looked up to for guidance. It is

believed that God sometimes makes them His messengers.

It is probably because of this that their family membership is considered crucial. Since

they are interested in the welfare of their family members, they always plead for

favourable conditions on their behalf. The day to day activities of the living depend on

God, who is constantly addressed by these living-dead. We should not be surprised

therefore that "when they go hunting they appeal jointly to God and the spirits. "" The

living-dead are called upon in recognition of their place as intermediaries between God

and the living. Perhaps this is why they are sometimes referred to as `the eyes and ears

133W. Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1983, 16.
p.

134J. S. Mbiti, Concepts of God in Africa, London: SPCK, 1970, 269.

p.

68
 of God.'

Family membership of the dead in the land of the departed is such that the recently

dead is the one who is responsible for passing on requests from the living. He or she

understands the languages of both worlds and knows the predicaments of the living,

since he or she is nearest to them. We should however note that membership of the

family of the living fades with generations, and so does influence. For this reason

"when one prays, one prays to the recently dead father spirit and mentions the

ancestors last because custom only allows this kind of approach -from the known to the

unknown. "135

As noted above, not every deceased person is accorded this family membership. It

is only those who lived responsible and exemplary lives. What this means is that one

has to earn the honour of being an ancestor. Shorter is very precise when he says, "in

many situations the dead earn their good repute and the religious offerings of their

posterity by leading a good life."' They are to be people who inspire others, a role

model and a specimen of a real parent. These are the people who are accorded all the

honours, from the time of their death through to ancestor veneration. Having said this,

it is important to note Shorter's words which, though written out of a different context,

also reflect Shona people's beliefs. He observes that "there are large numbers of

133W Bozongwana, Ndebele Religion and Customs, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1983, p. 17.

136A. Shorter, African

ican Christian Theology: Adaptation or Incarnation, London: Macmillan
Publishers, 1975, p. 124.

69
deceasedwho never become ancestors, children, barren women or sterile men, cripples

and social dropouts, people who die far away from their homeland, outcasts and those

in
who any way incur social censure or disapproval. 037

Some of these become ghosts and/or evil spirits that possess people, mashavi. Mashavi

can be either good or bad spirits, so they can be benign or malevolent; some may be

family spirits, while some are wandering spirits. Wandering spirits lead their hosts

astray, because they were probably wayward themselves during their lifetime. In spite

of all this, even the spirits of misfits live on.

On the other hand, if the deceased had some skills like hunting, or carving or any

expertise, his or her spirit is greatly valued. Most people will do everything in their

power to attract it to themselves,so that they can be possessed by it. In a sense

people offer themselves to be its host. The deceased is believed to be the tutor and

instructor of the person he or she finally chooses. Not only does the spirit live on, but

also the skills of the deceased. This makes his or her family membership more valuable

and desirable.

1.6 CONCLUSION

African Traditional Religion embraces life in a practical and responsible manner. It is

137Ibid. P.126.

70
a religion and a way of life rooted in the day to day challenges of existence. The Shona

people, in commonwith its other adherents,derive a sense of belonging and identity

from it. Within it there is also provision for coping with life and its changes, which

include death and the dead.

Its understanding of God enables its followers to make sense of the universe, the

community and themselves.

Humanity is comprehended in a way which espouses its dichotomous nature. This gives

rise to a spirituality which recognises humanity as having two aspects, namely, a

physical, dying nature and a spiritual, immortal one. Ceremonies and rituals which

surround death and the dead, in Shona perception, have content because of these

beliefs. Naturally therefore, death is seen not as annihilation, but as a separation of the

natures. The immortal soul continues to be part of the family, guarding and guiding the

living. Though the relationship between the living and the dead is spiritual,

physicalisation of the spirit world makes it meaningful. The dead are indeed in

communion with the living, hence they are rightly called 'the living-dead' or'the living-

timeless. ' They are endowed with supernatural powers with which to protect their living

from spiritually harmful forces. So, maintaining good relationships with them is

beneficial. In addition to this, the deceased's lifetime behaviour inspires responsible

living in his or her living family members. This is because they want to be honoured

when they also die and so be on the ancestral roll. That way, they continue to be part

of the community.

71
As we have noted, in Shona tradition, to deal fully with death, bereavementand the

deadthere should be provisionfor (a)wailing and weeping(b) drums,dancingand beer

(c) ceremonies, rituals and some specific practices and (d) ancestral involvement.

These became areas of deep conflict with Christianity, from the missionary era to the

present. This will be the subject of the following chapter.

72
 CHAPTER TWO

THE MISSIONARY ERA

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The period we designate as the missionary era in this study stretches from 1891 to

1981 when the leadership of the diocese became indigenous. Obviously 1891 marks

the beginning of the history of the establishment of the Diocese of Mashonaland, now

Harare. This was characterised by the arrival of missionaries in the company of the

Pioneer Column. Zvobgo clearly captures this historical reality as he writes:

When the Pioneer Column - the spearhead of the white settlers - set off to
Mashonaland in 1890, the Jesuit missionary, Fr. Andrew Hartman, accompanied
it as Chaplain. Canon Balfour of the Anglican Diocese of Bloemfontein also
accompanied the Pioneer Column as Chaplain. Cecil John Rhodes on behalf of
the B.S.A. Company, gave the Anglicans £600 towards the expenses of Anglican
Missions in Mashonaland. 1

In fact Canon Francis Richard Townley Balfour was the Senior Chaplain, 2accompanied

by fellow Anglican Chaplains namely, Rev Frank Harold Surridge and Wilson Trusted.

Mashonaland, vaguely described as being 'to the north and east of the Matabele, "3

formally became a diocese in 1891. The facts surrounding its formation are that:

1C.J. M. Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939, Gweru: Mambo Press,
1996, p.3.

2 H.St. John T. Evans, The Church in Southern Rhodesia, London: S. P.C.K., 1945, p. 11.

3 H. St. John T. Evans, The Church in Southern Rhodesia, p. 10.

73
 At the South African Provincial Synod held in January and February, 1891
Mashonaland was formed into a Diocese and G.W. H. Knight-Bruce who had
been Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein since 1885, and who, after his first visit
to Matabeleland and Mashonaland in 1888, had advocated the establishment of
an English protectorate over the Shona in order to protect them from the
'inhuman cruelties' of the Ndebele, was appointed to take charge of it.4

With the Diocese thus established the missionaries had to get to work. In the process

of carrying out their duties we notice traces of the influence of their home background,

which we need to understand. It is essential for our investigation of their approach to

the Shona people and their traditional views on death and the dead. Finally we need

to assess their teaching on death and the dead; in chapter three we will review the

responses of the Shona people to the missionary approach.

1981 sawan indigenous, missionary-trained Shona cleric become the Diocesan Bishop

of Mashonaland. Arnold, a journalist, tells us:

On 12th May, 1981, the Rt Rev Peter Hatendi, Suffragan Bishop of

Mashonaland, was elected the eighth Bishop of Mashonaland and the first
African Bishop to hold the See. He was enthroned on 28th June at another of
the great services which have been typical of the Cathedral of St Mary and All
Saints over the years.5

2.2 HISTORICAL SETTING

Most of the clergy who came to Mashonaland as missionaries were from Great Britain.

Some were entering their second phase of ministry in Africa, having spent the first

4 C.J. M.Zvobgo op. cit., p.3.

s W. E. Arnold, Here to Stav: The Storv of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, Sussex: The Book
Guild Ltd, 1985, p. 154.

74
 phase in South Africa. We are, however, not going to concern ourselves with how the

Anglican Church in South Africa dealt with the local traditional cultures,though a few

lessons can be learnt from that phase. In Mashonaland as in the South African mission

field, 'Mission stations' were established as the centre of influence, and several

missionary famiIies lived there together. This meant that missionaries could reconstruct

a "home away from home" atmosphere, where they continued to promote familiar

tradition`s. One such custom was the mission tea party. This was a social gathering for

all mission residents, which in many ways resembled "that typical English institution,

'the parish tea' and explains its underlying social and evangelical purpose. "6It provided

the missionaries with an opportunity to meet and mix with the Shona people in a

relaxed atmosphere, hence the evangelical aspect.

At the official level, the Anglican Church in South Africa was sharply divided on how to

approach local African cultures. The Rt. Reverend William Colenso, Bishop of Natal,

Suffragan to Bishop Robert Gray of Cape Town, caused considerable controversy. He

believed that African cultures should be accorded recognition and approached with

respect. This comes through in his famous statement on justification. He wrote,

"justcation extends to all, to those who have never heard the name of Christ, and who

cannot have exercised a living faith in Christ, as well as Christians. "7 Bishop Gray

seems not to have shared these sentiments. This disagreement between Colenso and

6 J. C.Farrant, Mashonaland Martyr. Bernard Mizeki and the Pioneer Church, Cape Town,
O. U.P., 1966, p.32.

A. M.G. Stephenson, The First Lambeth Conference 1867, London: S. P.C.K., 1967, p. 29.

75
 Grayeventuallyled to the calling of the first of the now historicalLambethConferences.

It is against such a background that we see the Anglican missionaries coming into

Mashonaland.

We have already noted that many Anglican missionaries to Mashonaland had served

in the mission field in South Africa, and would have been influenced by their experience

there. However, to understand the intricacies of the situation fully, we need to go further

and examine the home background of the missionaries. It is important to note that (a)

the early European world view had some similarities with the traditional African one and

(b) that some of these early ideas are still important.

In the Britain of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Church constantly found itself being

challenged by its own context. Developments in the intellectual and scientific spheres

led to the questioning of some of its teaching. Not only did the church have to adjust

to its context, it also had to respond to the questions that were being raised. More than

anything, it is its responses which are of significance to our study. It is clear from

Roebuck's observation that the Church's responses varied. He notes that:

Intellectual developments either contradicted the teaching of the church, as did

Darwin's work, discounted it, as in the case of Marx, or simply ignored it, as did
the work of the increasingly influential body of scientists. Some churches
reacted by condemning all scientists and thinkers and thus alienated large
segments of the educated population. Others seemed caught in a paralysis of
indecision. '

8 J. Roebuck, The Making of Modem English Society from 1850, London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul, 1973, p.61-62.

76
 This change is evident in thinking about death and the dead, which also went through

a process of evolution. Attitudes were adopted, nursed, and reshaped, at times under

the influence of social change. Some of the new variations were branded Christian,

even though their observance was sometimes prescribed by Acts of Parliament. 9 This

state of affairs was perpetuated by the fact that Anglican clergy were assumed to hold

society together, they were arms of the state. Gilbert states it succinctly when he

observes and classifies the rites of the Church of England, especially noting their

effects on the people's lives. He notes that its:

non-recurrent rites - baptism, confirmation, marriages, and funerals - contributed

to the maintenance of communal solidarity at times of individual and social crisis;
and annual rituals or festivals which it sponsored or legitimated helped bind a
local society together in the natural cycles of rural existence; and its recurrent
rites and services were seen, in true Durkheimian terms, as means by which the
social group reaffirms itself periodically. 10

All this confirmed the status of the Anglican Clergy both in statutory and ecclesiastical

terms. What did ordination into Anglican orders mean? Gilbert helps us to both

understand the position and answer the question, as he observes that:

Ordination as an Anglican clergyman obliged a man to be more than just a

minister of the Gospel. Indeed, the suggestion that a person was committed
more to `secular responsibilities of his office than to his spiritual and priestly
functions would not necessarily have been regarded as a criticism in the
eighteenth - and early nineteenth - century Establishment. "

This is a very significant point, because it helps us see the missionary clergy in

9 R. P. Flindall, The Church of England 1815-1948, London: S. P. C.K., 1972, p.239.

'o A. D. Gilbert, Religion and Society in Industrial England: Church. Chapel and Social Change
1740-1914, London: Longman Group Ltd, 1976, p.75.

11Ibid., p.74.

77
 perspective. In our endeavour to understand the missionaries in terms of their historical

setting, we should be conscious of the fact that "many of the things that people regularly

do and believe have been taught to them by parents, teachers, peers and institutions. 012

Our missionary clergy are not an exception.

2.3 MISSIONARY APPROACHES

Anglican missionary work in Mashonaland had certain characteristics, most of them

related to the fact that the Church had settler origins. Its mission and pastoral care

programmes were originally designed for the settlers rather than the local indigenous

people. We can appreciate this position if we understand that when the Pioneer

Column arrived at Fort Salisbury on the 12th September 1890 it still had most of its

original 130 men. They needed to be ministered to if they were to give their best under

strange and difficult conditions. In the early days of Mashonaland, we see a colony in

which the "history of Church and State has been closely interwoven from the beginning,

a colony which owes an incalculable debt to its pioneers, settlers and missionaries, who

were inspired by a noble ambition - to make a country. 03 The senior Chaplain and

missionary, Canon Francis Balfour, in a brief description of the events of the 13th

September 1890 clearly demonstrates this partnership. He says:

there was a full-dress parade, when the flag was hoisted. Both forces were
drawn up before the flag-post. The Colonel (Lt. Col EG Pennefather), Staff

12D.W. Moller, Confronting Death: Values. Institutions

and Human mortality, Oxford: O. U. P.,
1996, p.4.

13Evans op. cit., in the preface.

78
 officer Gallop and myself - in cassock - stood at the post. The flag was run up.
I addressed the force in two or three words; said 'Prevent us, 0 Lord; ' twenty-
one guns were fired; all saluted the flag and shouted three cheers for the
Queen. 14

This simple description of events marks the official occupation of Mashonaland by both

settlers and missionaries. It was also the beginning of a history of relationships

between the missionaries and the Shona people.

Though the missionaries were eager to engage in missionary work, that is, in

evangelism and Church planting, they did minimal work among the local people. A

number of factors come into play here, the prominent one being the language. The

missionaries did not know the local language. Having a hierarchical structure did not

help the situation either, especially because the leaders had to do everything. So

Canon Francis Balfour had to be both the Chaplain to the Pioneer Community and the

missionary to the local people. Obviously this was too demanding a task, as Evans

illustrates:

Poor Canon Balfour had an uphill task. Besides being singlehanded, he was
torn between the duty imposed upon him by the mission of Christianizing the
natives and that of ministering to the spiritual needs of the Pioneers with whom
he arrived and among whom he had to make friends. I think that his inclinations
were towards the latter, but he bravely made several expeditions on foot to the
native districts. As a missionary to the heathen he was set a hopeless task.
What possible impression could one man make upon hundreds of thousands of
savages scattered over an area the size of France, and steeped in witchcraft and
the grossest forms of paganism? 15

14Ibid., p. 12.

15Ibid., p. 12. See also Arnold, Here to stay, p. 13. Both these authors quote Hugh Marshall
Hole, a historian who wrote Old Rhodesian Days.

79
There is something of `better the devil I knout in Canon Balfour's approach. The

pressure of the Church's settler origins is also traceable in the ministry of Bishop
George Knight-Bruce's early days of ministry in this missionary diocese. Most of his

time was spent in travelling in search of land for the establishment of 'mission

16
stations'. There was no pattern of pastoral care for the natives even in the Bishop's

approach. The nearest he got to it was the strategic stationing in selected villages of

the catechists he had brought with him from South Africa. " It was up to the catechists

how they approached the local people and what pastoral care system they put in place.

We should however note that the catechists themselves needed pastoral care, but

hardly got it. Perhaps it was assumed that, since they were stationed among fellow

natives, that was pastoral care enough for them. Evans helps us to understand the

Bishop's engagements as he notes:

On June 1st he reached Umtali (Mutare), where he had already planned to

establish a mission station. He spent the next six months travelling almost
incessantly between Umtali and Salisbury (Harare), selecting suitable places for
the native Catechists whom he had brought up from South Africa, and dealing
with all the manifold business, spiritual and material, of the growing work. One
of his most important tasks at this time was to come to an agreement with Dr
Jameson about the acquisition of land for the mission in various parts of the
country. 18

The pioneer Bishop, just like other members of the Pioneer Column, joined the race for

16We discuss these later on under'Mission Stations, ' p.88.

17Evans, p. 13.

18Evans op. cit., p. 13.

80
 land allocation by the British South Africa Company on behalf of the settler church. 19

There were fundamentally two distinctive features in the Anglican missionary approach

to the Shona people. Both of them were not unrelated to the settler origins of the

Church. They were (a) prejudice and (b) a sense of superiority. 20 Backgrounds and

personalities contributed to the consolidation of these attitudes. Missionaries felt that

they were better than the Shona people because they could read and write, and above

all, they were Christians. Unfortunately this led to discrimination against, and

despising of, the indigenous black people of the country which is traceable to the

present.

These prejudices were against black people in general, hence the missionaries could

judge their character and find fault with them at will. 21In a report to SPG, Etheridge, an

Anglican missionary, refers to the populace as "undisciplined people. "' Settlers who

had previous contact with both the Shona and Ndebele contributed to the

19Pascoe reports that, "much time was now devoted to arranging details of the native land
question. All over the country the Bishop, with the assistance of Dr. Rundle and Mr. Pelly (the Church
alone seeing to this question), secured blocks of land to serve as native reserves in the event of the
Mashona being crowded out by the white man. Later on other arrangements were deemed advisable by
the authorities. C. F. Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of S. P.G. 1701-1900, p.366b.

20This is not surprising given the fact that these missionaries did not trust their own parishioners
back home. See above under'Church of England Parish System', p.92.

21Bishop George Knight-Bruce reveals some of his own prejudices when he speaks of one of
his catechists who stayed among the Shona people. He also judges the characters of the Zulu and
Ndebele people using the Shona people. He writes, "Frank (a native Zulu) had since I left him (Easter
1892) worked a very good garden and mission corn field being well liked by the Native Mashona, a most
valuable contrast to his raiding and destroying brothers the Matabele. " E48, USPG Archives, 1893.

22E 58b, USPG Archives, 1893.

81
 misconceptions. For them "the black people living in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) at the end

of the nineteenth century were divided into two groups ... A man was either a Matabele

or a Mushona. °23Missionaries shared these misconceptions and even wrote official

documents wherein they endorsed them. Bishop George Knight-Bruce used these

prejudices against the Mashona and the Matabele as reason for engaging in mission.

He wrote to the Societyfor the Propagationof the Gospel (SPG):

One of the oldest inhabitants (presumably Mushona) said to me: `The Matabele
are taught from their childhood to murder, lie and steal' Describing the despised
(by whom? my comment) and downtrodden Mashona the Bishop continued: It
is easy to see how these wretched creatures - wretched only in character - fall
a prey to the Matabele, though they might meet a Matabele ij with ten to one
they have not the slightest idea of uniting: no one seems to have any authority,
for no one seems to inspire respect among a people who have too little self-
respect themselves to reverence others.... However, it must not be forgotten that
they are a nation of slaves, taken when they were wanted apparently, and that
they have inherited, possibly, the usual characteristics of slaves. Yet, with all
their faults, they are a pleasanter people to deal with than the Matabele. In
general character they are, I think superior. ' The two nations; he concluded, 'are
the greatest argument for missions I know 24
.

Bishop George Knight-Bruce wrote this report after his 1888 visit to Mashonaland. His

knowledge of the Matabele was partly that given to him by settlers and that which he

got while passing through their territory. Limited as his knowledge was, he was in a

position to advocate the establishment of an English Protectorate over the Shona in

23Farrant op. cit., p. 90.

24Evans op. cit. p. 11. In Pascoe he is recorded as having said, "to have seen these people, and
to have had dealings with them - to have seen fallen humanity untouched by the regenerating influences
of Christianity - is an argument for the necessity of Missions such as nothing else could provide, should
the command to Christianise all nations not carry sufficient force. " C. F. Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of
S.P.G. 1701-1900, p.364.

82
 order to protect them from the Inhuman cruelties of the Ndebele."25The report that he

sentwas sympatheticallyreceived,partly becausehis prejudiceswere shared by many

people back home, particularly the reference to slavery. Evans notes that:

the Standing Committee Book of the S.P.G. shows that in view of the hopes held
out by Bishop Knight-Bruce's report the Society agreed in May 1890, to provide
£7,000 to be spent at the rate of £1,000 a year, for the establishment of missions
between Bechuanaland and the Zambezi. 26

SPG agreed to sponsor this missionary enterprise because they saw it as an extension

of their influence and mission. It is true that "the newly arrived missionaries of 1890 had

a very different background, of course, from that of the Shona people who shared the

general characteristics of the Bantu tribes of Africa. A27The missionaries were aware of

this but, because of their sense of superiority, did not regard the Shona as an

established people. As already indicated in Bishop Knight-Bruce's report, they were to

give the Shona people the security of the Crown, administered by 'civilised white

people'. Through such historical misconceptions missionaries saw in the Shona people

something of `Africa the dark Continent, ' where there was little to be known, which was

inhabited by people with no history, where "the Africans themselves were virtually

unchanged since prehistoric times. From this assumption it was but a short step to an

u C.J. M.Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1923, 3. See

p. also T. O.
Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, p.87.

26Ibid., p. 11.

27W. R. Peaden, Missionary Attitudes to Shona Culture, Salisbury: The Central Africa Historical
Association, 1970, p. 1.

83
 imaginary 'Darkest Africa' sunk in barbarism."28It was only natural that they share that

air of superiority. Kendall sheds more light on the origins of this sense of superiority in

missionaries by noting that:

the basic racial sense of superiority of the Anglo-Saxons developed during the
middle years of the nineteenth century, formed out of the Industrial Revolution
and influenced by Charles Darwin and his Origin of Species, the Indian mutiny
of 1857 and the exaggerated myth of the earlier Black Hole of Calcutta; over all
was the evolving experience of growing imperial grandeur. '

These historical facts, that the white people had gone through the Enlightenment

period, had witnessed the Industrial Revolution and above all had acquired knowledge

of other parts of the world, consolidated their superiority. These developments also

indicate that the encounter between the European missionaries and the Shona people

did not take place on equal terms, even in church. The European missionary was

"superior, ' he had an obligation because Mashonaland was "seemingly inhabited by

culturally, if not racially, inferior peoples, devoted to superstitions and pagan rites. At

best they were children who needed a firm hand and the Bible to teach them the

benefits of civilization and Christianity. 230The picture we have is of the missionaries,

with their prejudices and sense of superiority, approaching the Shona people with the

intention of rescuing them from damnation by sharing the Christian faith with them.

Broadly speaking, they adopted two approaches, namely, the village visits and the

mission stations.

28J. Lowe, Rivalry and Accord: International Relations 1870-1914, London: Hodder& Stoughton,
1988, p.51.

29E. Kendall, The end of an era: Africa and the missionary, London: S. P.C.K., 1979, p.58.

30Lowe op.cit., p.52.

84
2.3.1. The Village Visits

The*village visits were inevitable if the missionaries were to achieve anything among

the Shona people. They were the ones bringing the so-called 'good tidings, ' so they

had to take the news to the people who were supposed to hear it. In the earlier days

this was a very difficult task. One difficulty was the remoteness of the villages; a

second difficulty was the problem of communication. Added to this was the cloud of

mistrust which overshadowed both parties. Canon Francis Balfour, in a letter to a

friend, recounts some of the hardships. He writes:

I paid one of my visits to a native village. I took no presents. I know there was
a village seven miles from the road because we had outspanned there and spent
the night on our way up. I had some coffee before starting, put a hard sea
biscuit in my pocket, took a prayer book, and left about 5.30am. About 7 o'clock
I saw a nice tempting rock near the road, so I stopped and said Matins. At 9
o'clock I got to the place and the first fellow I saw was a youth wearing a straw
hat with a variegated handkerchief flapping about his body. I went up to him and
in my best Seshona said I wanted to see the Chief. I didn't say it very well, but
I made him understand, and he got up, looking rather amused, and took me
straight to where the Headman, an induna, was sitting with one or two others.
I opened the conversation by trying to say I had come from the wagons, meaning
our camp. Then, mustering all I knew, I said that my Chief was in the sky and
that he had sent me etc, until one fellow thought he had got why I had come. 31
....

This was his first impression of the villagers, particularly the Headman, and of himself

and the news he was bringing, to the villagers. He was explicitly not recognizing the

authority of the Headman, nor respecting this group for who they were.

A layman, Mr Frank Edwards, who became Canon Francis Balfour's assistant is

31Arnold op. cit., p. 14.

85
described as an enthusiastic preacher of the Gospel. His enthusiasm is born witness

to by the fact that when he found no room in the waggons of the Pioneer Column he

walked almost the whole way from Cape Town to Salisbury, the best part of 2,000

32
miles. Visiting the villages was one of his delights. He is described as one who

preached the Gospel there'in season and out of season; ' and in every place he visited

he set up a rough wooden cross as a sign that the word of God had been preachedto

the people.33Note,it was placeshe visited, irrespectiveof whether he preachedor not.

On the other hand, when Bishop George Knight-Bruce visited the villages he

interviewed Chiefs and Headmen on their feelings about Christianity and how they

would react if he were to bring them a teacher, "who would teach about God."' He

used the visits as occasions to observe the people as well as assess the suitability of

the place for a Christian presence.

Obviously, these village visits had some advantages. They gave the European

missionaries an opportunity to meet the Shona people in their own dwellings. This

implies that they could also witness some traditional ceremonies and observe certain

rituals. No doubt they also witnessed deaths and observed how the dead were treated,

including the rituals held in their honour. They learnt that a Mushona would not leave

32Evans p. 15.

33Evans op. cit., p. 15.

34Peaden op. cit., p.8. See also Evans op. cit., p. 11.

86
a body '
unburied. An extract from Bishop George Knight-Bruce's account of the Shona

highlights the significance of the village visits. He writes;

The Mashonas were a happy-natured, feckless people, who loved to dance and
sing. They would dance when they were happy and dance when they were sad,
and they had songs for all occasions. They made and used a variety of primitive
musical instruments - flutes, pipes, banjos and 'pianos' - and the smallest child
learnt to move in time to music as soon as it could stand Elderly men and
....
women were great takers of snuff, and the men smoked 'dagga' or wild hemp.
Although there was a considerable amount of drunkenness and this led
inevitably to violence and depravity, the Mashonas were not an immoral people,
they had their codes, their customs, their rules of etiquette, and, according to
their lights, their ethics, their taboos, and their good manners.'

Though the village visits gave the missionaries valuable insights into Shona life, they

still had their disadvantages. Instead of having the missionary as the focal point, he

was made dependent on the goodwill of the Chief, the Headman and the people. Unlike

his counterpart in an English parish, the activities of the village were not his, he did not

control its affairs. His knowledge and education were not important. Above all, he did

not fully understand what was going on, as Canon Balfour discloses in his letter:

I fear there maybe some disappointment caused by not being able to do

'missionary' work at once. It is very difficult to make a beginning, and in my
circumstances I don't believe it to be possible to begin for some time. I have no
ear for catching a new language and no means of hearing very much of it talked
There will be any quantity of Europeans all over the country next year and the
...
household of faith must be attended to first. 37

It is probably because of such frustrations that village visits were left to the Native

35Farrant op. cit., p.99.

36Farrant op. cit., p.97.

37Amold op. cit., p. 14.

87
 Catechists, who were usually lonely, and without any form of pastoral care. 33 They

looked forward to occasional visits by European missionaries from mission stations.

The mission station became, for the European missionaries, home away from home.

Let us now examine their contribution, which reflects that rituals belong to community

and the missionaries were initially not part of this community, until they formed one

around themselves. 39

2.3.2. Mission Stations

What the village visits took away from the European missionaries the mission stations

restored in earnest. In this setting they were in their assumed usual positions of power

and authority. The responsibility for organising and coordinating mission station

activities was theirs. Emotionally and psychologically this restored in them the historical

glory of Anglican clergymen as they had known it back home, in Britain. 40 Civil and

ecclesiastical authority was in their hands, so they were once again the focal point.

People on the mission stations were the missionary's subjects, who had to abide by the

38Farrant op. cit., p. 122.

39R. Horton, Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West: Essays on magic, religion and science,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. He sheds light on this by stating that, In trying to make
intellectualist analyses of various traditional African religious theories, however, I came up against the
fact that they were above all theories of society and of the individual's place in it. ' p.62.

40Gann's comment on the Anglican Church's expansion in Mashonaland Is enlightening, he

says, *work expanded greatly, new stations opened their doors, and the Anglican Church, though never
the established Church as in England, became a powerful community, wielding considerable influence
in government, and probably enjoying a higher social status than any other mission bodies In the
country. ' L.H. Gann, A History of Southern Rhodesia: Early Days to 1934, London: Chatto & Windus,
1965, p. 198.

88
rules and regulationsof their particular mission station.

According to Anglican records, by 1907 "the church had 12 mission farms and more

than 50 town plots.°41 Though mission farms, on which mission stations were

established, were generally the same, individual administration and exercise of

authorityon each differedgreatly.On mostof them "each tenant was allotted a portion

of ground on which to grow his food crops, and was allowed to graze a fixed number of

cattle on the farm. In return he paid a small rent and took part in communal labour once

or twice a year. "42 All this involved careful organisation and constant supervision.

Those who did not comply with the regulations were either subjected to disciplinary

measures or expelled from the farm, by force of law if necessary. This practice helped

to confirm in the minds of the local people the relationship between the missionaries

and the settlers. Settlers had on occasions displaced local people in exactly the same

way.

Much of the work on the farms was done by hired people who were assisted, where

there was a school, by school children. These were usually boys. However, the

behaviour of some missionaries on the farms left a lot to be desired. By way of

observation,Farrant writes, "did they not pick quarrels just before pay-day in order to

cheat the Mashona labourers of their wages? Did they not resort sometimes to

41Arnold op. cit., p.45.

42Evans, op. cit., p.49.

89
 merciless floggings and brutality? "43 On the other hand there were some who did not

approve of such behaviour, but rather saw it as counter-productive. Extracts from a

letter by Rev'd Douglas Pelly to his father testify to this. He noted that: "the brutality of

some of the white men seemsvery great. It hinders the spread of the Gospel and the

work of the missions .... It seems to me more necessary to convert the white men who

come to this country from England and S. Africa than it is to convert the heathen

blacks."ý

Mission stations were supposed to be beacons of light in the midst of darkness. 45

Everything done on them, especially by the Africans, was to be "Christian", so that the

distinction between them and the villages was clearly apparent. In a bid to uphold this

difference, "missionaries" regarded many African customs as evil and forbade them on

mission stations. "Innocent tribal dances, the use of instruments like drums, and time

honoured marriage and funeral customs were banned. ""s The Roman Catholic Church

historian, Adrian Hastings, puts it sharply by saying, `African customs from cradle to

43Cited in Farrant, op. cit., p. 192.

44Ibid., p. 197.

asJ. Herbert, an Anglican missionary writing on mission stations said, "our objective has been
to try and gather around the Mission Station those who evince some desire to become Christians, and
who by their lives might serve as light to that kraal and neighbourhood, rather than, in the existing state
of things, itinerate far and wide. " J. Herbert in Mission Field XLV, 1900.

46Kendall op.cit., p.54. A report attributed to Canon Balfour sheds some light on the subject; it
says, "they have 'a custom of dancing and singing in honour of the spirits of the departed, at whose
graves they leave offerings of meat and beer, in the belief that those who have left them will keep them
supplied with all good things. ' Beyond this Canon Balfour 'does not think they have any practices that
could be called religious. '" C.F. Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of the S. P. G.: An Historical Account of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 1701-1900, London: Society's Office, 1901,
p.365.

90
 grave were banned. ' Missionaries usually over-reacted to African village life and values

because(a) they had failed to penetrateand understandthem, and (b) some held the

misconceptionthat "British civilization and Christianity were almost identical. They

thought of African culture as heathen, the work of the devil, to be rooted out as soon as

possible. m47

In their zeal to combat the forces of evil inherent in Shona culture the missionaries
,
resorted to discipline, which even involved the paying of church dues. In this the church

was doing exactly what the settler government was doing, levying taxes on the people

under a different name. Everything had to be regulated, including the way one thought.

Kendall elucidates this point when he says:

This was done in a number of subtle and not so subtle ways. In the first place,
the Church made it plain that everything African was heathen and superstitious
barbarism. Conversion to Christianity meant rejecting traditional forms of dress,
authority and social organisation, culture, marriage, medicine etc. The black
people were made to believe not that salvation is in Christ alone, but that
salvation is in accepting the new white way of living. The effect of this was to
internalize in the black people a sense of inferiority which inhered in them as
Africans. "

Intentionally or unintentionally, the missionaries systematically brainwashed the Shona

people into believing that `white' is both superior and godly. They managed to instill a

self-hatred in the minds of their converts. The requirement to adopt a 'Christian name',

47Ibid., p.54.

48Ibid., p.54. See also A. M. Chambati, 'Africans and the struggle for their Rights in Rhodesia,
1923-1972," in S. E. Wilmer (et al) Zimbabwe Now, London: Rex Collings, 1972, p.41.

91
 which, ironically, was an English name, is a good example. African names were

considered heathen and thus not befitting of one who has converted to Christianity. "

Such `Christian names' had no relevance for the Africans, they only helped the

missionaries to make converts in their own image.50 Kapuya, one of Bernard Mizeki's

early converts, who admired his master's singing skills, demonstrates this brainwashing

when he says, "I thought if I learn to sing, I shall be able to hear God's voice, as

Europeans do. It is because I have not learnt to sing, as they do, that I cannot hear His

voice. That must be the way to God."51 He did not think that Bernard, whom he heard

sing, could hear God's voice; it had to be a European!

"At the moment of baptism they (the Shona converts) were required publicly both to

accept their new faith and to renounce much of their culture. In the case of Catholics

and Anglicans the form of words used was to 'renounce the devil and all his works. '"52

Perhaps this was the only way in which the missionaries could witness the process of

change. The practice literally demonstrated to the missionaries, in a dramatic way, the

convert's turning from darkness to light)

49Shonhiwa Kapuya, one of Bernani Mizeki's pupils, could not be baptised into Christianity under
the name'Shonhiwa'. This is how he was baptised, "then Shonhiwa stepped into the swiftly flowing water
suggestive of the Holy Spirit which would flow into his heart: and being dipped in the stream, renamed
and baptised in the name of the Blessed Trinity, John returned to the bank and with face towards the
brightening East was received into the congregation of Christ's flock. " E 51, USPG Archives, 1896.

soKendall op. cit., p. 54.

sl Farrant op. cit., p. 136.

52W. R.Peaden, op. cit., p. 6. A dramatic description of Sakanya's baptism by Pelly sheds more
light. He says, "Sakanya's answer to the first question was 'I renounce Satan and everything to do with
him. ' The boy stepped into the river and was made a Christian receiving Raymond as his baptismal
name. " E 52, USPG Archives, 1897.

92
 Adversely, this approach created a gulf between the missionaries, representing the

church; and the Shona people, as the object of European church discipline. The Shona

started classifying activities, resulting in dual observance which has since characterised

their association with the church. 53 Missionaries seemed to be condemning and

destroying the Shona traditional community only to replace it with one built around

themselves at the Mission Station. This did not go down well with the Shona people,

who understood community in terms of its wider clan setting. Even when one joins the

mission station community, as Lucas notes:

Custom will demand his participation with his relatives and kindred in much of
which he may feel a real distrust, and yet, if he refuses to be associated with his
tribesmen in what are regarded as essential acts of citizenship and duties of
community, he begins to be in danger of cutting himself off completely, and at the
end becoming an outcast. If his own tribe into which he was bom no longer
recognizes him, it is impossible for him to become a real member of any other
tribe or people. '

Given the Shona communal understanding of life, no-one would choose to ostracise

him or herself from his or her own consanguinity. The mission station concept did not

seem to accommodate this affinity. This situation needed a proper system of pastoral

care, which was unfortunately not fully provided. Shona people wanted to be

themselves, in a way that would make Christianity part of their lives. Apparently

Christianity was not presented as a live religion to them; that is, it was not part of their

53The conduct of some so-called Christians left a lot to be desired, leading one man of vast
colonial experience to say to one of the missionaries, "the natives will never be converted till the folk at
home have first provided forthe conversion of the whites, and also sent converted settlers. " C.F. Pascoe,
Two Hundred Yeras of S. P.G. 1701-1900, p.366b.

54W V. Lucas, Christianity and Native Rites, London: Central Africa House Press, 1950, p. 4.
.

93
 lives, so they had to go to the mission station for it. This explains in part why the Shona

adopted Christianity as a public religion, while maintaining traditional religion as a

private but real religion. 55 With this at the back of our minds, let us explore the

missionaries' teaching.

2.4 MISSIONARY TEACHING

Teaching was an integral part of early missionary work in Mashonaland. There is

justification in the claim that missionaries were pioneers in the field of education in this

newly occupied colony. But both the method and content of their teaching assumed the

superiority of the European teacher. From the point of view of the missionaries, the

Shona people were seen as not "educated, ° (in the western sense of course! )

Missionaries thus saw them as lacking in knowledge, including knowledge of life.

Whatever form of education the Shona people had was despised, if at all recognised

'
as such. In this context the missionaries saw teaching as a God-given opportunity to

combat paganism and give the natives both western knowledge and "stem civilization.

The misconception that "when you educate the native you weaken tribal custom"

seemed to inform and fuel this approach. 57

ss Peaden, a Methodist minister, observes that, `the methods of the early missionaries in
Mashonaland, however, were to lead to rejection, dependency, or, worst of all, an attempt to hold two
cultures in parallel, separate, compartments. W. R.Peaden, Missionary Attitudes, p.41.

56Shona education was, and still is to some extent, that "the Shona child was brought up to be
able to adapt himself orherselfto and live a peaceful life in the social and physical environment In which
he or she found himself orherself-the purpose for which all education is Intended." Parents teach their
children. M.Gelfand, Growing up in Shona Society, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1985, p.217(Italics mine).

57Peaden op. cit., p. 10.

94
 We shall review missionary teaching in three stages, namely, the early stage 1891 to

1925; the second stage, 1926 to 1975; and the third stage, 1976 to 1981. In the first

stage of missionary teaching, the missionaries were the key players; they did all the

leading and teaching. It comes as no surprise therefore to hear that most of the

teaching was in English, including the taking of prayers in church, and the services for

the burial of the dead. The Shona people were read to, and the scriptures were

interpreted for them in the light of the prevailing historical reality. Most of the damage

to Shona self-esteem, traditional religion and culture was done during this stage. The

idea of making the Shona people passengers at the burial of their relatives was not

'
welcome. As we have already noted, it widened the gap between them and the

'church'.

In other spheres of life missionaries seem to have succeeded because the Shona

people were sometimes convinced that they were second best. They felt inferior to the

white people in general, and lived with a sense of self-hatred. Once Shona Traditional

Religion and culture had been condemned, the Shona people were seen, in most

cases, as tabula rasa, that is, blank slates "on which a wholly new religious psychology

was somehow to be printed. "59This new religious psychology was to be imprinted

58 From a missionary perspective, the Anglican clergy

were doing the right thing, that Is,
conducting the burial according to the Book of Common Prayer's rites. As Colin Buchanan notes, this
is because 'Anglican Missionaries were themselves usually very loyal to the Book, were themselves
convinced that it was better than any other worship book available in Christendom, had themselves
promised always to use the Book, and saw it as being crucial to being Anglican. ' Colin Buchanan, 'Issues
of Liturgical Inculturation, ' in D.Gitari (ed) Anglican Liturgical Inculturation in Africa: The Kanamai
Statement 'African Culture and Anglican Liturgy, Nottingham: Grove Books Ltd, 1994, pp. 13-4.

59K. Bediako, Theology and Identity: the impact

of culture upon Christian thought in the second
century and modem Africa, Oxford: Oxford Regnum Books, 1992, p.225.

95
through missionary teaching, which was usually confrontational. Those who considered

embracingthe new faith were gathered into a catechumenatefor up to three years of

instruction. During this period they were expected to forsake many of their old customs

to
and showthat they could maintain the behaviour requirements of the 60
newfaith. The

catechumens were made in the image of the missionaries.

At first the teaching was mainly religious, but the facts on the ground, led to the

intensification of the mission policy of displacement of Shona Traditional Religion by

Christianity. There was a realisation among the missionaries that "unless we are careful

to instill religion into the minds, as well as educating him we are taking away something

without putting anything in its place. "61In other words, as Chambati says, "it was found

that in order to stabilize the faith of the converts and to assist in character development

it was necessary that the natives should be able to read the scriptures or other books

of religious instruction translated by the mission. "62The mind of the convert was to be

fully occupied by Christian teaching.

Education, or the assumption that all education was Christian education, became

complementary to the spread of Christianity, hence those who were catechists and

preachers were also teachers, like Bernard Mizeki. There seems to have been an

assumption that those who knew God in the missionary way could be trusted to teach.

60Peadenop.cit., p.6. See also Evans,The Churchin SouthernRhodesia,op.cit., p.29.

61Peaden op. cit., p. 10.

62Chambati, in Wilmer, Zimbabwe Now, op. cit., pp.21-22.

96
 This is alluded to in Bishop George Knight-Bruce's report on a journey to a chief whom

he asked to "accept a teacher who would teach about God."' Bishop Knight-Bruce

placed catechists in responsive villages as a strategy for both education and

evangelism. Evans actually confirms this when he comments on the situation as of

1896. He says, "from the point of view of the evangelization of the heathen a start had

been made by making contact with a large number of chiefs, and in several villages

catechists were now at work, though as yet there was no convert. "64These catechists

were to educate and evangelize.

The missionaries took great pride in the schools situated at mission stations; these

schools were an important part of the missionary strategy. What the mission station was

in the religious realm, the mission school was in the field of education. Village schools

fed pupils into it. One such mission school, St Augustine in Penhalonga was also a

renowned boarding school. 65Boarding schools provided the environment in which the

missionary philosophy could be maintained and more easily instilled in pupils. For this

reason it was deemed wise to remove pupils from their home environment, so that they

could be shut in with God, as it were. 66

63Peaden op. cit., p.8. See also Evans, op. cit., p. 11.

64Evans op.cit., p. 19.

65°St.Augustine's near Penhalonga

was the first mission in Zimbabwe to provide African children
with secondary education. ' K.Sayce, Tabex Encyclopedia Zimbabwe, Harare: Quest Publishers Pvt Ltd.,
1989, p.322.

66 Peaden op. cit., p. 8. For a comprehensive

picture of this subject `Christian Missions and
Western Educations see Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe, op. cit Chapter5, pp. 149-
201.

97
 2.4.1 Burial Practices

Beliefs and practices surrounding death and the dead were not spared. Each

established mission station had a cemetery, which was considered "consecrated

ground" for the burial of "Christians" away from their traditional homes.67 When a

Christian died, the death was not announced by drums, but by the ringing of the church

bell. Instead of weeping and wailing, prayers were said. Weeping and wailing were

discouraged as exhibiting a lack of faith and hope. This was the Church's approach

from the very beginning.

When a Christian was to be prepared for burial, this was usually carried out by fellow

Christians, or by hospital staff, if available. This was in order to avoid Shona rituals

being performedon the Christiancorpse. The corpse was laid in a coffin on its back

and covered with `white' cloth, for purity, hope and life, as opposed to death, black.

There was no distinction between a male and a female corpse, because all were equal

before God. Hands were either put at the sides, or crossed on the chest, the latter

being more popular. 68 This is confirmed in the conversation of Douglas Pelly and

Bernard Mizeki overheard by John Kapuya. Kapuya reports that Bernard was relating

the story of an old woman who had approached them (Bernard and John) and Bishop

Knight-Bruce, making gestures of howshewanted to be buried. Bernard's interpretation

670. Chadwick, The Victorian Church (Part two) 1860-1901, London: SCM, 1970.p.205. This is
an English practice which was being introduced to the Shona people as'Christian'.

68This is a practice from the medieval period. See P.Aries, Western Attitudes towards Death
from the Middle Ages to the Present, The Hopkins University Press, 1974, pp.8-9.

98
 of the old woman's gestures to Douglas illustrates the popular practice. He said, "she

might have been asking to be made a Christian, for Christians are buried lying on their

backs, with their hands folded on their breasts, while heathen African people are buried

lying on their right sides or their left sides, with heads on their hands held palm to

palm."69The western practice of using flowers at burial was also adopted.

Christian graves were dug by fellow Christians, or by those employed by the mission.

They were dug anywhere within the cemetery in such a way that the head would point

west when the corpse was buried. This was the posture of one with resurrection hope.

Missionary clergy played a leading role in all this. It is fascinating to note that even in

this regard missionaries felt superior. Leading the burial services was also a way of

enabling the Shona to learn, since they were supposed to learn by observation. Bishop

William Gaul etched this indelibly on the minds of the missionary clergy when he said

"natives are wonderfully imitative, have no abstract ideas and depend on example to

a very great degree. "70So whatever the missionaries wanted the Shona people to do,

they naively believed they had to demonstrate to them.

Not only did this new religious practicedeprivethe Shona people of participationin the

burial of their loved ones, it also deprived them of an opportunity to wrestle with their

bereavement in a realistic manner within the church structures. It ignored the pastoral

69Farrant op. cit., p. 136. The practice of burying people lying on their backs with hands crossed
on their breasts had already been established in Mashonaland as a Christian burial posture.

70Arnold op. cit., p.40.

99
and emotional values of tradition. As we have seen, weeping and wailing were not

permitted in the new religion. So they had to deal with their emotions outside that faith,

within their homes. There, friends and relatives provided the necessary support and

care. Without realising it, the Anglican Church in Mashönaland was in effect sending

the message that the Shona people were welcome, as long as they adopted missionary

mourning styles. When their emotions were high and the realities of life were heavy, the

church was not their place. What this meant in practical terms was that, when all was

well, the Shona people could come to church and continue to pay their dues, but that

the Church was not the place for deep feeling.

Not surprisingly, they found a clandestine way of dealing with death and the dead,

which ran parallel to missionary teaching, a pattern which continues to exist in the

Anglican Diocese of Harare to this day. This dichotomy is a result of missionary

insensitivity to traditional values. An opportunity to have Christianity and Shona

Traditional Religion engage in dialogue was lost. The pastoral care system which the

Shona people were to participate in was not relevant to them, especially in connection

with death and the dead, hence they felt dissatisfied with the church's observances and

rituals for their dead. However, when Shona people carried out their traditional death

rituals they derived a sense of community,which they had been deprived of by the
Church.

In spite of these problems, and the difficult relationships between the missionaries and

the local people, in 1919 Samuel Muhlanga became the first native Rhodesian to be

100
 ordained deacon. " Further ordinations of black indigenous people into the diaconate

were witnessed in 1923. Four new names were added to the roll of clergy, namely,

Stephen Hatendi,72Leonard Sagonda, l Peter Sekgoma,74and Gibson Nyabako.75Their

ordination to the priesthood offered the hope that a pattern of pastoral care might

emerge which respected the African (Shona) approach to death.

It is against such a background that we enter into the second stage of missionary

teaching, 1926 to 1975. Having locals as clergy was a development which needed

careful handling. Meanwhile some of the white missionary clergy, like Arthur Shearly

Cripps, had not only learnt the language, but had also acquired a great love and respect

for the Shona people. 76Even those missionary clergy who despised Shona priests and

their language, had to put up with them. As in other walks of life, the black clergy were

considered inferior, and could not be rectors, neither could they be in charge of a

congregation. Evans paints a clear picture of the working pattern of the time. "The

71Evans op. cit., p.37. See also a fuller description of his life in Zvobgo, A History of Christian
Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939, op. cit., 132-3.

72Evans op. cit., p.73. See also Zvobgo, AHistory of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939,
op.cit., p.337.

73Evans op. cit., p.73. See also Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939.
op.cit., p. 133.

74Evans op. cit., p.73.

's Evans op. cit., p.73. See also Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939,
op.cit., p.337.

76 Cripps' dedication to the Shona cause is spelt out by Steere as follows, "it was not a
commonplace, even in a pioneer country to have this highly gifted Anglican priest-poet-missionary who
...
was willing actually to identify his life with that of the Mashona people, to be the African's fearless
advocate both in Rhodesia and in Britain, and to be utterly expendable in their service. " D.V. Steere,
God's Irregular: Arthur Shearly Cripps. A Rhodesian Epic, London: SPCK, 1973, p.lx.

101
 Rector will probably have several smaller European churches under his care in the

neighbouringtownships,and he is usuallyresponsiblefor the nativework in the district,

assisted in most cases by an African priest. '" African clergy could not serve in white

congregations, but had to be under white supervision, even in African congregations.

They were not paid the same stipend as their white counterparts, and the African

Christians, rather than the diocesan offices were mainly responsible for their

78
maintenance.

2.4.2 Church Literature on Burial

1926-75 was also the period in which most of the religious literature was translated into

the vernacular language. The Shona language had become acceptable as a medium

of communicating the gospel. Substantial numbers of the Shona people had acquired

basic literacy skills. Among the many books that were translated were the Book of

Common Prayer, and the booklet, 'The Way of a Christian' (in Shona, Rwendo

rwomuKristu). These books contain the teaching of the church concerning death and

the dead. The Book of Common Prayer does so through the rubrics, while the latter

gives a step by step guide to what should be done, and when. They both set out which

prayers to say, and what biblical passages to read. For the translation of these books

the church owes much to Mrs Margaret Elaine Lloyd, wife of the Rev'd Edgar White

77Evans op. cit., p.46.

78Ibid., p.52. Evans records it thus, the catechists and most African clergy are maintained by
the African Christians. '

102
Lloyd of Rusape. She "was largely responsible for both the B.C.P. with its large

selection of hymns and for the Rwendo rwomuKristu, the book of public and private

devotion which is still widely used by African Christians of Mashonaland. "n' The words

about the Rwendo rwomuKiistu are still true today.

In that booklet there is a section dedicatedto the burying of the dead (kuviga vakafa)

which starts by telling the reader what Christians must think' when one of their number

dies. There are four such guiding thoughts:

(1) Christians must remember that the corpse was once the temple of the Holy

Spirit, so it must be stored and buried with respect. (2) Christians should pray for

the dead, and the priest must celebrate the eucharist in their honour. The

relatives of the deceased should make an effort to attend such a eucharist. (3)

Christians should not weep and wail as those with no hope. (4) Christian hope

should make it unnecessary for Christians to worry about heathen practices. For

that reason Christians should not consult traditional healers following the death

of their relative, neither should they venerate their ancestors. Finally, they should

not stop coming to church because they are mourning; if they do, they will be like

the heathens.8°

Burials should be carried out in the prescribed manner. Christians should be buried in

the cemetery, which is consecrated ground, usually not very far from the church

79Ibid., p.35. See also Arnold, Here to stay, op.cit., p. 56.

80Rwendo rwomuKr stu, (revised edition) Printed in Shona, London: SPCK, 1969, pp.97-8.

103
building. It is a requirement that the corpse be brought into the church and prayers be

said. The book to use at burial is the B.C. P., and appropriate page numbers are given.

When the grave is covered up it must be marked with a cross with the inscriptions R.I.P.

(Requiescat in Pace), Zorora murugare, for Rest in Peace."

Children also were to be buried with care. The church's desire was that every child

should be baptised before they died. To facilitate this all Christians were authorised to

baptise in the face of death. Even midwives were to know how to carry out this

emergency baptism. When a catechumen died there should be no eucharist, but the

burial should be conducted according to a set of given instructions. 12

As we have seen, the presence of African clergy and the translation of the service

books did not help to change already entrenched positions. In fact they helped to

tighten the missionary grip on the situation. Both the local people and the church

maintained their parallel ways. In the eyes of the local people the Anglican church was

seen as the white man's institution, hence the African clergy behaved like the white

missionaries.

Towards the end of this phase came another important development. A local

Archdeacon, Patrick Murindagomo,was appointed Suffragan Bishop. Arnold says:

81Ibid., p.98.

82Ibid., pp. 98-9.

104
 At the end of October 1972 an historic appointment was announced, namely that
of Archdeacon Patrick Murindagomo to be Suffragan Bishop of Mashonaland. He
was consecrated bishop on 25 January 1973 thus becoming the first African to
be an Anglican bishop in what was then Rhodesia. He was also the first
Anglican bishop in Rhodesia to be bom in the country. 83

So we close this stage too with the people's hopes for the accommodation of Shona

traditional practices being revived by this appointment. The new Suffragan Bishop, as

a leader, in the Church, would be in a position to influence policy. It was hoped that, as

a local person, Bishop Patrick would speak for the Shona people, since he understood

the significance of 'chivanhu84

2.5 Winding up the missionary era

We enter the third stage (1976-1981) of missionary teaching at a time when

expectations for the indigenisation of the teaching of the Anglican church were high.

Historically, it was a period which marked the tailing off of missionary dominance, while

the struggle for political liberation was intensifying. 85 Many African people had offered

themselves for the priesthood. On the other hand some white clergy withdrew from

sensitive areas to safer, usually urban, areas. The belief that Shona traditional religion

had a place in the lives of the African people was revived by this chimurenga,war of

83Amold op. cit., p. 137.

84This word is actually very difficult to translate; it embraces all that makes, in this case the
Shona people, who they are. This incorporates world views, cultural practices and behavioural norms.

85The guerilla war was waged against the Smith regime from 1966 to 1979, and saw the birth
of liberated Zimbabwe.

105
 liberation. 86A revival of traditional beliefs was vigorously mounted by the freedom

fighters, who happenedto be concentratedin the rural areas. The Dioceseof Harare

read the signs of the times, and revisited its teaching on death and the dead. It

published "Pastoral Regulations: issued by the Bishops for the guidance of the clergy.

1978."

These Regulations address most of the issues we have considered, and go on to make

notable concessions. Christians could be buried in their villages as long as the grave

was blessed. They could also take part in the funeral of non-Christians, whom the

Regulations unfortunately call 'heathens'. In the Regulations there is mention of new

forms of services being prepared "to suit the particular needs of Shona culture. 087

Under the heading, HEATHEN FUNERAL RITES, there are five points which indicate

a rethinking of the relationship between Christians and non-Christians. Briefly the points

are:

(i) Christians are allowed to attend the funerals of their heathen relatives and

friends, and to assist in the interment of the body. (ii) Christians are forbidden

to partake of meats and drinks offered to the spirits. (iii)They should not take part

86Archdeacon Alban Makoni recalls that, "at this stage of the war (1976) the comrades were very
hosile to Christianity. 'We don't want to hear about Jesus. Jesus can do nothing. ' In the crisis of the war
they put their emphasis on the spirits. " T. O. Ranger, Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla war In
Zimbabwe, pp.209-210. See also Lan who records from extensive research on the war of liberation that,
"the youth of Zimbabwe have certainly grown up in 'an atmosphere of shot and fire' and many have spent
a good number of years with 'gun in hand face to face with the forces of colonialism'. And yet far
... ...
from pouring scorn on these 'outlandish phantoms', their ancestors, they seem to believe in them as
strongly as their fathers and their fathers before them. " D. Lan, Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit
Mediums in Zimbabwe, London: James Currey Ltd, 1985, pp. xiv-xvii.

87Diocese of Mashonaland, Pastoral Regulations: Issued by the Bishops for the guidance of the
clergy, 1978, p. 15.

106
 in any worship offered to the spirits nor in any funeral dancing. (iv) They should

not weep and wail, but rather pray for the dead. The last three points allow

Christiansto be part of the funeral, so long as they do not engage in activities

which are regarded as inconsistent with their own Christian profession. '

When Suffragan Bishop Peter Hatendiwas made Bishop of the Diocese on June the

28th, 1981,89expectations were that the indigenous leadership would take over and

perfect the work introduced by the missionaries. Unfortunately this was not to be the

case. Up to, and beyond Bishop Hatendi's retirement in 1995, the condemnatory and

confrontational approach which was established by the missionaries has continued to

characterise the relationship between Christian and Shona traditional views of death

and the dead. What this implies is that, despite the Diocese of Harare having

indigenous leadership, it still reflects its settler origins when it comes to dealing with

death and the dead. There is a sense in which the training of clergy contributes to this.

There is little encouragement for students to think creatively about their own

Zimbabweanculturalcontext,becausethe bishops, who approvethe syllabi, havebeen

unwilling to accept African Traditional Religion as a subject at the local theological

college

2.6 CONCLUSION

88Ibid., pp. 15-6. We shall look at this further when we deal with the present practices among
Shona Anglicans in Chapter four. That will help us to see how much of the regulations were observed.

89Amold op. cit., p. 154.

107
 Though the missionaryera seems to have been typified by prejudice and a sense of

superiority on the part of the missionaries, the seeds of the Gospel were sown.

However, the tendency to condemn Shona practice curtailed chances for genuine

dialogue. Mistrust and suspicion clouded a relationship based on discipline, not trust.

The arbitrary administration of disciplinary measures meant that the missionaries were

no different from their settler colleagues; only to be expected, as they were all varungu,

that is, white people. In attempting to think for the Shona people, and by prohibiting

most of their cultural and ritual practices, missionaries facilitated the dual observance

witnessed in bereavement beliefs 90

and practices. This gave the Shona people an

opportunity to please the missionaries while remaining the communal people they were.

Community, in the traditional setting, was not complete without the dead, but the

missionaries thought and taught otherwise.

In fact the missionaries overlooked the fact that some of the attitudes they themselves

held towards death and the dead had developed over many centuries. During the

course of their development, as we have seen, some were influenced and shaped by

circumstances which had nothing to do with Christ. Perhaps the mission station model

blinded the missionaries from recognizing that there was potential for pastoral care in

the traditional practices in dealing with death and the dead. An effective pastoral care

system could have helped to address the yawning gap between western style and

90 Evidence that aspects of traditional burial continued to be practised by Shona Christians

alongside Christian burials is the fact that the Diocese of Harare set up a Commission of Enquiry on this
specific matter. Once again we shall deal with this question in Chapter four, where we look at 'Present
practices'.

108
traditional bereavement rituals, so bridging the gap between the Church, and the Shona

people in community.

In order to appreciate howthe present situation developed, it is important to investigate

how the Shona people responded to Christianity generally.

109
 CHAPTER THREE

SHONA RESPONSES TO CHRISTIANITY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter we dealt with the missionary era, explored the Anglican

missionary background, noting how this influenced their approaches and teaching. We

also observed the close association of missionaries with the settlers, making them the

same varungu' in Shona people's(Mashona) eyes. After these varungu had settled

among the Mashona, they made contact, but the pattern of relationship between them

was that of master-servant or superior-inferior. A few varungu, both missionary and

settler, did not subscribe to this pattern of interaction. Rather, they saw the Mashona

as equally human and worthy of dignity and respect. Initially this philosophy caused

some problems for the Mashona, particularly because a determination to relate to the

Shona people with respect sometimes meant ostracisation of the murungu in question,

by fellow varungu.

Our task in this chapter is to examine this anthropological impasse and how it

influenced Mashona responses to Christianity. We shall do this by first establishing how

they responded to existential questions. This involves probing issues such as (a) the

1The word varungu is the plural of murungu. These

words were and still are used for Europeans,
or those who have a White' skin (vachena).

110
 demand for labour, (b) the hut tax, (c) religion and world views and (d) response

options. These facilitate our understanding of Mashona responses to Christianity. Under

the heading 'responses to Christianity, ' we shall also investigate how missionary

Christianity related with its Shona context. As a response to Christianity we shall

analyse the approach and doctrine of one African Initiated Church with reference to

death and the dead. But first, the anthropological responses.

3.2 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESPONSES

If the Shona people's responses are to make sense, we need to understand their

background fully. So, we shall split history into three sections, namely, the pre-uprising

era (1890-1895), the uprising era 1896-1897 and the post-uprising era (1898 onwards).

The pre-uprising era was the period of initial contacts between the Mashona and the

varungu and accounts of fear-' and curiosity on the part of the Mashona are told.

Mashona curiosity is well described by two citation from Mason. The first, written in

retrospect in 1958, captures the initial contact. It reads:

Whatever the tribesmen had heard, the first glimpse of the Europeans must
have come with a shock of surprise. Peering from cover at the ox-drawn
wagons wondering at the hairy faces and the lumpy outlines of these
strange beings, they were aware, no doubt, of something more than
curiosity, of some slight apprehension of coming change in a life that was
at least familiar. But not one can have begun to picture the shattering effect

2 Livingstone helps us to understand this when he says, `there must be

something in the
appearance of white men frightfully repulsive to the unsophisticated natives of Africa; on entering
villages previously unvisited by Europeans, if we met a child coming quietly and unsuspectingly towards
us, the moment he raised his eyes and saw the men in 'bags,'he would take to his heels in agony of
terror, such as we might feel if we met a live Egyptian mummy at the door of the British Museum. ' cited
in P. Mason, The Birth of a Dilemma, London: Oxford University Press, 1958, p.23.

111
 this coming was to have, not only on their food, houses, weapons, tools and
clothing, but on their inmost thoughts, their faith in the protection of their
ancestors, their songs and dances, even their feelings for their wives and
children. '

The second excerpt is attributed to Francois Coillard, who wrote in 1897 as one who

had been part of a pioneer group. He recounts;

That very day in this forest, which has been hitherto solitary, we caught sight
of black figures hiding behind trees, who cast furtive glances at us and
disappeared like shadows. Others, growing bolder, approached us little by
little, and before evening they brought us flour, peas, groundnuts, rice etc.
From this moment our wagons were besieged by natives from far and near,
who escorted us day by day and bivouacked beside us at night, to satisfy
their curiosity. "

The Mashona were so genuinely curious to knowwhat these strangers were like, hence

they were so hospitable. Little did they know that these varungu were going to cause

them untold hardships. The first indication of hardships to come was the demand for

labour

3.2.1 Demand for labour

As we already know, the pioneers had each been promised fifteen gold claims and a

3,000 acre farm by Cecil John Rhodes, owner of the B.S.A. Company, which henceforth

governed the 5
country. The Anglican Church also benefited from this arrangement. As

3 Masonop. cit., p. 20.

4 Mason op. cit., p. 21.

5 Mason op. cit., pp. 142-3.

112
Bishop Knight-Bruce wrote, by an agreement with them (BSA Co) we have a right to

a piece of ground, where we have a mission;and though, of course we have not that

number of mission stations, we have about 28 pieces of ground, each about 2,500

acres. "6 When the Company had given to each what was promised, that is, the church

its land, the farmer his farmland, the miner his prospecting rights, the big question

remained:'who will provide the labour?'

The expectation was that the Mashona would of right, avail themselves as a measure

of appreciation of European protection against the Matabele. The varungu had indeed

ended Matabele raids against the Mashona, so, with their families secure, it was

presumed the Mashona would be available. This was not to be, the Mashona were

economically self-sufficient and wished to be left alone. "7 They "were willing to be

protected from the Matabele but saw little to recommend working for wages on a white

man's farm, still less going down a mine. They did not want to work for someone else;

yet the settlers thought of them as a potential labour force. "8

In a bid to get Mashona labour, the Company stopped Mashona trade with Tete on the

pretext that "it was a drain of the gold from the country. "9 Indirectly, this was meant to

deprive them of an independentsourceof incomeso that they would offer themselves

6 CLR 142, USPG Archives, Feb 10,1893.

Mason, op.cit., p. 152.

8 Mason, op. cit., p. 152.

Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, op. cit., p.56.

113
for labourers. As Ranger observes:

Rhodes had no intention of establishing a trade with the central and eastern
Shona in alluvial gold; his interest was exclusively in the opening up of
mining by white prospectors, which he thought would bring prospects of
employment to the Shona that would more than make up for the loss of their
trade with the Portuguese.10

The Mashona did not want to be labourers as one of their number declared, "now the

white men want to make us work in their mines and fields. But no -we do not want their

money,we have done without it in the past - why should we work unlesswe wish to?""

Indeed, why did they have to work if they did not want the money?

It was not, then, a question of the Mashona wanting to work, but of the Company

wanting them to work. As previously indicated, the Company had assumed jurisdiction

over the Mashona behind Lobengula's back, and on false pretences. The 'Order in

Council' of 9th May 1891, through which the Crown took responsibility for the territory,

provided for "the good government of all persons within the limits of this order. 02 In

theory this order empowered the Company to enforce law, but only if a native African

Chief had delegated it. No such delegation was ever made, and with no apparent

opposition to the Company's control of Mashonaland, the Company was obliged to

provide the labour. It introduceda hut tax.

10Ranger,op. cit., p.56.

11Ranger op.cit., p.322.

12Mason op. cit p. 152-3.

114
 3.2.2 The Hut Tax

The purpose of the hut tax was twofold, (a) to help with the administration of the

territory, especially the payment of the controversial native police. (b) to act as an

incentive for labour. An extract from a Company letter of July 1890 to the Colonial

office justifying the introductionof this hut tax clearly explains its purposes. It reads:

The Mashona's are now relieved of the constant liability to raids by the impis
of ... Lo Bengula, and are able to gather in their crops with reasonable
safety; in fact the administration of the British South Africa Company gives
them security for life and property. It would seem to be prima facie just that
they should contribute to the support of this administration. One of the
principal difficulties in dealing with African races is of teaching them habits
of settled industry and ... in a country ... with a considerable demand for
native labour, the necessity of paying this small tax will furnish an
incentive for labour 13 ...
...

Still determined to get Mashona labour force, the Company forcibly made chiefs

responsible for providing labour; failure to do so meant loss of livestock on their part.

Varungu could supervise the confiscation of the livestock, at times brutally attacking

innocent women and children, so that they would encourage their adult male family

members to be labourers. Zvobgo adds some insights on the Native Police, "the

Mashonaland Native Police not only actively oppressed the people but also raped

women. The reputation of these representatives of official justice had become so evil

that their arrival at a kraal was the occasion of the worst alarms. ' 14

13Mason op. cit., 153. This is corroborated in L. Vambe, An Ill-fated People: Zimbabwe Before
&after Rhodes, London: Heinemann, 1972, p. 105.

14Zvobgo, op. cit., p. 24.

115
 It was "more like the levy of a tribute than the collection of a civil tax. i15 The Mashona

becoming aliens in their own territory. The Imperial Secretary in Cape Town echoed

Mashona sentiments by pointing out that "the natives are probably in law and equity the

real owners of the land they occupy and it would be difficult to charge them hut tax for

the occupation of their lands."'6 The Mashona did not understand why they had to pay

taxes and be ill-treated.

Police were important because, "the settlers had been accustomed to the protection of

law backed by police. "" They imposed this notion of law on the Mashona, who had

only known and abided by tribal law. Chiefs, in tribal law, were arbiters over disputes

and misunderstandings. In the new set up, Native Commissioners were the judges. By

imposing this legal system the varunguwere making all Mashona tribes the same. The

Mashona did not approve of this, but found themselves abiding by it. This became an

area of sharp legal conflict. Because, as Zvobgo notes, "there was widespread use by

Company officials of punitive police expeditions against the Shona in settling disputes

between white farmers, prospectors and traders on the one hand and the Shona on the

other. "18

15Ranger, op. cit., p. 177.

16Mason, op. cit., p. 154.

17Ibid., p. 152.

13Zvobgo, op. cit., p. 24. Ranger cites specific incidents of this bias, see Revolt in Southern
Rhodesia 1896-7, pp. 64-5.

116
The appointment of Native Commissioners in 1890 by Rhodes helped to expose the

weaknesses of the Company's administration. Ranger sheds some light on this by

establishing that:

Native Commissioners in the normal sense of Officers appointed to regulate

and protect the Shona peoples were not appointed until the end of 1894,
and even then only because some machinery was needed for the collection
of the hut tax. 19

Some Mashona were evicted from their land without any compensation or consideration

for their welfare, and some Native Commissioners turned a blind eye to this injustice. 20

The list of grievances against the varungu grew, and a series of natural disasters added

to the woes of the Mashona. First came the locusts, which destroyed their crops. Then

came drought, and then, as a final blow, the rinderpest, which killed many of the

remaining cattle. To control the disease the varungu shot the 21

surviving cattle. The

Mashona did not understand why. Mason makes a perceptive observation of the

Mashona situation. He says:

On top of all this came natural disasters. Locusts and drought had come
when the Pioneers entered Mashonaland and never gone; next came
rinderpest and the cattle died. Those the rinderpest did not kill the
Company's veterinary officers shot to prevent its spread. Cattle were the
life-blood of the country, providing transport as well as milk and meat; it is
not surprising that the Mlimo, the Makalanga godling of the Matopo Hills,
began to prophesy that nothing would go right so long as the white men

19Ranger,op.cit., p.51.

20Ibid., p. 83.

21T. 0. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, p.87.

117
 were in the 22
country.

These developments were interpreted religiously, so we turn to religion and worldviews.

3.2.3 Religion and world views

As noted in chapter one, Shona woridviews are communal, human beings and spirits

remain in communion. If anything goes wrong in the world of the living, both worlds

have to be consulted to learn the cause of the problem. This is effectively done with the

assistance of either a n'anga (traditional healer) or a svikiro (host of a regional or tribal

spirit). In this instance the chronicle of hardships they were facing were the result of

Europeans' outright disregard for sacred customs and traditions.

Sometimes, in the forcible collection of cattle for the hut tax, the mombe yomusha

(beast of the ancestors) was taken. 23The beast symbolically represents the spirit elder,

or the ancestor. Without the mombe yomusha, the home became defenceless. This

was anathema; (a) it annoyed the ancestors, and (b) it placed the home out of

communion, thus making it vulnerable. Whatever happened to the mombe yomusha

was also happening symbolically to the ancestors. Most of it would be considered

disrespectful.

22Mason, op. cit., p. 194-5. For the discontent of Shona people with European oppression see
also Zvobgo, A History of Christian Missions in Zimbabwe 1890-1939,p.25 and Ranger, Revolt in
Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, pp.81-87.

23M. F.C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p. 269.

118
 As the cattle were collected, they sometimes ran over graves, an act of disrespect for

the dead. In addition, arbitrary evictions, by settlers, meant that some Mashona were

moved away from the land where their ancestors were buried. 24 This was tantamount

to forcing them to abandon a significant part of their communities and identity.

For the Mashona, continuously harassing and ill-treating other people is unacceptable

to the spirits. Since this was the order of the day, the question for them was no longer,

"what is the matter? " but "what must we do? " Beating and shamefully treating chiefs

before their subjects was the last straw, an insult to the mhondoro (regional spirits) and

to God.25

Shona people would not let a corpse lie unburied for fear of the reactions of the spirit

26
world. They found themselves letting corpses lie unburied against their consciences. 27

Territorial spirits were also believed to be disappointed by the fact that the varungu just

24According to Terrence Ranger, "Company rule had meant forthose Shona

who lived in areas
affected by white economic activity not only an infringement of the authority of the chiefs but a great
disruption of their own lives. It had meant the loss of stock and sometimes of land; it had meant forced
labour." T. O. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, p.87.

25See Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7, pp. 206-26. See also M.F.C. Bourdillon,
The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, pp.293-4.

26Farrant op. cit., p. 99.

27 Evidence of the fact that some bodies remained unburied is found in Native Commissioner
Scotts' reports. One of his reports reads, "we discovered the body of Mashiangombi today at 2.30. He
had marks of dynamite on his body. He was also shot at daybreak this morning in trying to escape from
one of the caves. He was lying about 15 yards in front of it.... " Cited in T. O. Ranger, Revolt in Southern
Rhodesia 1896-7, p.297. See comment on Shona people and burying the dead in Chapter two, p. 105.

119
slew cattle and left their flesh to rot. 28

This was desecration of the Shona people's religion; their very life and dignity. 29Their

beliefs in both Mwari (as the liberator), designated as the Mwari cult by Ranger, and the

hierarchy of ancestors and spirit mediums, were revived. They also questioned the

genuineness of Christianity. Chief Mangwende on behalf of his subjects asked Frank

Edwards, an Anglican missionary, "if God sent the white man to teach him and his

people why did God send the white men to kill and outrage the native peoples? 0130
As

a result, in the period leading up to the uprisings the Mashona no longer wanted to have

much contact with the varungu in spite of their initial curiosity.

The uprising era (1896-1897) was the culmination of dissatisfaction with white

governance. It was triggered by a message, allegedly from Murenga - the Great Spirit

saying, "if you want to get rid of all your troubles, kill all the white men.01 Since the

Shona were daily witnessing the extinction of their way of life, it seemed that Murenga

was right. "For these reasons, and because of the specific grievances of white

administration, it can be little surprise to us that the Shona rose in arms in 1896.i32 To

appreciate how well received the call was:

28See Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, pp. 295-301.

29T. O. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, London: Heinnemann, 1967, pp.46-88.

30Ranger, op. cit., p. 83.

31Ibid., p.223.

32Ibid., p. 196.

120
 We have to look once again to the traditional religious authorities of the
Shona to understand the co-ordination of the rising above the paramountcy
level - and also to understand the commitment of the people to the rising at
the paramountcy level. A commitment so complete and even fanatical that
it cannot be explained simply in terms of loyalty to the paramount chief. 33

The uprising corroborates the observation that people respond to dehumanization in

stages. 34First, the dehumanized people seek a way out, if they fail, they adopt the

second stage, feigning loyalty. At this stage they give the `dehumaniser' a false sense

of victory. Thirdly, they resign themselves and resort to fighting back. This is what the

Mashona did to the greatest surprise of the varungu. Ranger aptly articulates the

varungu view point, when he says:

whites believed that the Shona peoples would not rebel because they
believed that the Shona had no roots, no sense of history, no sense of
religion, the feeblest of political institutions - in short, no way of life worth
fighting for. 35

This was a miscalculation on their part, the Mashona had roots, a history, religion and

a way of life worth dying for. This move helped the varungu to realise that the Mashona

were human, because "left to their own devices, the whites by stagesestablished a

society designed to preserve their own power and privilege. "'

33 Ibid.,
p. 200.

34 This is most probably an adaptation of Fanon's analysis of colonised people, based a study
of the Algerian Revolution. The stages he lists are, first, an attempt to resist, mimmicking the oppressor
and thirdly, resorting to violence, see F. Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Gt. Britain: Macgibbon &
Kee, 1965.

35T. O Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, op.cit., p.2.

36M.Meredith, The Past Is Another Country. Rhodesia 1890-1979, London: 1979, p. 19.

121
 Vambe sums up this Mashona response, and notes the implications of their taking up

arms. He notes that:

The facts indicate that the people of Mashonaland took up arms in a

genuine desire to recover the freedom which they had always enjoyed until
1890. This was the sole reason for undertaking a task which they knew,
even before they began fighting, would entail colossal sacrifices in men,
sweat and blood. 37

So the Shona people resigned themselves to this protracted, bloody, nasty, guerilla war

in search of freedom. However, their logistics fell short of the varungu, the little

ammunition they had got through trading with Tete ran out, and so did the food

supplies which they had hidden in the caves from which they were fighting. The settler

army ended up using dynamite, either to force the warriors out of the caves, or to

destroy them inside. Ranger gives a detailed account of the progress of the war in his

Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896-7.

In the post-rebellion phase most Mashona sawthe uprisings as a failure. Taking his cue

from this observation, Ranger notes that:

Armed resistance seemed to have been disastrous. The new chiefs did not
promise effective secular leadership. The religious authorities, spirit
mediums and Mwari priests alike, seemed to have been crushingly defeated
in what had increasingly come to seem like a war between two religious
systems. 38

3.2.4 Response options

37Vambe, op. cit., p. 114.

38 TO. Ranger, The African Voice in Rhodesia, Heinemann, London, Ibadan: East Africa
Publishing House, Nairobi, 1970, p.2.

122
With their religion thus defeated the Shona people had three options. First, they could

continue to fight. This could be done till thorough defeat or till some other force rescued

them. Continued open rebellion was impossible because food stocks were depleted.

However, pockets of resistance continued.39

Secondly, they could simply turn in on themselves and organize themselves better. So,

instead of open rebellion they would adopt passive resistance. As Ranger says:

In fact 'passive resistance' was more important as a Shona response to

colonialism than were the rumours, dreams and plans of a rising. This
passive resistance took the form of a general refusal to become involved in
the new colonial labour and wage system. The Shona, as an administrative
officer wrote, are'essentially agriculturalists'. They are of the earth, earthy.
Agriculture to the Native is not an occupation or a trade. It is a mode of
life.40

The Shona people still preferred to work on their own land. They succeeded and even

sold their surplus produce, thus contributing to the economic development of the

country and, maintaining their dignity and traditions. The availability of a market for

their produce made this possible. For a while they had a monopoly over the markets.41

In a sense Shona traditional life was an economic success, which more than made up

for the military defeat. It was not until the early 1920s that this started changing.42The

39Ibid., pp. 3-13.

'° Ibid., p. 13.

41Ibid., p. 14.

42See Chapter three below under ? he Economic Factor, p. 132.

123
 Europeans had realised that a sound agricultural economy enabled the Mashona to

resist entering the labour market, so they worked hard to supplant the Mashona in

supplying agricultural produce. The Mashona faced hardships "when European

agriculture was supplying the bulk of the needs of the "'

modem economy... This

deliberate effort by Europeans to cripple Shona economic prosperity succeeded. 4

The third option was "to accept that defeat in the risings was not merely one additional

episode in the long history of Shona clashes with whites but that it marked a turning

point. "45They had to stop thinking that "the white man is only a temporary visitor. 046The

Mashona had to accept that the whites had come to stay. This opened the floodgates

for Christianity. Chiefs who had originally refused missionaries permission to establish

themselves became receptive and were themselves converted.47

The three options described were not implemented in any particular sequence, but as

and when deemed convenient. Different areas opted for different options at different

times. When the fact that the varungu had come to stay dawned, most Shona attitudes

changed. Let us now explore Shona responses to Christianity.

43T. O.Ranger, The African Voice, op. cit., p.15.

44According to Ranger, European agriculture displaced Shona agriculture "when prices for
African cattle and crops had fallen; and when the pressures of tax and rent and dipping fees had to be
faced without the support of a relatively prosperous African agriculture. " Ibid., p. 15.

45Ibid., p. 3.

46E. 53, USPG Archives, 1898.

47Zvobgo, op. cit., p. 116.

124
 3.3 RESPONSES TO CHRISTIANITY

In the pre-rising era, responses to Christianity were mostly negative and significantly

small.48Missionaries taught that ancestor veneration (which they in fact pejoratively

called ancestor worship) was evil. But in their eucharistic celebrations, because they

had not taught the Shona people adequately, they seemed to be engaging in ancestor

worship and witchcraft. 49They ate the flesh and drank the blood of their ancestor. For

the Shona people, someone who eats human flesh and drinks human blood is a witch

or a wizard, and does so privately. The missionaries ate the flesh and drink the blood

of Jesus, publicly. To complicate the situation further, they invited those present to join

them in this supposedly weird activity. Mashona were curious, and "in the early days

many missions claimed large congregations. People attended for a variety of reasons

including that of curiosity to find out what the strange new teaching was all about. "50

This echoes the problems encountered by the early church from which the missionaries

seemed to have learnt nothing'51as'educated and civilised' as they were.

Bishop George Knight-Bruce, in his enthusiasm, seems not to have realised that there

were these underlying conceptual difficulties. He wrote:

48See also what we said in Chapter two on Village Visits, ' 85.
p.
49In traditional Shona thinking
witches are believed to eat human flesh and drink human blood.
They however do this during the night. This is why when there is a death there is a wake. It is meant to
deter witches from coming to eat the corpse of the dead person. See Chapter four p.169.

S0Peaden, op.cit., p.6.

51See J.W. C. Wand, A History the Early Church to AD 500, London: Methuen & Co, pp.136ff,
of
and many others who deal with The Apologists. '

125
 Sanguine as I was as to the position the church could occupy in
Mashonaland, I never anticipated so universal an acceptance of our
...
teaching as has taken place. With all the difficulties and failures - and they
are neither few nor small - there is nothing at present apparent to prevent
this mission under God, becoming one of the Church's largest fields of
work. 52

Added to these conceptual objections were the practical issues, such as the Church's

participation in the search for labour market and the levying of taxes. Missionaries

themselves sometimes behaved like the settlers, picking quarrels with workers so that

they could refuse payment of their wages.53 So, the Mashona withdrew their labour

from mission stations as well. This resulted in a shortage of labour, which Pelly wrote

about. "We are very greatly in need of more workers in this part of the diocese, at the

present moment there are three mission farms which are altogether without workers. "54

According to USPG records, the Church set up "a system of assessment to be paid by
55
all adult Christians and catechumens, 5/- a year for males and 2/- for females. " This

becomes even more pertinent when Bishop George Knight-Bruce is quoted as

welcoming the government's hut tax system as a way of enforcing Church doctrine. He

said, "I want the government to attack polygamy by flank movement of accumulating

52Amoid, op.cit. p. 19.

53See Chapter two p.89-100.

54E-53 USPG Archives, 1893.

53E-67 USPG Archives, 1912. The amounts to be paid were five shillings for male members and
two shillings for females.

126
 taxation of huts (each hut representing a wife) by doubling taxes after the first wife. "

The church and the settler government were indeed allies.

Bernard Mizeki's life helps to clarify a religious question with reference to the

understanding of God. He was one of the catechists brought from South Africa by

Bishop Knight-Bruce.57 He stayed with the people of Mangwende for five years and

even married one of the Mangwende daughters, but remained a religious outsider. The

Mangwende people did not introduce him (kusuma) to their ancestral spirits.

Traditionally, even a stranger was incorporated into the family and introduced to the

spirits who then also became his guardians, more so if he or she became a son or

daughter-in-law. After this ritual the family members would literally protect him or her

for fear of their ancestors. Bernard did not enjoy any of these privileges, and was killed

by blood relatives of his wife. People of Mangwende did not see him as part of their

community, they were not obliged to protect him; instead he was a religious stumbling

block. As Baur notes:

The 1896 rising gave them the opportunity to have him murdered with
impunity. Though at that moment anti-colonial feeling was poisoning the
whole atmosphere the point to be made here is that the five-year long
highly-dedicated ministry of a socially fully accepted African apostle left little

m Cited in Mission Field, Vol. XLIV, 1899, p.357.

57Bernani Mizeki "had been born in about 1861 nearthe Bay of Inhambane in Mozambique. His
tribe was known as the Gwambe, a minor branch of the Ngwanati. At the age of thirteen or so, he went
to Cape Town and obtained employment. Eight years later, he began to attend a Night School run by St
Philip's Anglican Church, Zonnebloem, and this led to his conversion and baptism. He received a
thorough education and Christian training, much of it from the Cowley Fathers (the Society of St John
the Evangelist). " J. Weller and J. Linden, Mainstream Christianity to 1980 in Malawi. Zambia and
Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1984, p.67.

127
 religious impact on Shona society. 58

They failed to understand why he could not appreciate their way of life, after they had

accepted him socially, as a native African. His ministry was considered tangential and

thus of very little relevance. Being a Christian was the problem.

In Shona setting religion acts as a unifying factor, it is like the soul that keeps the whole

body healthy. 5' There were no temples, or artefacts of their religion. This is why Robert

Moffat failed completely to understand that African religion existed, and regarded most

signs of African 60
culture and ritual as evil. The Mashona did however have national

shrines, like the Matojeni in the Matopos, and Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo, where they

went for more serious concerns, but not for issues of day to day living. 61

The Shona people dearly revered communal life. In that setting each person lived "as

a member of a clan, sharing its life and possessions, obeying its customs, holding its

beliefs and seldom learning to stand alone. The loss of kith and kin was counted worse

58J. Baur, 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa: An African History 62-1992, Nairobi, Kenya:
Pauline Publications Africa, 1994, p.204.

59 Baeta, op.cit., p.289.

60Kendall, op.cit., p.55. Robert Moffat is quoted as having said, 'a missionary seeks in vain to
find a temple, an altar, or single emblem of heathen worship. No fragments remain of former days, as
mementoes to the present generation, that their ancestors ever loved, served, or reverenced a being
greater than man Ibid. p. 182.
.0
61E.W. Smith, Robert Moffat, SCM Press, 1912, Chapters 12-3. See also D.Berens, et. al. A
Concise Encyclopedia of Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1988, p. 278. Daneel, 'Mwari the Liberator
Oracular Interventions in Zimbabwe's Quest for the 'Lost Lands,- in J. L.Cox, Rites of Passage in
Contemporary Africa, Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press,1998, pp.94-125.

128
 almost than death. "62 Christianity seemed to be tampering with this understanding by

emphasizing individualism in its approach.

3.3.1 Early responses

Immediately after the risings, about 1898 onwards, there were gut responses to the

Christianity. On the other hand the Church was not very sure of itself.63 We will

however look at the responses in the light of the understanding that the defeat shook

the Shona people's socio-religious base, thus creating diffidence. The tactics that the

settlers used to bring the risings to an end were so cruel that the Shona people would

not contemplate going through them again. Vambe alleges that the intensity of their fear

was such that "even in the 1950s prominent white Rhodesian politicians could boast

that since the rebellion the Europeans had never fired a bullet at the African in anger. "44

Developments gave missionaries a second chance which they used positively. In their

schools they taught academic and industrial courses. This meant that the students had

something to offer their villages when they went back or left school. Some students

62Farrant, op.cit., p. 117.

63Roxburgh, an Anglican cleric hinted at that

when he said of the Church then,'here the Anglican
Church is following little bands of pioneers, prospectors and settlers who are struggling against terrible
odds to make a home for themselves and a new land for England.' E-53, USPG Archives, 1898. See
also what we said in Chapter two on 'Mission Stations,' p. 88.

64Vambe, op.cit., p. 141. For the effects of the defeat

see also Ranger, The African Voice in
Rhodesia, p.3.

129
spearheaded the improvement of farming methods in their villages and caused relative

agricultural advancement. This led to the conclusion, in the minds of many Mashona,

that Christianity was a model of prosperity. If one wanted to be progressive, one had to

attend Christian schools. This link between Christianity and education and progress

prompted yet more acceptance of the missionary teaching. Considerable numbers of

children were sent to missionary institutions. Ranger aptly sums up this line of thinking

by noting that:

This development linked up with the spread of the influence of Christian

teaching and the Christian way of life. Some of the early African teachers
and preachers, drawn largely from South Africa, became themselves
individual landowners or leasers and demonstrated the connection in their
own minds between Christianity, economic progress and progressive
farming. `5

Missionaries had "unlimited scope to do good and atone for the wrongs that had been

committed by their fellow white men.'" They had to make sure that what they taught

and what they did, as far as possible, complimented each other. In their teaching they

emphasized that all human beings were equal before God; they tried to show this by

empathizing with the Shona people. Some did so at great risk, like the renowned

A. S.Cripps.6' Since the Mashona had lost most of their tools and grain seeds, the

missionaries helped where possible.

They gave clothes, seeds and hoes. They solved family and neighbourly
problems. They offered advice on all kinds of human difficulties and, most
important of all, they could now teach with greater conviction and effect that

65Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, op.cit., p. 15.

Vambe, op.cit., p. 143.

67See Chapter two, p. 101.

130
 all men (human beings) were the children of God and that the lowly would
gain richer rewards in the Kingdom of Heaven.68

Teaching that all human beings were children of God worthy of respect and dignity, to

an extent, removed anxiety and restored the confidence of the Shona people. It gave

them the desire to be like the missionaries and so they became Christians. 69 Wearing

western clothes, speaking in the missionaries' language and behaving like a white

person became desired targets. These made the Shona people identify with the

missionary, desiring to be acceptable to the missionary God.7° Of course there is

warped thinking in this understanding, but because it brought the Shona people to

Christianity, the missionaries did not see it for what it was. The twisted thinking, on the

part of some missionaries, was that western civilisation was synonymous with

Christianity, hence they did not make any effort to become equal with the Shona people.

At the death and burial of those who were Christians, this teaching on equality rang

true. All were treated the same, from preparation of the corpse, to prayer services and

place of interment. They were wrapped in white cloth (a shroud), and placed in a coffin

lying on their back. This was for all Christians, adults, children, female and male. Black

68Ibid., p. 143. See also Sithole, African Nationalism, on the teaching on equality before God.

69See also what Ndabaningi Sithole says about the strength this teaching
of with reference to
nationalism. p. 152-3, above.

70 Desmond Tutu bluntly

says, "these poor native pagans had to be clothed in western clothes
so that they could speak to the white man's God, the only God, who was obviously unable to recognize
them unless they were decently dad. " D. M. Tutu; Whiter African Theology, " in E. Fashole-Luke (et. al)
Christianity in Independent Africa, p. 365.

131
and white Christians were buried in the same cemetery. The desire to be buried with

and like a white person could have played a role in some Shona people's responses

to Christianity, just as the genuine desire to know and relate with God could have.

Though the Shona may have embraced eagerly the idea of equality between races, they

would have been much less eager to apply the principle of equality among themselves.

For example, burying a Shona man and a Shona woman in the same manner was not

ritually acceptable, let alone burying a child like an adult. Christianity and Shona

tradition held divergent beliefs and observances."

3.3.2 Adaptive responses

For the Mashona, who do not have sacred and secular, adapting to Christianity was a

long and gradual process. There are five factors which played a role in this process.

they are:

(i) the socio-economic factor (ii) the education factor (iii) the Bible (iv)

Denominationalism and (v) Jesus Christ. Let us now explore how these

matters played a role in the accommodation of Christianity by the Shona

people following the period of initial impulsive responses.

3.3.2.1 The economic factor

71See above pp.27 and 45.

132
 The booming rural economy which formed the background to the initial responses was

giving the Shona people "a new sense of optimism ... and a new degree of

independence was experienced.'72 After the First World War things had changed. As

Ranger has observed:

The rural economy ceased to produce and to market successfully a sizeable

agricultural surplus; Shona men were compelled to enter the labour market
in ever-increasing numbers and at a time when wages were low, prices for
African produce and stock declined. 71

This undermined the independence of the Shona people, so men had to look for work

in the towns, in the mines or on European farms, in order to survive. This was the

impact of the "great depression" sweeping across Mashonaland. 74

Migrant labour affected community and led to a change in some of the traditional

funerary practices. 75 For example, the number of days that one spent in the house

before all the blood relatives were gathered increased. In some cases symbolism

became the only way of making sure that all relatives were protected as the news of

death took their rounds.

The Mashona had attributed the economic boom to the potency of Christianity over

72C.M. Dillon-Malone, The Korsten Basketmakers, Manchester. Manchester University Press,

1978, p.6.

73T. O.Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, op.cit., p. 194.

74T. O. Ranger, Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe, London: James Currey
Ltd, 1985, pp. 54-94.

75We discuss this further in Chapter four when we look at 'Present Practices.'

133
 Shona Traditional Religion. Its decline was also seen as an indication of the fading

potency of Christianity. Inevitably this also shook some of the confidence which was

building up around Christianity. In a way "the instrumental efficacy of Christianity had

come to be doubted. "76

For that reason, any teaching that revived the upholding of traditions was well received.

Perhaps that is why "very many Shona had come to share the views expressed at that

time by a Manyika migrant to South Africa, John Chavafambira."" He was basically

calling for a revival of traditional Shona religion. In his view Christianity had failed, so

for the midzimu (ancestral spirits) to be benign towards them, they had to observe the

traditional customs including those relating to death and the dead.

Mashona contact with Christianity enabled a different understanding of God, the world

and self. Shona Traditional Religion and Christianity co-existed as essential religions,

with essential roles in the lives of their respective followers. Most Mashona saw the

religions as alternate, with traditional religion as basic. One could be an adherent of

both, but the two religions remained closed to each other. This situation led to the

formation of a group of people whom Prof. Bhebe calls "pluralists", that is, those who

76Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, op.cit., p. 199. This makes sense especially
if we rememberthatthe uprisings were seen in the same religious terms. The defeat of the Shona people
was the defeat of their religion. In the same way the boom symbolised the potency of Christianity, and
the economic decline was therefore a decline of the potency of Christianity.

77Ibid., p.199.

134
at once hold to their old way of life (STR) and embrace the new faith (Christianity). 78

3.3.2.2 Education

Western education had begun to make a deep impression on the lives of the Shona

people, an obvious result of the missionary approach. In theirwisdom, "the missionaries

had realised that literacy would lighten the burden of evangelism, and began translating

the scriptures into vernacular languages, thus laying the foundation for African

schooling. "79Some Shona people had not only become able to read and write, but were

able to think abstractly, like the westerner. Roxburgh's previous observation that, "altho'

they are quite grown up and have children of their own, they have never been to school

and have never been taught as you have to think about anything that is serious,i8° was

no longer true.

As a tool of civilising and enlightening the Mashona, the schools had to be taken to the

people. As Pelly states:

These small mission outstations are of the greatest value in the beginnings
of work, as many natives who will not go far from their homes to attend
school are ready enough to do so when the schools are close at their
doors.81

78Bhebe, op.cit., p. 115, see also p.6, above.

79Berens (et al) op.cit., p. 154.

80E.53, USPG Archives, 1898.

81E. 53, USPG Archives, 1898.

135
Unfortunately, schools were established and presented as Christianity. The fallacy of

this combination, that is, presenting western education and schools as integral parts

of Christianity, was quickly identified. Schools and western education were separable

from Christianity hence some Mashona were happy to send their children to school, and

to Church but not so willing to go themselves, as Etheridge recognised, "it would not be

true in most cases to say that they are in any way thirsting for the gospel. What they

wish most is to be let alone, 'to dig my gardens and have my wives' as a chief once

expressed it to me."82

The ability to read and write revolutionized Shona people's lives, enabling them to

break into the white man's world. They discovered that one could 'capture' other

people's words, and keep them or that one could send one's own words to other people

with no human messenger. This had its advantages and disadvantages. One of the

greatest advantages was-that it became possible to capture the words of a dying elder

as they were being delivered, and preserve them. Chances of offending the ancestral

realm would be lessened if this were faithfully done. However this affected the

sacredness of oral tradition by taking away the personal contact. The dying person

would not hold or feel the person he or she loved before death. Above all, the tone of

voice could not be captured through written transmission.

One thing for certain is that the words of the dying person would not change. This

82E-61, USPG Archives, 1906.

136
 would be a great benefit for the other relatives who were absent at the time of death.

The difficulty would be that at times the words would lack respect. They would take

away the narrator or storyteller's freedom. Accounts are given of both extremes, that

is, benefits and difficulties of recorded last testaments or speeches. 83

There is no doubt that western education brought empowerment and enlightenment to

the Shona people, it also gave them a platform from which to challenge the missionaries

and the '

settlers. They were no longer the natives of whom Pelly once wrote, "the

native is rude and wholly untutored, at first he receives what you tell him with laughter

and incredulity. "85 Now they were tutored and capable of comprehending abstract

concepts, asking informed questions and challenging the varungu.

By 1925 western education was wide spread in Zimbabwe, and all in the hands of

missions. In total there were 1,203 schools and twenty-six training institutions run by

fifteen missionary denominations. The Anglican church had 243 schools of its own and

83Two stories were related to the writer by Solomon Muringani a retired Catechist who worked
in the Banket Parish after having retired from teaching. He also has very vivid memories of Arthur
Shearly Cripps, since he comes from the Chivhu area. The stories he tells are first, one of an
irresponsible grandson who was disinherited by his grandfather, in preference of a granddaughter. This
was through a letter which had been written at the dictation of the dying old man. Second, that of a son
who forged and made himself the sole beneficiary of his late father's estate. The point about these
stories is that they indicate that western education changed the dynamics of oral tradition with reference
to Last Wills and Testaments, and the role of the narrator.

84According to Ndabaningi Sithole, western education gave birth to Nationalism. N. Sithole,

African Nationalism, op.cit., p. 85.

" E. 48, USPG Archives, 1893-4.

137
 twelve training institutions.m

Perhaps the rapid expansion of western education contributed to the problem of the

acceptability of the missionaries by the Shona people. `With education some Shona

people were able to observe and assess the consistency of what the missionaries said

and did. They noted some discrepancies, which led to mistrust. These Africans

expected to be treated as real equals, but often they were not. Meanwhile, they were

looked to for leadership, by their fellow Shona people. Some missionaries were not yet

prepared for this. Etheridge, a missionary himself, wrote with insight on this matter,

concluding that the unacceptableness of the missionaries was attributable -

partly to misconceptions as to the methods of missionary work, partly to

mistakes that have been made by ourselves and partly to the feeling of self
interest which makes white men fear any advance which will bring the native
population near or on equality with themselves. 87

This development frustrated some Africans who had broken into the missionaries'

domain, at the same time making some missionaries uncomfortable because their

leadership was threatened. The Shona people were challenged to seek their identity

even more, equipped by western education.

3.3.2.3 The Bible

86E.W. Smith, The Way of the White Fields in Rhodesia, London: World Dominion Press,1928,
the statistics quoted are a summary of Appendix iv. John Weller reports that "by the time of the 1912
Synod, there were 5,160 pupils in Anglican Schools, most of which were in Manicaland and Eastern
Mashonaland" J.Weller and J. Linden, Mainstream Christianity, p.71.

87E.62, USPG Archives, 1907.

138
 The efforts of the missionaries paid a big dividend when the Bible was readily available

to the Shona people. In the process some missionaries displayed great talent in

learning the Shona language, mastering it to the extent that they committed it to writing,

with the help of Shona speakers. By 1896 an attempt at "translating a first Catechism

for the Children of the Church, a publication of the Education Union", had been made.U

Along with the Catechism, six chapters of the Gospel of Mark were also translated.

Most of the literature was biblical, so the translations were an evangelistic method.

Etheridge sheds some light on this as he enthusiastically writes about printing work:

During the last year we have had locally printed a small reader in Chiswina
for the use of elementary classes, and a hymn book containing about 50
hymns. The Epistles and the Revelation have now been finished and are
almost ready to be sent home to be printed. 89

The missionaries made sure thatwhatwas readily available helped the Christian cause.

In so doing the Shona people read the Bible to each other at their own pace, but under

the direction of the missionaries, since they chose what was to be printed. The Bible

greatly shaped their thought pattems. 80

However, deep down in the minds of most Mashona, the idea that a printed book could

88E-51, USPG Archives, 1896.

89E.62, USPG Archives, 1907. The word Chiswina is a derogatory term, with unclear origins,
for the Shona language.

90N.Sithole, African Nationalism, London: Oxford University Press, 1959, p.85. Sithole says,"we
need not elaborate that the Bible has most powerful ideas for the heart and mind. No man can be
brought upon the Bible and remain uninfluenced by it. "

139
 contain divinity was intensely problematic. The immediate question was, 'how can a

divinity contained in a book help someone? ' This question was asked in the light of the

fact that the Shona people usually went about with small axes (makano ), which they

could use for defence. Yvonne Vera dramatises the scene well as she quotes Kaguvi

talking to a missionary:

My gano will help me in battle. How does this thing (a bible) help you? My
god lives up above. He is a pool of water in the sky. My god is a rain-giver.
I approach my god through my ancestors and my mudzimu. I brew beer for
my God to praise him, and I dance. My mudzimu is always with me, and I
pay tribute to my protective spirit. 91

The point to note here is that Kaguvi represents an oral culture and does not

understand the print culture. It was the excitement of wanting to understand this

divinity, which greatly commended the Bible. It made its own indelible impression on

those who read it.92

In the immediate past it had been read for and to the Shona people. When they read

it for themselves, they discovered that it spoke a language they understood. It shared

a similar world view, and spoke about death and the dead with the same passion. The

burying of people at specific places, particularly in the Old Testament, had resonances

with their cultural understanding, and so did some of the expressions relating to death.

91Y. Vera, Nehenda, Harare: Baobab Books, 1993, p. 105.

92N. Sithole, African Nationalism, op.cit., p. 86. To emphasize the influence of the Bible, Sithole
cites two South Africans in dialogue. It is the response of the second one which Is of Interest. He said,
When Europeans took our country we fought them with our spears, but they defeated us because they
had better weapons and so colonial power was set up much against our wishes. But lol The missionary
came in time and laid explosives under colonialism. The Bible is now doing what we could not do with
our spears. '

140
 This meant that they read the Bible, made sense of its contents, and through it

continued to see traditional beliefs as upholding life. Most missionaries did not seem

to realize this, so they continued to demand a display of the ability to read the Bible.

Broderick is a good example. He wrote °I am trying slowly to extend the catechumenate,

with few exceptions no one is admitted a catechumen until they can read the New

Testament in vernacular. "93 Perhaps this is why the Bible became an inspiration to the

revival and upholding of tradition. The Bible was a great inspiration to this search for

traditional identity. It inspired other activities such as Nationalism in the same way.

Positively, "it has most powerful ideas for the heart and mind. "' Though it was the white

man's book, it equally inspired the Mashona. At funerals the Bible was, and still is read

because it speaks to the heart and mind, while traditional practices are observed

because they satisfy the emotions.

3.3.2.4 Denominationalism

Death and funerary rituals were carried out within the denominational settings.

Responses to Christianity were denominational, that is, one became a Christian through

the efforts of a particular denomination. With time this became a factor in strengthening

the dual observance which characterises Zimbabwean Christianity in the area of death

and the dead. The missionaries came from different countries, as representatives of

93E.67, USPG Archives, 1911.

94Sithole, op.cit., p.85. It raised the Shona people's consciousness and inspired them to uphold
their own identity.

141
 different denominations. Some came from the same country but from different

denominations. This meant that, in many cases, different versions of Christianity were

presented to the Shona, although one thing the missionaries did agree on was the

condemnation of mostAfrican rites, which they labelled diabolic 95

and pre-rational. Part

of the problem was that back home, and historically, some denominations were hostile

to each other.

Sithole highlights the missionary influence and identifies the areas of contact between

the missionaries and the Shona as he notes that:

These Christian denominations influenced the African population through

their various and much-needed programmes of evangelization, education,
medical services, industrial training, dissemination of literature in the
vernaculars as well as in the English language. °

There is no doubt that the missionary activities made a great impressions on the minds

of the Shona people, and denominationalism was confusing to people who had always

valued community. As they went about the task of evangelizing the Mashona, the

missionaries also passed on their denominational hatred as part of the baggage. This

was a serious matter, considering the influence the denominations had. Though their

concern was the same, that is, to share the love of God with fellow human beings, the

messagewas often ambiguousand confusing. There were times when they seemed
to contradict each other, as Sithole notes:

95C. Kolie, 'Jesus the Healer, ' In R.Schreiter (ed) Faces of Jesus in Africa, London: SCM Press,
1992, p. 143.

96N. Sithole, Obed Mutezo: the Mudzimu Christian Nationalist, Nairobi: Oxford University Press,
1970, p. 96.

142
 But of course it does not mean that all these Christian denominations
worked in perfect harmony. The Protestants and the Catholics were still at
one another's throats for what had happened in the sixteenth century which
became known as the Reformation. They even taught their African converts
to take sides in the unchristian historical bitterness. The Seventh Day
Adventists insisted that Saturday was to be the day that God was to be
worshipped, and thus what the Seventh Day Adventists held sacred the
other Christian denominations desecrated, and what the latter held sacred
the former desecrated! Some Christian denominations forbade smoking
while others allowed it. Some forbade drinking, but others allowed it. Some
did not allow their members to dance, but others did just the opposite. 97

The Shona people recognized the missionaries and their denominations as different

tribes vying for their support. Since the Shona understood "tribes" as marks of identity,

they saw very little sense in relinquishing their own views of death and the dead in

response to the judgement of those who could not agree among themselves. They held

on to their tribal identity in the face of European denominational pressures, seeing

these many different European missionaries as other tribes; and foreign tribes at

that. 98 But though the Shona people held on to their traditional cultural practices, they

also adopted some missionary practices. They were happy to learn from the Christian

tribes of Europe, but they were not prepared to lose their own tribal identity in the

process, especially with reference to death and the dead.

3.3.2.5. Jesus Christ

The story of Jesus Christ struck the Shona people as peculiar. The more they heard

97 Ibid., p.97. For the confusion caused by denominationalism see also M. McGrath and
N.Gregoire, Africa: Our Way as God's People, London: Mission Book Service, 1981, p.206.

98Sithole, Obed Mutezo, op.cit., p. 97.

143
 it, the more they found points of familiarity. These were basically Shona perceptions in

response to missionary teaching, since the Shona people were not clean slates or blank

sheets "on which the missionaries, the evangelists, the preachers and the Christian

teachers wrote their Christian beliefs and practices. "' They perceived Jesus Christ as

a Great Spirit. 10° Such an attribute was not acceptable to the missionaries.

Believing Jesus Christ to be a Great Spirit, reduced him to 'spirit worship' which,

according to the missionary understanding, was wrong, as it associated Jesus with the

evils of spirit worship. This was a serious matter, as demonstrated by the comments

of Buck, an Anglican missionary. He notes with disapproval, that "spirit worship is

practically the only form of religion among the heathen Mashona. "101So the attempts

of Shona people to integrate their understanding of death and the dead with their

understanding of Jesus were frustrated; both their perception of Jesus, and their sense

of worship were misunderstood, thus providing for dual observance of rituals.

If the Shona Anglicans had developed an understanding of Jesus Christ as the Great

99Ibid., p. 104.

100We make this deduction from the understanding that "in pre-colonial Africa, it was religion
which explained life. Each person was conscious of living in a world filled by Invisible beings, and
everyone had the obligation to keep up good relations with these spirit beings, because every event
might be traced to their influence. " J.Weller and J. Linden, Mainstream Christianity to 1980 in Malawi,
Zambia and Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1984, p.7. In Shona perception therefore, Jesus Christ
must have been a 'Great Spirit' if he caused all the missionaries who were in their midst to leave their
homes to tell others about him.

101E.61, USPG Archives, 1905.

144
 Spirit, they would have identified with him more. 102They were denied this chance by

missionaries' insistence on the western definition of Jesus. As Moyo observes, "as

Mudzimu Mukuru (the great ancestral spirit) He becomes incarnated within African

culture and in that way people can understand His role and participation in all aspects

of life, rather than being confined to ecclesiastical or to spiritual matters. "103By not

allowing the Shona people an opportunity to understand and define Jesus for

themselves, especially with reference to death and the dead, the Church confined him

to its ecclesiastical and spiritual realms, that is, he was mediator only in Church

worship, with no role in village life.

In spite of being thus confined, Jesus Christ still had much to commend him to the

Shona people. 104The Gospels attach great significance to His death, burial and

resurrection. His burial was according to local Jewish custom. After resurrection he

was no longer subject to the limits of nature. He could enter locked doors, as John 20: 19

points out. 105Some post resurrection appearances had echoes in Shona Traditional

Religion, for example, ancestors visiting their progeny. This is further linked to the

understanding that this is only possible when proper rituals have been carried out at

102Sithole, Obed Mutezo, op.cit., p. 103.

103A. Moyo, 'Religion and Political Thought in Independent Zimbabwe', in C. Hallencreutz and
A. Moyo, Church and State in Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1988, p.202.

104Sithole, Obed Mutezo, op. cit., p. 104 with special reference to Jesus' words, 'No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. '

105This resonates with the understanding that ancestors visit their progeny in diverse ways.

145
 death and at burial, to the satisfaction of the spiritual world. 108

The Creeds also upheld the significance of Jesus' death, burial and efficaciousness.

On this fact, missionary denominational teaching seemed to be unanimous. Sithole has

remarked "all the Christian denominations without exception believed in the Universal

Fatherhood of God, the Universal Saviourhood of Jesus Christ, and the universal

brotherhood of man.1007The problem was that it had to be on missionary terms only,

hence Christianity was seen as not adequate in itself for the Shona people.

3.3.3. Christianity and its Shona context.

The missionary approach reinforced the dual observance by condemning Shona

Traditional Religion off hand. 108Dual observance is a product of conflict between the

Anglican Church's approach and the Shona people's comprehension of the gospel

particularly in the area of death and the dead. 109

As we noted earlier "the traditional

Christian approach to mission involved a complete rejection of traditional cultures and

religious beliefs and practices, ""' an approach which denied the Shona people a

106See Chapter one p.66 for a discussion on the significance of the relationship between the
living and the dead.

107Sithole, Obed Mutezo, op. cit., p.97.

108In Chapter Fourwe look at the'Present Practices. ' We see there the development of popular
and official Anglicanism.
109See Chapter two under'Mission Stations, ' p. 88, and 'Church Literature on burial, ' p. 102

110A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit., p. 16. See also p. 1 above.

146
 religious identity. Regrettably, this is still the approach of the Anglican Diocese of

Harare, in spite of the indigenous Shona leadership of the Church. As a result, dual

observance prevails in funerary practices and observances. The use of

excommunication as a form of discipline further strengthens this. This leads to two

problems, namely, hypocrisy, where people pretend not to have anything to do with

Shona Traditional Religion, yet continue to practice and believe in it. They do this

discreetly,so as to avoid detection. Secondlyit leads to pharisaism, where one group

looks down on another, because it does not do the forbidden things. They see

themselves as those who are not tempted like the rest. "'

It would be misleading to conclude that all Shona Anglicans in the Diocese of Harare

are dualistic, that is, perpetuate dual observance. Moyo makes a general perceptive

observation on Zimbabwean Christians which highlights this position. He writes:

Many have been able to dissociate themselves from their traditional

religious beliefs and so have nothing to do with their ancestors or the beliefs
associated with witchcraft and divination, often leaving them rather isolated
from their people. Many other Christians have on their own comfortably
integrated their Christian faith into the traditional cultures and participate in
rituals relating to the ancestors without any feelings of guilt. 12

This observation, though general, is true for the Anglican Christians in the Diocese of

Harare. We should note that those who dissociate themselves from traditional funerary

practices and observances are rather isolated from their people. We should ask'Why? '

111See Report of the All-Africa Seminar on The Christian Home and Family (17th Feb 10th
-
April 1963), Kitwe, Zambia, p. 44.

112Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit., p. 16.

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We can only begin to answer this question when we understand that in the traditional

Shona setting, life is communal. Failure to recognize this aspect of the Shona

worldviews renders the Gospel irrelevant. Mulago, in a different context, has useful

insights into this. He advises:

You cannot Christianise a people until you have begun to understand them,
unless you are willing to be content with a superficial Christianity ... After
penetrating the mentality of the people whom you wish to conquer, you must
'graft' the Christian message into the soul of the proselyte. This is the only
method which will give lasting results. ' 13

Death is a reality which knows no religion. Both Christianity and Shona Traditional

Religion hold that death is not the end of life. For the Christian this is dealt with in the

Gospels, and for the Shona person it is dealt with through traditional cultural ritual. In

other words, death must be handled in a way that provides support for the grieving, yet

paying attention to the dead. This is when religion really comes alive. This is probably

why most Shona Anglicans in the Diocese of Harare appeal to both religions, but not

in an integratedway.

Both Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion, in their own right, offer communities

and individuals symbolic structures for the understanding of life changes. But death

exposes divergences betweenthe official teaching of a religion and the beliefs and

practices of individuals, as is clear with Anglicanism in Zimbabwe. At this stage Shona

Traditional Religion ceases to be what the Church purports it to be, 'superstitious'. It

offers what the Christian faith and rituals do not adequately provide. Moyo, a Lutheran,

113Quoted in K. Bediako, Theology and Identity, Oxford: Oxford Regnum Books, 1992, p.351.

148
 offers a general, but useful, observation on this. He says:

While many Christians today manifest respect for the departed ancestors
and take part in ceremonies relating to them openly, many others do so
privately. They live a Christian life during the day, and live the real African
life during the night, resulting in what Desmond Tutu and others have
described as a kind of Schizophrenia. ""

Desmond Tutu describes the schizophrenia of the African Christian as follows:

The fact is that, until fairly recently, the African Christian has suffered from
a form of schizophrenia. With part of himself he has been compelled to pay
lip service to Christianity as understood, expressed and preached by the
white man. But with an ever greater part of himself, a part he has often been
ashamed to acknowledge openly and which he has struggled to repress, he
has felt that his Africanness was being violated. The white man's largely
cerebral religion hardly touched the depths of his African soul; he was being
redeemed from sins he did not believe he committed; he was being given
answers, and often splendid answers, to questions he had not asked. 115

If dual observance continues, when is the Christ-ness of Christ going to be a reality for

the Shona Anglicans of the Diocese of Harare? When are they going to ask their own

questions of faith? Is Jesus really the way, the life, and the truth? When then are they

going to wrestle with this fact? There is both a pastoral and a theological need for

dialogue between Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion. This could help to end

the deep-seated dual observance, which is acknowledged in the Shona expression

Chikristune Tsika (Christianityand traditional culture).116

114Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit., p. 19.

115D.M.Tutu, ' Whiter African Theology, " in E. Fashole-Luke (et.al) Christianity in Independent
Africa, p.366.

116This is the name of a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation programme on Radio 2, broadcast

on Sunday evenings at 7.30p. m. It has a panel discussing Issues relating to Christianity and traditional
culture. This dual observance is dealt with later in Chapter four under the heading 'The Dialogue' p.204.

149
3.3.4 African Initiated Churches

African Initiated Churches are both a practical way of responding to imbalances in

Christianity and a reaction to discrepancies in missionary Christianity. As Dillon-Malone

points out:
By the early 1920's great numbers of Shona had become members of one
or other of the established Mission Churches. They had become familiar
with the Bible as the word of God and had been continually encouraged to
discard their traditional religious practices. "'

In fact, some of them had joined the clerical ranks, thus sharing the ministry with the

white missionaries. It was to some of these that the claim to equality before God was

problematic.

Though they did the work, they were hardly recognized. They carried out missionary

instructions irrespective of whether they were sensible or not. Their leadership qualities

were not acknowledged, so they could not contribute to matters of policy. Those who

broke with this tradition were dealt with either by excommunication or suspension, in

the name of discipline. Etheridge helps us to understand this from a missionary

perspective as he writes:

There is among some of our Christian natives a growing spirit of

independence of a kind which is not to be desired. It may be that the spirit
which has been at the bottom of Ethiopianism has found its way
unconsciously up here ... It seems to me that I can detect a spirit of
independence, a fretfulness under control, a dislike of rebuke and a desire
for self assertion which were not manifest a few years ago. There seems to
be somewhat a feeling -I do not say amongst all - but amongst some who

117Dillon-Malone, op. cit., p.8.

150
 would naturally be regarded as leaders that there is an endeavour not
merely amongst white men in general but amongst missionaries to keep
them down and to prevent them from rising as they ought to. This feeling
leads apparently to a wish to be free from white control and to a desire to
assert an equality, to which they have not attained in reality. 118

In his view this was because native Christians could not'endure hardships, ' and, he

concludes, "clearly akin to this is a dislike of the hardships of Christianity and of the

Cross. "119The Mashona saw things very differently, all they wanted was to be

recognized as equals. This had nothing to do with any "dislike of Christian hardships. "120

Shoniwa Masedza Tandi Moyo, bom of parents who had converted to Anglicanism, was

himself baptised in the Anglican Church, as Peter. 121He did not feel comfortable with

the teaching and practice of the Anglican Church, so taking the name 'Johane' he

established an Independent Church, that is, one not controlled by the European

missionaries. His timing was perfect, as Dillon-Malone says:

It must be remembered, however, that Johane's preaching was taking place

in the aftermath of the severe economic depression which had spread
throughout Mashonaland at the end of the 1920s resulting in an atmosphere
of frustration and discontent in the midst of large-scale unemployment. 1

118E.62, USPG Archives, 1906.

119Ibid.

120The point was that they were resisting the void Christianity was forcing upon them. In their
traditional setting "the past was not far away, for the dead ancestors lived close at hand, and the future
might be predicted or controlled by means of religious rituals. " J. Weller and J. Linden, Mainstream
Christianity, p.7.

121Dillon-Malone, op. cit., p. 15. Se also A. Hastings, The Church in Africa 1450-1950, Oxford:
Claredon Press, 1994, p.521.

1221bid., p. 17.

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Johane was listened to "by people who tended to see the whole of life and its various

misfortunes through religious spectacles, i123that is, the African way. His preaching was

relevant because it made his followers wrestle with the realities of the day. The "white

Christian Churches, which had failed to bring saving power to the black man, were to

be shunned as well, and a return to the ways of their forefathers encouraged. "124As

Andrea alleges:

He (Johane) preached that he was John the Baptist sent by God to earth.
He urged everyone present to adopt the religion of their forefathers, to drink
plenty of kaffir beer and eat meat blessed by our forefathers; further, that we
should burn the religious books of the European, as our forefathers did not
have books. He suggested that the Bible, hymn books and the New
Testament should be destroyed, together with all other religious books. He
promised that he would carry out baptising afterwhich he (would) foretell the
end of the world. 125

This was a frustrated man's response to Anglican Christianity as it was then presented.

But did he really burn the Bible?

To the contrary, in his teaching on death and the dead, the Bible actually plays a key

role "as the Word of God for Africa. 026 Following the death of a member, apostles

should gather at the house of the deceased. In the traditional setting there would be

wailing and mourning. But at this gathering such "a display of grief betrayed a lack of

confidence in God. 027 So everyone present had to pray for the deceased's soul

123Ibid., p. 17.

124Ibid., p. 17.

125Quoted in Dillon-Malone, op. cit., p. 17.

126Dillon-Malone op. cit., p. 58.

127Ibid., p.96.

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 believed to be on its way to heaven in the company of its guardian angel.

Apostles, rather than blood relatives, prepare the body for burial. They dress it in white

and lay it in a coffin on its back, facing upwards, fully 128

stretched. They no longer

observe any of the cultural practices which acknowledge witchcraft. They show a

disregard for witchcraft and speak strongly against it. 129When the coffin is carried out

of the house, there is singing by the faithful.

Halts punctuate the procession to the grave, as in a traditional Shona funeral

procession. At each halt the preacher reads Bible passages, and hymns are sung by

all. There is none of the traditional turning of the coffin, meant to confuse the spirit

should it want to come back into the home before time. When they get to the grave side

the coffin is placed on the ground, and all pray. They dig the grave so it is diagonal to

the east and the west.

The coffin is lowered into the grave with the head pointing west in readiness for the

resurrection. This is to enable the deceased to see the Lord approaching from the

130
east. Women fill the grave, helped by men, while the rest of the people sing. This is

a break with tradition, designed to prove the power of the Holy Spirit, and to

demonstrate the effects of faith. The message is that the deceased do not get peace

129Ibid., p. 96.

129Ibid., p.98. For teaching against witchcraft see M. L. Daneel, The Independent Churches In
Africa, Missiology Guide 2 for MSB302-G, Pretoria: UNISA, 1982, p.205.

130Ibid., p. 97.

153
 in the next world because they were buried by their relatives, but because they were

committed to God, and commended to Him by fellow believers. As a result there is no

duality in the funerary practices and observances of these churches. 131

Before leaving the grave the people sit to hear the apostles preach. After this the

people go and wash their hands in the river (if none is nearby, water is provided); "this

custom has both traditional and biblical roots for contact with the dead is believed to

incur defilement. "132Apostles forbid some traditional observances of burial rites. So

there should be no beer, no meat, or rather no beast slaughtered. Instead people are

fed on tea, soft drinks and bread. ' There is no doubt that such burial observances are

influenced by biblical practice. Instead of the all-important traditional kurova guva, they

have a runyaradzo, a ceremony meant to conduct the spirit of the deceased to

heaven. ' African Initiated Churches have grasped the opportunity that the Anglican

Church has failed to exploit; there is no room for dialogue between Shona Traditional

Religion and Christianity for as long as the former is seen as evil.

3.4 CONCLUSION

131The attempts by the Anglican Church to bridge the gap through providing literature and
debates at Synods does not seem to adequately address the reality of dual observance. A new method
is the only answer. See Chapter two p. 102 for reference to Church literature on burial.

132Ibid., p. 97.

133Ibid., p.97.

134M. L. Daneel, The Independent Churches in Africa, op.cit., p.230 and p.236.

154
From the foregoing we can conclude that dual observance became entrenched in

Zimbabwean Anglicanism right from the beginning. The Church and the settlers arrived

at the same time, and when the Mashona dealt with the intrusion, it was white people,

settlers and all, that they were resisting.

Their dislike for the varungu was such that they were prepared to take up arms against

them. When this did not provide the required results, it was interpreted as a war of

religions. For a while, Christianity was seen as a religion of prosperity. But when the

economic boom was on the decline, it was believed to indicate the decline of

Christianity's potency. It was then that the dual observance was ratified, giving the

Mashona an alternate way of dealing with life changes, including maintaining a

relationship with the spiritual world and coping with the loss of a loved one.

African Initiated Churches, were actually wrestling with the reality of what belief in God

as life-giver meant. In so doing they were confronting the dual observance. Dialogue

between tradition and the new faith bore fruit. Their funeral practices have God right in

the heat of mourning. The Anglicans could learn a lesson from this approach.

In Shona Anglicanism, the adoption of dual observance indicates lack of dialogue

between Christian and Shona traditional religious practices. The problem, as we shall

see in the next chapter, is that they were, and still are perceived as alternatives. There

is need for harmony between the two religions if this situation is to be redressed. We

now turn our attention to the present practices of Shona Anglican Christians.

155
 CHAPTER FOUR

CHRISTIANITY AND SHONA TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN DIALOGUE

4.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we will look at the responses of Shona Anglicans of the Diocese of Harare

to the reality of death and the dead. I shall do this by analysing present practices,

particularly noting how traditional views persist. This will be done at two levels, namely,

the laity and the official church level. The fact that the Christian religion has influenced

Shona traditional religious beliefs and practices presents us with a peculiar context. It is

from within that context that Shona Anglicans, like most Christians from the mainline

missionary churches, engage in a continuous negotiation with and vacillation between

these two systems of religious belief. Perhaps this is because there is always the

tendency, not unique to African peoples, "to understand the new faith in terms of what one

already knows. "'

1A. Moyo, `Religion and Political thought in independent Zimbabwe, ' in C. Hallencreutz and A. Moyo,
Church and State in Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1988, p.202.

156
 Oliver Mutukudzi, 2 a local Zimbabwean singer, picks up four characteristics of death, to

which people respond. He does this in two of his songs, Rufu ndimadzongonvedze and

Jerry. In the former, he identifies three of the four characteristic qualities of death: it is

disruptive, indiscriminate and saddening. In Jerry, a tribute to his late colleague, he points

out that death brings loneliness.

It is true in Zimbabwe that when death occurs it disrupts the flow of events. When the

wailing and weeping that announces a death is heard, ignoring it is difficult. Subsequently,

people have to suspend their work patterns because they take days off work to attend to

the death and all that goes with it. Close relatives of the deceased also spend a lot of

money, and sleepless nights, during the run up to the burial, and even afterwards. Some

have to travel long distances to advise other relatives. 3

Death is indiscriminate. It does not only occur to invalids and old people, but to anyone,

young and old, healthy and sickly. So when a loved one dies, sadness and loneliness

become realities, the company of a loved one is lost. These features are better highlighted

in the present practices of Shona or African Anglicans. 4

2 Oliver Mutukudzi is a local singer whose songs are commentaries on life as he observes it. For
instance he has songs on AIDS, street children and widowhood, and other such issues.

3 The communal understanding of life and the strength and value of the extended family network
demand that this must be done.

4 We now examine how popular Shona or African Anglican Christianity deals with the cultural
integration of Christian Burials and related rituals with their traditional views. This is important because the
Anglican Church has an affinity with the Roman Catholic Church, which has since led the way to the extent

157
 4.2 PRESENT PRACTICES

In Zimbabwe, hearing African women wailing and weeping at the top of their voices

following the death of a close relative is not uncommon. This is irrespective of where one

is when the death message is delivered; so one who breaks the death news has to be very

discreet. Hospitals, both urban and rural, are the places where this happens most often.

Other places where the wailing and weeping occur spontaneously are the residences, that

is, houses in urban areas, and homes in either the communal lands or on farmsteads.

Because it is important that "all relations and friends are informed, either by some

symbolic act such as beating a drum or blowing a horn audibly in the neighbourhood of the

deceased's home, or by word of mouth,115wailing and weeping serve as both an

expression of grief and a way of announcing the death. Whenever people in the

neighbourhood hear any of these, they always make their way to the homestead in

question to find out who has died.

New arrivals offer their condolences to all who are already present, shaking hands (kubata

maoko) and saying nematambudziko or ndimi madziona (you have witnessed the

hardships) or some such words conveying sympathy for the'caused suffering. ie After this

that local customs of burial are part of the expression of the Christian faith.

5 M.F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p.231.

6 E.B. Magava, ' African Customs connected with the Burial of the Dead in Rhodesia, " in J. A. Dachs,
(ed) Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol 1, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1973, p. 152. See also T. F.Makuvise,
'Christian and Traditional Funeral, ' in J. L. Cox, Rational Ancestors: Scientific Rationality and African
Indigenous Religions, Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press, 1998, p.227.

158
 they sit close to someone else who is most likely to know the details, who will tell them the

details of who has died, and anything else he or she heard about the death. This process

goes on for as long as people are coming into the'house' or homestead.

4.2.1 Urban Setting

In the urban areas, chances of someone dying in the 'house' are very limited, and even if

one did, the police' would come and collect the deceased. The assumption therefore is

that one should die in a hospital. So if someone falls ill, he or she must be taken to a

hospital. Because most people work, this hospitalized relative is visited during scheduled

hospital visiting hours, which are usually early morning before work, 6.00-8.00 a.m., lunch

hours, 12.00 -2.00p. m., and after working hours, 5.00p. m. onwards. Should a visiting

relative meet with the death news, it is his or her responsibility to inform others. This will

be done either by phone or by travelling to where other relatives are, to advise them

personally . The closest relatives would usually be informed personally, though this

depends upon the temperament and sensitivity of the one bearing the news. When the

circle of close relatives has been advised, they make their way to the 'house' of the

deceased. Meanwhile, a piece of red cloth is flown at the gate or entrance to the house.

7 It is normal practice that when one dies in an urban house the Zimbabwe Republic Police should
be advised. They then come and collect the corpse and take it to the mortuary and arrange for a
postmortem. If the cause of death was natural, that is, not due to violence or poisoning, permission to bury
the deceased is granted.

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 Occasionally the house is stripped of its curtains. 8 As other relatives and friends arrive

the wailing and weeping is revived as kubata maoko goes on.

Close relatives get together to consider such matters as who should go and break the news

to those in the rural areas. They also work out provisionally where the deceased is to be

buried. If the infrastructure is there, messages about the death can be sent through the

police, or by phone. Word is also sent to other church members,such as the chairperson

of the Mothers' Union, and the Wabvuwi "fishers of persons", if the parish has these

groups. The priest is also contacted. If the parish is part of a Mubatanidzwa1°

(Interdenominational Fellowship) the relevant persons on that committee are advised of the

death.

In most urban parishes Mothers' Union members make a fixed monthly financial

contribution towards eventualities. In addition, there is an agreed sum which is contributed

when there is a death. Once they receive a message about the death through the agreed

8 This is a practice which was introduced in the late 1960s by the Smith government, following a ban
on African political meetings. African politicians met under the guise of funeral gatherings. So the
government ordered that at a funeral gathering curtains should be taken off, so that the police could easily
see through without disturbing the mourners.

9 Wabvuwi is a men's guild, which has a constitution of its own as well as a set of rules by which its
members should live. See p. 422 for an extract from the Wabvuwi Constitution.

10 Mubatanidzwa encourages interdenominational interaction. It is mostly the women who are

involved in it.

160
 channels, those responsible for "
collecting such contributions startwork. At Mubatanidzwa

level similar arrangements are also set in motion. People responsible for collecting and

releasing the agreed sums in each case are usually the respective treasurers.

When news of the death is being broken to other church members and to the

Mubatanidzwa members, the question of affiliation should be clarified. The members of the

Mothers' Union, and other denominational guilds will want to know if the deceased was a

church member, because in this case they will attend in their guild uniforms. It is usually

the women who do the cooking, and their different denominational uniforms clearly identify

them. 12

Where the deceased was a member of a burial society, the burial society is contacted.

Burial societies usually make financial contributions towards the feeding of the mourners

and may take responsibility for the provision of the coffin and the transportation of the

deceased to his or her burial place. This is dependent on two things, (a) the constitution

of the burial society and (b) the member's subscription record prior to his or her death. 13

11The task that these people do is that of collecting both the money and some foodstuffs to be used
for feeding the mourners. They go from door to door, and this is quite acceptable.

12 This is important, because it displays the visible

unity of the denominations, while also
demonstrating something of the traditional understanding of communal life.

13 These are social groups specifically constituted for the

purposes of helping with funeral
requirements for their members. Each has a constitution of its own.

161
 It is important to note that close relatives and church members are present at the house

of the deceased from the very first day, until the burial has taken place or until the corpse

has been transported to the rural home. Their main responsibility is to attend to the inner

circle of the bereaved. For some, the shock of death. is such that they fail to care for

themselves. So other relatives and church members make sure that such people are

nursed and fed. 14

Once the date and place of burial have been settled, a funeral undertaker is approached

to do the preparation of the corpse. The Mothers' Union provide the white material for the

shroud, if it is desired, and send it to the undertakers. They actually make the shroud

themselves. It is commonly not sewn with needle and thread but is stuck together by

hand, using a pair of scissors and thin strips of cloth trimmed from the main gown. With

the pair of scissors, holes are made, and the strip of cloth is threaded into those holes by

hand. Sewing this'gown' with needle and thread is believed to be disastrous because (a)

death will always strike and (b) those who sew the shroud could become blind. 15 At times

close relatives go to the to

undertakers wash the corpse and dress it in the 16
shroud.

14A demonstration of the communal support system at work.

15See interview with Mrs. Ellen Chinyeke, p.384.

16The relatives have to go to the undertakers to do whatever else they want to do with their relative,
because of the law.

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 In keeping with the bye-laws, no corpse is ordinarily allowed to spend the might in the

suburbs in private homes. Only registered funeral undertakers have permission to keep

corpses on their premises. All arrangements and movements of the corpse are agreed with

the undertakers in advance. Before taking the corpse either for burial in town, or

transporting it to the rural home, the undertakers bring the deceased to the 'house'. This

is especially important if the house belonged to the deceased. " This practice reflects the

people's belief in life after death, and the unpredictability of the spirit of the deceased

person. The basic fear is that it might anger the deceased if he or she were taken for burial

without bidding farewell to his or her house. Simple rituals mark this occasion. The writer

has been a participant observer in quite a number of such observances.

The general pattern is that the oldest member of the family present, with other close

relatives, male and female, gather in a room with the coffin. They allow no outsiders into

the room at this stage. Men usually crouch while women sit. A designated member of the

family, usually the muzukuru (nephew or grandchild), depending on custom, claps his

hands and sets the formalities in motion. He engages the kusuma process,18 letting

everyone present know that the deceased has reached his house. The family

17The guiding expression is, 'unofanira kumbopinda mumba make" (he or she should enter his or
her house), so as to enable his or her soul to rest in peace. See J. Kumbiral, p.434, below.

18Kusuma or kupira nyaya, is to formally present a case for consideration. See chapter one p.24.
'When a matter is presented it starts off with the most junior member of the ritual unit or forum. When it
reaches the most senior member his or her response Is communicated back through the ranks. ' S.Zwana,
Tombstone Unveiling: Significance and Theological Implications, Unpublished paper, p.4.

163
 representative then takes it up and addressesthe deceasedusing almostthe samewords

as the previous speaker, but emphasizing the fact that, according to custom, they have

brought the deceased into his or her house. At this the women ululate and clap hands

together with everybody else in attendance. After this they let the deceased 'rest' a while

in his or her house.

The process is repeated again before the deceased is taken away to his or her burial

place. The 19
muzukuru, or whoever is charged with that responsibility, announces that,

in his view, the relatives are ready to take the deceased away, for burial or 'home'. The

eldest member then claps his hands, and addresses the deceased. He addresses the

deceased by his totem (mutupo), explaining that they are about to take the deceased to his

or her final resting place. He asks the deceased to clear the way for a smooth journey.

Everybody in the room claps their hands and the women ululate once more. This varies

from people to people, but the practice of kusuma is very common and prevalent among

the Shona people. It marks every stage of the ritual.

After this, other people are allowed into the room and prayers can then be said. If the

deceased was a church member, the expression inzira yake yaakazvisarudzira (it is the

route the deceasedchose for him or herself) is used to indicate the deceased'sdesire to

19In most traditional Shona rituals the muzukuru acts as the Master of Ceremonies. So he is not
someone chosen only for the occasion.

164
 have prayers said. 2 - In reality there is no possibility of prayers not being said for someone

who was a Christian, because even non-Christians have prayers said for them for the

sake of their Christian relatives. After all this has been done, the top part of the coffin is

opened, to allow the face of the deceased to be seen. All who wish to view the deceased

are invited to do so. This marks the beginning of the journey to the cemetery or the

deceased's 'home' in the village. Once the viewing is completed the people leave the

house, and get into buses or other vehicles to take them to the burial place. Most people

express much grief at this stage since it is the last time they will ever see the face of the

deceased.

If the burial is taking place in town, all roads will then lead to the cemetery. Prior to this,

the undertaker will have completed the required paperwork. One of the requirements is

that the relatives, together with the undertaker, will have clarified in which section of the

cemetery the deceased will be laid to rest. Most urban cemeteries have designated burial

sections for Christians, non-Christians, adults, children and people of other faiths.

Bye-laws of the particular city or town council apply. Municipal employees dig the graves

to respective municipal specifications. Relatives of the deceased are allocated a

numbered grave and the record is kept by the municipal office. So there is not much

20 This kind of dialogue between Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion is easier among the
laity, as can be seen from the expressions they have coined around it.

165
choice on their part. They are also allocated a time within which to carry out the burial of

their beloved. Since relatives and friends have to comply with municipal requirements

some burial rituals are left out, prompting, in many, a preference for burial in their

traditional homes.21 Maybe it is for this reason that only' about twenty per cent of African

funerals take place in towns, like Harare.

One form of burial that has not yet been fully appreciated by many African people is the

practice of cremation. Very few Shona people are cremated. There are a variety of

reasons why this is the case. Among them are the traditional beliefs rooted in worldviews

and the need for an ancestral grave.

4.2.2 Rural Setting

In rural areas the death rituals and observances are more elaborate than in urban settings.

It is acceptable that one can die at home and be buried without the police being involved.

The police are only involved if the death was a murder, or when foul play is suspected-22

The need for paperwork is only now beginning to be recognized, now that most people

have bank accounts, which means that a death certificate is needed before the estate is

wound up. The law of the land now encourages people to register every death so that a

21M. Gelfand, African Crucible, Cape Town: Juta & Co Ltd, 1968, p. 187.

22In this case foul play does not involve suspicion of witchcraft.

166
 death certificate can be issued. When one dies in hospital, getting the paperwork

is
processed even easier. 23

In most rural areas, a hospitalised person will always have a relative, usually female,

looking after him or her. Should the patient die, it is the responsibility of this relative to

advise other family membersand relatives. Howeverfar the hospital is from the home of

the deceased, the messenger will have to wait until she reaches the deceased's

homestead before she can express her grief through the usual wailing and weeping.

Once they hear this wailing and weeping, relatives and neighbours gather immediately.

They suspend all other activities. Word is sent to other relatives, both far and near, in the

same way as described in relation to the urban setting.

If one dies at home, the pattern is slightly different. Those who are present at the time of

death see to it that they control the eyes, mouth and hands of the deceased (kudzora

24
munhu). They then wrap the deceased up, either in a white bed sheet or a blanket and

lay the corpse on a mat behind the door.25 Only then will they start wailing and weeping.

23What makes it easier is that the doctor will have given a brief medical history and completed most
of the required documents.

24J. Kumbirai, Kurova Guva Ceremony, Unpublished paper, p.434. 'Control' is used to indicate that
those who are in attendance make sure that the dying person has his or her eyes shut, the mouth closed,
and lies straight.

2,5See also M. F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, pp.231-2.

167
 The procedure for advising those in the urban areas is almost the same as that for advising

the rural people of an urban death. Normally news of death is sent to one or two urban

relatives, who are, in turn, expected to contact others. This is done either by sending

someone from the village, or through the police, or by telegram or telephone. It is then

the duty of those relatives who have received the message to travel home to join the

burial party. No one who dies at home is ever taken to the town or city for burial. This

should not surprise us given that urbanization in Zimbabwe stands at just 27%. 26

If someone dies outside Zimbabwe, efforts are made to bring the deceased home so that

he or she can be accorded a proper burial, which simply means being buried by his or

her relatives according to traditional custom. When relatives receive the news of such a

distant death, normal activities come to a semi-standstill until the arrival of the corpse.

Usually it arrives at home in the afternoon or evening, in time to "sleep" at home. The

wake-keeping observed on this night is more intense than usual, presumably because

there will be no other opportunity for wake-keeping.

4.2.3 The wake-keeping

26See Welcome to Zimbabwe, Turn to God: Rejoice in Hope, Geneva: WCC Publication forthe 8th
Assembly, Harare, front cover. This is endorsed in Ministry of Information and Tourism Brochures on
Zimbabwe, available at the Zimbabwe High Commission, London based on the 1995 Census.

168
 Right from the first day of the death there is a wake-keepingat either the house or home

of the deceased. In urban settings, as we have already noted, bye-laws control much of

what goes on. The singing, and any other activities, are restricted by the specifications of

the appropriate neighbourhood bye-laws. For example, the wake-keeping is observed

without the body. As the name wake-keeping infers, these activities are organised so that

people are kept awake. We will not dwell very much on wake-keeping in the urban areas,

because very little goes on there.

In the rural areas a variety of activities mark the wake-keeping, which proceeds without any

27
restrictions. We will look at what happened at a specific wake-keeping, where the writer

was a participant observer. It was one held in honour of a fellow clergyman and friend,

at his homestead in Murehwa in 1983.

We arrived at the homestead at about 7.30 pm, to be welcomed by the familiar wailing and

weeping. Most of the people at the homestead were on their feet, except the very old and

infirm. They all wanted to be near the hearse, the car that brought the deceased. In

another comer of the yard, they had made a big fire. It gave light to the burial party as we

carried the coffin from the car into the rondavel where the corpse was going to spend the

night. It is important to note that the corpse could have spent the night in any room in any

27See also M. F.C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p. 233. Wake-
keeping has long been part of traditional practice. It is believed that it helps deter witches from coming to
eat the corpse before burial.

169
 house, or in any hut.28 In the rondavel were four lights and three old women sitting on a

2'
mat. They asked that we place the coffin on the other side of the mat.

After that a relative of the deceased asked us to crouch, and he started clapping his hands,

telling the elderly women that we had brought their son home for interment. The elderly

ladies clapped and ululated and thanked God and the ancestors for the safe journey. They

asked for a prayer before letting us go outside to join other men who were sitting by the

fire.

As it turned out, a beast had been slaughtered30earlier in the day, when the news of our

travel to the homestead was confirmed. At about 8.30 pm the whole gathering was fed on

sadza (thick porridge), meat and green vegetables. Perhaps it is important to mention that

even when one is not hungry, out of solidarity one is expected to eat a little. Refusing to

partake of the food suggests that one is not in solidarity with other mourners,31or knows

something else about the cause of death, hence the protest.

28This rondavel was not built specifically for the funeral, but it is one in which the deceased spent
most of his time when he was on leave.

29According to tradition, there should always be people attending to the corpse with lights, so as to
deter witches.

30This could be connected with the traditional sacrifice, wherein a mombe yenheedzo (beast of
accompaniment) is slaughtered in honour of the deceased, to provide mourners with food, and the deceased
with a blanket. See Chapter one, p.37.

31 Underlying this custom is a Shona proverbial saying, 'ukama igasva hunozadziswa nekudya, '
(relationships are incomplete, till they are sealed by a meal).

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 At about 9.15 a group of men with animal skins over their trousers, brought a big drum,

which they started beating. They were joined by some women who had been cooking and

washing up. Together they performed the Jerusarema dance. 32 It is an erotic dance

where men and women in the arena dance towards each other with simulations of sexual

acts. 33This went on for quite a while. When the women started feeling exhausted they left

the dariro (dancing ring) one by one till none were left. The dance came to a natural end.

The local catechist called people to prayer. It seems as if he had already planned the way

he was going to go about this prayer session. He announced a hymn, and without giving

anyone a chance to look it up, started singing it. Most people knew the hymn. A passage

of scripture was read and a series of short addresses followed. Choruses interspaced

them. Prayers were said; the tone of the prayers was that some evil spirit had caused the

death. Nevertheless, since the deceased was a clergyman, God knew best what to do

with him and how to deal with the source of the evil spirit that caused his death.

It was not long after the prayers that the deceased reverend gentleman's life was being

dramatized by some of the women who had been doing the Jerusarema dance. One of

them was putting on the deceased's spectacles, cassock, surplice and stole. She imitated

32The Jerusarema is a popular traditional dance in Murehwa, its drumbeat precedes and concludes
most news items of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation.

33By its very nature this traditional dance is erotic. Depriving the deceased of it at his or her funeral
is considering him or her as an outsider. So the traditional dance is part of life in Murehwa and this includes
death and mourning, presumably indicating the need for fertility or life to continue in the descendants.

171
 the deceased's mannerisms in prayer. Others were dressed in his suits and clerical

collars. All this was done to great laughter and applause by all in attendance. At a deeper

level it showed that people were mourning someone they really knew. It was an effective

way of consoling the bereaved. They call it kunemera. 34

After this group came another, which related my deceased friend's life history. One

member of this group told the deceased's life history from a family perspective. She told

us about his birth and how he grew up, and how he had always shown leadership qualities.

The next spoke about the deceased's working life, including his priestly ministry. Some

places he had worked in and some people he had influenced were mentioned. In Shona

they call this whole episode kupa nhoroondo (giving the life history). 35 This aspect of the

deceased's life reflected that he was part of this community which loved and cared for him.

He belonged with them.

While all this was going on, people were served with beer, tea and cool drinks. Those who

felt too tired to stay awake left. I was advised by another clergymanthat at a funeral

34Kunemera means, "to joke with". At funeral gatherings it is engaged in as part of the process of
consoling the bereaved. It can be very sarcastic at times.
35Given what happens at kubata maoko, where people just join those who have been before them
and hear from them about the death, this is very Important. It serves as the official announcement of the
facts about the dead person and the death.

172
 gathering, announcing your departure is not customary, so people simply leave when they

are ready. 36

4.2.4 The day of interment

At daybreak,the deceased'spaternal uncle led a group of younger family relatives to the

family cemetery, where he marked his nephews grave and left the digging to this group.

Before he left, he asked them to finish digging in time for the interment, which was to be

led by the Bishop of Harare, Ralph Peter Hatendi at 10.00 am. This marked the end of the

wake-keeping, as people dispersed to different duties.

In the homestead the varoora (daughters-in-lawof the extended family) divided themselves

into groups. One group had the task of clearing the pathway from the homestead to the

grave. The other group went to fetch water from the borehole, while the other tied pieces

of mupfuti fibre onto peoples wrists, or hung them on their necks as necklaces. " This was

done to close relatives, colleagues and friends of the deceased, including clergy and all

the catechists who were present.

36Tradition has it that since death hardly gives one chance to bid loved
a ones farewell, mourners
are not expected to announce their departure.

37See E. B. Magava, ' African Customs

connected with the Burial of the dead in Rhodesia", In
J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1973, p. 152. The significance of this
is (a) to identify the inner circle of mourners and (b) to solicit for some money, since to have the fibre taken
off you had to pay some money.

173
 When the then Bishop of Harare arrived it was interesting to note that his whole entourage,

including himself, shared our customs. They had mupfuti fibre hung on their necks. He

went into the rondavel where the corpse was, and gave his condolences to the elderly

ladies mentioned earlier. He said some prayers and then came out to join the rest of the

mourners who were outside. We all sat there chatting, waiting for the diggers to send

word on their progress.

At ten, word came that the grave was ready. A few elderly men and women, close relatives

of the deceased, went into the rondavel where the corpse was and spent some time there

on their own. After this, one of them came to invite the bishop in. They asked him to say

some prayers before the corpse was taken outside. The varoora followed the bishop and

stood blocking the doorway with their materials called mazambia (lose cloth obtained from

Zambia, which women wrap over their skirts). In exchange for letting the coffin out they

had to be given some money.38 The same was true for seeking to have the mupfuti fibre

removed. It was only after they were given an amount of money they were satisfied with,

that they obliged. That money belongs to the varoora; it is an indirect payment for the work

they do.

38See also, Chimbera, `Burial Ceremony, ' in J. L. Cox, Rational Ancestors: Scientific Rationality and
African Indigenous Religions, Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press, 1998, p.222. In a sense, it was the daughters-
in-law's payment for the hard work they had done.

174
 The coffin was brought out and put on a table from which the viewing was to take place.

Officiating was the bishop, who led the viewing, followed by us, the clergy and the

catechists, then the relatives and all the others who wished to do so. After all had viewed

the face of the deceased, the coffin was closed and the procession to the grave began.

Once again the bishop led the way, since he was the officiant.

In the procession to the grave side the Bishop recited excerpts from the Bible, according

to the Book of Common Prayer, while the rest of us walked in silence. There were halts

on the 39
way, at which point the carrying party would change. Varoora would put their

zambia cloths on the ground for the coffin to rest on, each time there was a halt. For the

last part of the procession, Shona hymn number 142, Kwasara kunesu (A few more years

shall roll)40was sung till we got to the grave.

4.2.5 The interment and its observances

It seems that the family cemeterywas already consecratedground, because the bishop

did not bless the grave. Before the interment he said a few words, after which close

relatives of the deceasedwent into the grave to receive the coffin and lay it to rest. They

39 There were no 360 degree turnings of the coffin as would have been the case in a purely
traditional procession. In a traditional funeral procession, for fear of the deceased's unpredictable spirit, the
coffin is turned round so as to confuse the spirit should it want to come into the homestead before time.

40Minamato/Ndwiyo, Anglican Prayer/Hymn Book.

175
 cut the mat on which the coffin was placed into two. The first half lined the floor of the

grave and the other covered the coffin. A few of the deceased's clothes were thrown into

the grave. Those who received the coffin came out, and the committal prayers were said.

The bishop, clergy, relatives and those who wished, filed past the grave throwing soil into

the grave. Some of the deceased's relatives threw in some soil on behalf of their absentee

children.

After this the filling of the grave commenced. Those who were using the shovels did not

hand them to the next person. When they felt that they had done enough they would just

leave the shovel on the loose soil. On enquiring why this was the case, I was told that if

they handed each other the shovels they would be handing each other the death that had

struck this family. It is one of those taboos that reflects an understanding of death as

something physically contagious, that is, it can be passed on through a shovel. "

When the grave was filled, the closing prayers were said. After these prayers everyone

in attendance was invited back to the homestead for food. Two containers flanked the

entrances to the homestead, each strategically placed so that people would wash their

hands. The water was mixed with a smelly herb known as zumbane, to act as a

41Since death is traditionally believed to be 'caused' by an unseen force, this is an attempt by

custom to avoid passing this death from one person to the other.

176
 disinfectant. 42There were also some people waiting to direct those who were coming into

the homestead to appropriate food points.

Meanwhile some elderly relatives of the deceased remained at the grave, covering it with

thorny bushes so that cattle would not be attracted to the fresh mound of earth. They also

it,
swept round and then came to the homestead on their own. According to Shona

tradition this was so that the elders would be able to detect if witches, or anyone else, had

tampered with the grave in any way. Since the inspection of the grave was done early the

following morning, it was also a way of finding out if anyone had visited the grave the

previous night.

In the homestead, by custom, those who had had their fill were free to leave, without

announcing their departure. This was a bit difficult for those who came by car, as was the

case with the bishop and my own party. When we rose to go to our respective cars it was

clear that we were about to leave. The uncle of the deceased noticed this and asked us

to sit down for a while so that he could make a speech, mainly to thank us for being in

attendance. He thanked the bishop for coming to bury a fellow clergyman, the clergy for

42E.B. Magava, 'African Customs connected with the Burial of the dead in Rhodesia, " in J.A. Dachs,
Christianity South of the Zambezi, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1973, p. 155.

177
 accompanying their colleague, and the rest of the people for their attendance and

assistance. After this the people rose to sing us off.43

4.2.6 Variations in observances

Attending a fellow clergyman's funeral was just the beginning of a learning process which

has resulted in this study. As I discovered in the ensuing years, views on death and the

dead are varied, even within one tribal group, let alone among the many Shona tribal

groupings. These differences are reflected in the cultural, traditional, and religious

emphases that accompany the death and burial rites. There is no uniform way of

conducting a funeral, that is, the elements of a funeral which are considered essential in

one setting are not necessarily held in high esteem in another. It would therefore be

misleading to assume that what happened at the reverend gentleman's funeral is

prescriptive. Having said that, it is however important to note that there are basic

phenomena and notions which guide every funeral. M. F.C. Bourdillon sums up this point,

observing that:

As is the case with most Shona rituals, the details of the rites surrounding death
and burial vary from area to area, and they vary even for different clans within
a given locality. Yet we can find a general structure to the rituals which is
to
common all or most Shona peoples. 44

43This is a clear attempt at accommodating western courtesy, which did not seem to violate the
tradition.

44M.F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona Peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p.231.

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 In the Anglican Diocese of Harare the interchange between Christianity and Shona

Traditional Religion is influenced by the traditional communal understanding of society.

Both Anglicanism and Shona Traditional Religion hold dear the communal nature of life,

but from different perspectives. Within this communal setting, the Shona have a

hierarchical social structure which prescribes their relationships. 45 Every member in such

a communityhas a place and a role to play. In other words all have a social status. The
living and the dead are all integral members of the community, in fact a community without

the dead is unimaginable. In Anglicanism some of the dead are part of the'communion of

the saints, ' while in the Shona understanding they are the'living-dead. ' It is understood

that the "mweya continues in an afterlife defined in terms of its believed influence on the

community it has left.""g

This would probably explain the Shona Anglicans' variation of death ceremonies, which

still reflect a strong traditional, religio-cultural understanding of life. Each person has a

place in society. This is illustrated in the burial rituals. For instance, infants are buried with

very little ceremony. 47 Depending on the local custom, when an infant dies there is usually

no big gathering, neither is there the usual wailing and weeping nor the elaborate kubata

45 Ibid., p.45-6.

46V.Whidbome, 'Africanisation of Christianity in Zimbabwe, ' in Religion in Southern Africa. 4(1)

1983, p.40.

47E.B. Magava, 'African Customs connected with the Burial of the dead in Rhodesia, " in J.A. Dachs,
Christianity South of the Zambezi, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1973, p. 155.

179
maoko. It is as if by accident that people stumble on the news of the death of an infant.

When they do, the expressionused is 'yadeuka' (it is spilt), implying that the infant is

liquid "8 In the urban areas, when an infant is buried, water plants are buried with it.

People might be in attendance and prayers said if it is desired. In the rural areas the burial

of an infant is the responsibility of elderly women, usually those who are in menopause. 49

If prayers are desired, they are said in the homesteadbefore the body is handed over to

the aged women. The usual burial place is a riverbed, but if no river is nearby water plants

are buried with the infant.50

At the death of older children, there might be wailing and weeping, depending on the local

practice. People gather, and there is proper kubata maoko. There might also be a wake,

though this varies according to location. Christian presence is pronounced; prayers are

said and hymns sung. At their burial Christian rituals and some degree of Shona traditional

ritual are interchanged, but since they are children (vana) their spirits are considered

unable to speaks' Offering Christian prayers for them becomes a way of remembering

them, because they are excluded from the ancestors.

49See above, p.46.

49See interviews with M. Chikonamombe p.381 and E. Chinyeke p.384, and Chapter one p.46.

soSee also V. K. Sachikonye's submission to the Commission of Enquiry, p.432.

51D.W. T. Shropshire, The Church and Primitive Peoples, London: SPCK, 1938, p. 142.

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 A bachelor or spinster of marriageable age has religious traditional observances performed

before he or she is buried. What is actually done depends on the location. 52At the burial

of a grown person, that is, one who has left a wife or husband and children, special

arrangements are clandestinely made to enable the living to welcome back the spirit of the

deceased. ' Such arrangements are made outside the public setting by close family

members,even for Christians.There is still more pomp and ceremony at the burial of a
'
chief. At national level, cabinet ministers and those designated as national heroes, are

buried with national honours at the National Hero's Acre in Harare. In all these settings

traditional religion and Christianity are mingled in the process. The traditional practices

are given their place alongside Christianity, even though a Christian minister of religion

leads the ceremonies. This observance is believed to give the deceased's spirit

consolation and rest.55

In fact every class of person is catered for in terms of death and funerary rites. Christian

prayers and traditional observances in the present Shona setting continue to move side by

side up to the end. Christian belief, and the traditional desire to maintain harmony with the

spiritual world, both stemming from belief in life after death, sustain both Christian and

52See what we said about this age group in Chapter one, p.46.

53See chapter one p.45.

saE55a, USPG Archives, 1900. This is probably what led Herbert Selmes to report that the Shona
believe that the spirit of an induna goes into a lion and thus becomes a mhondoro, regional spirit.

55M.F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p.256.

181
 traditional ritual practices. 56 The need to make sure that this continuity of life is not

disturbed is mostly witnessed in burial rituals. For that reason most Shona people still

believe that the deceased has two shadows, a black shadow representing his flesh and a

white shadow representing the 57

soul or spirit. Those who are knowledgeable about these

matters constantly seek to know whether either of the shadows was seen near the corpse

or in the room where the corpse was. This is to help them with the traditional burial

ceremonies, for which, in their minds, Christianity does not provide.

In some areas there are people who, depending on social status, are buried with elaborate

symbolism. Some areas observe this symbolism for every adult person. The first thing to

note is the way the grave is dug. Some dig it straight down and then make a recess for the

coffin either to the left, or to the right, depending on local custom. Others make a narrow

compartment, the size of the coffin, at the bottom of the grave, usually in the middle. When

the time comes to bury the deceased, Christian prayers are said over this traditionally dug

grave. Only the soil put in at the time of bidding the deceased farewell, plus some of the

deceased's personal possessions are put on the coffin in this compartment. The

compartment is then sealed with stones or pieces of vvood before the grave is filled.

56 M.F. C. Bourdillon, The Shona peoples, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976, p.256. See also under
Textual Analysis' p. 183, below.

37See also Ibid., p.256-9. See also Kumbirai, p.434.

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 If the Anglican Diocese of Harare is to offer effective pastoral ministry, then it needs to

considerseriouslyhow it can accommodatethe emotions,feelings and beliefsof the Shona

people. They give content to the 58

ceremonies. As Shropshire says:

These ceremonies, therefore, have a real effect on the future happiness and
contentment not only of the deceased person but also of the relatives who are
living, lest they should be haunted and constantly plagued with sickness and
misfortune by a miserable, homeless, uncared for and wandering spirit. 59

The ceremonies reveal the communalnature of the understanding of life and seek to

maintain its full relationship. The living and the dead are, in a real sense, broughttogether

by these funerary rites.

4.3 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Our analysis of current practice has been revealing, but, we can also learn much about

views of death and the dead through textual analysis. Here we shall look at the three

Christian textual sources that are used at funeral gatherings, namely, songs, prayers and

bible readings. Individually and collectively, these textual sources offer insights into the

complex understanding of death and the dead. It should be kept in mind that there are

sgThis is particularly significant, given the historical development and understanding of death in the
West. See especially P. Aries, Western attitudes, op. cit.

59Op. cit., Shropshire, p. 134.

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diverse ways in which the Shona, like most people, express their feelings and receive

consolation.

The songs that are sung at funerals can be put into two categories, Christian and Shona

traditional. In our analysis we shall look at Christian songs, which can be divided into two

groups, that is, hymns and choruses. Prayers also follow the same pattern. Some are said

from the prayer book, while others are extempore. Most songs and prayers have a biblical

base. Biblical passages are chosen for their relevance to the situation. They are mainly

meant to give consolation and courage. Let us consider these sources in some detail.

4.3.1 Hymns

The current Shona version of the Anglican hymn book comes in two forms. There is a

small paperback hymn book, Ndwiyo, with 268 hymns in it. The other is the combined

Prayer/Hymn book, known as the Minamato/Ndwi rho. Both versions contain the same

hymns, which are translations from other languages. Most of the hymns in the Anglican

hymn book are seasonal. But many hymns have become more popular as funeral hymns

than as the seasonal*hymns they were intended to be. There are a number of reasons for

this.

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For example, there are those hymns which explicitly address death, others which only

imply it, and yet otherswhich are 'made'to be relevantto funerals. This might be because

they have a messagefor the situation, or it may be that the deceasedloved them. One

can confidently say of these hymns that they project an understanding of death. They

communicate strongly to both singer and hearer. In short, the hymns console the bereaved

in a personal way.

We now look at a few popular hymns to see how they reflect a development in the Shona

Christian understanding of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, death and the dead. It is

important to note that this use of hymns by Shona Christians demonstrates that Christianity

and Shona Traditional Religion are finding common ground in popular religion. However

this is not necessarily reflective of the official position of the Anglican Diocese of Harare.

Though Shona Christians have not composed any hymns of their own, they use translated

versions, at times with added choruses. They sing them to local tunes, with some set to

traditional rhythmic tunes accommodating the drums.

4.3.1.1 God

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 In the face of bereavement, the need for God is very great, 60and singing helps to make it

bearable. The cloud of grief and sorrow is so dark, heavy and thick, that no one else can

help disperse it, except God. He is perceived as the only one who can bring order out of

such chaos. The chaos is seen as so strong that it might make the mourning relatives fall

prey to the machinations of the devil, hence they need the assurance of God's

61
companionship. The presence of God in such a setting is highly desirable. It renders

bereavement and its attendant forces powerless. In fact, it is Iight.62

In most hymns God is acknowledged as the one who is in control of time. What this means

is that the death of a loved one is not outside God's control; he or she has died because

God has willed it. With the help of God, "it shall all be forgotten just like dreaming a

dream. "63God is positively seen as a helper, mubatsiri. ' God's omnipotence is understood

to enable the bereaved to overcome an otherwise overwhelming situation. 65

60 See the hymns, (Abide with me, fast falls the eventide) Gara neni usiku hwasvika in
Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn No. 9 verse 3 and (Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear) Zuva rangu Muponesi in
Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn 12 verse I evening hymns which are popular at funerals because the evening
darkness it refers to is interpreted as death. Its whole message is heard in that light. Minamato/Ndwivo.
London: SPCK, 1963, later reprinted in Zimbabwe at Gweru: Mambo Press, 1975 and 1983.

61See the hymn, 'Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. ' in Minamato/Ndwiyo, hymn No 9 verse 4.

62See Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn numbers 9 verse 1 and 12 verse 1.

63See the hymn, (0 God our help in ages past) Mubatsisri wedu Mwari in Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn
No. 106 verse 4.

64Ibid. verses I and 6.

65See the hymn, (My God my Father) Baba ndirikurasika in Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn No. 129 verse
s.
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 There is an eschatological understanding which holds that, while God is the judge of souls,

Godself prepares the souls for judgement. 66This is what makes prayers important, they

are a way of establishing a relationship with God. Perhaps this is why the Shona people

desire them so much for their dead. It is only when one has a relationship with God that

one can see the heavenly Jerusalem, where God lives. 67

These Christian hymns have concepts which resonate with traditional Shona attributes

of God. In traditional Shona religion:

fundamental belief is in a supreme, immortal being, manifested through natural

phenomena such as drought or locust plagues and can be invoked directly.
This being is known by various names, Mwari being the most common; others
are Musikavanhu (Maker of the people), Chipindukire (One who can change
anything), Mupizvirambiri (One who cannot be refused), Chikara (One who
inspires awe). 68

With such an understanding of God, the Christian teaching about God is not at all

contradictory to Shona views of God. Christian teaching in fact endorses what the Shona

people hold dear about God. This enables Shona Christians to relate easily to Christian

66See the hymn, (A few more years shall roll) Kwasara kunesu in Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn No. 142
the chorus.

67See the Hymn, (Jerusalem my happy home) Jerusanem'nnofadza in MinamatoMdwivo, hymn No.
237 verse 3.

68K. Sayce, (ed) Tabex Encyclopedia Zimbabwe, Harare: Quest Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1989, p.322.
Gelfand cites Murphree's list of names for God. They are, 'Nyadenga (The Great One of the Sky),
Chipindukire (He who turns things upside down), Chirazamauya (The One who provides for good or bad),
Musikavanhu (The Creator of the people), Dzivaguru (The Great Pool -The Giver of rain) and Mutangakugara
(The One who existed in the beginning). ' M.Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, p. 111.

187
 hymns, such as those already cited. Because God is the 'maker of people', it is easy to

note the shift in perception when it comes to death. Shona Christians, though still believing

that death is caused, believe that it is only when it is God's will that death occurs.

Believing that God is the giver of all things, including life, leads one to see, in death, God

taking away his own.' In which case no one could stop him, so his will should be

accepted. The expression `Mwari waita kuda kwake' (God has done his will) is commonly

heard among Shona Christians in response to death.

In the context of this understanding of God the need for prayer cannot be overemphasized.

Prayer among the Shona people is believed eventually to get to the Creator,though at

times it might seem to be offered to ancestors. In the face of death, addressing God directly

is acceptable, just as it is in any other emergency. 70

If God is one who turns things upside down (Chipindukire), then it is not difficult for him to

do anything. The Christian eschatological teaching that there will be a judgement at the

end of this life probably finds expression among the Shona people because of their

understanding of this attribute. Popular religion is making great strides ahead of

officialdom.

69This is a very clear demonstration of how the Shona Christians are wrestling with the Christian
faith and finding it consoling. The book of Job seems to speak clearly here, see Job. 1:21.

70See Chapter one p.24 for the 'Kusuma' process.

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 4.3.1.2 Jesus Christ

It is clear from their choice of hymns that Shona Christians are accommodating Jesus

Christ into their own lives and understanding of God in a practical way. They probably find

it easy to do so by using traditional categories. This is particularly pertinent in the face of

death. The teaching about Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection becomes a source

of hope for Shona Christians. It is because of some of their own traditional beliefs that

they can make these connections. In traditional Shona thinking, "people are believed to

have a spirit which survives death but retains its relationship with its descendants. These

ancestral spirits (vadzimu) protect, guide or punish their descendants. ""

In the face of death Jesus is seen as one who can offer protection and guidance, if given

the opportunity. In a sense he is related to as a mudzimu (ancestral spirit). The cross on

which he died is a sure sign of hope and light. 72 Even when one's eyes are closing in

death, the cross continues to shine before one so much that one sees the way to the next

world.

71K. Sayce (ed) Tabex Encyclopedia Zimbabwe, op. cit., p.322. See also what we said about Jesus
Christ in Chapter three, p. 143.

72See the hymn, (Abide with me fast falls the eventide), Minamato Ndwiyo, op.cit. hymn No. 9 verse
5. The cross could be understood as a symbol of love and intimacy.

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 There is a sense in which the bereaved are encouraged to learn from Jesus' death, and

draw strength from it.73What makes Jesus' death so powerful is the fact that he became

a human being for the sake of human beings. The anthropocentric nature of Shona

Traditional Religion is accommodated. Further, the incarnation makes him identify fully

with humanity in all life situations. All human life makes sense to him, so as a mudzimu, he

can effectively help the bereaved to deal peacefully with death and the dead. His

experienceof death on the cross is significant,it strengthenedhis passionfor humanityso

much that when one calls, Jesus can stretch his arms to receive the dying person's soul. 74

That death of Jesus makessense to the Shona people because it takes up the theme of

sacrifice. Jesus' blood is seen as efficacious. Putting this in the eschatological context

helps to connect it more clearly to Shona thinking. The sacrificial nature of the blood of

Jesus is enhanced in the understanding that a soul washed in His blood is ready for

judgement. 75 If Jesus, as an ancestor, approves of the sacrifice, it becomes life giving,

since he died that we might live.76

73See the hymn, (0 Sacredheadsurrounded),MusoroUnoyerain Minamato/Ndwivo,hymnNo. 72

verse 4.

74Ibid., verse 4.

75Minamato/Ndwiyo, op. cit. hymn No. 142 the chorus.

76Ibid., verse 5.

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Though this is not the official teaching of the Anglican church, the reality of death and the

need for mechanisms for coping with it, gives it force among Shona Christians, and makes

it a possible basis for an African Christology. The need to do things well, coupled with the

desire to commit a loved one into capable hands, bypass orthodoxy. So, as the hymns are

sung, these perceptions help to make Christ an important figure. Going to Christ is like

going to join the rest of the ancestors, hence prayers are said even for non-Christians.

4.3.1.3 The Holy Spirit

Hymns that make reference to the Holy Spirit are not different from those that make

reference to God and Jesus Christ. Their assimilation into Shona thinking is deeply

dependent on how adaptable they are to the Shona worldview. Shona worldviews hold that

good and evil spirits inhabit the "

universe. Both seek access to the living. It is one's

relationship with one's ancestors which is determinative. If one has a good relationship with

one's ancestors, the belief is that the ancestors will protect one from the attacks of the evil

spirits. But if one does not have a good relationship with one's ancestors the reverse is

true.

The Holy Spirit is seen as the good spirit which is a channel of God's companionship and

the assurance of Jesus' continued presence. Through its influence and guidance the

77See Chapterone, p.22, for what we said about Shona world views.

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power of death and the is 78
grave overcome. In other words, this good spirit gives the

mourners the power and confidence to face the reality of bereavement with fortitude. 9 In

the final analysis it is this good spirit's presence which also enables the mourners to carry

out the appropriate burial rituals satisfactorily.

In the face of death the Holy Spirit enables the wayward to repent. One of its duties is to

keep the sick alive, probably to give them a chance to repent. It blesses the poor and

consoles the moumers. 80It is the Holy Spirit which enables people to experience God's

joy in the face of hardships such as death.

4.3.1.4 Death

As already noted, death is seen as darkness; this explains why evening hymns are so

popular at deaths and funerals. The family struck by death feel deserted. There is nothing

much they can do about it other than wrestle with the reality. This is what makes death

confusing, disruptive and unwelcome. It is actually portrayed as an enemy to be feared.

Perhaps this is what leads to its being attributed to the devil. The relationship between

79Minamato/Ndwivo, op. cit. hymn, No.9 verse 4.

79Minamato/Ndwivo, op. cit., hymn No. 12 verse 5.

80Ibid., verse 5.

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 death and the grave is obvious, but the hymn points out that these are not the ultimate end.

God alone is the one who does not change.81

Looking at death as the work of the devil echoes Shona belief which holds that death is not

natural, and is almost always caused by a witch or an evil spirit, but willed by God. Death

is caused by a muvengi (an enemy) or a mhandu (an adversary). These spiritual enemies

are like armies of darkness which are constantly in search of someone to grab. 82

Death is acknowledged as a phenomenon which solicits responses. Because different

people respond to death differently, the need for help to respond is seen as great.83This

is especially significant if we appreciate that death is like a cloud. When a cloud covers

the sun, it casts its shadow onto the ground and on all who are under it. Death and its

effects are well encapsulated in this analogy. In Shona society all to whom the death

relates, through relationships of all kinds, are like people under a cloud. They feel and

share the sense of loss very deeply and directly. 84

81Minamato/Ndwivo, No. 9 verse 2.

82See the hymn, (Christian seek not

yet repose) Mukristu Usanete in Minamato/Ndwivo, hymn No.
130 verse 1.

93Ibid., verse 6.

84Minamato/Ndwivo, op. cit., No. 12 verse 2.

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There is a Passiontide hymn, popular at funerals, which reveals two features of death,

namely (a) that it distorts and (b) that it puts out the light of "s
Iife. It is importantto note that

it 'puts out' rather than destroys the light of life. 86The distortion that death brings is twofold:

(i) the deceased is stone-faced with no expressions at all, (ii) the deceased ceases to

participate in any of the activities. Instead it is others who read features into the deceased,

such as 'peaceful', 'calm' and so on.

Death tests belief in God in many ways. 87in the process some beliefs are shaken while

others are strengthened. Most people draw comfort from beliefs they understand, thus

making Shona traditional views very real. The eschatological element makes this even

more significant.

4.3.1.5 The dead

The belief that the dead are not gone and lost comes through in a number of hymns.8"The

dead are referred to in a variety of ways depending on the referee. At times they are known

as those who have conquered, or the faithful departed, or those who have gone to their rest

85Minamato/Ndwiyo, op. cit., No. 72 verse 2.

86Ibid., verse 2.

97Minamato/N M'iyo, op. cit., No. 130 verse 6.

88Minamato/Ndwiyo, hymns, 9,130,142 and 237.

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 in the hope of rising again. It is unfortunate that in the official language of the Anglican

Dioceseof Hararethe term 'ancestors'does not feature. For that reasonit is also not found

in any of the hymns.However,the various names given to the dead affirm the belief that

death does not annihilate life, so the dead, like the living, still need God's guidance. 89

The Anglican teaching that the living Christian community can pray for the dead, though

foreign to traditional Shonathinking,is becomingacceptable.The understandingin Shona

tradition is that the dead pray for and protect the living from evil spirits,90the underlying

assumption being that the dead are nearer to God than are the living. Because of this

closeness they know the appropriate kusuma process of the spiritual world. 91Christianity

enables the living to suma the dead to God through prayers.

Christian eschatology emphasizes that the dead need God, and so need the prayers both

of their progeny and of the Christian community. These prayers are essential because if

they are to face judgement they need to be as ready as possible. Their own life account,

and such attendant prayers of fellow Christians pleading for mercy, contribute to the just

89Minamato/Ndwiyo, hymn No. 9 verse 5.

90See Chapter one p.66 for a full discussion of the significance of the relationship between the living
and the dead.

91See Chapter one p. 24, for a description of the kusuma process.

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 judgement of God.92After this judgement, those found worthy then proceed to the blissful,

final home, Jerusalem. '

The idea of a final home to which one goes after death is very attractive to the Shona

people. What makes it very significant is that it connects with their own understanding of

what obtains in the afterlife. They believe that the social hierarchy of this life prevails in that

final home. For them, such a home is established in ways similar to the earthly homes and

social life they already know. Being given permission to enter into that home is an

occasion to meet with the ancestors. That is a very consoling thought indeed.

4.3.2 Choruses

Like the hymns, the choruses sung at funerals are mostly meant to console, and give

strength and hope to the bereaved. Occasionally, reflective choruses are sung. An

interesting point about most of the choruses is that they are based on some biblical

passage. Though thus based on the Bible they still reflect the dual observance of belief,

in that they simultaneously satisfy both Shona traditional and Anglican religious

constructs. At one level they express an undoubted understanding of Christ and the

92Minamato/Ndwiyo, op. cit., hymn No. 130 verse 4. This is not to be construed as saying prayers
can change one's plight at the final judgement, but it is only an Indication that God judges justly cf. Luke
12:48.

93Minamato/Ndwiyo, hymn No. 237 verses 1 and 4.

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Christian faith, while at another, Shona traditional conceptions. It is difficult to define

where Christianity ends and Shona Traditional Religion begins, and vice versa. The
interchange is essentially parallel. But in popular Anglicanism the two belief systems are

employed together as mechanisms for coping with death and the plight of the dead.

To illustrate the above, I have chosen two choruses which talk about preparedness. The

idea of preparedness touches on the Christian and the Shona traditional religious

understandings. The first one is "Garai Makagadzirira" (Always be prepared). This chorus

advises that people should always be ready for death. It goes on to point out that the Son

of man, who can be understood as one who wills our death, comes at an unknown day and

hour. The Son of man is also acknowledged as the judge of both the living and the dead.

In short, the chorus invites people always to be prepared for both death and judgement.

The second one is "Zvibvunze ugere ipapo"(Ask yourself while you sit there). Its message

is poignant in a funeral setting because it asks the questions 'do you know what could

happen to you? ' and 'what will your destination be should you die now?' These questions

are asked in the light of the belief that the rest that awaits humanity after this life is for the

good ones (vatsvene). Ina sense the question is, 'how good are you? ' or'how consistent

is your life with the good moral conduct of both heaven and earth? ' It invites the mourners

to engage in an exercise of self examination.

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Some choruses are extracts or narrations of a biblical passage, for example, 'John 14:1'

and 'Shamwari dza Job' (Friends of Job). The former chorus consists simply of the

message of the verse in question. It reads, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in

God ; trust in me." This chorus highlights Jesus' role in the face of death.

The latter relates the familiar story of Job's pain and suffering, and of his friends' wayward

advice. Job's resistance is sung of as a virtue which the bereaved should emulate. His

experience is interpreted as a case study for those going through difficult times, which

might lead them to deny God. The chorus, summarising the story of Job, encourages

faithfulness in response to difficult situations.

4.3.3 Prayers

Like the songs discussed above, prayers offered at death and at funerary gatherings can

be split into two groups. There are prayers from the prayer book and extempore prayers.

Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer are by their nature constant and changeless,

though revised from time to time. No wonder they cannot adequately capture the feelings

of the bereaved. However, they continue to be used as the 'funerary prayers' of the
Anglican Church. This is in spite of the recommendations of the Pastoral Regulations of

1978, and Bishop Burrough's assurance. On 30 August, 1980, The Sunday Mail, a local

weekly Zimbabwean newspaper, reported Bishop Paul Burrough as saying "traditional

198
 burial customs had been incorporated into Anglican worship. So changes are taking

place. "94 In fact, no changes have taken place; the Prayer Book which is presently in use

is the one which was being used before these statements were made.

The Book of Common Prayer, Shona version, (Minamato/Ndwiyo)ý has provision for the

burial of a baptised adult, 96an unbaptised adult, 97a baptised child 98and an unbaptised

child. 99 Each section of the burial service is prefaced by rubrics, that is, italicised

instructions on how the officiant should proceed. This is perhaps something that makes

the prayer book seem out of touch, especially among the Shona, for whom burial is by

social status. 10° For our purposes, we will only look at the burial of a baptised adult. '

There is a litany to be said or sung for one who is about to die. This is preceded by a

prayer for one who is likely to die soon. The aim of this prayer is to commend the soul of

the dying to God, and thereby, in addition, to give comfort to the relatives. Words to the

effect that, though this person dies on earth, he or she is alive with God, are recited.

94V.Whidbome, `Africanisation of Christianity in Zimbabwe, " in Religion in Southern Africa 4(1)

1983, p. 42.

95This is a revision of the 1928 Book of Common Prayerwhich was first published in Shona in 1963,
as the official Prayer book of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. CPCA was created in 1955.

96Op. cit., Minamato/Ndwiyo, p.434.

97Ibid., p. 645.

98Ibid., p. 448.

99Ibid., p.643.

100See p. 181, above.

199
 Forgiveness of sins is prayed for on behalf of the person in question. This prayer has a

pastoral concern, for it prepares the way for the reception of the soul of such a person by

the Creator, should he or she die without personally confessing. 101When such a person

is actually dying, there is yet another prayer which is said, committing his or her soul to

God. 102

There is an acknowledgementin the prayer that the soul is on its journey from earth. It is

thus entrusted to the Triune God and the company of the apostles, martyrs, witnesses and

saints, with the assistance of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. The

final commendation is to Jerusalem, projected as a place of peace, where the soul should

have a home in heavenly Zion. 103There is no mention of the ancestors at all. 104

After this there is nothing else that the prayer book provides for till the burial proper. At the

time of burial, the priest and his assistants meet the corpse at the entrance to the church,

and go before it, either into the church or towards the grave. This setting assumes that the

101Ibid., pp. 430 or 431.

102Ibid., "Go forth upon thy journey from this world, 0 Christian soul, In the name of God the Father
Almighty who created you. Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ who suffered for you. Amen. In the name of
the Holy Spirit who strengthens you. Amen. In Communion with the blessed Saints, and aided by Angels and
Archangels, and all the armies of the heavenly host. Amen. May your portion this day be In Jerusalem, and
your dwelling in the heavenly Zion. Amen. ' The Shona equivalent Is found In Minamato/Ndwivo. p.433.

103Ibid., p.433.

104Other parts of the Anglican Communion are beginning to acknowledge local spirituality. The
Church of the Province of Kenya is renowned for that. In Zimbabwe It Is the Roman Catholic Church and
some African Initiated Churches who have recognised the ancestors as part of the Shona religious heritage.

200
person is to be buried in a church graveyard, which is not very far from the church

building. 105This procedure is no longer tenable because most people are being buried

in their homes. So the last prayers are said at the person's home, after which there is a

procession to the grave. 106

At the grave, if the ground is not blessed, the priest blesses the grave. While the final

preparationsfor the intermentare going on the priest says some prayers. When the coffin

is placed in the grave the priest says the interment prayer.

For as much as it has pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto
himself the soul of our dear brother/sister here departed: We therefore commit
his/her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure
and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall change our corrupt body, according to the mighty working,
whereby he is to
able subdue all things to himself. Amen. 107

This prayer seems to speak mainly of the body of the deceased, and sees the soul as

already at rest in God. It further introduces an aspect of the body not usually singled out.

In saying "..., ashes to ashes " it sounds as if the bones are being committed as a
...

component of the deceased. In the Shona understanding humanity is body and soul;

when burying the body the soul is also committed. If each part is to be commended, as this

prayer suggests, then let it be the whole human being, body and soul. In the Shona

105See Chapter two on Church burial practices, p.98.

1°6This was the case in most of the funeral services at which I was either an officiant or a participant.

107Op. cit., The Shona equivalent is found in Minamato/Ndwiyo, p. 442.

201
 understanding, what happens to the body is linked with what happens to the soul, and the

soul does not get any rest till the body is buried. With that understanding 'how can God

receive the soul without it being offered at the same time as the body of which it is part? '

Somehow the committal is not complete from a Shona view point. I would suggest that the

Minamato/Ndwiyo, despite being in the Shona language, is nevertheless inadequate for

the Shona context.

Perhaps it is these, and many other concerns, that Eli Magava, an Anglican priest who

loves the prayer book, was made aware of by his parishioners. While he himself thought

that the prayer book burial service was all embracing, he noticed "people performing a

number of acts after the service has ended. They do such things as washing their feet and

hands with water to which some green leaves have been added". This was valuable

experience for him because it opened his eyes to the reality of the people he ministered

to. He admits, "I am now convinced that in the eyes of the African Christians the burial

service in its present form is considered inadequate, and that its inadequacy lies in its

failure to accommodate these "extra" actions. i108

On the other hand, extempore prayers are more in touch with the people's feelings. They

even reflect the people's theological understanding of death. In some instances, they hint

posE.B. Magava, 'African Customs connected with the Burial of the dead In Rhodesia,' !nJ. A.
Dachs, Christianity South of the Zambezi, 1973, p. 151.

202
 at the suspectedcauses of death, includingwitchcraft. The belief that death is caused is

thus constantlyaffirmed. Mostextemporeprayers seek to encouragethe bereavedto take

heart in a more direct way. They give advice and direction, at times cautioning the

bereaved not to be too hasty in their conclusions as to who the enemy was. Words to the

effect that "Mwari ndimi moga munoziva" (God you are the only one who knows) and

vadzimu (ancestors) form part of such prayers. 109

4.3.4 Bible Readings

The Bible is a great source of inspiration and consolation in times of bereavement.

Different passages speak differently to the grieving. In the Anglican Prayer Book there is

a variety of Biblical readings for use at burial. They fall into two categories, (i) those that

could be used in the context of a Requiem Mass, (the Shona word for it is Misa) and (ii)

those that are used where there is no Eucharist. The range of funerary readings is fairly

wide, and so are the different aspects of bereavement they address.

Bible readings are part of the wake-keeping. A number of passages are read by different

peopleand some expositionsor reflectionsoffered.Suchexpositionsand reflectionsdone

by the local people often disclose the people's real theology.Their real beliefs and views

1°9This indicates that popular Anglicanism is moving ahead of official church practice in integrating
Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion.

203
on death and the dead are also communicated. These usually expose divergencies

between them and the official teaching of the Church in relation to the Bible. Among the

biblical passages most often heard are Job 1:21ff; Job 19:25ff; Psalm 23; Psalm 90 and

John 14:2ff.

Where a Eucharistic celebration precedes the burial, the Prayer Book suggests these

readings, (John 5:24ff: John 6:37ff: Rom.8: 35ff; 1 Cor. 15: 20ff; 2 Cor. 4: 16ff; 1Thes. 4: 13ff;

and Rev.21: 1ff). Though suggested for use in a Eucharistic setting, these readings can

be used at the discretion of the officiant and/or the bereaved, outside a Eucharist. In

addition to these the Prayer Book also has extracts from specific books of the Bible for

recital at various stages of the burial. They could be recited as people process to the

grave, or while the coffin is being placed into the grave or at any other appropriate point.

4.4 THE DIALOGUE

As can be noted from the textual analysis the dual observance of rituals concerning death

and the dead continues. This is an indication that there is no effective dialogue between

the church and the traditional Shona views at a meaningful level. There is an underlying

duality, or dual observance.The Anglican Church has failed to engage in a full theological

debate or encounterwith the Shona people and their culture and context, consequentlyit

204
 also fails to appreciate their predicament. This is clearly illustrated by the three attempts

it has made to redress this dual observance.

The Church recognised this weakness a long time ago, but because of its thinking at the

time, it probably believed that all that was needed was more education, and these beliefs

would die a natural death. 10 But when Shona views did not seem to succumb to missionary

education and influence, a booklet was offered for guidance in the 1920s. It is'The Way

of the Christian", in Shona, "Rwendo RweMuKristu. " Typical of the Anglican Church, on

the topic 'burying the dead', the booklet tells Christians what to 'think' when there is a

death. "' It then goes on to prescribe how Christians should respond to death and how the

burial should be conducted. This did not help the situation, first because it did not address

it adequately, that is, did not address the existential and pastoral issues openly, and

secondly, because it was overly prescriptive.

A second, more serious attempt resulted in the publication of the document, Pastoral

Regulations: Issued by the Bishops for the guidance of the clergy. 1978.12 Like its

predecessor, it did not address the problem, neither was it less prescriptive. Instead it

110That thinking was based on the 'evangelise to civilize' missionary approach.

111See Chapter two on 'Church literature on burial' p. 102.

112See Chaptertwo p. 105, on'Winding up the Missionary era' for a fuller discussion of the contents
of this booklet.

205
 emphasized the point that the Book of Common Prayer has four orders for burial. 13 It also

goes on to spell out who can be buried, where and how they are to be buried, including

advice on how to dispose of the ashes of cremated bodies. ' 14As if that was not enough

advice, it goes on to say "Christian ministers and laymen may say prayers at the funeral

of heathen persons, if they are asked to do so, but no Prayer Book Service should be

used. "15 Surely such a detached prescriptive approach cannot offer a lasting solution.

In 1993, under indigenous leadership, a Commission of Enquiry was set up to research

Shona views of death and the dead. This was in recognition of the widespread practice of

traditional Shona burial rites among Shona Christians. What led to the establishment of the

Commission was the observation by Synod that:

when one observes the daily lives and activities of some of our people and
takes account of the rites or ceremonies connected with the various stages of
their lives, one soon realises that a great deal of the normal communal activities
lie outside their Christian activities and that for all their influences; the Christian
Church is still an alien institution, intruding upon, but not integrated with the
cultural institutions. ' 16

113See page 199 above, for the orders of burial; that for a baptised adult, unbaptised adult, etc..

114 Pastoral Regulations, pp. 1415.

115Ibid., p. 15.

116These are the words which prefaced the Commission's mandate, given at Harare Diocesan Synod
1993.

206
Some research on why this was the case was needed. The Commission's task was 'to

research on how dialogue with Shona traditional religion in the area of death and dying

could be possible. ' 117

A comprehensive report was to be presented to Synod 1994.

At Synod 1994, the Commission, among other things, recommended that open dialogue

with Shona Traditional Religion was important. It is to be regretted that the Synod did not

seem to take the report and its recommendations as seriously as it had taken the

establishment of the Commission. The report was rejected from the chair and, in the

writer's view, a premature resolution made against the proposed dialogue. So Harare

Diocesan Synod 1994 said:

This Synod resolves that to the extent that traditional Rites and Ceremonies
incorporate communication with spirits or Religious beliefs which have no origin
in or harmony with Christianity, such Rites and Ceremonies are wholly
irreconcilable with and therefore repugnant to Christianity, its precepts and
teachings. 118

This hardly counts for a resolution. If only the Diocese of Harare had considered how the

doctrines of the Christian faith were formulated, and that some so-called Christian rites and

117See Commission's preliminary report p.429, below.

118Diocese of Harare, Synod 1994.

207
 ceremonies incorporate communication with spirits, and religious beliefs which do not

originate in Christianity, the Commission's proposal could have been upheld. 1'

The Chairman of that Commission, the Rev'd Sebastian Bakare, now Bishop of Eastern

Zimbabwe, reflecting on this in The Drumbeat of Life, says:

It is evident that the Western-oriented churches are often fearful of the power
the traditional rites might exercise on African Christians. This came home to me
when I took part in a project to adapt and Christianize traditional African rites
surrounding birth, marriage and burial. The aim was to offer pastoral help for
church members who are practising these rituals outside the Christian context.
The response of the majority of church members, both ordained persons and
laity, was negative. Obviously, many would prefer to maintain Western rites,
even though these do not express their experiences and will thus inevitably be
artificial, rather than risk being confronted by the power of the traditional
practices. The result is an ambiguous spirituality. Christian liturgy and
traditional rites co-exist, but they have no connection with each other. The
inference which many draw is that traditional rites are thus somewhat outside
the realm of God's creation and therefore evil. 120

Bakare's observations help to explain why the Church has failed to enter into dialogue with

Shona traditional religions. They also offer insights into why the duality or dual observance

prevails. This duality or dual observance indicates that popular theology goes far beyond

the official Church theology of death. It is therefore my submission that the methods of

dealing with the problem engaged by the Anglican Diocese of Harare have been faulty. A

new method of doing theology is needed, which recognizes that for the Church to be

119J.N. D. KeIIy, Early Christian Creeds, London, New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co, 1950.
Kelly adequately illustrates this process, he traces the formation of the early Christian creeds, noting the
significance of each context and its thought patterns, beginning with the New Testament.

120S. Bakare, The Drumbeat of Life, Geneva: WCC Publication, 1997, p. 17.

208
 relevant, it must interact with the people it is addressing. Such a theology would be

dialogical and contextual; a theology which is not contextual is as good as no theology.

4.5 KUROVA GUVA

Most Shona Christians now observe the traditional ceremony of kurova guva with prayers,

bible reading, hymn and chorus singing. It can be held any time from six months to one

year or more after the burial. In various settings it seems to serve the same purpose of

welcoming home the spirit of the deceased father or mother121.It is a ceremony which

marks the end of the wandering period of the deceased's soul. One could call it the

"graduation ceremony", because through it the spirit of the deceased is instituted as a

mudzimu. 122"In most areas it is also associated with the dissolution of the deceased's

estate, the installation of the new family head who carries the name of the deceased and

the inheritance of the widow/s. "123

'21According to Whidbome, it either repairs the broken relationship ortames the 'unpredictable and
dangerous spirit'. Whidbome, op. cit., p.40. See also Chapter one p.55 for a full discussion of the kurova
guva ceremony.

122It wakes the spirit up so that it can take its rightful place in the home and among the other
ancestors.

113J. Kumbirai, 'Kurova Guva and Christianity, " in M. F.C. Bourdillon, Christianity South of the
Zambezi, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1977, pp. 123-130. See also P.Gundanl, "The Roman Catholic Church and
the Kurova Guva Ritual In Zimbabwe, " in J. L. Cox, (ed) Rites of Passage In Contemporary Africa, Cardiff:
Cardiff Academic Press, 1998, p. 199. See also interview with G. Mashura p.400.

209
 After the customarily acceptable period has elapsed, the kurova guva ceremony is held,

usually at the home of the deceased, with most of his or her relatives in attendance. Those

who cannot be present must have valid reasons. The ceremony is characterised by a lot

of feasting and drinking, and ceremonial relating to ancestors. 124

It is probably because of this (feasting, drinking and ceremonial relating to ancestors), that

the Anglican Diocese of Harare does not approve of it. Shona Anglicans have however

found their own way of dealing with the situation. First, they have given the ceremony

another name. It is called the 'unveiling of the tombstone. '125 This makes it more

acceptable to the Church. Secondly, all the traditional rituals are carried out the night

before, or after the unveiling of the tombstone. The slaughtering of the sacrificial animal

is done before the unveiling function, so as to provide food for the people. So they devote

the day time observances to acceptable Church practices such as praying, singing,

reading the bible and feasting. Even clergy, including those who still think like the

missionaries,that is, thosewho considerkurovaguva as'ancestorworship' and a violation

of the first commandment, will happily officiate at the unveiling of the tombstone.

4.6 CONCLUSION

124See what was said about kurova guva on page 55, above.

125Where possible a tombstone is erected on the grave, and where it is not possible a visit to the
grave, marked by prayers, bible reading and singing in remembrance of the deceased, is enough.

210
It is clear from the foregoing that at the level of the laity, the dialogue between Christianity

and Shona traditional practices relating to death and the dead can be intensified, with the

possibility of a synthesis. At the level of the official Church however, things look rather

different.

It would seem as if clergy and officialdom stand between the laity and the belief, practice

and teaching of the Church, at times not fully conversant with both belief systems, or

playing one against the other. This not only confuses the people, but it blocks the dialogue.

In the process, the clergy emerge as what Bediako calls, "a class of displaced persons. 026

This official rigidity is further consolidated at Synod; most of those who come to Synod as

representatives want to be seen to uphold the 'acceptable Christian' position, that is,

castigate traditional practices. However, if only we took the reality of our fellow Christians

seriously, we would seek to address the prevailing 'ambivalent spirituality. ' Perhaps this

would help the Christian faith to take root, enabling it to wrestle with Shona traditional

views and vice versa, thus breaking away from the dual observance. The Anglican

Diocese of Harare needs to re-assess the situation and adopt a fresh approach to the

problem. In the next chapter we propose to do this by advocating the "Interactive

Dialogical model. '

126K. Bediako, Theology and Identity, Oxford: Regnum Books, 1992, p.350.

211
 CHAPTERFIVE

TOWARDS A THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I shall explore the possibility of a theological synthesis between Christian

and Shona Traditional Religious views of death and the dead. On the basis of the research

findings of the previous chapters, I propose what I shall term the 'interactive dialogical

"
model. To do this effectively, I consciously acknowledge the place of culture, history and

religion in society. I shall also engage with the methodological questions for clarity and

focus.

In chapter three we looked at the way the Shona people responded to missionary

approaches to their life in general, and specifically how they did so with regard to death

and the dead, with the resultant dual observance. We saw in chapter four how entrenched

this dual observance has become. An unofficial integration of Christian and Shona

practices co-existswith an indigenousclergy who, for the most part, still representwhat I

1 See p. 258 below, for a comprehensive description of this model.

212
 call "Missionary Anglicanism. "ZThis creates a barrier, so that clerical and lay views of

death and the dead are not congruent. Those of Anglican historical orthodoxy,

represented by the clergy, and those of popular religion, represented by most Shona laity

are polarised.

Max Weber's words, spoken in a different context, but referring to a similar situation, shed

some light on this issue. He said:

The decisive consideration was and still remains: who is deemed to exert the
stronger influence on the individual in his everyday life, the theoretically
supreme god or the lower spirits and demons? If the spirits, then the religion
of everyday life is decisively determined by them, regardless of the official god-
concept of the ostensibly rationalized religion?

Though Weber's words reflect the dilemma existent in the Anglican Diocese of Harare, I

do not subscribe to the "lower spirits and demons' perception, as a fitting description of

Shona traditional beliefs. I would be comfortable with 0 in his everyday life, God or the
...
ancestors? " However, the dilemma highlights the weakness of the Church's insensitive

approach. This research is a contributiontowards the search for a solution to the dual

observance.

2 By Missionary Anglicanism we are referring to the Anglican missionary approach which assumed
that the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe 'is a church by law established' even though It was not. It confronts
and condemns Shona traditional practices, perhaps because of its western Inclinations.

3 Cited in J. Obelkevich, Religion and Rural Society: South Lindsey 1825-1875, Oxford: Claredon
Press, 1976, p.259.

213
 In pursuit of a theological synthesis we now turn our attention to the process and

discussion of topics appropriate for such an undertaking. °

5.2 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The dichotomy which characterizesboth the observanceand executionof rituals relating

to death and the dead is undesirable. The practical question is, "how do we deal with it?"

In responding to this question, I shall spell out the method or approaches I am going to

adopt in dealing with this problem. It would not be out of place to suggest that we should

look at the missionary and colonial history of the country. There are two reasons for doing

this: firstly, to appreciate how the dual observance developed in the first instance, and

secondly, from an informed position, to use that knowledge in working out an effective and

workable solution. Our aim is to eliminatethe dual observanceso that the Christianfaith

can be rooted in Shona religious culture or vice versa, that is, Christianity and Shona

traditional religious views should enter into dialogue. But why has this not happened?

5.2.1 Missionary approaches

4 Here the writer is adopting, A. F. McGovern, Liberation Theology and its critics: Towards an
assessment, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, p. 31, where the author makes reference to the analytical
process, see, judge and act. This formula was borrowed from the Young Christian Workers Groups of the
1930s and 1960s.

214
 In chapter two we identified part of the answer to the question posed above. The

missionaries saw themselves as representatives of God and light, and the Shona people

as those who were in darkness and under the control of the evil one. This confrontational

approach meant that, in the perception of the missionaries, the devil and all he stood for

had to be defeated at any cost. Listening to the Shona people, or seeking to understand

something of their culture, was like compromising with the devil. ' It was not part of the

missionary agenda.

As a result they adopted the condemnatory approach. Because missionaries thought of

themselves as heralds of the 'real god', they condemned Shona Traditional Religion out

of hand. 6 To them it was not religion at all and nothing good could be found in it.' This is

in spite of the fact that the Shona people had lived their lives guided by such religion prior

to the missionary invasion. Confrontation and condemnation were consolidated by

disciplinary measures. Everyone who resided on land designated as 'mission land' was

forced to adopt the missionary religion. On such land anyone found to be adhering to

s Part of the problem

was (a) the misconceptions about the African people in general and (b) the
missionary understanding of the Gospel. M. Perham, African Outline, London: Oxford University Press, 1966,
p. 34 sheds light on (a). She writes, 'the attitude to the Negro race Is partly based on the general view
however vague, that the Negro comes from a wild primitive continent which needed the rough Intrusion of
the white man to bring it into the twentieth century. J. K. Parratt, Reinventing Christianity: African Theology
Today, Michigan: Eerdmans Grand Rapids Publishing Co., 1995, p. 167 says of (b) 'the missionaries, on the
contrary described their task in terms of military campaign - the conquest of the heathen, the victory of the
cross. '

6 See Chapter two under, historical setting, p.74.

7 It reflects something ofthe discussion between Philip and Nathaniel, 'Nazarethl Can
anything good
come from there? ' In this instance it could have been 'Can anything good come from heathens? '

215
 Shona traditional religious practices was either disciplined, excommunicated or evicted

without consideration of the fact that this might have been home for generations. 8

In such a setting it is easy to understand how, in the eyes of the missionaries, the Shona

converts appeared superstitious, with a tendency to over-emphasize the role and

significance of death and the dead. Equally, in the perception of the Shona converts, the

missionaries failed to'understand the significance of this very vital area of life. This

demonstrates the lack of mutual dialogue between missionary Christianity' and Shona

Traditional Religion. The missionaries secure in their more "enlightened" education and

religion, saw no need for dialogue. All they wanted to do was to convert the infidel Shona

people.

Considering Shona Traditional Religion as a non-religion was a grave misconception,

demonstrated by the fact that, though most of the mainline Christian denominations in

Zimbabwe celebrated their centenaries in the last decade, traditional religion is still a force

to reckon with, particularly in the area of death and the dead. If, as the missionaries

thought and taught, traditional religion was nothing but superstition, the hundred years of

Christianity would have rendered it ineffective, that is, it would have lost its following. On

the contrary, people are prepared to be `pluralists' that is, to hold fast to their old way of

8There are echoes of the English parochial system underlying this

practice. In the English parochial
setting the clergyman as landlord, "could scrutinize the religious behaviour of his tenants and their families,
whether they were farmers or labourers, and evict anyone who displeased him. ' J. Obelevich, Op. cit. p. 13.

216
 life [Shona Traditional Religion] and embrace the new faith [Christianity]. 9 This is an

indicationthat traditional religionhas somethingto offerwhichthe Christianfaith and rituals

seem not adequately to provide.

Two religions, representing two cultural perspectives and different sets of world views,

each offering its adherents structures for understanding and coping with life changes,

interactedand continueto interactwith each other. The missionariesseemedobliviousto

this reality, so they imposed set responses to their religion. Most Shona converts did not,

and probablycontinue not to see the contactpoint betweenChristianityand their religious

culture and identity with regards to death and the dead. But they are Christians on the

outside and traditional Shona inside. 10For that reason, when death strikes they feel that

Christian rituals alone are not adequate. This leads us to the observation that while the

reality of death and the dead challenges every religion, it also exposes divergences

between the official teaching of a religion and the beliefs and practices of individuals. The

behaviour of most Shona Christian people in the Anglican Diocese of Harare demonstrates

this. "

9 N.Bhebe, Christianity and African Traditional Religion in Western Zimbabwe 1859-1923, London:
Longman Group Ltd, 1979, p. 19.

'o This is the situation the Commission of Encuirv, (1993-1994) of the Diocese of Harare described
as follows, some Anglicans have no difficulties in 'accepting' the Gospel the way it is presented to them.
They may occupy a leading position in the church, take services every Sunday, but when the chips are down,
they readily resort to traditional explanations of the evil eye or somebody trying to destroy them spiritually. "

11See Chapter four on The dialogue', p. 204.

217
 5.2.2 Missionary and colonial collaboration

Both the missionaries and the colonial powers wanted to exploit the labour of the Shona

people. The missionaries targeted them for conversion and labour on mission farms.

Colonial settlers wanted them for labour on farms or in mines. These two groups of

"outsiders" used almost the same tactics to get what they wanted from the Shona people.

Their basic approach displayed no respect for the Shona as fellow human beings.12

Eighteenth century views of race concerning African people in general, seemed to be the

guiding reality. Karl Kumm helps us to appreciate how the continent of Africa and its

people were conceived. He says it was "the land of darkness ... dark are the bodies of the

people who live there, darker are their minds, and darker still their souls. 03 In

contemporary thinking it was inconceivable that an unenlightened people could be rational,

let alone have minds capable of comprehending God.

12Two historical documents help us to understand the demand for, and methods used to get Shona
labour. C. Leys, European Politics in Southern Rhodesia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959, p.9 states,
'moreover cheap and abundant native labour had also to be provided to attract settlers from kinder
environments and this meant creating artificial Inducements to the Africans to leave their own farming, on
an even larger scale than was already necessary to provide labour for the mines. " The Native Pass
Ordinance No. 10 of 1910, extending the Natives Registration Ordinance No. 16 of 1901 says this supply
of labour was achieved largely by the 'Native hut tax'. First imposed In 1896 this was Increased in 1904 to
£1 per hut (equivalent to a labourer's earnings for 1 or 3 months) and 10 shillings for each polygamous wife.
In 1902 the hut tax was reinforced by a pass law to get the labour to go where it was wanted. ' See also
Zimbabwe: A new history, p.63. The other missionary who stood for African rights, a friend of Cripps, was
the Methodist John White who suffered the same fate.

13Cited in B. Stanley, The Bible and the Flag: Protestant missions and British Imperialism in the 19"'
and 20thcenturies, Leicester. Apollos, 1990, p. 163.

218
 Obviously, considering the Shona people as inferior to the "white" settlers and

missionariesmeant that they had to be treated as such. That this was the official 'white'

approach is adequately demonstrated in the whites' practice of ostracizing those of their

own number who were sympathetic to the Shona people: The famous Anglican missionary,

Arthur Shearly Cripps, who saw in African spirituality a deep understanding of God, ate

Shonapeople'sfood, spoketheir language,and valued their customsrelatingto death and

the dead, is a case in point.14He was not liked either by colonial settlers or fellow

missionaries because he spoke out on behalf of the Shona people, including introducing

Shona as a language for Synod debates.

Such practices sent divergent messages to the Shona people, resulting in both confusion

and the need to preserve their own self identity. The missionaries preached that all human

beings were equal in the sight of God, but did not take kindly to those who wanted to see

this equality implemented. The Shona people observed that they were being exploited in

the name of equality. 15 How could they be equal with people who despised them and their

way of life? Their feelings and sentiments were not acknowledged in the same way as

14Most of his thinking and feeling for the Shona people is found in his publications. Some of the
publications tell the story through their titles. They are, An Africa for Africans (1927), Africans All, (1928)
Chaminuka and Lion-Man (both 1928). See also D.V. Steere, God's Irregular. Arthur Shearly Cripps. A
Rhodesian Epic, London: SPCK, 1973 and G. R.Brown (et al) Arthur Shearly Cripps: A Selection of his Prose
and Verse, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1976. See also p. 101, above.

is S.Bakare, My Right to Land, is an extensive study of the land question and how it Impinges on
equality. See also R. Palmer & J. Birch, Zimbabwe: A Land Divided, Oxford: Oxfam, 1992, p.8 point out a
reality that concerned the people of Zimbabwe very much. It is the fact that *Zimbabweans were moved off
their land into native reserves. ' How could equality be understood in such a setting?

219
 those of the whites. So the whites and the Shona people went their parallel ways not only

in matters religious but in other spheres of life as well. The missionaries and the colonial

powers were thus seen as one, a group of people to whom the true Shona values, including

religion, were not to be revealed. ''

Life for the Shona people still had a reality which the missionaries and colonialists did not

and could not understand. It was dependenton their woridviews which emphasisedthe

communal nature of life, which includes both the dead and the unborn, the place and role

of ancestors, and the significance of rituals and symbolism. "

When the colonialists and the missionaries dispossessed the Shona people of their land,

the implications were deeper than simple eviction or relocation. The symbolic communion

between family members was threatened. Relocation meant that family members were

being separated. From a traditional perspective the dead were being abandoned by the

living, especially in cases where the departure was not marked by the relevant symbolic

rituals. On the other hand the symbolic interpretation of these rituals strengthened dual

observance and gave the Shona people the space to be themselves. There was no

16This marks the unintended beginnings of dual observance.

17J. Welier and J. Linden, Mainstream Christianity, op. cit., write, "the ancestors were the most
powerful influence in village life. Each family had simple rituals ... and asked for their help. ' p.8.

220
dialoguebetweenChristianity-andShonaTraditionalReligion,so any misconceptionsthat

either side had about the other could not be resolved.

Although oral or popular methods of theologising tend to emerge within the context of the

people, rather than following recognised 'academic' patterns, it is possible, with hindsight,

to describe and evaluate the theological process that has been going on in the Diocese.

Given the missionary and colonial history of the country,18one would have thought that,

under indigenous church leadership, the desired dialogue between Christian and Shona

traditional religious views on death and the dead would be in place. Unfortunately, this is

not so. Shona culture in general is still considered evil, and Shona Traditional Religion

continues to be seen as superstitious. This could be an indication that the established

churches `fear' the powerful influence traditional religion has on African Christians, 19and

that Church leaders are working with an exclusive model largely abandoned by progressive

theologians elsewhere on the continent of Africa.

Though people are no longer dispossessedof their land by the church,they still feel that

the church is `other' than them. Lack of dialogue is still a major weakness. To add to the

problem, it is not foreign missionaries, but indigenous Anglican clergy who uphold the

18Most of this is fully dealt with in Chapter two.

19S. Bakare, The Drumbeat of Life, op. cit. p. 17.it is this fearwhich perpetuates the dual observance.

221
 nineteenth century confrontationaland condemnatory missionaryapproach. This has

strengthened and consolidated the dual observance.

5.2.3 African Theology

My theological synthesis seeks to reflect the process of theologising that characterises

African theology. African theologyis an umbrella term for theologicalapproaches on the

African continent, namely, African theology and Black theology. By African theology we

refer to that process of doing theology which starts from culture. Aylward Shorter, Peter

Turkson and Frans Wijsen, from the Roman Catholic Church, prefer to call it

Inculturation. 20 John Parratt says, it "is usually taken to mean Christian thought that

concerns itself fundamentally with the relationship of Christian theology to African culture,

and that evinces a particular concern to relate this to the Bible and Christian tradition. " 21

This was the popular approach to theology in sub-Saharan Africa north of the Limpopo.

Black theology on the other hand is that process of doing theology, with its roots in

America, which emerged in the Republic of South Africa during the 1970s. Basil Moore

sheds more light on this when he writes:

20 See P. Turkson & F. Wijsen, Iculturation: Abide by the otherness of Africa and the Africans,
Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1994 and A. Shorter, cf, Towards a Theology of Inculturation, London: Geoffrey
Chapman, 1988.

21J. Parratt, Reinventing Christianity: African Theology Today, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William
Eerdmans Publishing Co/ Cambridge, U.K., Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc, 1995, p.25.

222
 while the catch title `Black Theology' has been imported from the United States
into South Africa, the content of American Black Theology has not been
imported with the title. This is to be expected, for while there are many striking
parallels between the situation of the black man in America and South Africa,
the differences are almost as striking as the parallels. u

Black theology in the Republic of South Africa was the theological response of the black

person to the pressures of Apartheid. As John Parratt notes, "it therefore represents a

apolitical" theology as opposed to the cultural-biblical theology found elsewhere in sub-

"'
Saharan Africa.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu demonstrates in his article, Black Theology and African

Theology- Soulmates or Antagonists? that these theological methods, though approaching

the subject of theology from different angles, both aim at giving the African a humane

theological identity. 24My synthesis considers both political and cultural factors, first, for

the same reason advanced by Tutu, and secondly, because they both are an integral part

of the context. Initially, they contributed to the establishment and development of the dual

observance we now seek to undo.

22B. Moore, `What is Black Theology? ' in B. Moore (ed) Black Theology: The South African Voice,
London: C. Hurst & Company, 1973, p. 1.

23J. Parratt, Reinventing Christianity, p.25.

24 Desmond M. Tutu, 'Black Theology and African Theology Soulmates or Antagonists? " in J.
-
Parratt, (ed) A Reader in African Christian Theolocjy, London: SPCK, (revised edition) 1997, pp. 36.

223
 Sincewe understand Shonatraditionalreligionas a religiousculture,our synthesisshould

accommodate this understanding. In other words we do not need to be confrontational,

neither do we need to be condemnatory. Understanding the Shona people entails

appreciation of their religious views. These have given them the strength to cope with life

changes. Christian and Shona traditional religious views of death and the dead should

be studied alongside each other and integrated if the dual observance is to be

adequatelyredressed.

From an anthropological perspective, religion is:

a system of beliefs and practices, found in every culture that formalizes the
conception of the relation between man and his environment. It helps explain
difficult and seemingly inexplicable events. Religion embodies the idea of a
supernatural power and of personified supernatural forces. Ceremonies, rituals
and observances are used to communicate with the supernatural, with certain
persons believed to have greater access. Religion organizes a group's
members in a condition of solidarity and gives a broad base to social
interaction, being a symbolic statement of the social order. Religion suggests
a system of authority which enables one to know what is right. It permits
imagination to exercise itself.25

By this definition, Shona traditional beliefs are not superstition, but religion. They are not

"beliefs for which there is no basis in either science or religion. "26 One might not find a

25C. Winick, Dictionary of Anthropology, Totowa, New Jersey: Littlefield Adam & Co, 1977 p.454.

26Ibid. p.516. The Dictionary of Anthropology defines 'superstition' as'a belief for which there Is no
basis in either science or religion. ' It goes on to explain that, 'most superstitions are vestiges of decayed
systems of belief. ' Shona traditional religion is none of these.

224
 scientific explanation forthem, but there is no question about their religious explicableness,

especially in the area of death and the dead.

If it were not for the prejudiced approachwhich regards the Churchas the custodian of

orthodoxy, and popular religion as heretical and misleading, the religious nature of Shona

tradition would have long been appreciatedand upheld as such. It is for that reason that

suchan approachshould be challenged. Boththe Churchand ShonaTraditional Religion

need to engage in dialogue. 27 If this does not happen, there are serious pastoral

implications, such as, "what is the mission of the Church among the Shona people? " We

shall discuss the pastoral implications in detail in the next chapter. But presently let us

turn our attention to the contextual considerations which are important to our synthesis.

5.3 CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS

For any theologyto be meaningfulit musttake cognisanceof the contextwithin which it is

developing. In the case of the Anglican Diocese of Harare, this means engaging in

serious dialogue with the culture and world views of the Shona people. Dialogical

reciprocityhas to be respected,so the Churchshould not ask and answerquestionswhich

the Shona people are not asking. What it should be doing is to listen to, and answer the

27 It should be noted that dialogue is at two levels, (a) between people, that is, Christians and
adherents of Shona Traditional Religion and (b) within people, that is, how a Shona Christian understands
the two religious belief systems.

225
 questionsthat Shona Anglicansare asking with referenceto death and the dead. Shona

traditional religion and culture should have a place in the "mother" Church's approach.

This is a 'theological imperative' to which many people in different contexts should be

committed.28

In many parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America "Christians are becoming increasingly

convincedthat traditionalapproachesto theology do not really makesensewithintheir own

cultural patterns and thought forms. " So they are wrestling with the question of the

relevance of imported theology to their daily lives. They seek to create a theology which

addresses them in their context.

Likewise, our synthesis of Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead

must understand the context and relevance of such theologising. One question we need

to face squarely and respond to is "why have Shona traditional observances prevailed for

so long in the face of so much Christian hostility? " Investigating "pluralism" could be a

relevant and rewarding exercise. 30In otherwords we need to revisit our so-called Christian

theology of death and its rituals to examine its relevance among the Shona people.

28S. B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, Maryknoll, New York: Orbs Books, 1992, p. 1.

29Ibid. p.5.

30it should be noted that the 'pluralism' we are referring to Is not that advocated by John Hick. The
one we are talking about is the one described by N. Bhebe, where people welcome Christianity and continue
to uphold traditional religions at one and the same time.

226
 Apparently the Shona people have a theology of death and the dead which satisfies their

needs,giving them the necessarystrengthto cope with this life change. The Churchdoes

not seem to appreciate this reality, hence its continued confrontational and condemnatory

approach to Shona Traditional Religion and its considerable irrelevance.

While the issues raised above are very significant and important for a sound synthesis, a

willingness to address them could be seen as a sign of weakness on the part of the
Church. In the first place, the whole exercise of taking the context seriously could be seen

as compromising the Gospel. The thinking behind such an objection is that the church's

mission is to preach "Christ crucified, risen from the dead and alive today, " irrespective of

contextual considerations. 31 Christ's victorious nature should not be compromised or

diluted for any reason.

This argument is proven weak by the simple observation that the church has used that kind

of approach all along with little result. The victorious nature of Christ has not come into

contact with the Shona people's 32Dual

lives. observance has continued to intercept the

31A. M. Moyo, Zimbabwe: The Risk of Incarnation, Geneva: WCC Publications, 1996, p. 11.

32In saying this I am fully aware that there are some scholars who hold the view that there can be
no such thing as a 'pure' un-inculturated gospel. Since we are not undertaking a New Testament study,
suffice Itto say that there are scholars like E. P.Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus, Middlesex, England:
Penguin Books Ltd, 1993, who strongly challenge that position, who need to be listened to.

227
lines of communication, hence Christianity has continued to be seen as an alternate or

'other' religion.

Secondly, the whole exercise might be seen as a deviation from orthodoxy. It is the Church

(the institution, the bishops, clergy and Synod) which wields the truth of salvation and not

the world (laity and non-Christians). The third objection, which is closely related to the

'is
second, that such an approach reverses the acceptable order by making Shona

Traditional Religion inform Christian theology rather than the reverse.

The weakness of these two related accusations is that they do not appreciate the fact that

"the work of theology needs to be done again and again, for its formulations are culturally

conditioned, and therefore need reinterpretation as cultural forms change. *33Secondly,

they do not appreciate that down the ages the church has always responded to issues

within a given time frame and context.

Though there are weaknesses in the objections raised above, the theologian should be

cautious not to be contextual simply for the sake of being contextual. The question that

needs asking is, which approach will make Christ a reality with which the Shona people

can identify? In response to that question, it is obvious that the traditional missionary

approach has failed, so we should try another. This is especially true with reference to

33J. Macquarrie, Principles of Christian Theology, London: SCM, 1966, p. 12.

228
 death and the dead. Upholding tradition for the sake of tradition is equally damaging and

suchclosedthinking is no longer tenable, if we are to deal with the dual observance. The
Shona Christian caught in such a situation "is a divided person, wishing to be true to both

his or her cultural values as well as to the Gospel values - values which are often

presented as opposed to each other."3' How can such a person have a personal identity?

In fact, one is tempted to ask if there is a ready-made theology which can be used as a

fixed model for evaluating whether certain praxis or understandingdeserves the epithet

"Christian°?

We have seen that in Shona culture religion acts as a unifying factor. It functions to

uphold the relationship which exists between members of a family, be they dead or alive.

Central to this is the cult of the ancestors, which has a profound impact on Shona

culture.' It becomes very difficult to understand and appreciate Christianity if it continues

to employ alienating approaches, that is, approaches that do not seem to build community.

34J. M. Waliggo, "African Christology in a situation of suffering, ' in J. N.K. Mugambi & L. Magesa
(eds) Jesus in African Christianity - Experimentation and diversity in African Christolopy, Nairobi: Initiatives
Publishers, 1989, p.99. Tutu calls it "religious schizophrenia", see D. M. Tutu, "WhiterAfrican Theology, * op.
cit p.366.

33 C.G. Baeta, Christianity in Tropical Africa, London: Oxford University Press, 1968, p.298. He
actually emphasizes the relationship that exists between religion and culture In African circles. He says,
"Religion acts as a unifying factor in African culture. It is like a soul that keeps the whole body healthy. The
cult of the ancestors has made a profound impression on that culture and its components. "

229
 The dual observance we identified arose as a result of the forced acceptance of missionary

teaching. It is difficult to justify it now, given that the leadership of the Church is in

indigenous hands. Maybe this is an indication that the Church leaders are not aware of

the significance of the Shona people's views for its ministry. Or maybe it is a reflection of

how deep the missionary brainwashing was, which still makes indigenous clergy, and

some Shona laity accept dual observance. We have to ask whether the problem is in the

peopleor in the Church'steaching.When life is running smoothlymost ShonaAnglicans

are Christians, but deep down they have another god, a'real god' (a god who understands

the language of ancestors) to whom they turn when they are in trouble. Why should this

be necessary, if they can approach God as Shona Christians? Could it have something

to do with the fact that "Anglicanism is an ecclesiastical culture and the concern to maintain

Anglican identity as defined by the historic traditions of the Mother Church dies hard? "36

For the time being the missionary legacy lives on, and any move to'change' some of the

traditions is construed as tamperingwith God.

Resistance to change is another contextual consideration which must not be overlooked.

This resistence can be witnessed both among the clergy, and also among the laity. Some

clergy want to uphold the teaching of the Anglican Church as it was handed down by the

missionaries. This is encapsulated in the expression, `that is not Anglican'. At times this

36J. Hodgson, 'African and Anglican, ' in Thinking Mission, a quarterly

publication of the United
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Issue 24, October 1995, p.3.

230
 is done blindly, that is, the historical context within which the traditions were formulated

is taken as normative for all time. Such conservatism is partly strengthened by the need

to preserve Anglicanism according to the Book of Common Prayer and partly by the quest

for uniformity., Another element is that of wanting to keep abreast with developments in

the Church of England, which is somehow considered as the role model of orthodoxy. The

is in
ordination of women a case point. 37

In some cases Church members can frustrate the contextualization process. For some,

dual observance safeguards orthodoxy in terms of how Christianity and traditional views

should relate. 38 The traditions, as handed down by the missionaries, are Godself, so

changing them is seen as tampering with the Godhead. In other words, traditions are seen

as God-given. Janet Hodgson once again colourfully illustrates this attitude by citing the

incident of an Anglo-Catholic Ghanaian woman, who when she "was told that fasting was

now limited to a few hours before Holy Communion, she asked, 'Since when has God

changed his mind? '"39

37The General Synod of the Church of England resolved to ordain women to the priesthood in 1992.
In some quarters that was seen as a resolution for the whole communion. Other parts had ordained women
long before then, but no one seemed to take note of that. Anglican Liturgy is another area which needs to
be studied seriously by non-Europeans, though some African Provinces have very progressive liturgies e.g.
Kenya.

38Some of my informants clearly believed that the two, Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion
cannot be integrated because they are two different belief systems. See interviews with Mrs V. Mutandwa
p.414 and Mr. T. Mukwishu p.407.

39 J. Hodgson, "African and Anglican, " op. cit. p.3.

231
 Theological education is another factor. We have already cited the hostile attitude of some

indigenous clergy towards Shona Traditional Religion. Clergy are still trained in line with

western patterns, while they serve African contexts. They should not be trained to look at

Shona traditions and religious culture as a threat to Christianity, but as part of the context

within which they will be 40

working. Once again the need to clarify the purpose of the

Church cannot be over-emphasized, if it is to be representative of this context-sensitive

approachwhich is long overdue.

5.3.1 Social changes

Other contextual considerations are social. For a variety of reasons many families are no

longer living together as communities. Members of families leave home to go and look for

work in urban areas. 41 Some become established there, buy properties, and visit the

communal home only occasionally. On the other hand, enhanced mobility enables

40In this regard Roland Allen, from a different context, makes very pertinent comments on clergy
training when he notes that, "Christ trained His leaders in the midst of their own people, so that the Intimacy
of their relation to their own people was not marred and they could move freely among them as one of
themselves; we train our leaders in a hothouse, and their intimacy with their own people is so marred that
they can never thereafter live as one of them, or share their thought. " R.Allen, The Spontaneous Expansion
of the Church: and the causes which hinder it, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
Reprinted, August1982, p.21.

41 It is important to note that property continues to be referred to as house (imba) A. M. Moyo

elaborates, "Those who own beautiful houses In a city like Harare, possibly even with several acres of land
attached, might feel that place to be their permanent home. However, according to African tradition, such
a home cannot be permanent but only a place of residence for the purposes of employment In Harare.' op, cit
A. Moyo, Zimbabwe: The risk of Incarnation, p. 17. This Is corroborated by W. Sitshebo, "How African
.
Anglicans deal with death, funerals and bereavement, ' in A. Wingate, K.Ward, C. Pemberton and W.
Sitshebo (eds) Anglicanism: A Global Communion, London: Cassell, 1998, p.32.

232
 younger members to go to school away from home, where they meet people from different

parts of the country. Some of these contacts result in inter-marriage. Working abroad has

also become common. Even within such a dynamic society, the unity of the family is

maintained by the custodians of tradition, who are usually the elders. These live in the

family home, close to where the ancestors are buried.

In spite of this dynamism, traditional views of death and the dead continue to be strong.

As we noted in chapter four, should someone die in the urban area, the expectation is that

the deceased will be buried at home. If a daughter-in-law dies, members of her home

family must be advised before any rituals can be carried out. All rituals relating to her

death and burial should be done to the satisfaction of both families. 42 The trouble that

some families go through to make sure that a member of the family who died away from

home is brought home for burial, 43 demonstrates the significance of traditional views of

death and the dead.

In caseswhere the deceasedhas madea prior requestfor burial in the urban area, it would

nevertheless be expected that a representative of the home family should be present. 44

42Phyllis Chiwanza a member of the Mothers'Union, and a Mothers' Union Worker herself, in an
Interview with the writer emphasized the importance of such collaboration for the sake of the guardian
ancestors of both families. Informal interview, Birmingham, 291' March, 1999.

43See Chapter four, p.168.

44See Chapter four, p. 163.

233
 Becauseof the bye-laws,there can be no elaborate rituals, but symbolicrituals suffice. In

all of these rituals the representative also represents all those left at home, including the

ancestors. A sod of earth from the grave will be taken back to the home village, where the

usual elaborate ritual ceremonies, and, later, kurova guva, will be performed. This is so

that the spirit of the deceased is able to live amongst the other kin.45

5.3.2 Culture and Theology

Culture and theology are related, in that the former is a formative factor of the latter. In

that relationship culture is a factor which has to do with theology's character as an

intellectual discipline, and with its intention to find expression in the clearest and most

coherent language available. ' Clearly therefore, culture helps theology to be earthed in

a given context, allowing it to express itself. Our quest for a synthesis should be guided

by interactive dialogue between Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion. We should

remember that in the Shona perception, culture and religion are inseparable and

interchangeable. So views of death and the dead express both cultural values and

religious beliefs. The rituals that are associated with them also express theological

45 M. Gelfand, African Crucible, Cape Town: Juta & Co Ltd, 1969, p.20. Gelfand Indicates the
importance of the home with reference to death and the dead.

46J Macquarrie, Principles of Christian Theology, op. cit., p. 12.

234
 understanding. The Willowbank Report on Gospel and Culture of 1978 captures some of

this vividly. It sees culture as:

An integral system of beliefs, of values, of customs, and institutions which

express these beliefs, values and customs, which bind a society together and
give it a sense of identity, dignity, security and continuity. 47

Emmanuel Lartey offers an anthropological definition of culture, in which culture is seen

as:

the way in which social groups develop distinct patterns of life and give
'expressive form' to their social and material life experience... In this sense, the
culture of a group of persons is the particular and distinctive 'way of life' of a
group. This includes the ideas, values and meanings embodied in institutions
and practices, in forms of social relationship, in systems of belief, in mores and
customs, in the way objects are used and physical life organised. '

Shona people have maintained their identity, dignity, security and continuity by holding on

to their traditional beliefs, and particularly their views of death and the dead. Their

philosophy, which does not split life into religious and secular, has also helped in the

expression of these beliefs within a changing society. In a way, their views and their

41B. Stanley, The Bible and the Flag, op.cit., p. 170.

48E.Y. Lartey, In Livinc Colour. An intercultural approach to pastoral care and counselling, London:
Cassell, 1997, p.9-10. It is perhaps important to point out that there Is no universally accepted definition of
culture. What are offered as definitions are only working definitions which, however, disclose something of
what culture incorporates. For a chronicled demonstration of this fact, see E. M. Ezeogu, `Bible and Culture
in African Christianity, ' in International Review of Mission, Vol LXXXVII No. 344, January 1998, p.26.

235
 philosophy of life continue to bind society together, and give content to their lives, in so far

as they relate to death and the dead.

The dynamic nature of culture can be witnessed in the ability of the Shona people to adapt

to the historical changes that have taken place in Zimbabwe. 49 They survived the hostile

confrontation and condemnation of both the missionaries and the settlers. They managed

this by letting their cultural and traditional beliefs take a peripheral role in public life. But,

as noted, this led to a deeply rooted dual observance. An attempt to break off from this

political and religious oppression is witnessed in the uprisings of 1896/7. Something of

Shona traditional beliefs, values and customs was publicly revived. This process repeated

itself in the liberation war of Independence, which led to the establishment of Zimbabwe.

Here, Shona traditional beliefs and practices took centre stage, and the relevance of the

Church was questioned. Archdeacon Alban Makoni helps us to appreciate this as he

recalls that, at this stage of the war (1976) the comrades were very hostile to Christianity.

'We don't want to hear about Jesus. Jesus can do nothing. ' In the crisis of the war they

put emphasis on the spirits "50

.....

49Reference is made to the religio-political pressures as described in Chapter two.

50Cited in, T. O. Ranger, Peasant Consciousness and Guerilla war In Zimbabwe, op. cit., p. 209-210.
'Comrades' is the name by which the freedom fighters were known.

236
The Revd PhilemonMudzvovera,an Anglican priest, raisedthe questionof the relevance

of the Anglican Church in a politically independent Zimbabwe. It was at the July, 1980

DiocesanSynod that he put the question. He submittedthat:

Since the 4th April 1966 when the first guns were fired in Sinoia (now Chinhoyi)
Christians in Tribal Trust Lands (now Communal lands) became open to war
propaganda. This propaganda has shaped the thinking and life of these
Christians to such an extent that some of these Christians are now different
Christians from the Christians they were before the war started. Their thinking
has been very much coloured by the events of the war.... In what direction is
the Anglican church in Zimbabwe going? 51

This sums up the question of historical change among Anglican Christians. It also touches

on the question of the dynamic nature of culture and the relevance of theology, at the

same time acknowledging the adaptability of the Shona people. It is a speech which

acknowledges the Shona people as key players. In short, it was a call to contextualization,

which was unfortunately not heeded.

We noted that Shona views of death and the dead and their accompanying rituals were and

still are considered evil. Their survival and development is the responsibility of the Shona

people themselves against all odds. They were wrongly classified as'ancestor-worship, '

in line with the claim that the Shona people did not worship God, but their own ancestors.

Robert Moffat once said none seeks in vain to find a temple, an altar, or a single emblem

51Ibid., p.342.

237
 of heathen worship. No fragments remain of former days, as mementoes to the present

generation, that their ancestors ever loved, served or reverenced a being greater than

man."52 His conclusion, which many after him shared, was that the lack of western-type

reminders of God meant no worship of God among the Shona people. Observing the

prevalence of rituals related to the ancestors, the missionaries concluded that it was

ancestors who were being worshipped.

In the light of these conclusions, it is ironical to note that the Anglican Church

remembered, and still remembers, the dead. This was tantamount to saying to the Shona

people, "forget your departed and remember the European departed, because your

departed are not as important as the European departed. " On the second of November

each year names, mostly of European departed, were read as part of the All Soul's Day

commemorative worship. These were people held dear by the Church, but they meant

little, if anything, to the Shona people. Later, names of African Christians were also

included, but it was mainly those who had been buried in Church cemeteries. When the

burial rules were relaxed and people were buried in their own homes, it was only names

of 'Christians s53which were brought to the mission. At this stage, only those names

approved by the Church through its clergy were read out in public worship. The rest had

52Cited in E. Kendall, The End of an Era: Africa and the Missionary, London: SPCK, 1978, p.55 with
an explanatory note on page 182.

53By'Christian' is meant a western English name usually adopted at baptism.

238
 to be remembered privately by their own relations. The implication was that Shona people

with Shona names were not good enoughfor the Christian 'god'.

Reflection on this conflict between Christianity and African tradition has led some

contemporary theologians to make a connection between ancestor veneration and the

commemoration of the saints, and to conclude that the ancestors are as much God's

people as anybody else. Fellowship with them is akin to the communion of saints. They

can be remembered gratefully before God, and be prayed for without any feeling of guilt.

Edward Fashole-Luke's insights, though specifically relating to Sierra Leone, inspire the

remembrance of the dead before God in prayer. He argues, "finally, we are linked with our

departed through the fellowship of reciprocal prayer: we pray for them and they pray for

us."54 This upholds the communal understanding of the African community and

acknowledges the active participation of the ancestors in the lives of their progeny.

5.3.3 A theological understanding of culture

propose a theological synthesis' which takes culture seriously, because I believe that

culture is a formative factor of theology which also gives the Shona people an identity,

54E.Fashole-Luke, ' Ancestor Veneration and the Communion of Saints, " In M.E. Glasswell and E.W.
Fashole-Luke (eds) New Testament Christianity forAfrica and the world: Essays in honour of Harry Sawyerr,
London: SPCK, 1974, p. 220.

ss My theological synthesis is an attempt to bring together Christian and Shona traditional views so
as to develop a Shona Christian theological view.

239
 dignity, security and continuity. In their views of death and the dead, there is an

underlying theology which needs to be understood and appreciated. It is this theology

which helps the maintenance of Shona beliefs. The words of Dr. Cyril Bailey help to shed

light on this thinking:

Whether it is thought to be part of the deliberate divine purpose or not there

was undoubtedly in the pagan world a Preparatio Evangelii, nor could the
Gospel have won its way if it had not found an echo in the religious searchings
and even religious beliefs of the time.

This citation acknowledges the place and significance of culture, though employing the

unfortunate words'pagan world'. Bailey saw in traditional culture traces of the Gospel, an

insight many of his contemporaries lacked. If this insight had been upheld by Anglican

missionaries, dual observance would probably not have become as entrenched.

Ralph Peter Hatendi spoke to our situation more directly when he observed that "the

commission to 'go and make disciples of all nations' does not authorise the missionary to

ignore or destroy the foundationwhich God Himself has laid, for the grace of God takes

nature for 57
granted". This is anchored in the theological assumption that all cultures are

God-given. If we take Bailey and Hatendi's words seriously we can conclude that

% Cited in W. V. Lucas, Christianity and Native Rites, London: Central Africa House Press, 1950,
p.49.

s' R.P.Hatendi, 'Shona Marriage and the Christian Churches, ' In J.A. Dachs, Christianity South of
the Zambezi, Gwelo: Mambo Press, 1973, pp. 146-7.

240
acknowledging Shona views of death and the dead as a source of theology indicates a

balanced theological understanding of culture. But if there is no opportunity for the two to

come into a dialogical contact these observations remain futile. It is my conviction that the

Diocese of Harare needs to hear this once more.

If, as Christians believe, God is everywhere and reveals Godself in a variety of ways,

culture is one possible channel of such revelation. Depending on one's theological

orientation, this observation could be interpreted diversely. We need however to note that

this "revelation does not happen in set-apart, particularly holy places, in strange unworldly

circumstances, or in words that are spoken in a stilted voice. It comes in daily life, in

ordinary words, through ordinary people. °58God's revelation is therefore not restricted to

a specific set pattern.

It is important briefly to clarify the question of theological orientation, since it has a bearing

on theological interpretation. Bevans advances two such orientations, which he sees as

almost mutually exclusive. These are, the creation-centred and the redemption-centred

orientations to theology. °In the creation-centred approach, human experience, current

events, and culture would be areas of God's activity and therefore sources of theology. `

It can be arguedthat this orientationto theology acknowledgesthe world as sacramental;

58S. B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992, p. 16.

59Ibid., p. 17.

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 the place where God reveals Godself. Our synthesisis weightedtowardsthis orientation,

hence we take culture seriously as a source of theology. So in our study, we take Shona

views of death and the dead seriously.

On the redemption-centred approach, Bevans says:

a redemption-centred theology, in contrast, is characterized by the conviction

that culture and human experience are either in need of radical transformation
or in need of total replacement. In this perspective, grace cannot build on or
perfect nature, because nature is corrupt. In a sense, therefore, grace replaces
nature .... Rather than a culture being already holy with the presence of God,
Christ must be brought to a culture for that culture to have any saving meaning
whatsoever. 60

We note the differences between the two theological orientations, but we do not uphold

Bevans' polarisation of the approaches. Our contention is that the creation-centred and

the redemption-centred theological orientations need each other. They are like two poles

on which the theological orientation line balances. Our theological synthesis is like a piece

of cloth hung on this line. Its balance depends on the two poles. Perhaps this analogy

helps us to understand the Triune nature of God in the world and so to discern the Holy

Spirit at work in all cultures. All cultures are God-given, but none of them is perfect; all

need redemption.

5.4 THE BIBLE AND ITS TRANSLATION

60 Ibid. p. 16. It can be strongly argued that the Anglican Diocese of Harare Is still guided by this
theological approach.

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 As we noted in chapter two, the interpretation of the Bible was intended to promote the

missionarytheological orientation. It was the missionarywho determinedwhich passages

of the Bible were read, and even how they were to be read. In doing this they firmly

established the redemption-centred theological orientation. The following citation

adequately illustrates the point we are making:

In 1894 the work of translation was begun at Umtali [Mutare]. The translators
were three of the colonial native catechists, Kapuya (one of the Mashona), the
Bishop, and Mr. Walker. All lived in the Mission House, and worked for five
hours a day at a translation of parts of the Bible and Prayer Book Later on
....
the work of translation was taken up by the Rev D.R. Pelly.61

Even though they did not fully understand the language, the Bishop and Mr. Walker

represented officialdom, ensuring that the translators would respect them and render

authentic translations. Douglas Pelly took over the supervision for the same reason. The

Shona people could not be trusted to work on their own, though in reality they did the work.

5.4.1 Biblical hermeneutic

Given the history of the colonization of Zimbabwe and the role of the missionaries, the

Bible was a powerful and useful weapon. Sugirtharajah6'2advances three ways of reading

the Bible, which are very relevant to the Zimbabawean setting, namely, the pre-colonial

61 C. F. Pascoe, Two Hundred years of the SPG: A Historical Account of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts 1701-1900, London: SPG Office, 1901, p.366c.

62R.S. Sugirtharajah, Post-Colonial Reading of the Bible, (Upublished) a paper which he presented
at the Federation of the Selly Oak Colleges Staff Day, at Wadderton Centre, on 15 December, 1998.

243
reading, colonial reading and the post-colonialreading. The pre-colonialreading (of the

Bible) sees the Bible as a participant in the oppression, functioning to legitimize

colonialism. The reader or interpreter was none other than the missionary, since he was

the herald of Western education.

In the colonial reading, the Biblewas read to the Shona people by the colonizerswho also

interpretedit in support of their aims. Most of the reading was spiritual. This was meant

to civilize and tame the Shona people since they were supposed to be barbaric and

uncivilized. The Bible was read as the word of God to be listened to and obeyed as given

by the missionary. There was no room for Shona interpretationand reflection on it. To

a great extent, this displaced oral tradition and its dynamic nature.

In a post-colonial reading, the Bible is read by once colonized people still experiencing the

burdens of the past. Their ability to read the Bible was a consequence of their western

education. For them, authentic reading was to read and interpret the Bible as the

missionariesdid. No considerationwas given to the context, that is, the Shona people's
traditions and culture. To some extent, this would explain why we still have the problems

of dual observance spelt out above, in spite of having indigenous Church leadership. If

this dual observanceis to be tackled head on, a new reading, reflectionand interpretation

of the Bible which recognises the Shona people as key players should be adopted. They

244
 should not be objects of the Church's reading and interpretation. 63It should be Shona

people reading and interpreting the Bible from within their own context for themselves. This

way they are directly challenged to respond relevantly to the Bible.64

In the field of hermeneutics there are many possible approaches to choose from. However

we need to be aware that the approach we adopt should advance our search for a sound

theological synthesis. Ezeogu advances two extreme approaches to the Bible. These

are (a) the dialectic and (b) the dialogic readings of the Bible. 65 In the dialectic model,

which basically incorporates Bevans' redemption-centred theological approach, there is

no relationship between the Bible and culture. In this approach the two are irreconcilable:

The Gospel is from "above", culture from "below'; the gospel is "divine", culture
"human"; the gospel is light", culture "darkness"; the gospel is "eternal", culture
"time-bound"; and so on. According to the advocates of this view, the

63It is to be noted that the shift of the hermeneutical centre towards the readers has been prompted
by the reading experiences of marginalised people in the Third World, with reference to Liberation Theology.
Yang discusses this from a Korean perspective in Geun Seok Yang, Korean Biblical Hermeneutics Old and
New: A Criticism of Korean Reading Practices, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1997,
pp.328-344. See also R.S. Sugirtharajah, Voices from the Maurin: Interpreting the Bible In the Third World,
London: SPCK, 1991and I.Mukonyora, J. L.Cox & F.J. Verstraelen (eds) Rewriting the Bible: The Real Issues,
Gweru: Mambo Press, 1993. There is need to guard against subjectivism and loss of commitment to a stable
meaning of the text. The authority of the reader should not substitute the authority of the text. So the
underlying question should be, 'how does the text fit into the whole purpose of God In his revealing and
saving work in human history? '

'Christopher Wright in the Henry Marlyn Lecture of 1998 makes a vital point on contextual reading
of the Bible. He says, "but I think we cannot deny that when people read the text, its meaning
for them will relate to whatever agenda is of vital importance to them. " Christopher J. H. Wright, Interpreting
the Bible Among the World Religions, November, 1998.

65E. M. Ezeogu, 'Bible and Culture In African Christianity, ' op. cit. pp. 25-38. See also Julius Llpner,
'Being One, Let me be Many: Facets of the Relationship between the Gospel and Culture, In International
Review of Mission, LXXIV/294 (1985) pp. 158-168.

245
 dichotomy between the gospel and culture can be resolved only by culture
yielding to the demands of the gospel. '

As we noted earlier, this was the usual missionaryapproach. They saw themselvesas

soldiers marching to war against demonic powers and forces of darkness in order to

liberate the land for Christ and save the hell-bound souls of its helpless inhabitants. "'

There was no way in which they could compromise,so Shona culture had to yield to the

gospel.

In the dialogic, which is Bevans' creation-centred approach to theology, culture is

acknowledged as open-ended and the gospel as transcending and transforming. These

qualities of both culture and the gospel allow for dialogue and provide for'radical spiritual

decolonization. '68

It is my submission that the dialogical approach should be the one the Anglican Diocese

of Harare should adopt. However the two approaches should not be seen as opposed to

each other, they only mark the extremes. We do well to considerwhat each has to offer,

and then employ those insights in our dialogue. In such a dialogue we should be

66Ibid., p.28.

67Ibid., p.29.

68Desmond Tutu, cited by J. Hodgson, `African and Anglican, " op cit., p.4
.
246
 remembering the past, living in the present and trusting in the future. 9 In other words, the

Diocese of Harare should be looking at Shona views of death and the dead for what they

were and are, without romanticizing them, hoping that the dual observance will eventually

give way to a sound synthesis.

The immediatequestion for many is, 'will that not be promotingsyncretism?' My answer

is 'no'. It is actually a healthy and reflective approachwhich gives rise to a powerfulnew

reading of the Bible, wherein the Bible is allowed to enter into dialogue with its context.

The central theological question will become how to understand anew, on theological

grounds, the unity amidst so wide and potentially rich a diversity of readings. A dialogue

between Christianity and Shona traditional religious views of death and the dead should

give us an understanding of the unity that exists between the Bible and culture.

5.4.2 A theological hermeneutic

I am going to use the question of land as an example of a theological hermeneutic of death

and the dead for the Zimbabwean context. 70 Shona views of death and the dead are not

unrelated to the land. Since in the Shona understanding there is no distinction between

69Welcome to Zimbabwe: Turn to God rejoice in Hope. WCC 8th Assembly Dec. 7"'
- -14.1998.
Geneva: WCC Publications, 1998, p.21 (Assembly Handbook).

70S. Bakare, My Right to Land: A Theology of land in Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1994. In
this book Bakare, a Zimbabwean Anglican clergyman, discusses the question of land and its place in
theological hermeneutics.

247
 religious and secular, this link with land has strong theological connotations. " It is believed

that God is in control both of human lives, and of the land on which the people live, and

that in turn, the land links the community with God. The ancestors are the custodians of

the land, so if they are not honoured by their progeny they will not ask God to provide

generously, but if they are honoured, all will be well. Community, in its totality, includes the

dead, the living and the unborn. As we noted in chapter one, the dead are believed to

plead with God on behalf of the living for a good rain season, a good harvest and

plenty for all. Gabriel Setiloane, writing from a Tswana perspective, echoes this:

When one understands what religious undertones are associated with land,
how, therefore, the place of man's birth and upbringing is 'a holy place',
because there he meets his ancestors, only then will one be able to
comprehend the depth of insult and the feeling of being raped and
dismembered of the victims of wholesale removals of villagers and townspeople
in Southern Africa, whether it be Mozambique, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South
West Africa (Namibia) or South Africa itself. n

Association with the land begins at an early stage in the Shona person's life. A child's

umbilical cord is buried in the soil. It is believed that since it (the umbilical cord) gave the

child sustenance while in the womb it symbolically fulfills the same task with the spiritual

world. Traditionally soil provides sustenance to its inhabitants. This is the same soil where

71See S. Bakare, My Right to Land, 1994. J. WeIIer and J. Linden observe that, "whenever Bantu
conquered Bantu in the great migrations, the incoming rulers were obliged to make their peace with the land,
and with the Spirits connected with it. Often this was done by retaining the religious Institutions of the rulers. "
J.Weller and J. Linden, Mainstream Christianity, op. cit., p.7.

n G. Setiloane, `How the traditional world-view

persists In the Christianity of the Sotho-Tswana, ' in
E.Fashole-Luke, R. Gray, A. Hastings & G. Tasie (eds) Christianity In Independent Africa. London: Rex
Collins, 1978, p.410 (pp.402-412).

248
 the child's ancestorsare buried,so the child is not only committedto the life-givingforces

but also linked with her or his ancestors. 73Because the ancestors are believed to have

a special relationship with God, the child so committed also benefits from this relationship.

The writer has a Shona mother-in-law, who, when he and his wife visited following the birth

of a child, would symbolically demonstrate this link. She would take some soil from the

homestead, put it into a cup, mix it with water, and give it to the child to drink. This drinking

of 'soil water' is known as `kurapira'74(just taking a taste of the soil). What she was doing

was to conduct a symbolic introduction of the new grandchild to the ancestral members of

her family, buried in the soil. In turn, they were expected to accept the child into the home

and then protect him or her from any harm while in their care.

These, and many other symbolic links with the soil, give authenticity to the proverbial

expression "mwana wevhu 75(child of the soil). This expression later became a popular

political slogan during the years of nationalism and the subsequent war of liberation for

73Ibid. p.410. It is interesting to note that the rituals in the different contexts have the same symbolic
Interpretation.

74M.Hannan, Standard Shona Dictionary, p.554 places this word under raga (Apply or administer
medicine. 2. Cure. Heal). It gives an example of what kurapira means; rapira uchi (even if you do not want
to eat the honey take just a taste of it). Uchi is honey.
,
75 G.Setiloane, `Traditional World-view of the Sotho-Tswana, ' op.cit. p.410. This Shona proverb as
attributed to Setiloane reads mwana we mvu. This is not correct, the correct expression does not have the
'm' before 'vu'. In the old Shona orthography it would have been Mwana wevu, in the new orthography It Is
Mwana wevhu.

249
 Zimbabwe. It should be noted that land was, and still is, not only the propertyof the living,

but of the total community of the living and the living dead. So, the proverbial expression

demonstrates the social and religious links that inspired the people.

Even now when the people of 'Zimbabwe talk of their land, these sentiments are still

echoed. It is recorded in the Zimbabwe Kairos Document that the people say:

Land is life for all Zimbabweans. The land is our birthright and inheritance. It
is the centre of our spiritual and cultural lives. When we lost it to the colonial
settlers we lost our being and identity. This was the primary reason we fought
the liberation war for our independence. 76

It is clear that this association with land is not a mere agenda, neither is it a method nor an

approach; it is the centre of spiritual and cultural life. That makes it central and not

peripheral to the understanding of God and community. Acknowledging it as such in our

synthesis helps us to sharpen our theological and pastoral engagement.

We should also note that traditional views of death and the dead found expression in a

political systemwhich allowedpeopleto be buried in their homes. The political systemnow

operating inhibits full expression of the rituals that encompass these views. The end result

is that they are adapting, and will continueto adapt accordingly.

76Zimbabwe Kairos Document, A Call to Prophetic Action: Towards the Jubilee 2000. For a socially
lust. democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe, Monday Printers, November 1998, p.23.

250
 These changes are not problematic as long as the Anglican Diocese of Harare clearly

understandsits Christian mission and purpose in that dynamic society. It also needs to

adapt this dynamismitself, to be relevant. Understandingits missionand purposeis a big

question which I believe should be studied further by African church historians and

ecclesiologists. Addressing the land question in a wholistic manner is not only a

hermeneuticalconcernbut a theologicaland pastoralneed." Let us now turn our attention

to the theological synthesis.

5.5 TOWARDS A THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS

Considerations of the questions of methodology, contextualization and hermeneutics dealt

with above give us our cue. While we were dealing with the above preliminaries we raised

two concernswhich perhapsshould be clarified as a way of sharpeningour focus. These

were (a) the undesirability of the dual observance which characterizes the observance and

execution of rituals relating to death and the dead among the Shona Anglicans of the

Diocese of Harare, and (b) the question of whether there is a ready-made theology which

can be used as a fixed model for evaluating what praxis or understanding deserves the

term "Christian. "

n This probably what leads Dickson to note that, '... the fellow feeling that the African has with
nature has led sometimes to the description of African Religion as 'nature' religion. ' K. Dickson, Theoloov
In Africa, op. cit., p. 48.

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First, we look at the undesirability of dual observance. There are basically three reasons,

from a Christian Church perspective, why dual observance is objectionable. Firstly, it does

not justify the presence of the Church among the Shona people. Rather it promotes a

feeling that there are areas in people's lives which are sacred and others which are not.

This leads secondly, to a distorted understanding of God. God is not only understood in

dual terms but split into two. In the first instance there is a Christian God who is

experienced through Church sacraments and Christian rituals. Such a god is represented

by the Church hierarchy, the bishops, the clergy and the like; he does not relate to nature,

as understood in the traditional Shona setting. In short, this god is concerned with the

Church hierarchy and its teaching (orthodoxy) and not with the ordinary people.

Then there is the god of nature who is experienced by the ordinary people in their day to

day lives. By contrast, this is not an institutional god but the god of real life experiences.

(c) Related to point (b) above, the conclusion is reached, from a political view point, that

there is a god for the Europeans (varungu) and europeanized Africans and a god for the

Shona people. Arguing politically the facts are that the god who does not understand the

ordinary Shona people is the one preached by the Church; this is the god of the white

people who deprived the Shona people of their land. There is therefore very little point in

worrying about such a god.

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 We question'if there is an unchangeable theology which can be used as a fixed model for

evaluating whether certain praxis or understanding deserves the description 'Christian".

The question is asked as a critique of the way Christianity has been propagated in the

Anglican Diocese of Harare. One fails to see the essence of Christianity if it is constantly

confronting people with a dehumanizing teaching. If our aim as the Church is to give the

Shona people any dignity, there is no point in condemning them. In confronting and

condemning we shake their confidence in the Church and there is very little that we can

achieve from such negative approaches, especially if we believe that presenting the

Christian faith should allow the hearers to discover for themselves the mystery of Christ.

It is the Christian church's duty to be marketing this mystery. How can the Shona people

be interested in it, if the Anglican Diocese of Harare presents it as something not meant

for them? The question becomes more appropriate when asked in the light of

developments within the Diocese in question. 78

The concerns relating to (a) the dual observance and (b) to the method of presenting

Christianity are in contrast to what the Christian church has achieved over the centuries. 79

Our synthesisaims to redressthis situationby advocating dialoguebetweenChristianand

Shona traditional religious views of death and the dead. In the history of theology,

7$See Chapter four for attempts in popular Christianity to address the question of traditional views
in the face of death and dying.

79People have related to Jesus Christ In a very special

way to the point of martyrdom. They would
not have done so if they believed that Jesus Christ was not real to them.

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 Christianity has always taught that there is only one God, who chose to reveal Godself in

JesusChrist. This God is the God of nature, the God of the church, the God of the people

and indeed of all life. It is this God who is experienced in the sacraments and in the

common everyday life - the God who is revealed in the context of human need. A word of

caution is needed here; "the problem of Christian particularity in revelation should not be

confused with claims to exclusivity. "80 If there is anything deserving of being called

'Christian',it must have somethingto do with Jesus Christ,who cameto a specificculture

and partook of it.

Fundamental to our theological synthesis are the following words: "the word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1: 14). They provide the basis for

our theological construct. The mystery of the word (Jesus the Christ) taking flesh to dwell

among humanity, that is, the Incarnation, is the basis for the model we shall use in our

attempt to synthesise Christian and Shona views of death and the dead.

5.6 THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL MODEL

80D. Tracy, On Naming the Present: Reflections on God. Hermeneutics. and Church, London: SCM
Press & Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994, p. 114.

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 The question of methodology is very important in the contextualization of theology. In

considering a method or model of theologising for our study, we note that exponents of

different theological persuasions have advanced a range of theological theories. "' Each

theory has been adopted for a specific context. 82I will suggest a theological model which

addresses the historical, cultural and contextual realities of the Diocese of Harare, as

discussed in chapters two and three. The strength of such a model is that it is able to

acknowledge:

the Christian message as having failed to reach the real needs of African
Christians because it has been presented in foreign dress, that is, in thought-
forms which belong to the western world. It sees theology in Africa therefore
as needing to work out an approach which will relate directly to the African
world-view. 83

In discussing the Anglican Church's response to traditional Shona views and practices

connected with death and the dead, we found no sympathetic appreciation of their value

and significance by the Church. As we saw in chapter four, that approach has led to dual

observance, a situation where the gospel message and the traditional Shona views run

parallel to each other.

81S. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, discusses five models of theologising, namely, the
Translational, the Anthropological, the Praxis, the Synthetic and the Transcendental models.

82I.J. Mosala, Biblical Hermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1989, p.4. A good example of why a specific model Is chosen for a particular
context is given by this author, an exponent of South African Black Theology. He writes; " I have chosen the
historical-materialist method of analysis If Black Theology Is to become an effective weapon In the struggle
...
to critique and transform present realities, it needs to employ analytical concepts that can get to the bottom
of events... '

83J. Parratt, (ed) A Reader in African Christian Theology, op. cit., p. 143.

255
 This separation of Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead leads to

a number of problems, not least of which is the question of the significance of Christian

views, as taught by the Anglican Church, for the Shona people. This also leads to the

question of the relevance of the Church itself, and not least its pastoral care. If Christianity

is to be of any significance to the Shona people such separation of views and practices is

unnecessary and unsatisfactory. 84

Differences in thought-forms and world views distort the situation further. Shona people

have a communal outlook which acknowledges the dead as integral members of the

community, yet the Church has adopted the western, individualistic view. This raises the

question of identity, that is, how can one be Shona and Christian at one and the same time,

in such a Church? Ralph Peter Hatendi, the first Shona cleric to serve as Diocesan Bishop

of Harare, on reflection after sixteen years of service, highlights this paradoxical situation.

He pointed out that even as Bishop he had been battling with the question of whether he

was an African Christian or a Christian African. Here we are talking about the need to

relate Shona thought-forms and world views to Christianity, given that:

841nChapter fourwe examined how this position has led to the development of parallel observances
of death and the dead, one Christian and the other Shona traditional.

85 R.P. Hatendi, Retirement Speech, delivered at Bishop Gaul College as a challenge to that
Institution to find a theologically balanced expression of Shona Christianity, 26thJune, 1995.

256
 for too long, embracing Christ and his message meant rejection of African
cultural values. Africans were taught that their ancient ways were deficient or
even evil and had to be set aside if they had to become Christian. '

The core question is, how can a Shona person be a Christian in a Church that does not

speak to her or him in contextually and culturally comprehensible terms? This question,

crucial as it is, was and still is not given due attention. The interactive dialogical model is

proposed as one which is sensitive, sympathetic and relevant to the search for a

theological synthesis.

The proposed model takes cognisance of three important facts. First, that death is the

natural end of every human being's life, that, "we are all born helpless, grow from

dependence toward relative self-management, we relate to other beings and to a physical

environment and ten out of ten die!. "87This is irrespective of whether one is an adherent

of a religion or not; it is a fact of life. However, we do not know when that individual time

of dying will be.

Secondly,when death occurs, the living react and respond to it diversely. Most of these

reactions and responses, though coloured by emotions, reflect something of the theology

and philosophyof the mourners.The Anglican Church in Zimbabweupholds missionary

86R.Schreiter, 'Jesus Christ in Africa Today, " in R. Schreiter, (ed) Faces of Jesus in Africa, London:
SCM Press, 1991, p.viii.

87E.Y. Lartey, In Living Colour, p. 12.

257
 teaching,with the Bible for guidance,in response to death, while the Shona people revert

to their traditional beliefs and the Bible.88 In both instances the Bible is the second

reference point, providing fertile ground for dual observance. 89

Thirdly, views of death and the dead find expression in the immediate and subsequent

rituals. The rituals are symbolic ways of coping with the phenomenon of death. So when

the Anglican Church, in loyalty to the missionary approach, rejects Shona rituals it is

actually rejecting a true expression of grief. It comes across as insensitive. Whereas if it

appreciated and understood these rituals, its pastoral care would be more relevant. The

interactive dialogical model adequately addresses these realities.

5.6.1 The Interactive Dialogical Model

This model is based on the mystery of the incarnation: God taking on humanity in its

fullness. 90The incarnation informs and shapes the development, understanding and growth

88See Chapter four, p.202 for how the Shona people engage the Bible and their traditional beliefs
in response to death.

89See Chapter one p. 29 for a description of what happens in response to death in the Shona setting
and chapter two, p.98ff for a missionary response. And also chapter four p. 158 for how the people seek to
bring about an interaction between the responses of the two belief systems.

90 A. E.McGrath, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modem Christian Thought, Cambridge,

Massachusetts, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1993 p.269. McGrath says, 'incamation is a central
Christian doctrine, according to which the Son or Word of God, the second person of the divine Trinity,
assumed a fleshly human body in Jesus Christ and lived a historical existence on this planet, subject to all
the constants and limitations of such an existence. '

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 of this model. It sets boththe tone and stage of contextualisation,by emphasizingthat the

divine entered a specific culture, and from within it communicated, through dialogue and

interaction, the constant divine message, the gospel. "' In Jesus, the Word which became

flesh took root in a culture, 92and the life and ministry of Jesus became the gospel which

is communicated to other cultures, through cultures. ' The incarnation we now seek is that

of the gospel; the question is how the gospel can be rooted in Shona traditions,

synthesising Christian and Shona views of death and the dead. In his definition of

inculturation, Pedro Arrupe, a Roman Catholic clergyman, sheds more light on the

incarnationwe seek. He sees it as:

the incarnation of Christian life and the Christian message in a particular

cultural context, in such a way that this experience not only finds expression
through elements proper to the culture in question... but becomes a principle
that animates, directs and unifies culture, transforming it and remaking it so as
to bring about a 'new creation. '`

91 Biblical tools such as exegesis and hermeneutics seek to bring us ever closer to both Jesus'
setting and words, thus indicating that his context and words are significantly constant. If they were not, then
Canaan Banana's call for "Rewriting the Bible," should not be seen as so outrageous. See I. Mukonyora,
J. L.Cox and F.J. Verstraelen (eds) Rewriting the Bible:the real issues: Perspectives from within Biblical and
Religious Studies in Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1993. See also S. Bevans, Models of Contextual
Theology, p.30 who helps us to classify this model as a translation model, because of Its insistence on the
message of the Gospel as an unchanging message. "

92 In the book, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, Aylward Shorter links the Incarnation with
Inculturation, and seems to see the words as synonymous, p. 11.

93 It is not surprising that there are traces of Jewish, Greek and Roman thought patterns behind
some of the doctrines of the Church. That only helps to highlight the significance of culture In transporting
the gospel.

94Cited in A. Shorter, Towards a Theology of Inculturation, op. cit., p. 11.

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This should be an ongoing process if the incarnationalnature and value of the gospel is

to be adequatelyexperienced.Since culture is dynamic,each culturaldevelopmentneeds

to be given a chanceto engagein the contextualisationof the gospel.Christianand Shona

traditional views of death and the dead should not only engage in dialogue, but should

also interact if we are to have a sound Shona Christian theology of death.

The interactive dialogical model should be seen as distinct from a dialogically interactive

model. The difference between the two models is that the latter suggests that only

dialogue is interactive. This has unfortunately been the model that the Diocese of Harare

has used. No wonder that dialogue has not adequately addressed the problem of dual

observance. 95 In our proposed model, the interactive dialogical model, dialogue and

interaction are two sides of the same coin. So, dialogue on views of death and the dead

should be complemented by open interaction of the practices of the two religious belief

systems.

This model is an open and systematicattemptto bring about a synthesisof Christianand

Shona traditional views of death and the dead through dialogue and interaction. It has the

potential for constantly challengingboth the Church and Shona Christians not to follow

their traditions uncritically. The model is both a theological critique of the constraining

95This is bom witnessto by the resultsof the 1980dialogueandthe 1994Synod.See p.204, above.

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approaches, as well as a way forward in the ongoing contextualization process. As

Dickson notes:

It is essential that African Christians should be in a position to express in a vital

way what Christ means to them, and to do so in and through a cultural medium
that makes original thinking possible. 96

A vital expression of Christ by the Shona people assumes a contextual reading of the Bible.

It is through such an undertaking that Jesus Christ can be rediscovered. If this

Christological quest is done in a culturally conscious manner it could help to shape Shona

Christianity today, with special reference to death and the dead, by allowing both

interaction and dialogue.

The interactive dialogical model pleads for dialogue and interaction between Christian and

Shona views in a manner intelligible to the Shona people. This is important because the

Christian faith was brought to the Shona people for their salvation. Through dialogue and

involvement in the cultural matters of his day, Jesus helped to highlight his host culture's

need for redemption from misconceptions. His involvement with that culture brought about

a revisionof these misconceptions.Fromwithin he challengedthe custodiansof the culture

to change. He allowed his message to take root among the people, as he also took his

place among them. We submit that if Christian and Shona views enter into dialogue and

interaction modelled on such an approach, dual observancewill be addressed. Church

96K. Dickson, Theology in Africa, p.4.

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 doctrines, Church history, missionary and present traditions and approaches, the Bible

and the Shona people's views will find contextual expression.This model is contextual

because it recognizes the validity of another locus theologicus: present human

experience. 97It sees religious experience as part of the data of theology.

Given a chance, the interactive dialogical model can greatly help the Anglican Church in

the Diocese of Harare to engage in a self-defining exercise which would help it to

understand itself and its ministry better. It would provide a neutral starting point for the

study of Church traditions and the local Anglican Church's received practices and Shona

traditional views in the light of the gospel. This would contribute towards a synthesis

expressive of a Shona theology of death which appreciates cultural burial customs,

observing that Jesus was buried °in accordance with Jewish burial customs. " The model

encourages reading the Bible with neweyes and enhances the contextualization exercise.

5.6.2 Assumptions of the Interactive Dialogical Model

We adopt the interactive dialogical model for our synthesis with five basic assumptions

derived from the doctrine of the incarnation. These assumptionsare brief reflections on

97S. Bevans, Models of Contextual theology, p.2.

98This is to be understood in the light of the fact that Jesus was bom into this culture. Its customs
and observances were part of his life. Though Jewish cultural practices became the source for Christian
practices; the significance of culture in understanding Christianity remains even in those cultures to which
it is brought.

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 the implications of Christ's becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us.99Behind

each one of them there is something of the love of God being communicated. First, the

model assumes that dialogue is an essential quality for understanding other contexts. It

enables the concerned parties to hear and appreciate each other. Jesus was constantly

in dialogue with his context, and this led to a synthesizing of a variety of views, for

example, the question of cleanliness, Matt. 15:1-20 and the paying of taxes, Matt. 22: 15-23.

For this reason we hold that, if Christian and Shona traditional religious views are given

a chance to enter into dialogue, a synthesis of Christian and Shona traditional views of

death and the dead will emerge to enable the gospel to take root among the Shona

people.10°

Secondly, participation or interaction is an essential tool of contextualisation. Jesus

participated in the life of a first century Jewish community, which was his context. He was

part of their culture, so he was intelligible to them through the use of familiar concepts and

language. This does not mean that he agreed with everything that the culture held dear,

but that he challengedit from inside.The Gospelsprovide several examplesof how Jesus

99Chiefly, John 1:14 where we read, 'The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. '

100This model goes further than Dickson's correlation model of contextualization which only
proposes a method of identifying themes that are to be prominent In African Christian Theology, with no
guidance for their development. See K. Dickson, Theology in Africa, Chapter 5, pp. 108-140.

263
 challenged the theological concepts of his host 101
community. In like manner Christian and

Shona thought-forms and world views cannot remain closed to each other if there is this

mutual interaction and participation in cultural essentials, such as death and dying. 102

Thirdly, the incarnation displays humility. The fact that God chose to take flesh in order to

identifywith his human creaturesis an act of humility. The process of taking flesh brings

us to the angel's encounter with Mary. 103According to Luke's account, the divine

messenger is humble enough to converse with this young Jewish woman, and even waits

for her response. Jesus himself, at the age of twelve, shows great humility when he

encounters the teachers of the law. He was sitting, listening and asking them questions,

in spite of the fact that when he spoke everyone who heard him was amazed at his

understanding and his answers. 104He humbly engaged with them in contextualising from

their familiar religious and theological ground. The same humility is displayed in the

101Jesus' host community had a religious culture which made them see themselves as a special
people. His involvement with this community reveals to them some aspects of God which they find difficult
to comprehend. In his teaching he challenges them to re-establish their personal relationship with God.

102All the four Gospels area witness to this observation, that through participation in Jewish culture,
Jesus broke many artificial barriers.

103Lk 1:26-38.

104Lk 2: 47.

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 manner in which he accepted his death. He could have called for divine intervention. 105If

our theological dialogue and interaction are to bear fruit, they should be humbly conducted

Fourthly, the incarnation does not distort cultural identity, Mary is approached as a young

Jewish woman who is betrothed, hence the need to explain the situation to Joseph, the

prospective husband, so that the incarnation would not become a scandal. Jesus himself

grew up as a Jewish boy, fulfilling the requirements of his religious culture, such as the

presentation in the Temple Luke.2:22ff. He learnt the trade of his foster father, and went

to the synagogue as any culturally astute Jew of his day would do. The cultural identity of

the host community is the basic context from, and to which, theology has to speak. It is for

this reason that theologians like Dickson, Ambrose Moyo, Nyamiti, and Pobee emphasize

the significance of cultural identity in their works. 106

Fifthly, the incarnation has no meaning without the death and. resurrection. The four

presuppositionslisted above only makesense in the light of this final messianicsign. The

significance of Jewish views of death and the dead is demonstrated in the manner in which

Jesus died. It was believed that a traitor had to die by execution, so did Jesus die, even

105Matt. 26: 53-54, where he is quoted as saying to one of his disciples

who had drawn a sword, "do
you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of
angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? "

106See K. Dickson, Theology in Africa, focussing on Akan

people of Ghana, A. Moyo, The Risk of
Incarnation, focussing on Shona people of Zimbabwe, C. Nyamiti, African Tradition and the Christian God,
focussing on Kikuyu people of Kenya and J. Pobee, Toward an African Theology, focussing on the Akan
people of Ghana. They emphasize the importance of culture for understanding contexts.

265
 thoughhe was no traitor (Gal.3:13-14).107The corpse of one who had met his death in that

way had to be buried before 108

nightfall. So, in John's account, Nicodemus and Joseph of

Arimathea took his body, wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen, in accordance with

Jewish burial customs. 109Jesus, the word made flesh, is fully contextualized, identifying

with human culture, but transforming it from within, giving it new life, through his

resurrection.

The final and principal assumption of this model is that Shona culture, and indeed all

cultures,are God-given,and thereforecan be brought into harmonywith Christianity.This

anthropological understanding is highlighted by Bevans, who writes:

it is within human culture that we find God's revelation - not as a separate

supra cultural message, but in the very complexity of culture itself, in the warp
and woof of human relationships, which are constitutive of cultural existence. 10

107Chiefly Luke 22: 52, where Jesus addresses the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard and
the elders who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? '

posChiefly Deuteronomy 21:22-23, if a man guilty of a capital offence is put to death and his body
is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day,
because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your
God is giving you as an inheritance. '

109Chiefly, Jn 19:40.

llo S. Bevans, Constructing Local Theologies, p.49. It is in such a dynamic setting that the
relationship between Christ and culture should find expression. The dialogical interactive model
accommodates the adjustments as expressed by Richard Neibuhr. Depending on the context, it can be Christ
against Culture, The Christ of Culture, Christ above Culture, Christ and Culture in paradox or Christ the
transformer of Culture. R. Neibuhr, Christ and Culture, London: Faber and Faber, 1951.

266
 Starved of interactive dialogue, such thought patterns, and therefore the significance of

Jesus Christ for Shona Christians, can never be fully appreciated. "'

5.6.3 A Critique of the Interactive Dialogical Model

Aware of the contextual and analogical nature of models, we have chosen the Interactive

dialogical model for the Anglican Diocese of Harare. First, we have chosen this model

because of its "'methodical openness to dialogue. "' 12It does not approach difference with

suspicion. Neither does it see any one context, or culture, or institutionfor that matter, as
having all the revelation and truth. Instead, it acknowledges that Christianity and Shona

Traditional Religion can enrich each other, therefore the dialogue. This fits in well with the

Shona approach of seeking a solution to something of communal concern. All concerned

parties are invited to participate in the discussion and each person's views are listened
to. Though the process might be long, the outcome is a product of the whole group of

concerned persons. In such a setting "Truth ... is understood not as something 'out there, '

but as a reality which emerges in true conversation between authentic women and men

when they'allow questioning to take over. '"13

"1 See Chapter six for an explanation of how the model is intended to work in practice.

112S. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.56. R.Schreiter notes that, 'its Interdisciplinary
approach and its concern for all dimensions of culture, both verbal and nonverbal, both empirical and
nonempirical, represent the kind of holism that Is Important when It comes to listening to a culture. '
Constructing Local Theologies, p.52.

113Ibid. P.87.

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 This is not to be understood as negatively allowing questioning for its own sake. It is

purposefulquestioningaimedat sharing insightsfrom all angles. So in recommendingthe

model for the Diocese of Harare, we are not creating an arena for the destruction of the

Church's structures, neither are we seeking to attack or demean the office bearers. We are

rather looking for ways in which the Shona people can own the gospel, as Shona

Christians. On the process of searchingfor insights through conversation,David Tracy

submits with great acumen that:

Conversation is a game with some hard rules: say what you mean; say it as
accurately as you can; listen to and respect what the other says, however
different or other, be willing to correct or defend your opinions if challenged by
the conversation partner, be willing to argue if necessary, to confront if
demanded, to endure necessary conflict, to change your mind if evidence
suggests it. 114

So the model's ability to facilitate dialogue between the Christian faith and Shona

traditional religious views of death and the dead, with a view to a synthesis, is essential

to the process of redressing the present position. Such dialogue should also be

encouraged at the personal level, where the two faiths wrestle each other within the

individual Shona Christian.15This is where the firm rooting of the faith begins.As Bevans

has correctly observed, it is only when cultures are in dialogue that we have true growth.

114Cited in S.Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.87.

115A.Shorter, Towards a Theology of inculturation, p. 11. Shorter emphasizes that we continue such
dialogue because he sees it as an essential part of the process of inculturation where culture and faith shape
each other. He notes, `culture, as we have seen, is a developing process, and there must be, therefore, a
continuous dialogue between faith and culture. "

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Each culture has something to give to the other, and each culture has something from

which it needs to be exorcised. ""s

Secondly, this model encourages cross-fertilisation of cultures, contexts, traditions and

views through interaction and participation. In so doing it also accommodates and upholds

the uniqueness of Christ and the contextual nature of theology. If theology is to make an

impact, it must be in touch with its context. Once again this honours the traditional Shona

approach 'reflected in the manner in which people come together on hearing the news of

death. "' People participate in the mourning, grief, ceremonies and rituals. The dual

observance we identified above can only be dealt with by allowing open interaction and

participation of Christian and Shona traditional rituals and ceremonies, in synthesis, to

express Shona Christianity.

Thirdly, more than other theological models, the interactive dialogical model witnesses to

the true universality of the Christian faith. 118As we have noted, not only does it

acknowledge the essence of every culture, but also admits that the gospel is capable of

being part of every culture. This means that it respects other models of theologizing, and

accommodates other approaches to religion, such as the anthropological, the

116S. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.84.

117See Chapter four p. 158.

118S. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.87.

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 phenomenological and the social approaches. 119It is indeed interactive and dialogical. The

openness of this model can be expressed in question form; 'if Jews can bury their dead

according to their customs and still experience God's love through it, what is there to stop

the Shona people from experiencing the same if they bury their dead according to their

customs? ' For the Diocese of Harare this question has implications for pastoral care.

If Jesus is the 'logos' (the Word) throughwhom all things were made,then whereverthere

is life, he must be present. 120This view (of general revelation) is based both on creation

and on the view of the cosmic Christ. Whether he is consciously acknowledged as present

is another matter. But if his gospel is consciouslygiven an opportunity to enter a given

culture it activates the people's responses, just as it has done down the ages. The Shona

people and their celebration of life which acknowledges God through the ancestors, could

find new and meaningful expression through this model.

Fourthly, the fact that the Christian faith is a product of the death and resurrection of Jesus

is fully accommodatedby our model. The model continues to uphold Jesus' death and

resurrection as essentials for any gospel and culture encounter. The risen Christ is the

hope and focus of Christianity.Fromboththe missionaryand Shonaconvert'sperspective,

119P.Connoly, Approaches to the Study of Religion, London: and New York: Cassell, 1999.

120Chiefly John 1:1-3, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He was with God
in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. '

270
it is hoped that participating in Jesus' faith means participating in this hope. His spirit,

which continues to be with us to the end of the 121

age, it is believed, directs and inspires

us. However this only makes sense when the gospel is allowed to take root in culture

(specifically Shona culture), because it is only then that the theological and

phenomenological connections can be made. By means of this model we strongly

advocate that the gospel should enter into culture with God's power and the assurance of

resurrection, and enliven the whole of the people's culture with that message of God's

love. " Though resurrection is not part of the Shona world view, dialogue enables it to be

assimilated into their understanding, that is, there are points at which the Shona view

needs to be expandedby the new elementsof Christian doctrine. Shona people believe

that their dead are alive and active in the lives of their progeny. This is a foundational

conception for presenting the resurrection for sensitive and interactive dialogical

consideration.

This is probably what leads Ambrose Moyo to see the incarnation as a risk. It is a risk:

which God took in order to communicate his love for the world. That risk must
be repeated wherever the gospel of Christ is proclaimed. This means allowing
the gospel to die in culture in order that it may bring to life a new culture and
people. Christian missions in Zimbabwe have tended to see African traditional
beliefs and practices as pollution, from which the gospel needs to be protected.

121Matt. 28:20, part of the Great Commission.

122A. M. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation. p.49.

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 The message of the resurrection challenges the church to recognize God's
power in bringing to life that which is inseparably bound to him.

Adopting the interactive dialogical model could be a productive risk for the Diocese of

Harare because it allows for self examination without condemnation. The Diocese's

practices and approaches, from the reading of the Bible, to its rituals and ceremonies, can

be revisited with openness. Acknowledging its African-ness, it can wrestle with the death

and resurrection of the incarnate Jesus Christ in dialogue, and experience them as

powerful and useful tools for connecting with Shona views of death and the dead. A new

culture and a new people who can proudly identify themselves as'Shona Christians' could

be brought to life.

As we have already noted, no model or method of theologizing is watertight. Contexts

constantly change, as does human understanding of God, so our model, as an

approximation, can be faulted. The first weakness it could be accused of is that, because

it desires to be authentic to the local context while at the same time advocating the

universality of the gospel, it is in danger of 'selling out. i124In simple terms, the danger is

that the model seeks to make Shona views of death and the dead acceptable by spelling

them out in universally acceptable language. In that case, the Shona views are

compromised for the sake of universality. One might respond that, while the model may be

123A. M. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, pp.48-9.

124S. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.88.

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capableof being universalised, the applicationmust be specific, hencethe desire to help

Shona Christians.

Secondly, the model might be labelled weak. There are two reasons why this could be so:

(a) in accommodating other models and approaches to integrating gospel and culture, it

destroys their strength. For example, in seeking to make the gospel part of a culture it

might overemphasize one at the expense of the other. In short, it is capable of being
biased; so it could be seen as inexact or feeble. 125(b) What is emphasized as needing to

be part of the interactive dialogue might not necessarily be the most important thing in

both camps, that is, in Church and in Shona traditions. As is the case with the Diocese of

Harare, its approaches and patterns of ministry seem to emphasize the need to entrench

the missionary approaches, while the Shona people emphasize the need for a cultural

expression of their Christian faith, especially with reference to death and the dead. 126

Adopting our model in such a situation could send the wrong message. Incarnating Shona

views within the gospel might lead to a suspicionthat Shonaculture is dictatingthe terms,

and so negating the gospel. Though this could be interpreted as a weakness, it is in fact

an acknowledgement of the fact that each context sets its own agenda according to its

125Ibid. P.88.

126See the Commission's preliminary report, p.429, below.

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 theological need. What concerns Shona people now, might not be what concerns English

people. 127

The third criticism levelled against this model is that it is based on a top-to-bottom

approach. The accusation is that, at the incarnation, Jesus came from God and imposed

himself on the Jewish people, 128so how can that be a viable model for doing theology?

Looked at from another angle, it is seen as a replication of the missionary approach, where

they came as those who had all the knowledge. 129But in his interactions with his

community, Jesus did not impose himself at all. He engaged in dialogue and asked

searchingquestions. In like manner,if Shona Christianswho are aware of Shona culture

take up the task of synthesizing, the accusation that the approach is a repetition of

missionary approaches falls away.

Finally, the model can be accused of overemphasising interactive dialogue at the expense

of sound theology and doctrine. Taking note of these supposed weaknesses is very

important because it helps us to avoid pitfalls. The purpose of the interactive dialogical

model is to provide space for the gospel and culture to dialogue and synthesize within a

127There is no doubt in the writers mind that Christianity has a lot to offer, but it is the way in which
the valuable Christian contributions are presently being offered which are cause for concern.

128The Biblical passages we were quoting as supporting our model could be seen as evidence
enough for the conclusion to be made that God forced himself on the Jewish people.

129See Chapter two on 'Missionary Approaches, ' p. 78.

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given context. If it is done by those who know and understand the Shona culture from

within, it will bear fruit. It is in that light that Bevans' remarks make sense:

The essence of the gospel will only become clear when all cultures hear it from
messengers who have understood it from their own cultural point of view and
are convinced that it is of value to the world. 130

My convictionthat the Christianfaith and gospel are of value to the Shonapeople inspires

this study. This model is an attempt from within to share with Shona Anglicans this belief.

So, in spite of its weaknesses, the interactive dialogical model, when applied cautiously

and sensitively, is a powerful and creative model for theologizing, and could be particularly

so with reference to death and the dead. Through it, the Christian faith could find new

vitality and deep rooted expression among the Shona 1 ,

people, especially if shared in

familiar idioms and expressions, that is, comprehensibly. The theological model we

propose to adopt could have far-reaching implications for pastoral care in the Anglican

Diocese of Harare. Let us first examine the implications of engaging the interactive

dialogical model.

130S. Bevans, Models of Contextual theology, p.58.

131Ibid. p. 88.

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 CHAPTER SIX

IMPLICATIONS OF ENGAGING THE INTERACTIVE DIALOGICAL MODEL

6.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter I offered a theological model which I hope can promote the

process of synthesizing Christian and Shona views of death and the dead in the

Anglican Diocese of Harare. This model was suggested after having established the

importance of methodological and contextual considerations for the construction of a

sound and relevant theology. Along with this, the role and significance of culture and the

need for a contextual reading or interpretation of the Bible were demonstrated. In this

chapter I seek to highlight more fully the implications of engaging this theological model
for doing theology and how it can impact on the mission and pastoral ministry of the

Diocese of Harare with reference to death and the dead.

I am aware that for the interactive dialogical model to enhance the synthesis and

construction of a contextually sensitive theology of death and the dead, it should take

its sources seriously. These sources both Christian (missionary and folk) and Shona

(traditional cultural and the sub-cultural) provide the substance of the dialogue, which

should be drawn from significant strands of the local context namely, (i) Shona
Traditional Religion, (ii) imported "official" Anglican practice and theology, and (iii) the

unofficial synthesis of these reflected in "folk" Anglicanism. This is particularly important

276
if we are to construct a relevant contextual theology of death and the dead out of which

might come meaningful liturgy, ministry and pastoral care.

All the relevant strands need to interact in an open but critical dialogue. Since our aim

is to come up with a sensitive Christian theology of death and the dead, the outcome

of the interaction and the dialogue I propose should be testable for coherence with the

confession of faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible and Christian tradition. This implies that

there should be theological insights which guide, but not dictate how the process

develops. Such theological insights need to balance the theological and missiological

perception that all cultures are God-given and are therefore possible vehicles of godly

qualities; and the reality that though all cultures are God-given, they also need

redemption from those tendencies and practices which seem to contradict godly

qualities. This means that Christianity [missionary and folk], and Shona views [traditional

cultural and sub-cultural] engage in this dialogue as significant theological formative

factors, which help the Shona Christian to understand the world, life and matters

spiritual.

The model I propose assumes that all these contextual sources deserve a hearing, but

also all, including current official Anglican practice are in need of critique. Instead of

condemning any one of them off hand, I see open interaction and dialogue within
Christian parameters as the way forward.

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6.2 THE ZIMBABWEAN SOCIAL SETTING

As noted in Chapter four, Zimbabwe has two distinct social set-ups, namely, the urban

and the rural. These social settings not only represent places of residence, but mind

sets, which influence contextual and conceptual dispositions to religion and society.,

However, these settings are not exclusive of each other since most Zimbabweans live

in both. The urban setting is referred to as kuchirungu, the white people's place,2though

it is no longer strictly so. It is still identified with western urban patterns, laws, and

lifestyles of the settlers. In the urban setting large groups are not traditional, therefore

the city is a "foreign" construct culturally, and so is believed not to be the habitat of the

ancestral spirits. For this reason, however westernised and urbanised the individual is,

the urban is not home (musha) but house or dwelling (imba).3Ambrose Moyo helps us

to understand these settings as he describes what home, (musha), is. He says:

the real home is out in the communal lands where one's people live. It is there
that one is entitled to a piece-of land to build one's home, and indeed many of
those living and working in towns do so. It is there that they expect to be buried
when they die - and this may be done even against their own will or that of their'
spouse. It is there that they are expected to spend their. holidays or celebrate the
most important festivals of the year. Home is ... where your people live, and
these include both the living and the dead. Since the African community is made
up of the living and the living dead, the land belongs equally to both, and the
living dead are in fact believed to be its guardians. Hence people continue to
interact with them and to share everything they have with them. 4

1This is clearly demonstrated in Chapter three where I look at Shona responses to

Christianity.
2 See Chapter three for an understanding of murungu, from which the word kuchiningu
derives.
3 See Chapter four, p. 163 and p.232 footnote number 41. This is because the house is
considered a residence only for the purposes of employment in the town or city in question.
4 A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, p. 17.

278
Traditionally the expectation that an individual should be buried at home (rural area)

overrides even the spouse's wishes. This indicates the prevailing influence of

community over the individual, and the pastoral need to be part of one's own people

which upholds a sense of continuity and belonging. On the other hand an urban sub-

culture is developing which is affecting some of the traditional beliefs. Open dialogue is

useful' here too, it helps in the exploration of tension between community and the

individual, and that between traditional Shona culture and its sub-cultures.

However, for the model to be effective it should have theology as the engine which

drives the mutual interaction and dialogue of a broad spectrum of perspectives such as

the anthropological, sociological and theological. 5 Let us examine the theological

insights which need to inform this process of synthesising.

6.3 THEOLOGICAL INSIGHTS

The theological insights which need to inform a synthesized contextual Shona Christian

view of death and the dead should first and foremost acknowledge God as Creator and

Redeemer. These two attributes of God are also the basis of two significant Christian

doctrines, namely, the doctrine of creation and the doctrine of redemption. These

5 See introduction, p.9.

279
doctrines, in turn, describe two theological approaches, namely, the creation-centred

and the '

redemption-centred. These approaches represent a theological tension.

The creation-centred approach to theology is characterized by the conviction that culture

and human experience are generally good. I suppose this is in keeping with the doctrine

of creation, and the words recorded in Genesis, where God is said to have created all

things and saw that they were good (Gen. 1:9ff). If humanity in their full variety were

created by this God, it follows that their cultures are also God-given and therefore good.

They can be useful vehicles of relating with the Creator-God, and thus capable of being

perfected.

This theological approach sees the world as sacramental, that is, the place where God

reveals Godself. For this reason culture, life experiences, even the tensions of the

present, can thus be seen as sources of theology. ' It is in the world of daily life where

God reveals Godself in diverse ways.' Revelation is thus seen as part of this mundane

engagement with reality; God is part of these real life activities and experiences. So the

creation-centred approach to theology sees a very close relationship between humanity

and the divine. It is perhaps because of this that it is also seen as incarnational.

6 See Chapter five, p.242.

7 See Chapter five, p.242.
8 Ibid., p.242.

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The climax of the incarnational nature of the creation-centred approach is better

understood in the light of Jesus' incarnation, God taking humanity. It is a full expression

of God's love and appreciation for humanity. This brings us to yet another quality of the

approach; it is anthropological because "it centres on the value and goodness of

anthropos, the human person ... and makes use of the insights of the social science of

anthropology. "9

Having said all this about the creation-centred approach to theology, it should not be

construed as a statement on the sinlessness of the world and humanity. Part of the

reason why the incarnation took place was that humanity and the world should be

redeemed from the effects of sin inherited at the fall. So to complete the picture of the
incarnation it is necessary that this aspect should also be highlighted. The words from

the famous verse, John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only

Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life," adequately

spell out the significance of redemption. It is clearthat the redemption-centred approach

to theology is also incarnational and anthropological, but puts more emphasis on the

Fall. Let us now examine the redemption-centred approach to theology.,

In contrast to the creation-centredapproach, the redemption-centredapproach is

characterised by the conviction that culture and human experience are either in need

9 S. Bevans,
op. cit pp.47-8.

281
of a radical transformation in
or need of total 1°
replacement. This approach basically

denies the world and humanity an automatic right to godliness, since they are corrupt.

They are not seen as vehicles of God's grace but as hindrances. For that reason, Christ

must be brought into the culture for that culture to have any relevance for salvation.

This approach to theology takes seriously the fall of humanity (Gen. 3). The argument

would be that, if culture is inherently good, how then did it not help humanity to avoid the

fall? Having fallen, it was not culture that redeemed humanity, but Jesus Christ, the

incarnate God. Therefore without Jesus, there is no way in which culture can save.

The tension that characterises these two approaches to theology is better summed up

in these words, "the Gospel is from "above", culture from "below"; the gospel is "divine",

culture "human"; the gospel is "light", culture "darkness"; the gospel is "eternal", culture

"time-bound"; and so on."" The words encapsulate aptly the reason why this tension

should characterise theology.

I submit that this is a necessary and constructive tension because it allows the two

approaches to illuminate, and in fact challenge each other's excesses for a theologically

balanced approach to theology in general, and to contextual formative factors in

particular. The tension helps the creation-centred approach not to romanticise the world

10See Chapter five, 242.

p.
1 E.M. Ezeogu, 'Bible
and Culture in African Christianity, ' op. cit. p.28; see also Chapter five p.245.

282
and culture, while it also challenges the outright condemnation of culture in the

redemption-centred approach.

The interactive dialogical model of doing theology is sensitive to both these approaches

to theology in that it acknowledges the fact that a balanced approach to theology needs

to recögnise the importance of the contextual realities. In our case, these are

Christianity (missionary and folk) and Shona culture (traditional and sub-cultural). It

allows them to articulate themselves without prejudice. On one hand this is a salutary

counterbalance to the rigid condemnation of missionary Anglicanism, and a necessary

check on the extreme accommodative position of folk Anglicanism. On the other, it is

a powerful liberative exercise from the demeaning and oppressive demands of Shona

culture and its sub-cultures. It also highlights the existence of sub-cultures within the

Shona culture, and allows them expression and consideration, thereby highlighting the

fact that culture is fluid, not fixed; and always in need of redemption, because no culture

is without sin, including the Christian culture. 12This means that the interaction and

dialogue is multi-directional and more involved, and thus capable of producing a

sensitive theological synthesis of views of death and the dead.

Given that there is a need for liberationfrom foreign theologicalideas representedby

missionary Anglicanism which saw Shona culture as sinful, to be eradicated and,

unfortunately, be replaced by western dress presented as Christianity, there are also

12See Chapter five, p.242 and S.Bevans,op.cit. p.16.

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indigenous issues which call for liberation. These include those cultural approaches

which do not recognise women as fully human and capable of a meaningful relationship

with God in their own right. In the sphere of death and the dead their grief is also

trivialised. Engaging the interactive dialogical model gives room for all these short-

comings to be part of the dialogue which feeds into the theological synthesis.

In adopting the interactive dialogical model, the incarnation of Jesus Christ and what it

stands for in the Christian tradition is taken seriously. That is, its affirmation of culture

and its critical discernment or transformation of culture are fully appreciated. We pointed

out that the interactive dialogical model is patterned on this doctrine, 13this is because
it upholds the significance of humanity in God's plan. Humanity are the only creatures

who can rationalise on the incarnation and its implications. This is not problematic for

the Shona people because in their re-incarnational beliefs, there is an understanding

that an honoured deceased person can re-enter life through one of his or her progeny

and influence it. This is a contextual reality which is taken on board, tried and tested in

dialogue with several others for theological balance.

If Jesus had been born Shona he would have spoken, dressed, behaved, in fact been

as much a Shona as he was a Jew. However, he would have maintained a critical

distance from the culture, and called people to repentance and transformation. So, he

would have been rooted in Shona society, but judging it as he did the Judaism of his

13See Chapter five, p.258.

284
time. This is what makes contextualisation a theological imperative. 14Our chosen model

opens new ground on the Zimbabwean Anglican theological scene because it proposes

that the many approaches be recognized and, should openly interact in dialogue.

The centrality of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection play a significant role in the

construction of a Shona Christian view. These are the basis of the Christian hope, that

life continues after physical death. This hope is founded on two facts, (a) that Christ rose

from the dead, and (b) that people continue to experience the power of His risen life in

the on-going life of the Church. Christ, being the word of God "through him all things

were made; without him nothing was made that has been made, " (Jn 1:3) identifies with

the Creator-Redeemer God, and carries that work forward. He does so by breaking the

connection between death and sin, he Himself having tasted its pangs. That makes Him

the first-born of the dead (Rev. 1:5,8).

Jesus illustrates that death is not annihilation, and therefore not to be feared because

He took its sting away; sin (1 Cor. 15:56). This is nicely summed up in the last two

sentences of the Nicene Creed, they read, "we acknowledge one baptism for the

forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to

come."15 So, those who are associated with Jesus Christ through faith have His

assurance that nothing shall separate them from the love of God that is found in Him,

14S. Bevans, op. cit., p. 10-

15Cited from, An Anglican Prayer Book 1989, Church of the Province of Southern Africa.

285
Jesus the Lord (Rom 8: 39). They have become new creatures in Christ (2Cor 5: 17).

Once again the dynamics of creation-centred and redemption-centred approaches to

theology can be repeated; since both are traceable in the death and resurrection of

Christ. Understanding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be central to

developing a theology of death for the Shona people, just as it is for Christianity.

6.4 APPLICATION OF THE MODEL

We should recognise that our model facilitates the on-going encounter between gospel

and culture, holding in balance culture and the need for liberation to freely express

oneself. 16 In short there should be no dichotomy between cultural and liberation

theology. The Shona Christian is culturally and theologically handicapped by the present

approach, so he or she needs liberation. " Dual observance as an expression of the

Christian faith by the Shona people negates the presence of the Church. Through

dialogue patterned on the traditional Shona style (the consensus modes the

undesirability of dual observance can be highlighted, with a view to addressing it.

16One would have to read the works of exponents of cultural theology alongside those of the
exponents of political theology. This is important because it provides a complete picture of what
African Theology is all about. So, to John Parratt's list of Sawyerr, Pobee, Dickson, Ambrose Moyo
and Gwinyai Muzorewa we comfortably add the names of Desmond Tutu, Allan Boesak, Gabriel
Setiloane, Itumeleng Mosala and Manas Buthelezi. J. Parratt, (ed) A Reader In African Christian
Theology, pp. 142-3
17J. Parratt, (ed) A Reader in African Christian Theology, p. 142. This is because the guiding
theology is not contextual, it is still foreign, that is, western. Parratt sheds more light on this by noting
that, 'western theology is inadequate for the task, for it deals with quite different issues than those
...
which are important in Africa, and arises from a quite different context. European theologians further
lack the personal experience of 'African-ness' which is a basic tool for the task. '

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 The use of culturally acceptable patterns of dialogue enables the Shona people to

engage with the mission of the Church, without suspicion. This could clear the way for

the full expression of the gospel in Shona views of death and the dead. The liberty to

express oneself culturally becomes a significant factor which informs the reading of

the Bible and the subsequent dialogue between gospel and culture. 18

The second function of our model is to conscientize19the Shona people to the need to

rediscover their sense of religiosity. African Theology rescues them and enables them

consciously and freely to participate in this search for liberation, at the same time

allowing them to experience the goodness of the gospel for themselves. Through this

approach the Christian faith is rooted into the culture by engaging language and idioms

and categories of thought and action, which speak clearly to the Shona Christian.20It

therefore empowers them to engage with the fundamental theological insights in relation

to death and the dead with seriousness. Further it challenges them to manifest the

essence of being a Christian.

181return to this
question when I deal with 'Gospel and Culture in relation to Shona
traditions' below.
P.Freire, Cultural Action for Freedom, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Penguin Books, 1972,
p.7. Freire states that "education is either for domestication or for freedom. " I employ conscientization
as expressing the process of education for freedom. See also 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed. '
20J. Pobee, 'The Skenosis
of Christian Worship in Africa, ' in Studia Liturgica, 14, pp.37-52.
Pobee describes the process of Christianity taking root as skenosis. He says, 'we have coined this
word on the basis of 'skenos', a tent, a dwelling. We use it to cover the attempt to make religion have
a true dwelling in a society... . Skenosis is our preference because it highlights the visible
manifestation of something else and also underlies the temporariness of it.' p.51.

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The third function of our model is to point out that culture is an essential vehicle for the

transportation of the gospel. In fact it demonstrates that the gospel cannot be shared

with a culture-less society, hence the need for interaction and dialogue with the Christian
faith. Therefore, when it upholds Shona views of death and the dead and engages

traditional Shona models of sensitive dialogue, it demonstrates the significance of

culture'for both understanding and sharing the gospel.

In a sense the model we are advocating provides for an acknowledged cultural

expression of the gospel in a contextually relevant and sensitive manner. This

expression, as the product of open interaction of traditional Shona views, official Church

teaching and "folk" Anglicanism could translate into worship which projects an

understanding of the significance of being a Christian. The process of incarnating the

gospel never ceases because contexts are always changing. As a result, this function

of the model enables Shona Christians to continue working for the rooting of the gospel
in their own culture. It continuously challenges them to project what it means to be a

Christian. In that sense it becomes a tool through which they engage with the different

theological insights. Let us start with a reflection on present patterns of Anglican

theology in Zimbabwe.

6.5 PRESENT PATTERNS OF ANGLICAN THEOLOGY

Present patterns of Anglican theology in Zimbabwe are represented by three groups,

288
 namely, (i) missionary or official Anglicanism, (ii) folk Anglicanism and (iii) those

sceptical of incorporating aspects of Shona culture, such as the Wabvuwi, and the Revd
L.Muyambi. The first two represent two extremes, while the third group is in between.

I do not intend to rehearse the theological positions of these groups, but simply want to

evaluate them in the light of the need for a sensitive contextual theological synthesis

with reference to death and the dead.

6.5.1 Missionary or Official Anglicanism

The missionary model, which is in reality the official Anglican model of doing theology

in the Diocese of Harare, adopts the extreme understanding of the redemption-centred

approach to theology. As a result it brooks no compromise with the local Shona cultures.

It demands that those who become Christians should become "cultureless" so as to

enable the Church to write a "Christian" culture on them. A typical example of this

position was demonstrated by the Rt. Rev'd Ralph Peter Hatendi at the 1994 Diocesan

Synod at which the proposal by the Commission of Enquiry was dismissed

ignominiously. That position has hardly shifted since.21

I argue that in its excessive mistrust for Shona religious values it has ignored the

creation-centred or incarnational models of doing theology. At the same time it has not

actively sought to firmly root the gospel into its context. This is in spite of the fact that

21See Chapter four, 207.

p.

289
it uses local language to express the fundamentals of Christianity. There is no room to

test the credibility of the gospel message, and Christianity comes across as the religion

which demands the keeping of laws. The problem with this approach in the Zimbabwean

context is that the Shona people are cultural people; they cannot but express

themselves within a cultural framework. Their culture is full of symbolism. Since the

missionary approach is condemnatory of culture, it does not provide for full expression

of the faith, so dual observance of ritual increases, thus making the Shona people split

life into Christian and Shona traditional. This thinking has traces of western thinking,

where life is split into sacred and secular; this is a notion which is not Shona.22

6.5.2 Folk Anglicanism

As already outlined in chapter four, folk Anglicanism pretends to be sensitive to the

culture and sentiments of the Shona people by taking their cultural practices on board.

This indeed gives the Shona people the space to deal with death and the dead in a

manner that speaks to them in familiar symbolism. It also helps the community to

maintain its values. This is all very well if looked at from the community perspective, but

when looked at from the Christian perspective, that is, conformity with the life and

teaching of Jesus, the Bible and Christian tradition; folk Anglicanism, its reading and

interpretation of scripture and its practice in this regard are faulty.

22 See
especially Chapter one, p. 16 footnote number 2.

290
I submit that in its bid to accommodate culture, it has been insufficiently aware of God's

judgement on culture. In fact, it can be argued that in folk Anglicanism, culture is the

gospel, Shona traditional and in some cases, sub-cultural, practices have been cloaked

with Anglican presence without anyform of critique. In its accommodative approach, folk

Anglicanism has inhibited a proper integration of gospel and culture values by not

subjecting its approach to any theological or Christian scrutiny, thus entrenching

syncretism and dual observance of rituals.

What the interactive dialogical model seeks to do in this case is to draw attention to the

fact that, if the Christian faith is to have an impact on the Shona people, it has to be in

touch with them and their way of thinking. The Christian faith has to be the lenses

through which they see life. What makes a practice Christian or unchristian, is that

practice's ability or failure to reflect a coherence with the confession of faith in Jesus
Christ, the Bible and Christian tradition. That classification should not be arbitrary, it

should be a classification that comes out of interactive dialogue. A practice which fails

to measure up to the Christian expectations, is given room for transformation in a non-

prescriptive, and non-condemnatory manner.

My submission is, engaging the interactive dialogical model helps the Shona Christians

to deal with the root cause of the fear of offending the spiritual world, ancestors and

291
guardian spirits, 23at the same time demanding from them an appropriate Christian

response born from dialogue with the Christian faith and insights.

I further contend that engaging the interactive dialogical model, effectively breaks the

wall of suspicion which exists between Christian and Shona views of death and the

dead, -squarely challenging the dual observance and providing for interaction and

effectively preparing the ground for a sound synthesis which leads to a contextual

theology of death and the dead.

So by engaging the interactive dialogical model I seek to demonstrate that blind

condemnation does not help the Church and its mission. Instead it continues to promote

the duality and confirms the suspicion which have characterized the relationship of

Christianity (official and folk Anglicanism) and Shona tradition (traditional cultural and

sub-cultural) in the Diocese of Harare. It also enables theological insights squarely to

address these problems. Most importantly, it acknowledges that folk Anglicanism and

Shona tradition have some valid theological insights which should be brought into

dialogue with those of official Anglicanism.

In a denomination which believes in the communion of saints and the resurrection of the

dead, the condemnatory approach of missionary Christianity is outdated. Such an

approachis further underminedby the fact that the Anglican Dioceseof Harare is now

23 The fine details

are extensively presented in Chapters one and four.

292
under indigenous Shona Christian leadership. This situation demands that theological

thinking should wrestle with the contextual realities and, the theological application

should be meaningful to the Shona people, in order to make them seek to demonstrate

the effects of the Christian faith on their day to day lives, even in the face of death.

Stated differently, being Shona, Christian and indigenous, the leadership should be in

a position to seriously enable Shona Christians to engage with the rudiments of their

faith in a manner which affirms their identity as Shona people.

Engaging the interactive dialogical model of doing theology, with a view to a synthesis

of Christian and Shona views of death and the dead empowers and recognises folk

Anglicanism as a valid source of theology. It is given space to "officially" express itself;

its beliefs, practices and weaknesses. Belief in "the communion of saints and the

resurrection of the dead, " is openly authorised to contextually engage with the Shona

belief in "community-in-relationship with the ancestors, "24 and to critique it. This

provides the Church with the opportunity to challenge dual observance of rituals, while

taking seriously the people's everyday lives, faith and personal response to Christ.

6.5.3 The Sceptics

24See Chapter one under'Views on the Dead' p.55 for an understanding of how the dead
are assimilated into the community; and how, as ancestors they relate to the living and the
significance of that relationship.

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An attempt at upholding the Church's official position is probably the force that propels

the dedication of the men's guild called the Wabvuwiand people like the Rev'd Lazarus

Muyambi. Their basic concern is the same as that of the Church, that is, a Christian's

life should be different from that of a non-Christian person. The Wabvuwi approach this

axiomatic perception from within the Shona culture, thus helping us to be sensitive to

their enthusiasm for the Church's official position. They understand the importance of

Shona culture and the significance of most of the cultural practices relating to death and

the dead. Things come to a head when these cultural practices have to be balanced

with the requirements of Christianity for the Shona person. It is perhaps for this reason

that they have a list of prohibitions forthemselves. 25Theirconstitution concludes the part

on prohibitions by saying, "a Wabvuwi member must be seen by his work, in his family,

to all other people and before God,°26to emphasize the relevance of being a Christian.

They desire that all Christians should take this principle on board with seriousness.

For example, the Rev'd Lazarus Muyambi's objection to ancestral involvement should

be seen as an objection to dual observance. 27It also challenges the Shona Christian to

reflect on the significance of his or her faith in the face of death. In other words, he is

demanding that the beliefs that make life meaningful for the Shona Christians should

be clearly expressed. Though Muyambi seems to see the ancestors as demonic, he

25In the list of prohibitions, there is no beer drinking, smoking, adultery, betting, consulting
traditional healers and spirit mediums and ancestor worship for a member of the Wabvuwi guild.
26See Wabvuwi Constitution, p.422.
27Muyambi speaks against the practice discussed in Chapter four where we have two
strands of Anglican Christianity, namely, official and folk.

294
rightly believes that Christians should not fear them because there is no way in which

they can be more powerful than the life-giver, God. He holds that at death and at the

funeral service the dead should be commended to God and not to the ancestors. When

he says the "dead do not come back to the living,"28he is condemningthe Shona cultural

practiceof over emphasizingthe presenceof the dead in the family. It is perhapsfairto say that
though Muyambi seems not clearly to express his position, his concern is that the Shona

Christianshould reflect somethingof the Christianityhe or she confesses.

While this is a plausible concern, it overlooks the fact that Christian theology is and has always

been shaped in and by different cultures down the ages. 29This is true of the theology which the

missionaries brought to Zimbabwe. In this approach missionary theology is fossilised and made

normative for all time, and thus not subjected to any critique. It is presented as a set of divine

truths that needs to be accepted for salvation. The weakness in this approach is that Church

officialdom, the Wabvuwi and people like Rev'd Muyambi come across as the only ones who

represent orthodoxy, and everyone else is in the wrong. This is misleading, because theology

is evolving. The interactive dialogical model flags the fact that, if official Christianity is to make

sense to the Shona it

people, should recognize them and not simply condemn their culture from

a detached position.

28See interview
with the Rev'd L. Muyambi, p.417.
29This is aptly summed up by F.George when he says, '... even a cursory glance at the
history of theology reveals that there has never been a genuine theology that was articulated in an
ivory tower with no reference to or dependence on the events, the thought forms, or the culture of its
particular place and time. ' Cited in S. B.Bevans, op. cit., p.4.

295
 The views of the Wabvuwiand the Rev'd Lazarus Muyambi, the sceptics are neither'missionary'

nor 'folk' in that they seek to balance in a peculiar way the incarnational (creation-centred)

approach and the redemption-centred, but make the Christian faith depend on the ability of the
individual Christian to keep laws. This is clearly illustrated in the Wabvuwi Constitution with its

list of prohibitions for those who have opted to be Christians. They seem not to adequately

demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is at work and can change circumstances.

On the other hand they differ from the interactive dialogical model because they adopt a

condemnatory and prescriptive approach to Christianity. They do not seem to allow for a

constructive reflection on the contextual and formative factors of theology, neither do they seem

to recognize them, let alone appreciate their significance. In this regard they lack the contextual

sensitivity which characterizes sound theology.

To influence Shona views the Church's official Christianity has to be in dialogue with both folk

Anglicanism and Shona culture(s). If, as Bevans advises, "theology is the way religion makes

sense within a particular culture, "30Christianity and Shona views should be in touch. The

process of interaction and dialogue should be enhanced. In our case we could be asking, how

can official Christianity make sense to the Shona people if it does not have contact with them

and their views of death and the dead? The answer is, it cannot, because it confronts and

condemns them off hand, hence it remains "other" creating room for dual observance of rituals

to prevail. In short, it does not demonstrate an appreciation and understanding of culture as a

contextual source of theology. A weakness adequately addressed by engaging the proposed

model.

30S.Bevans,op.cit., p.7.

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 6.6 ANALYSIS OF THE CHURCH'S OFFICIAL APPROACH

To appreciate the official approach we need to remind ourselves that the church has an identity

of its own. One does not become a member of the church by birth, as is the case with

community. To be a member of the Church one has to be baptised and be dedicated to Christ,

this also includes infants, who have the vows and commitments made on their behalf. Such

action signifies that one is taking on a new identity. In his or her life, one would have felt the

need for a conscious commitment to God. Henceforth the person so baptised is expected to
lead a life that reflects obedience to God. The apostle Paul captures this beautifully when he

says, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he orshe31 is a new creation; the old has gone, the new

has come! " (2 Cor 5: 17). In practical terms, this means that Christian life should be different

from the life that one lived before being a Christian. The emphasis shifts, in spite of being in the

community, a Christian should not conduct him or herself according to the demands of society,

but of Christ. This is basically what the official" Church position is demanding.

Contextualization, if adequately implemented should critique cultures but at the same time give

each culture the opportunity to examine itself in the light of what it means to be created and

redeemed by a loving God. This is not possible if we keep folk Anglicanism at arm's length. It

remains unchallenged and unmodified, and thus not subjected to scrutiny, and remains

traditional practice cloaked in Anglican dress. This entrenches hypocrisy, double life and dual

observance. The gospel is not incarnated and the tradition is not transformed. Since folk

Anglicanism is the effort at indigenization arising out of need, it needs theological scrutiny for

soundness. So, openly allowing it to enter into dialogue with official Anglicanism and Shona

31Italics are mine, to make the language inclusive.

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 tradition(s) is the only way forward, because addressing strengths means weaknesses can also

be tackled.

With reference to our subject of study, the Church is simply calling for a compliance with the

values of being a Christian. If one has become a new creature in Christ through baptism; that

baptism has symbolism. The apostle Paul explains the symbolism of baptism. He says, "or don't

you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ were baptised into his death? We were

therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from

the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Rom 6: 3-4). When one

seeks to be bound by this symbolism, could there any reason why he or she should be

subjected to the demands of the old life? If there is, what is the point in becoming a Christian?

An honest response to these fundamental questions explains why the "official" approach brooks

no compromise with the things of the old nature. These were the very things that were

denounced at baptism anywhere! This illustrates why the Church burial services primarily make

a distinction between baptised and non-baptised persons. A baptised person has to be buried

differently from a non-baptised one, because a baptised person, that is, one who consciously

committed his or her own life to Christ, belongs to Christ and should be committed to Christ and

not the ancestors.

The interactive dialogical model serves as the means by which a theological synthesis of

Christian (missionary and folk) and Shona (traditional cultural and sub-cultural) views of death

and the dead can be achieved. As we have already noted, it does so by providing the space and

a conducive atmosphere for the different view points to be considered and thereby, to contribute

298
to the construction of an appropriate contextual theology. It is important to make an analysis of

the Church's official position, if our contextualization is to avoid the weakness of the approach

we critique, which is, condemning out of hand.

Engaging the proposed model means acknowledging and scrutinizing the variant view points,

and being open to criticism. This assumes that our theological synthesis seeks to grow from

dialogue with official and folk Anglicanism and Shona traditional views.

The task at hand for theology and missiology is that of subjecting missionary theology to the

same critique as traditional religion. Hopefully, this will help the Anglican Diocese of Harare to

achieve the theological synthesis of Christian and Shona views of death and the dead which can

be expressed in its liturgy, worship and pastoral care in a non-dualistic manner.

6.7 TOWARDS AN OFFICIAL CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE

There are a number of ways in which the official position of the Church can be positively carried

forward to uphold a contextual practice of Christianity which, firstly, addresses the dual

observance of ritual and secondly, upholds Christian life. The major theological consideration

for the Diocese of Harare in its teaching and practice is how this can be done, given the fact that

"folk" Anglicanism and Shona traditional practices relating to death and the dead seem to be

irreconcilable with official Christianity.

By engaging the interactive dialogical model, the Anglican Diocese of Harare is able to

challenge both folk Anglicanism and Shona traditional practices, and critically examine its own

299
approach from an informed position. The end result is that, it will be able to demonstrate its

contextual practice through its liturgical practice and pastoral care, which will speak to the

people in their situation and also challenge them to reflect the Christian character.

If the adage, lex orandi, lex credendi (the way we pray points to the way we believe, and vice

versa),32 be our guide, official liturgical practice needs to speak to the context in sensitive

Christian terms. This is also true of liturgy relating to death and the dead, it should express

contextual theology, represent and honour people's strong feelings. This requires that liturgies

should not be a set of formularies for worship which speak only to Church officialdom. Rather,

they should facilitate public worship by freeing participants to take part in the event of worship

and participate in the action. In relation to Shona Christians (with reference to death and the

dead) liturgies should allow the Shona Christian to express his or her beliefs in prayers or vice

versa. This should also be the case with rituals, they are a practical way of doing theology which

reveals beliefs.

It is important that liturgy should acknowledge and accommodate the reality of grief. So there

should be pastoral sensitivity, creating room for the expression of grief before God, and an

atmosphere that makes one feel that such an expression is acceptable. Grief is part of creation

and is therefore a natural and desirable response to death, and hope, as an element of the

redemption, places grief in the right overall context. This is not only liturgical but also pastoral

and missiological. Official practice could confront the bereaved person with the reality of Christ,

to which he or she should respond in mutual dialogue.

32Bevans, op. cit, p. 18.

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The Church is a community of those who believe in Christ, its worship and liturgy are meant to

bring together and strengthen the community, especially in the face of death. One way of

bringing the community together is by acknowledging each person. In Shona setting, at death

the communal spirit is fostered by the division of labour, as many people as possible are

involved in the rituals. 33This practice is traceable in some of the practices of folk Anglicanism.

Official Christianity in its own right needs to integrate this community spirit into its practice, so

that it can explicitly challenge the Shona Christians to demonstrate their faith.

In chapter two we saw how the Church through its literature, 34teaching and liturgical practice

prescribed for how people had to feel and behave in the face of death, and how anything

different was condemned. We also saw how this helped to polarise official Christianity and

Shona traditions resulting in the establishment of "folk" Anglicanism. The interactive dialogical

model challenges the condemnatory approach, allowing for interaction of the various viewpoints.

This is conducive to the construction of a relevant, contextual, liturgical practice. It is important

to remember that the right way to worship is determined by the context, which implies that a

liturgy relating to death and the dead should take cognisance of its context, in our case, the

Shona context. The emotions that go with this part of life make the prescriptive approach

untenable, yet incorporating the practices of folk Anglicanism and traditional Shona practices

provides a more challenging atmosphere for the expression of Christian belief and practice.

Concern for a clear demonstration of the value of being a Christian, expressed by the Church

in language that is intelligible to the Shona people should help to shape the Anglican Diocese's

33See Chapterfour
under "PresentPractices",p.158ff
34See Chapter two, p. 102.

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pastoral guidelines. Though challenging, such guidelines must show sensitivity to the local

culture, otherwise they will not achieve the desired theological synthesis of Christian and Shona

traditional values. If the synthesis is contextually sensitive and relevant it should reflect a

Christian character, and not provide for duality. In other words, the guidelines should be such

that they challenge the Shona Christian to express and live out his or her faith in a genuinely

Shona cultural form and style.

6.8 GOSPEL AND CULTURE IN RELATION TO SHONA TRADITIONS

I addition to the social settings we explored earlier in this chapter Zimbabwe is also a patriarchal

community with traditions and values which are male dominated. It is in relation to views of

death and the dead and their respective rituals and ceremonies that this domination is

particularly evident. This is also traceable in the Shona sub-cultures in the different settings.

The urban setting reflects western values and approaches to life while the rural is basically

traditional with traces of western values. Part of the reason is that people who lived or live in

urban areas were primarily there because they were working. When they retired from work the

expectation was that they will come home to the rural areas. That trend is changing for a variety

of reasons; the most important ones being (a) the political situation - urban areas are safer than

the rural areas, and (b) the economic situation - facilities are better and people have since

bought properties in the urban areas, thus making their "homes" there. In spite of all this, the

rural setting is still considered the more appropriate of the two, and still remains the place where

most Shona people are buried or desire to be buried.

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 It is important to note that Shona tradition is changing in that the urban, though traditionally

considered a foreign cultural construct, is fast becoming part of the Shona set up. The growth

of an urban Shona sub-culture which has traces of the traditional culture means that the

interactive dialogical model has to be aware of and accommodate it. This has further

implications in that the dialogue I propose is no longer between Christian and straight forward

Shona views; but becomes more complex in that it also has to be aware of the changing

contextual ways of being Shona.

Traditionally, the desire to bury one's relative in the rural areas is so strong that verbal or written

"Last Wills" are sometimes ignored resulting in great conflict among family members. Perhaps

this is because of the nature of the Zimbabwean community which expects the last word on

where the deceased is to be buried to rest with the male relatives; who usually prefer the rural

areas. It is only when they cannot afford the transportation of the deceased to the rural areas

that they would settle for an alternate burial place. The growth of an urban sub-culture which

basically revolves around the nuclear family is eroding this traditional base.35 There are,

however, a number of ways of looking at the desire to bury one's deceased in the rural areas;

in some quarters this is seen as a gospel and culture issue.

Those who see it as a gospel and culture issue interpret the desire to want to bury one's relative

in the rural areas as an indication that culture is in conflict with Christianity. This conclusion is

reached by arguing that, since Shona tradition holds that one must be buried among his kith and

35The famous Silvano Otieno

case from Kenyaadequatelyilluminatesthis observation,especially
highlighting the conflict that arose between the male relatives of the deceased Silvano and his urban, educated
wife. Though the emphasis is more political than theological, the salient features of the urban sub-culture
versus traditional rural culture are very evidently clear. See D.Cohen & E.S. Atieno Odhiambo, Burying S: The
Politics of Knowledge and the Sociology of Power in Africa, London: James Currey, 1992.

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 keen, anyone who is buried in the rural areas cannot be a Christian. In short, the perception

here is city equals Christian; and rural equals unchristian.

My submission is that this is a contextual hermeneutical matter. By this I seek to emphasize the

fact that it is a matter of interpretation. At times the interpretation seems to reflect the subtle

arrogance of western Christianity which confuses Christianity and culture to the extent that, "the

way we think and do things is the right way, anything done differently is unchristian. " Stated

differently, it would be something like this, "if what is done, conceptualised and said cannot be

comprehended by the western mind, it cannot be Christian. " This has residues of the colonial

mind set which did not make a distinction between gospel and culture, hence western culture

was presented as the gospel. Engaging the interactive dialogical model helps to place these

hermeneutical issues into perspective.

I argue that, though rural and urban settings are different contexts, they cannot be respectively

categorized as unchristian and Christian. Christians are found in both settings and so are non-

Christians. What this question of preference of burial place seems to reflect is the significance

of contexts and world views; a purely pastoral consideration. The sacredness of land is such that

one is believed to be fully laid to rest only among his or her own people. Though there is an

interface of the rural and urban contexts, the context that most frees people to express this is

preferred. As it happens, the rural setting is the context which provides the Shona people with

such freedom and pastoral satisfaction.

This is probably the time to discuss developments relating to women and the way in which they

are challenging some of the traditional beliefs in the light of the urban sub-culture. This is a

product of new social trends, many of them associated with social change and mobility,

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urbanisation, "western" education and globalization. They bring new tensions and questions

which should be part of the contextual debate. The fact that women's voices traditionally

counted for next to nothing when it came to the final word on where one is to be buried is being

strongly questioned by women themselves. Their world views and contextual insights shaped

and influenced by the urban sub-culture, with reference to the importance of recognizing the

closeness of spouses, are clearly articulated. In the process they invite society to value the

sanctity of marriage and respect family units, by drawing attention to the fact that husband and

wife share their life together. The fact that the other is dead should not take away the

relationship and closeness of the two. 36They are clearly challenging the traditional society to

acknowledge that they also grieve for the deceased in the same way as do their male

counterparts, and also want to maintain the closeness that characterised their relationship by

having the spouse buried in the vicinity of the urban 'home'.

I contend that by engaging the interactive dialogical model of doing theology, these cultural

realities are given full expression and leads to the inclusion of women into Shona Christian

thought and practice. Articulating them in mutual dialogue allows them to be recognized as

contextual formative factors of a sound but evolving theology of death and the dead, which

upholds the equality of humanity before God. Men and women, genuinely searching for deeper

expression of their love for God, and each other, as Christians will also find this exercise both

liberating and refreshing.

The women, mostly urban, are challenging male dominance and demanding a rereading of the

Bible which recognizes the liberative power of Christ. Their basic contention is, if anyone who

36See p.297, above for the need for dialogue between the individual and the community.

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is baptised into Christ's fellowship is a new creature; why should Shona Christian women

continue to be regarded as the old creature, that is, be regarded as inferior to men? The
inferiority that they inherit from traditional culture for that matter. These women are not seeking

to be equal to men in a vindictive manner, but they are calling for space to be themselves before

God and in the community, just as their male counterparts are. They seek to demonstrate that

Christ liberates those who put their faith in him, both male and female, making them fully human

and equal before God, even in the face of death and bereavement. They want to be recognised

for who they are, and their views need to be taken seriously.

Their search for space to articulate themselves and uphold their dignity is better provided by

engaging the interactive dialogical model of doing theology. It allows fora systematic and mutual

interpretation of scripture, Christian tradition and reason, and how they feed into their contextual

reality. This means that traditions become something that can be spoken about rather than be

taken as given mandates which have to be obeyed without question. Even some of the

traditions of the Zimbabwean community which seem not to have been questioned, could be

part of this theological dialogue, because the interactive dialogical model provides space for

these varying views to be in meaningful dialogue with each other.

I further contend that, the implications of engaging the interactive dialogical model are that

Shona Christian men and women are empowered to explore together the liberating power of

knowing and believing the gospel. Traditions of death and the dead cease to be dominated by

(a) cultural exigencies which oppress and demean a section of the community and (b) western

views presented as Christianity. Choice of places of burial cease to be a male prerogative, but

become the concern of the whole people of God within the Zimbabwean context. This is of

significance if we are to construct a sound contextual theology of death and the dead, which

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 does not provide for dual observance of rituals. Hopefully, the official Church will be persuaded

to respond to these issues in a manner which provides for the process to be expressed in official

liturgical practice, taking on board the views and concerns of women and the pressures of the

emerging urban sub-culture.

To conclude this section on gospel and culture in relation to Shona traditions, it is perhaps

useful to offer some thoughts on how I see the official Church responding to the theological

issues raised by engaging the interactive dialogical model of doing theology. I will restrict my

thoughts here to liturgy and worship for the simple reason that in the next chapter I deal with the

pastoral implications. It is my submission that if the Church takes on board the insights of the

interactive dialogical model, it follows that its liturgical practice will be affected as it attempts to

accommodate the contextual theological realities. What this means in practical terms is that,
Shona spirituality [traditional or sub-cultural] will become an integral part of the liturgical

resources along with other spiritualities which have helped to shape the Christian liturgical

practice so far. This will be in keeping with the spirit of seeking to formulate a truly Shona

Christian liturgy born of the theological synthesis outlined above.

This in turn will lead to the need to express in worship the Shona world views and views of death

and the dead. Instead of confining Shona Christian creativity to choruses, engaging the

interactive dialogical model could lead to the composing of Shona songs and hymns for use in

official worship. As stated above, the symbolism of Shona tradition will become a component

of such Christian worship. In the end, the animated rhythmic singing of the Shona people will

cease to be a spectacle, and become what it really should be, a way of praising God with one's

whole heart, soul and strength (Deut.6: 5).

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 6.9 CONCLUSION

Engaging the interactive dialogical model of doing theology in the Anglican Diocese of Harare

impliesthat confrontation and condemnation of traditional or other views of death and the dead

should be abandoned. The various Christian and Shona views and practices relating to death

and the dead should be seen as valid sources for the construction of a contextual theology.

They should be given a hearing rather than be dismissed off hand. Each set of views should be

allowed to express itself, interact and enter into dialogue with the rest, and be critically evaluated

in the light of the gospel, and this should include "official" Church practice and teaching.

In adopting this process, the interactive dialogical model is seen for what it really is, a tool for

the achievement of the desired theological synthesis of Christian and Shona views of death and

the dead, which is open and mutual. It does not prejudge the sources, but lets them prove

themselves valid by standing the test of satisfying the basic requirements of the Christian faith

as contained in the history of God's revelation to His people; the Bible.

I submit that the strength and validity of this model is in the fact that it seeks to formulate a

contextual theology using the real contextual factors, and giving them an opportunity to be in

dialogue with the Bible, Christian traditions and reason. This provides for a sound synthesis,

which is what I am advocating. However, it should be noted that such a synthesis will have

serious implications for pastoral care in the diocese in question. In the next chapter we consider

these implications.

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 CHAPTER SEVEN

IMPLICATIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE

7.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter we outlined the implications of engaging the interactive dialogical

model of doing theology and highlighted how it would enhance a contextual theological

synthesis of Christian and Shona views of death and the dead, and as an antidote to dual

observance. However, adopting this model has implications for pastoral care for the

Anglican Diocese of Harare and its ministry among the Shona people, and it also affects

how the Anglican laity and the community at large look at themselves and understand the

Church. In short, it raises the question of the relevance of the Anglican Church among the

Shona people. This question arises because the Anglican Church has been seen to be

condemnatory and confrontational in its attitude towards Shona views of death and the

dead, and the dual observance we now seek to redress through this proposed model,

thrived as a result of that approach. It should also be noted that adopting the interactive

dialogical model could make some people in the Anglican Church's hierarchy feel dis-

empowered.

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 Among the laity, there will be some who feel empowered by this method. In other words,

theywill see in the process a positive approach to their views of death and the dead, which

affirms them before God. This could be a demonstration of the fact that the Church has

come of age, hence it recognizes that it should be grounded in and speak to its context

in familiar idioms and expressions. ' The whole approach could be seen by some as a

compromise with evil, making the Anglican Church an accomplice to perversion. ' Our

theological method, though dialogical, is radical enough to have an effect on the Church's

pastoral care and the different groups represented therein.

It is at this point that the community at large comes into the debate. For those who are not

members of the Church, such an approach is either a threat, or a victory, or an attraction,

depending on the perceiver. Those for whom it will be a threat, Shona Traditional Religion

will be seen as under attack. But for those who see it as a victory both Shona Christians

and adherents of Shona Traditional Religion will be recognized as socially equal human

beings (vanhu). 3 The perception of the Anglican Church as the enemy of traditional

1After all, this is what

contextualization or inculturization Is all about. However the history that has
shaped and has been shaped by the church should not be disregarded, neither should the African past be
romanticised, in the name of contextualization. It should be noted that dissenting voices are not only heard
among laity but also among the bishops, clergy and office bearers.
2A good example this, is the men's guild known as 'Anglican Wabvuwi' (Fishers of man), whose
of
principles are very much against African traditional beliefs. For example, its members are not allowed to
smoke or partake of any alcoholic beverages. (See Wabvuwi Constitution p.422). On the other hand this
could be a demonstration of how brainwashed the people were by the missionaries when It comes to their
culture and worship of God. Unfortunately, the missionary way still remains the 'proper way', for many.

3 In the Shona language the

word vanhu, (human beings), is loaded. It also means 'those who
uphold traditional beliefs. Forthat reason some Christians maMstu might not be seen as proper vanhu. Our

310
 practices and traditional dignity will no longer hold. Instead, the Church will come across

as the friend of the people, seeking to understandtheir traditions through dialogue and
interaction. The interactive dialogical model becomes an attraction for the Shona people

in that their views of death and the dead will be given recognition. " In this way, these

views will be acknowledged as an integral part of the process of understanding God from

a Shona perspective. Since we are exploring the possibility of a synthesis of Christian

and Shona traditional views of death and the dead, with reference to Shona Christians, we

shall concentrate on the specifically Shona response.

The interactive dialogical model has a theological impact. It engages the concerned

parties in dialogue on the understanding of God. The present approach allows for a dual

understanding of God, but the envisaged synthesis seeks to present a single unified

picture. In effect, we are reiterating the epistemological fact that though God can be

experienced differently, He is the same (a) in the Church and (b) in daily or traditional life.

God is one and the same in both Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion, it is only the

way in which he is perceived and presented which makes the difference. With reference

to death and the dead, our theological model seeks to reflect that God is the ultimate end

theological method adequately bridges the gap by providing a forum where discussion of what it means to
be 'human Shona Christians' can take place.

4 See Chapter two above, for a discussion on how the missionaries imposed a way of life on the
Shona people in the name of Christianity and civilization, especially p.78 if.

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 of all life. If the Church is to demonstrate this reality, it is through its 5
pastoral care. Now

we examine how the interactive dialogical model can help the Church to achieve its

pastoral task. We begin by addressing the question of its relevance among the Shona

people.

7.2 THE RELEVANCE OF THE CHURCH

What makes relevance a pastorally pertinent question for the Anglican Diocese of Harare

is that, officially the diocese does not seem to engage fully with Shona people's views on

death and the dead. Consequently, it fails to appreciate their predicament. This is clearly

illustrated in the three attempts that have been made by the diocese to resolve the pastoral

concern raised by dual observance. The attempts were (a) in the 1920s through the

Rwendo RweMuKristu, (b) in 1978 when the Bishops issued pastoral guidelines to clergy

on how they had to deal with the 6

situation, and (c) in 1993 through a Commission of

Enquiry.'

s This addresses the dualism and dual observance which characterise the understanding of God
among the Shona people. There is a chivanhu (traditional) understanding of God which Is different from the
chiKristu (Christian) understanding of God. See also footnote 3 of this Chapter on page 310 above.
6 See Chapter two p. 102, on 'Church literature on burial. '

See Chapter four p. 204 under'The Dialogue' for a full discussion of the attempts.

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 In the light of what we have learnt about the Shona people, we know that they are people

who are proud of their traditions. When we examined their traditional views of death and

the dead we discovered that these are closely woven into their world views. For that

reason,Shona people would find it difficult to react to death in any other way. Gelfand cites

a proverb which helps to illustrate the significance of tradition among the Shona people.

It says, "murao ndishe (not any man but traditional custom, is the ruler of the people. )"" We

saw something of this belief in the manner in which the people are attempting to integrate

Christian and Shona observances of death and the dead. On one hand they are observing

their traditions and on the other they are seeking to assimilate Christian practices, while

the Church officialdom distances itself.

In this setting, there is a sense in which the Church is external to the Shona context. This

was clearly reflected when we examined how the Anglican Church came into the then

Mashonaland. 9 It came into this part of the world on English terms. Its context was very

English; in other words, the Church established itself as an English church. This was

understandable because it had English leadership, mostly serving English people. 1° Now

the Church has a Shona context, local leadership and the majority of its membership are

a M. Gelfand, The Genuine Shona: Survival Values of an African Culture, op.cit. p. 102.

9 See Chapter two, p.73.

10See Chaptertwo, chiefly under'MissionaryApproaches', p.78f. The Church had to provide forthe
settlers.

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 Shonapeople, but it still uses the missionary approach. " These Shona people still come

into the Church on English terms. The words of Desmond Tutu, criticising the missionary

approach, still have their cutting edge in today's setting, in the Diocese of Harare, though

some time has passed since he said this. He said, "these poor native pagans had to be

clothed in western clothes so that they could speak to the white men's God, the only God,

who was obviously unable to recognize them unless they were decently clad. 012Through

condemnation and confrontation, the Anglican Church seems to be upholding the

approach, condemned by Tutu, which demanded that local people had to change certain

aspects of their life before they could be acceptable to God. In such an approach, people

are encouraged to adopt a false spirituality with reference to death and the dead, in order

to be Church members. The result is that dual observance becomes more entrenched.

Directly following from the above observation, the condemnatory and confrontational

attitude which characterises relationships between the Anglican Church and Shona

traditional views of death and the dead makes effective pastoral care difficult. Basically the

Church portrays itself as incapable of adequately addressing Shona religious and spiritual

needs. This could also be an indication that its self-understanding has not changed, hence

the continuation of this insensitive approach. Where this becomes a problem is when the

11See Chapter four, p.204f, The Dialogue. '

12D. M. Tutu, "Whiter African Theology, " in E. Fashole-Luke, Christianity in Independent Africa,
op. cit., p.365.

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 condemnation and confrontation sees the Shona people who hold dear their traditional

views as 'repugnant to Christianity, its precepts and teaching. 13A case of throwing away

the baby with the bath water.

Though the mission station setup has virtually died out, the mission station mentality lives

on. It lives on in the funeral liturgies which are in use in the diocese. In a sense the Church

continuesto see the Shona peopleas those who need redemptionfrom the grip of the evil

oneand darkness.This is exactlywhat the missionstation setupwas about, taking people

away from evil environments (their villages) and bringing them to the beacons of light (the

mission station). Though the move is now not physical, the Church still wants to uproot the

Shona people from their so-called dark and evil environment, 14the traditional views,

ceremonies and rituals relating to death and the dead, and bring them to the enlightened

Christian ones, represented by the Book of Common Prayer. 15

These observations, which highlight why the Church's relevance is questioned, could be

addressed by adopting the interactive dialogical model. This theological model allows for

open, honest, interactive dialogue between the Church and its context. In that way, the

13Diocese of Harare, Synod 1994, resolution on the Commission's report, p.207.

'4 W H. Hutton, The English church: From the Ascension of Charles 1 to the Death of Anne 1625-
.
1714, London: Macmilan and Co., Ltd, 1903, p. 315. Hutton was highlighting the church's approach to so-
called pagans who `had to be uprooted from their dark and evil environment. '

15See Chapter two, 'Burial practices, ' p.98.

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 questionof relevance is fully addressed and the opportunity to grapple with the Church's

shortcomings and the different world views is provided. The end result is informed,

relevant and sensitive pastoral care.

This model advocates a shift in emphasis. The practice has been that the Church identifies

what it thinks is the problem and then provides the answer. As we saw, this has not worked

and will not work. It only makes the Church more irrelevant. Instead of creating artificial

problems, the interactive dialogical model is challenging the Church to deal with real

pastoral issues from an informed position. Interactive dialogue brings the laity's perspective

intothe equation. So, Churchconcernsceaseto be a matterfor bishopsand synod alone,

but for the whole people of God. Granted, this shift will cause some problems.

Those problems arise because the openness of the dialogical model attempts to provide

Christian and Shona views with a mutuality. That mutuality roots the gospel into the Shona

context, allowing it to speak freely to, and from within, the Shona culture. The traditions,

ceremoniesand rituals that have helped Shona people to cope with life changes are not

written off, but given a transformed lease of life. What makes this possible is the fact that

Shona people will have been given the dignity of identity, that is, allowed to be their true

selves. Synthesized rituals and observancesaround death and the dead will form the
basis of Shona Christian rituals of death. So the Christian church and its rituals will cease

to be viewed as other. The Church's pastoral appropriateness will be less likely to be

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 questionedbecause it will be where the people are, sharing their true concerns and

reflecting on the reality of death and the dead sensitively.

7.3 THE BIBLE AND SHONA TRADITIONS OF DEATH AND THE DEAD

There is a need for biblical and Shona world views to be examined if we are to appreciate

the contribution of the Bible to pastoral care. Such an undertaking enables their similarities

to be upheld and differences to be noted and recognized in the dialogue. Both biblical and

Shona world views acknowledge the presence and activity of spirits in the universe, and

in people's lives. In the sphere of death and the dead they both acknowledge that death

is polluting and dangerous. 16

The paradoxical nature of death is also acknowledged in the biblical setting; it is referred

to as the natural enemy (1Cor. 15:26). It is natural in that it marks the end of every human

life, and an enemy, in that, when it strikes normalcy is affected. Hill observes that, when

it occurred it "was treated with great solemnity by one's family. It set in train a series of

16Lods explains how, in the Old Testament, some of these common fears were dealt with. A. Lods,
Israel: From its beoinning to the middle of the eighth century, London: Kegan Paul, Trech, Trubner & Co.,
Ltd, 1932, p.224 writes, `the purpose of placing the hand on the head was probably to protect this Important
part of the body, the abode of the spirit, from the same wandering spirit. By covering their mouths, those
present at the time of death sought to prevent the spirit of the dead from drawing out their spirits through the
mouth or nose.' Shona beliefs about the unpredictability of the spirit of a deceased person were discussed
In chapters one and four.

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 eventsto be done quickly because of the hot climate. "" In that it
sense was disruptive. 1e

In both, the Bible and Shona (African) understanding, death is also seen as fulfilment. 19

Death is not seen as the end, but "death leads into life."20Banana aptly puts it, when he

says, "Death is not death; it is a vehicle from the ontology of visible beings to the ontology

of the invisible beings. Death is part of life, it is a gateway to eternity, it is a gateway to life

in the here-after. LIFE - DEATH - LIFE.P21

People respond to death with a degree of fear. This is witnessed in some of the symbolic

rituals. The fear of death, in the biblical setting, was such that one had to take off one's

clothes and wear the coarse material called sackcloth. This was to prevent the dangerous

emanation from the dead from attaching itself to the clothes which were being wom at the

time the death occurred. 22 People could also roll in earth or ashes or put earth or ashes

on the head and sit or lie on bare ground. These practices were probably intended to

render the mourner unrecognizable by the spirit of the dead. 23 In addition, "the first meal

17C. Hill, The Real World of the New Testament, Ongar, Essex: C-L Publications, 1976, p.22.

18See Chapter one p.29f for Shona views.

19See Gen. 35: 29; 1Chron. 29: 28 and Job 42: 17.

20K.A. Dickson, Theology in Africa, p. 193.

21C. S. Banana, Come and Share, p.79.

22Lods, Israel: From its beginnings to the middle of the eighth century, p.224.

23W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, Vol. 2, London: SCM Press, 1967, p.215.

318
 eatenby mourners was brought from outside by the neighbours. "24According to Eichrodt's

interpretation of Num. 19:15, these practices "derive from the fear that the spirit of the dead

may try to hide itself in the house in order to avoid having to enter the grave with the

corpse."25This would also explain why a strict fast was kept by the bereaved, till evening.

There was also the mourning wail and the lament, made on behalf of the dead, for whom

it was a terrible disaster to be deprived of it.26 In this, one sees the communal nature of

responding to death. Hill records that this was practised even in NewTestament times. He

notes that following a death:

the family and friends entered into a time of intense grieving. This expressed
itself in the normal way with much weeping, and the mourners were usually
supported by other women engaged to 'wail' alongside the family mourners.
Some of these supporting women might even be professional wailers. Often the
relatives would tear their clothes and put ashes on their heads. 27

Following death, the corpse had to be attended to by close relatives. It was acceptable

that some of these relatives, out of grief, would embrace the corpse or even kiss it

(Gen.50: 1), though it was considered unclean. These close relatives had to shape the

corpse for burial; this included closing the eyes. This custom is simply explained by the

resemblance of death to sleep. After this, the body was washed in preparation for burial.

24Lods, op.cit. p.225.

25W. Eichrodt, op. cit. p.215. This also echoes the Shona perception of the spirit of the dead as
unpredictable. See p.40.

26Lods, op.cit. p.225.

27C. Hill, The Real World of the New Testament, p.23.

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 At times the body could be displayed (Acts 9:37). For the wealthy, the complete preparation

saw it:

rubbed with olive oil and perfume. Then ointment, herbs and spices were
applied and the corpse was bound in linen strips (very much like the'swaddling
clothes' used to wrap a baby). The face was not wrapped around with the
winding cloths but left open. 28

Among the poor, who could not afford the perfume and herbs, the corpse would only be

washed and wrapped in a simple shroud. Treatment of the corpse would be deferred if one

died on the Sabbath or a holy day. This was in spite of the fact that "rabbis permitted

preparation of a body on the Sabbath. P29

This overview of biblical and Shona traditional views of death and the dead highlights a

closeness that has implications for pastoral care. Hopefully this might challenge the Church

to consider the interactive dialogical method and give it a chance. Failure to recognise and

acknowledge Shona traditional world views, in the light of biblical evidence, further widens

the gap between the official Anglican Church position and Shona views. As we have seen,

both biblical and Shona traditional world views have a lot in common.

7.3.1 Contextual reading of the Bible

28Ibid. p.22.

29 J. Bowker, The Complete Bible Handbook, London, New York, Sydney, Moscow: Dorling
Kindersley, 1998, p.362. The Rabbinic source Is the Mishnah Semahot 23.5.

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 Official Anglican Church language used to describe Shona views is unfortunate and

misplaced in the light of so much similarity with the Bible. Archbishop Desmond Tutu,

speaking generally of the Africans and the Bible, perceptively reflects that:

In many respects, the African was much more on the wave length of the Bible
than the occidental everwas. The African understood more easily in his bones,
as it were, the meaning of corporate personality, for instance, than the more
individualistic Westerner. It was shown time and time again that the African
sense of the numinous, his awareness of the proximity of the spiritual, his
attitude to death and disease, in all these ways, he was far closer to the Biblical
thought patterns than Western man could ever hope to be.30

If Shona people's views of death and the dead have resonances with biblical views, 31then

that should be courteously acknowledged by the Church, which should then allow biblical

and Shona traditional views to engage with each other in open interaction. Given that the

Bible is the account of God's revelation to his people, allowing it to be read and interpreted

by the Shona people for themselves could prove productive. It might actually enable the

Shona people to benefit from a contextual interpretation of that revelatory history. 32For

example, if the observation that Shona people understand and appreciate corporate

personality more easily than do Western people is anything to go by, then they should

30D.M., Tutu, 'Whiter African Theology? ' Op. cit. p.366.

31See Chapter five, pp.242ff.

32F.J. Verstraelen, 'The Real Issues Regarding the Bible: Summary, Findings and Conclusions, " In
Rewriting the Bible, op. cit. p.287 sheds more light on contextual reading by stating that, 'it Is a contextual
reading of the Bible which implies two things: 1) it takes cognizance of the message contained in the Bible,
and 2) links its message to the contemporary needs and aspirations of people, their context.

33A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit. p. 16. He clearly spells out the content of this concept
in the Zimbabwean context, as he notes that: In the African way of living life can be meaningful only if
...
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 be listened to. The reason why they have not benefited from this closeness is that they

continue to be condemned as not good enough. Some psychologist is reported to have

said, "if you continue to tell someone that'you are a dog', do not be surprised when he or

she barks."3' In like manner, because of the constant attacks, Shona people cannot identify

fully with the Bible because of what the Anglican Church has been saying to them about

their views of death and the dead, hence the continued dual observance.

It is unlikely that the Anglican Church in present day Zimbabwe would like to be seen to be

alien to its context. The interactive dialogical model could help the Church to address this

problem. It also deals with the root cause of dual observance. Professor Imasogie,

speaking from a different context, identifies an additional problem which contributes to a

lack of African commitment to Christianity. In his words, this:

is due to the lack of "fit" between Christian theology and African life. This lack
of fit is, in turn, due to this same failure of Western orthodox theologians to take
African world views into consideration in their theological formulations. Hence
the African reverts to his traditional practices in times of serious problems. '

it Is life in communion with and among your people. This way of life is based on a kinship system that any
discussion of gospel and culture in Zimbabwe must take into account, as It reflects a very important aspect
of the African world view. ' John Parratt cites an African proverb which is common In many Bantu languages
which emphasizes the same point. It goes, 'man is only really human In the company of others. ' J. Parratt,
Reinventing Christianity, op. cit. p.93.

34Exact source not known. I found the expression illuminating!

3s0. Imasogie, Guidelines for Christian Theology In Africa,

op. cit. p. 12.

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 Ourtheological model provides an alternative approach which redresses the problematic

situationsspelt out above. In the first place it addresses the dual observance by providing

a living contact between Christianity and Shona traditional religious views, through
dialogue.The incarnation is about God taking on human nature and being with humanity.

For that reason our theological reflections take Shona world views and life seriously, and

enable them to enter into dialogue with Christian 3 '

views, informed by biblical insights.

The interactive dialogical model brings Christian views into the world of the Shona people

in a pastorally sensitive manner. Both positions become vulnerable and open to the

transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Neither side feels condemned and confronted, both

sides 'fit' into the dialogue because they look to the Bible for direction and inspiration. The

Christian church, in such a dialogue, effectively fulfills its pastoral task. According to

Bediako, that task is to make Jesus Christ:

confront the people of Africa, that in Him and through Him they will find access
to God whom they already acknowledge in their traditional ideas to be the
Creator of all things, as one who established kinship between man and God. In
this manner, this eternal Gospel of the Incarnation will begin to accommodate
itself in African environment, making its challenge felt and its promises
realized. 38

36Matthew's Gospel, chiefly chap. 1, The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and
they will call him 'Immanuel' - which means, 'God with us.'(Matt. 1:23).

37An indication of how the situation can be handled by employing the Interactive Dialogical Model
Is given in Chapter six, above.

38K. Bediako, Theology and Identity, op. cit. pp.310-311.

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 Thechurch should make the Gospel of Jesus Christ confront, not only the people of Africa,

but people of all cultures. When it does this it fulfills one of its fundamental tasks. May it

be noted that the church should 'make Jesus Christ confront', not that the'Church should

confront', the people and cultures. 39When the church makes Christ confront the people

and cultures, it releases Him, and lets insights about him inform dialogue with the given

contexts. This is particularly significant because something of those people's cultures and

views of God is recognized and acknowledged. So from an interactive perspective, such

a confrontation is not dehumanising, but empowering.40 It is confrontation in mutual

dialogue, healthy and desirable confrontation, which challenges the Shona people to

demonstrate their understanding of Christ.

7.3.2 Contextual relevance of the Bible

The appropriateness of the interactive dialogical model for pastoral care is in the fact that

it acknowledges that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, though written long ago, has a contextual

dynamism.This can only be experiencedwhen it is listenedto and interpretedin the light

39We employ this phrase to describe a process. The people Africa

of should be given an opportunity
to demonstrate their own understanding of Jesus, without being forced to imbibe other people's experiences
of him (Jesus), rather, they should make the connections for themselves, and be given space to articulate
such experiences. This is said in the light of the fact that I do not think that dual observance is a healthy
reflection of the integration between Christian and Shona views of death and the dead.

40 E.Y. Lartey, In Living Colour. An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care

and Counselling,
London: Cassell, 1997. He speaks of this word in two ways, namely as a function and as a model of pastoral
care. On page 31 he speaks of empowering as a model of pastoral care and on pages 41-2 he speaks of it
as a function of pastoral care. We use the word In both senses.

324
 of the real life experiences of the Shona people, that is, contextually. In Rewriting the Bible,

the point is clearly made by Frans Verstraelen that:

a contextual reading adds something new to the Bible message in that it

becomes relevant in a context different from its own; this happens not by adding
to or subtracting texts from the Bible, but by a process of re-reading in context,
leading to a new interpretation. 41

We are actually suggesting that the Bible is not the one and only source of the history of

salvation; it is a kind of "model experience. "42It should therefore help each group of people

to discover in their own way the presence of God who journeys by their side. Every single

people has its own history of salvation, and the biblical context cannot be forced to "fit' all

circumstances and contexts. Rather, each context has to enter into dialogue with the Bible

in order to accommodate it and experience its dynamism. In addition, Christ's comforting

presence should be made as real as possible in each context which purports to proclaim

Him. If the Diocese of Harare affirms this and allows it to happen, its ministerial and

pastoral care systems are bound to change.

The importance of contextual relevance, in the light of the interactive dialogical model,

cannot be over emphasized. Clement of Alexandria's words are instructive in this regard.

41 F.J., Verstraelen, The Christian Bible and African cultural and Religious Realities, ' in (.
Mukonyora, J. L. Cox (eds) and F.J. Vertraelen (Co-ordinator) Rewriting the Bible: the real Issues, Gweru:
Mambo Press, 1993, p.240. It would be Important to note that this was written In response to a call for the
rewriting of the Bible by Revd Canaan Banana, of Zimbabwe, because it has, in his opinion, discrepancies.

42Carlos Mesters, The use of the Bible In Christian Communities

of the Common people, ' In A. T.
Hennelly, (ed.) Liberation Theology: A documentary history, op. cit., p. 25.

325
 He said, "God saved Jews in a Jewish way, the barbarians in a barbarian way. *43We could

go on to say, 'God saves the Shona people in a Shona way'. This emphasizes that each

people has its own history or situation, so God cannot save the Shona people in an English

way, for if He did, they might not benefit fully from such salvation, or perhaps they might

not be able to identify with such salvation. ""

W.V. Lucas, writing in Christianity and Native Rites, makes two very noteworthy points.

First, he comments on the approach of the Christian church, noting that the form of the

approach that it needs to adopt should respect the individuality of every person, and its

appeal should be adapted "to be perfectly intelligible to each separate nation. u45Secondly,

he comments on Christian converts and howthey should be understood. He says, "the Zulu

who becomes a Christian in no way ceases to be a Zulu, but his life is raised to a higher

supernatural plane as a Zulu Christian. °'aThis is both affirming and empowering.

Both citations are pastorally significant in approach and relevance. They clearly honour the

identity of the people concerned. The Gospel is brought to them as they are, presented to

43Cited by Carlos Mesters, `The Use of the Bible in Christian Communities of the Common people, '
op.cit. p.25.

44In the writer's view, salvation is a constant which needs to be communicated to dynamic contexts,
so the way in which it is mediated should make it contextually perceptible.

45W V., Lucas, Christianity and Native Rites, London: Central Africa House Press, 1950, p.3.
.
46Ibid., p.4.

326
 them in a manner that makes them hear of the marvellous works of God in their own

languages.Contactwith the word of God thus becomesa challenge,becauseit provokes

an open response from them. In a sense, the Holy Spirit is given a chance to work in the

lives of the individual hearers.

This would mean that Shona people should not be expected to respond to the Gospel in

a particular way, that is, reject their traditional views, rituals and ceremonies. Rather they

should be encouraged to see in them means of understanding and relating appropriately

to Christ. Such an approach enriches the reading of the Bible and opens it up, making it

a valuable tool for pastoral care. 47

Our discussion on the relevance of the Bible for understanding traditional Shona views of

death and the dead within the Diocese of Harare is rooted in the firm conviction that the

Church has something to offer. The best way in which it can offer its theological insights

is through engaging the interactive dialogical model, which deals effectively with defensive

attitudes.This enhancesthe Church's relevance, giving it the opportunityto understand

itself. Its pastoral care, especially, with reference to death and the dead, should be

47The intention is not to romanticise Shona culture; though it is important, it must be subjected to
critical scrutiny, as Christ took a critical stance against his own cultural context. Carlos Mesters sheds more
light on the pastoral nature of the Bible when he says, the great challenge for an Interpreter Is this: to
present the features of the face which appears In the Bible in such a way that it can awaken today in the
people a longing and memory. This requires that the interpreters remain close to the people to whom they
seek to explain the Bible. " C. Mesters, Defenseless Flower A New Reading of the Bible, Maryknoll, New
York: Orbis Books, 1989, p.39.

327
informedby Shona people's views, becausethey are crucial to its ministry.Pastoralcare

is the most suitable field for the dialogical model because it grants the space for Christian

and Shona views of death to engage with each other. It provides room for insights to be

shared, explained and appreciated, thus enabling sensitivity in approach.

7.3.3 Understanding pastoral care

To fully appreciate the implications of the interactive dialogical model for pastoral care with

reference to death and the dead, I suggest that we establish what we mean by'Pastoral

Care.' A range of definitions is on offer, but we can only look at a few. We need to note

that the word 'pastoral' is loaded. It "still retains something of the agricultural nuance

which characterized its beginnings when care of the flocks of animals began to be used in

biblical times as a vivid analogy for the activity of leading and caring for God's chosen

people. "48 It is obvious that this metaphor is dangerously one-sided, misleading and

unhelpful in our day and age. The implication is that the provider of pastoral care is the

only one who is knowledgeable, and the rest are like sheep being led. We are not using

the word in that sense.

Michael Taylor raises a related technical question, by distinguishing between pastoral care

and Christian pastoral care. He points out that pastoral care can be done by anyone and

48S. Pattison, A Critique of Pastoral Care, London: SCM Press Ltd, 1988, p.8.

328
 yet Christian pastoral care is done by Christians. The point is therefore made that

Christianshave a distinct pastoralcare,that is, one which brings Christinto people's lives.

Christian pastoral care is an engagement with reality, in a way which best reflects Christ.

This is a point to be born in mind as we look at the views of death and the dead. We are

weighted towards Christian pastoral care for two reasons, (a) because we want to examine

the relations between pastoral care and Christian faith49and (b) because we seek to affirm

the relevance of the Christian Church in this regard.

Clebsch and Jackie define pastoral care by identifying four specific tasks carried out by

representative Christian people. For them pastoral care:

consists of helping acts, done by representative Christian persons, directed

towards the healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling of troubled persons
whose troubles arise in the of
context ultimate meanings and concerns. 50

When one looks at traditional Shona views of death and the care system organised around

them, it is clear that they fall within this definition of pastoral care. In chapter one we saw

how the traditional Shona community engaged in helping acts. This was demonstrated in

the initial responses to death and then in the subsequent ceremonies, rites and rituals. 51

In chapter four we saw how popular religion, Shona Christianity, has established a care

49M. Taylor, Learning to Care: Christian Reflection on Pastoral Practice, London: SPCK, 1983, p. 19.

50W A. Clebsch and C.R. Jaekle, Pastoral Care In Historical Perspective, New York: Harper, 1976,
.
p.4 also cited In S. Pattison, A Critique of Pastoral Care, op. cit. p12, and also In E.Lartey, In Living Colour,
op. cit. p. 1.

51See Chapter one, p.27.

329
systemthat recognizes representativeChristian persons. In most cases these are lay

persons,who have a role to play in the processof healing,sustainingand guidingfollowing

a death. Within that context the observance of traditional practices is accommodated,

providing for the enhancement of community welfare. Note that we refer to'community' in

its broad Shona sense, which includes the dead.

Stephen 'Pattison says:

Pastoral Care is that activity, undertaken especially by representative church

persons, directed towards the elimination and relief of sin and sorrow and the
presentation of all people perfect in Christ to God. 52

This definition has Christian principles which could be misconstrued, especially because

of the reference to relief of sin, in relation to death. This might have adverse connotations,

by echoing what the condemnatory and confrontational approach has always emphasized;

that Shona views are evil. This could be hard to balance, particularly where the Church is

struggling to make Christ relevant to every sphere of life. In such a situation this would not

be a new message,that is, the Churchwill be reinforcingits insensitivity. This is because

the Shona have always been told that their traditional practices relating to death and the

dead are evil, and therefore sinful. The elimination and relief of sorrow would only be

meaningfulif the sorrowingperson'sperceptionof the situation is affirmedand addressed.

This is not meant to undermine the power of Christ and his gospel, but is an

52S. Pattison, A Critique of Pastoral Care, op.cit. p. 13.

330
acknowledgement of the fact that where this power breaks through in living contact with a

givenculture, changesoccur. Our interactivedialogical model providesfor that dynamic

contact.

Emmanuel Lartey offers a definition which captures a variety of insights. He says:

Pastoral Care consists of helping activities, participated in by people who

recognize a transcendent dimension to human life, which by the use of verbal
or non-verbal, direct or indirect, literal or symbolic modes of communication,
aim at preventing, relieving or facilitating persons coping with, anxieties.
Pastoral Care seeks to foster people's growth as full human beings together
with the development of ecologically holistic communities in which all persons
may live human lives. '

This definition recognizes the place of other religious insights and the role they play in

people's lives. In a deeply perceptive way, it upholds the interactive dialogical model we

are advocating. It takes cognisance of variant world views, acknowledging their role and

significance, without judging them. This is the definition of pastoral care which we adopt,

and it is this understanding which informs our approach.

We need to note that effective or meaningful pastoral care should take other people

seriously. W. Arnold suggests two levels at which pastoral care should take other people

seriously. (a) At the level of the peoplethemselves,we shouldrecognize"whothey believe

53E.Y. Lartey, In Living Colour, op.cit. p. 9.

331
themselves to be and the values which that belief attaches to them.` And (b) at our own

level, because we care for people In terms of who we believe them to be according to our

theological understanding, and the regard in which they are held according to that belief , 55

This is very important in the Zimbabwean situation, especially among the Shona people,

because their self dignity with reference to their beliefs has not been valued. If the

Anglican church adopts the interactive dialogical model it might understand the Shona

people better, and in turn give them the respect and dignity they deserve. Its own self-

perception could also change.

Campbell gives a very brief, but significant, definition of pastoral care. We shall use it as

a summary to the definitions we have considered. For him, "pastoral care is, in essence,

surprisingly simple. It has one fundamental aim: to help people to know love, both as

something to be received and something to give. "56All the other definitions we have

considered assume this basic quality, but the fact that Campbell specifically mentions it

makes a difference. This element of love requires demonstration by the Anglican Diocese

of Harare, if its claim to be passing on Christ's love to the Shona people is to have any

significance.

54W. V.Amold, Introduction to Pastoral Care, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1982, p. 15.

n Ibid., p. 15-6.

56Cited in S. Pattison, A Critique of Pastoral Care, op. cit., p. 15.

332
 7.4 SHONA VIEWS OF DEATH AND PASTORAL CARE

Our theological model is best understood from within a pastoral care context such as the

onewe are dealing with. Shona views of death, in their own right, serve a pastoral purpose.

If the Anglican Church is to be pastorally effective it should understand the essence of

these views. They relate to a life change which is emotionally demanding because it

affects relations. 57Alongside this, lingers the view that death is 58

always caused. This

should be seen in the light of the shift in emphasis, noted in chapter four, where God is

seen as the one who permits the death finally to occur. In other words, though the

spiritual powers, or powers of evil cause the death, because they start the process, they

cannot on their own effect it.59Another strongly held view which is the basis for most

rituals relating to death, is expressed in the belief that death is not the end of life.60It is not

annihilation, but essentially a transition from physical life to spiritual existence.

When death strikes, the Shona people believe that tears should be shed, accompanied by

wailing and weeping. Traditionally, this is an outlet for grief as well as a way of pleading

57See Chapter One p.29ff. for a full discussion of the views of death.

58This view is found in the traditional thinking mostly recorded in Chapter one. There is a shift in
emphasis in chapter four, where death is not so much caused, but willed by God. The line of thinking here
is that 'if God does not allow it, death cannot occur. ' See p. 188.

59See Chapter four, p. 188, where this shift in understanding is discussed. It is also confirmed by my
field work data.

60See Chapter one p.27.

333
for mercy before the ancestors on behalf of the deceased. 81Because ancestors could be

responsible for the death, special rituals have to be carried out to protect members of the

family, near and far away.r2This illustrates that, according to Emmanuel Lartey's definition

of pastoral care, these are 'helping activities, participated in by people who recognize a

transcendent dimension to human life, which by the use of verbal or non-verbal, direct or

indirect, literal or symbolic modes of communication, aim at preventing, relieving or

facilitating persons coping with, anxieties. '63They need to be taken seriously.

The link between the corpse and the soul is believed to be such that what is done to the

corpse has an affect on the destiny of the 6'

soul. Once again ancestors are the key players.

They must be satisfied with the respect that is shown to the corpse in order to be happy to

receive the corresponding soul. 65What this means is that the corpse has to be buried

according to tradition. In a sense it symbolises the biblical burial, referred to in Old

Testament terms as being "gathered to one's people, "68 or in the New Testament as

61See Chapter One p.29-30.

62This will be discussed fully under'Symbolism and Rituals', see p.346.

63E.Y. Lartey, In living colour, op. cit. p.9.

64See Chapter one p.53 and Chapter four p. 195.

65See what was said about this in chapter one pp.40-1.

66See Genesis 25: 8; Gen. 49: 33.

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Jesus' being buried 'in accordance with Jewish burial customs'. 67This refers to all other

practices associated with death. From a Shona perspective, the burial customs help the

bereaved to cope with the reality of death. They form the basis of condolences. Pastoral

care informed by the interactive dialogical model will be aware of all this, and has the

capacity to respond sensitively, but upholding the faith.

7.5 SHONA VIEWS ON THE DEAD AND PASTORAL CARE

What makes views on the dead significant for pastoral care among the Shona people is the

belief that the dead are not gone forever. Though death physically withdraws them from

their living family members, they are believed to be spiritually present and active among

their living relatives and to have a role in their welfare. The maintenance of this spiritual

relationship is important for the welfare of the living members. In other words, if the living

do not do something about this relationship, they stand to lose the ancestral, spiritual

protection. ` It is to be noted that not all dead persons become ancestors. "

Even those who are accorded the honour of being ancestors have to wait for the

appropriaterituals. As we noted in chaptersone and four, it is only when the kurovaguva

67John 19:40.

68See Chapter one, p.66.

69See Chapter one, pp.69-70

335
ceremony has been held in the deceased's honour that he or she becomes an ancestor.

He or she becomesa memberof two families henceforth.On the one hand, he or she is

a member of the living family with specific obligations. On the other, he or she belongs to

the spiritual family, the source of his or her supernatural powers.70Endowed with these

supernatural powers, the dead are expected to protect their living family members from any

spiritual assaults. In general, ancestors are expected to be benign to their off-spring.

Howeverthis is only possible if the living play their part in keepingthe relationshipgoing.

There should be communion between the two family groups. In dealing with Shona people

there is a need to understand `community' from their viewpoint.

Should the living need to communicate with the spiritual world, they confidently approach

the ancestors for mediation of their needs and requests. It is also believed that the

ancestors sometimes visit their living members, and communicatewith them, mostly

through dreams. Where there are good relationships, such visits might be to assure the

living of the continued benevolent disposition of the ancestors. 71

There are two things we need to note here: (a) the entry of the dead into the spiritual family

is believed to bring them nearer to God. That is why they can mediate and plead before

Him on behalf of the living. (b) Communicationwith those in the spiritual world is patterned

70See Chapter one for the full discussion of this belief, p.68.

71See Chapter one p.67.

336
on traditional procedures. Requests that the living want to communicate to the spiritual

world follow the kusuma process, that is, they are not communicated directly to God, but

are presented through the recently departed and therefore most junior ancestor. '
,

Rather than simply condemning traditional Shona views, the Anglican church needs to

understand them if its pastoral care is to be of any relevance. For example, deep seated

as these views and accompanying beliefs are, there are indications that fear sometimes

influences their observance. 73At times, the living feel obliged to fulfill the traditional

requirementsirrespectiveof whetherthey are efficaciousor not. The interactivedialogical

model adequately takes all such factors into consideration and allows them to be honestly

expressed, facilitating better pastoral care. The model does not threaten the Anglican

Church, neither does it threaten the Shona people. What it does is to encourage both

sides to look afresh at their respective positions with a view to bringing about a Shona

Christian perspective. Not only will such pastoral care be relevant, it will also help address

the dual observance.

If pastoral care is to facilitate persons coping with anxieties, then this approach adequately

provides the means, by allowing views of death and the dead to be shared openly. The

dead will continueto be seen as part of the family, but in a different light, perhaps as part

72See Chapter one p.24 for the kusuma process and p.67 for the rationale.

73See what we said on p.31ff, above to appreciate the 'fear' underlying death.

337
 of the communion of saints. The fact that some are recognized as ancestors should be

understood as indicating that they are believed to have something to contribute to the lives

of the living, that is, they are an example not only to their progeny, but also to the

communityat large. Only sensitiveinteractivedialogue helps to unlockthe treasurestores

of such beliefs. Shona Traditional Religion, like the Christian faith, acknowledges heroes,

and considers them inspirational.Even for the Shona people, not all such heroes come

fromwithin the tribe; some mightbe from outside. The conceptis well demonstratedin the

understanding of mhondoro (guardian spirit of a region or tribe). 74The hero of the tribe or

region, to whom the mhondoro owes its origin, is believed to work for the good of the tribe

or region. In turn the tribe or populace of the region have to observe certain customs, in

honour of that mhondoro. This upholds communion between the living and their mhondoro.

Facilitating interactive dialogue between Shona and Christian views on the dead requires

mutual respect and the willingness to listen, on the part of the adherents of both belief

systems. Condemnatory and confrontational tendencies have no place in such a pastoral

undertaking. Starting from where the people are, and allowing them to be themselves,

helps to bring about the desired results. Although this might sound simplistic, it is at least

an attempt at addressingthe dual observance.It makes it possiblefor the Shonapeople's

conception of the world and God to enrich the Christian theological forum. In this way they

74 These guardian spirits are believed to protect anyone who happens to be in their geographical
area. This could be a geographical area occupied by a particular tribe, or a number of tribes.

338
makea valuable theological contributionto Christian pastoral care from their distinctive

cultural perspective.

Incidentally, our theological model is not a call for a change of structures within the

diocese, but an invitation to review the relevance of pastoral care and ministry. Such a

review requires honest and open dialogue between all concerned parties. Earlier we

demonstrated how the self-understanding of the diocese was reflected in its pastoral

approach to the Shona people. 75If the diocese's self understanding changes, its approach

to pastoral care will reflect this change.

This model's impact will definitely be felt at all levels of the Anglican Church. Bishops,

clergy and lay Christians will, one way or the other find themselves having to react. These

reactions could be either positive or negative; much will depend on how the people

concerned view the relationship between Christianity and Shona traditional religious

beliefs. If they feel strongly that the Christ proclaimed by the church is "above African

culture and against African culture, [and] clearly not in African culture, "'s the interactive

dialogical model will be hailed as positive. That is because it seeks to bring Christ into

Shona culture. But for those who feel that the present state of affairs is acceptable, the

model may well be seen as an unnecessary intrusion. It is because of this that the

75Chiefly, Chaptertwo, where we examined the establishment of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe.

76A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit. p. 11.

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 theologicalmodel has implicationsfor pastoral care. Beforewe deal with the implications

for pastoral care, let us examinethe process of bringing about a relevant pastoral care

system.

7.6 THE QUEST FOR RELEVANT PASTORAL CARE

The interactive dialogical model proposes a mutual theological relationship between

Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead. There are two strong

indications that this relationship is possible. First, the Shona people themselves

demonstrate a desire to have Christian practices as part of their observances of death and

the dead. We saw in chapter four how Christian and Shona rituals are alternately

"
engaged. Secondly, the diocese itself recognizes that there is a need to address the

pastoral problem created by dual 78

observance. Our model seeks to provide the missing

link, interactive dialogue.

These observationsshould not be interpretedas an indication that such a relationship is

acceptable to all. The fact that we are advocating a new theological approach to the

pastoral problem caused by dual observance is in itself an acknowledgement of the

7' This is fully demonstrated in the fact that while the wailing and weeping are done, Church
representatives are also invited to attend and given space to offer prayers. Traditional rituals are held while
Christian songs are sung. What is required is the patience to enter into dialogue so that the traditional
intricacies can be appreciated and considered.

78See The dialogue' on p.204, above.

340
 inadequacy of the present approach. This conclusion is not shared by all. So, in both

Church and society, there will be varying responses to our proposed approach. Some will

feel that this is the right way forward, while some feel uncomfortable. '

7.6.1 Varying positions

For a variety of reasons, to those who appreciate the shift in approach, the Church

becomes a real haven, whereas in the past it has been alienating. From a biblical

perspective the teaching of the Church which holds that all people are made in the image

of God, finds new and real meaning.80 A new sense of belonging is aroused in them.

When they are thus affirmed, dialogue between Christian and Shona views is seen as

natural. Trust and mutuality become the basis on which the two religious traditions interact.

Both Christian and Shona traditional views and rituals of death and the dead find full

expression. They then become open to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. A process

of adjustment takes place, re-enacting the process by which the Christian faith took shape

in history. 81Both religious views are subjected to scrutiny.

79See what we said in the introduction to this chapter.

ß°That teaching is contained in Genesis 1:27, which reads, 'so God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ' The interactive dialogical model
provides the framework for mutual respect, based on this teaching, to be exercised.

81The Christian Faith took shape through dialogue and interaction

with various philosophies and
religions. See J. L. Gonzalez, A History of Christian Thought. Volume 1: From the beginnings to the Council
of Chalcedon, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983 (8thprint) chiefly the Foreword.

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 The question of denominationalismdiscussed in chapter three, could becomea factor at

this point. 82It is important to note that Roman Catholics form the majority of Christians in

the geographical area covered by the Anglican Diocese of Harare. The Roman Catholic

Church in Zimbabwe is well ahead of the Anglican Church when it comes to issues of

inculturation or contextualization. An indication of howwell-established this approach is,

is the fact that, as far back as July 1969, the Roman Catholic Church recommended that

"the ban on the kurova guva should be lifted at once because it felt that there is no

adequate theological reason for proscribing the ceremony. "' In so doing, it enabled the

traditional death rituals of its Shona Christians to be practised alongside the church's

rituals. Although a missionary church, the Roman Catholic Church has, in its approach to

death and the dead (and like many of the African Initiated Churches) become a church of

the people. 8'

In working towards relevant pastoral care, the Anglican church will be joining the ranks of

those denominations which are making indelible in-roads into the lives of the people. While

82See Chapter three under the title "Denominationalism" for a fuller discussion, p. 141.

83V. Whidbome, 'Africanisation of Christianity in Zimbabwe, * in Religion in South Africa, op.cit. p.41.
J. Kumbirai, 'Kurova Guva and Christianity, " in M. F.C. Bourdillon, Christianity South of the Zambezi. Vol. 2,
Gwelo: Mambo Press, 1977. Kumbirai, a Shona Roman Catholic priest, writing on the lifting of the ban says:
'recently in the Roman Catholic Church, the traditional 'kurova guva' ceremonies have been held publicly,
camouflaged by new rites, commonly called 'Musande' or 'Bavadeyi', which may be construed as a
compromise between 'kurova guva' and traditional missionary teachings they Include the traditional
...
gathering of relatives to drink beer In honour of the spirits of the dead, but a Church minister blesses the
grain for the ceremony and conducts a service of Christian prayers and hymns. ' pp. 127-8.

84See Paper by Revd X. Marimazhirap.440 and AIC practicesdescribedon p.154 above.

342
this is a positive move, it can add to the confusion, as we shall see. But on the positive

side, such a move facilitates appropriate pastoral care, strengthening the Church's

relevance, and enhancing a practical revision of its theological approach. This conveys

the message that Shona people and their views are worthy of God. Those churches that

have led the way could then be consulted, and the spirit of ecumenical cooperation

promoted.

On the other hand, those who do not appreciate the model will see it as playing down the

role of the Anglican Church. For them, such a move is nothing short of surrendering

Anglican values, or rebelling against the Church's practices. In other words, the model is

seen as suggesting radical practices to people, almost like asking them to reject the

Anglican church. For such people, Shona traditional views of death and the dead are not

God-worthy, so they should not be brought back into the theological arena. Though this

kind of thinking negates the incamational understanding of Christianity, it exists among

some Shona people. Christianity is believed to have nothing to do with culture, because

is
culture evil. 85As hinted earlier, this could either be an indication of (a) how brainwashed

some Shona Christians have become, or (b) the need to set in motion a viable

contextualizationprocessof the Christianfaith. Whicheveris the case,notingthesevarying

clerical and lay positions86helpsin the search for relevant pastoral care.

85See Chapter four for a full discussion.

86Especially among the Anglican Wabvuwi, see p.422, below.

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 Lazarus Muyambi, a Shona Anglican priest, is a good example of those who do not seemto
A

see any connection between Christianity and Shona traditional views of death and the

dead. He holds the view that "in the kingdom of Heaven there is no communication

between the dead and the living. "' While this purports to be a Christian standpoint, that

is, rejecting communication with the dead, it seems to give little consideration to the

concept of the communion of saints. Muyambi seems not to realise that saints are indeed

dead people who somehowcommunicatewith the living in the kingdomof heaven.May be

a re-reading of the passage that concludes Jesus' discourse with the Sadducees on

marriage and the resurrection might shed some light. Mark 12 : 26-7 reads, "Now about

the dead rising - have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the burning

bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of

Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistakenl" When

Jesus said this, the named ancestors had long died. They were remembered as living

because (a) they were the patriarchs of the nation and (b) they had a living relationship

with God, hence God is 'not the God of the dead, but of the living.' This relationshipwas

not mediated by Christ. In like manner,the writer suggests, Shona ancestorswho have a
living relationship with God, even though not mediated by Christ, continue to be alive and

communicate with the living in the kingdom of heaven, see 1 Pet 3: 19. The point is this,

the plight of those who died before Christ is not determinedby us, but by God who knows

87J. C.Weller, A Centre of Healing in Zimbabwe: An account of St. Agnes Mission. Gokwe 1972-80
and its priest Fr. Lazarus Muyambi, (Unpublished paper) Harold Turner Collection, Selly Oak, 1980, p. 3.

344
 us better than we know ourselves. Interactive dialogue helps to make this clear for relevant

pastoral care.

Denominational pride could lead some into believing that upholding the interactive

dialogical model means abandoning Anglican Christians to Roman Catholic beliefs. '

Alternately this could be seen as indicating that the Anglican church has been swallowed

up by the Roman Catholic Church, in which case, the immediate question would be, 'with

its denominational position compromised can the Anglican church offer valid pastoral

care? ' In working out a relevant pastoral care system, the effects of denominationalism

should be taken into consideration, lest the diocese be accused of negating responsibility

or even betraying its flock.

Denominationalism can cause problems for the pastoral implementation of the interactive

dialogical model in the Diocese of Harare with its Roman Catholic presence. We continue

to use the Roman Catholic Church as an example for two reasons; first, because they

share an almost identical ecclesiastical structure, in the country [Zimbabwe]. In some

places their celebration of the Eucharist and the name they use for it, `Mass', is the same.

Requiem Mass, a Eucharistic celebration in memory of the dead is also identical. 89 The

88Both denominational pride and rivalry could come to play in such a setting. The danger Is that
some people might reject even what they feel strongly about only to maintain their denominational identity.
There are some who will see this as a move in the right direction, (a) because It will be demonstrating the
one-ness of God and (b) by burying the dead in recognition of their culture.

89In some cases even the liturgical colour is the same.

345
use of words such as 'Father for a priest, 'Parish' for a pastoral charge, 'Mission' for an

establishedmission station and 'Bishop'for the head of a Diocese,are the same.This has
implications for pastoral care.

Secondly their approach to food substances is almost the same. For example, they share

the same views on people's consumptionof alcoholic beverages and use of tobacco.

Neither church condones excessive use, but both leave the judgement of what is

acceptable consumptionto the conscience of the individual Christian. Becauseof these

similarities the model might lead some laity to expect the Anglican clergy to be as

pastorally and culturally sensitive in the area of death and the dead as their Roman

Catholic counterparts. This might lead to frustration for many Anglican clerics.

7.6.2 Symbolism and rituals

Views of death are an integral part of the Shona world views which are usually symbolically

expressed. For instance, on receiving news of death, certain symbolic actions are

performed, which express the belief that death is not annihilation. These vary from place

to place. Joseph Kumbirai, a Roman Catholic priest, explains one such symbolic act and

its significance. He states that on receipt of the news of death "the vatete (aunt) takes

some grains of rapoko (rukweza) and throws them into the fire mentioning the names of

absent close relatives (kudzima shura). This is done to prevent the relatives from getting

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 telepathic shock". 90 This use of symbolism is corroborated by Violet Mutandwa from

Mhondoro,who says that, "at receiving news of death an elder, usually a woman, goes to

the chirongo (earthenware pot for carrying and storing drinking water) with a mugoti

(stirring-stick e.g for stirring sadza).9' She stirs the water mentioning the names of

absentee relatives for the same reason as given by Kumbirai.

The understanding is that when this is done the ancestors will take control of the situation

on both sides. (a) They will incapacitate the spirit of the deceased, so it does not cause

mishaps to other relatives, especially those who are far away. (b) They are expected to

protect any of the vulnerable relatives from that moment onwards, particularly blood

relatives.

After this, word is sent to the priest, who is expected to come and offer prayers. This is a

pastoral response automatically expected of the Church. 92 If the priest is too far away,

representative members of the denomination, especially those who lead local

congregations, are advised of the death. Depending on the setting, members of other

90J. Kumbirai,Kurova Guva Ceremony,(Unpublishedand undated paper) p.434, below.

91See interviews with Mrs V Mutandwa, p.414 and Mr T Mukwishu, p.407 where they describe how
to deal with telepathic shock, they agree that, In some areas on receiving news of death, the elder goes to
the durunhuru (rubbish heap or pit) and beats the rubbish with a nhanzva (pouzolzia hypoleuca) shamhu
(switch). The rationale is this, as the clouds of dust dissipate so does the dangerous power of the deceased's
spirit. ' For the correct Shona words I have used S. Hannan, Standard Shona Dictionary.

92See interview with Mrs E Mhaga, p.404 and Chapter four, for how this
works on the ground.

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 denominationsare also informed. In each case the expectation is the same; that they

should immediately come and say some prayers. It is interesting to note that these

prayers are expected even when the deceased was not a Christian.

There is something of the communal understanding of death in this procedure. The view

that death is not for an individual family, but for the community, is upheld in the manner in

which the news of death is shared. On receiving news of death, whether by witnessing the

symbolic actions, or through word of mouth, people leave what they are doing. This has

pastoral connotations which members of the community understand and respond to

93
appropriately. Death is seen as a social and a religious phenomenon, which affects all.

This should inform the Church's pastoral care programme.

Symbolism and rituals serve a pastoral purpose; through them (a) the living derive a sense

of satisfaction and consolation for themselves and (b) somehow they assure the bereaved

that their dead will get the desired rest in the next world. It is perhaps important to

understand the motives for symbolism and ritual. Fear of death is almost always a factor

which should be 94
addressed. Any pastoral care system that does not take these realities

into account will not only make itself, but the whole church, irrelevant.

93See chapter one for details, p.29.

94In Chapter five we pointed out that this fear was expressed through the elaborate responses to
news of death. The Shona people want to pass it on, that is make it as widely known as possible, while the
Biblical response is tearing one's clothes or sitting in ashes.

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 7.6.3 Dealing with dual observance

Both our theological model and pastoral care will not yield the required fruit if we do not

rightly locate the problem of dual observance. Dual observance in the final analysis is a

theological, as well as a pastoral reality, and our pastoral theology needs to address it. We

should seek to reflect the Christian incarnational reality. This christological slant should

then help us to make our specific contribution to the pastoral significance of ceremonies

and rituals of death and the dead.

The pastoral significance we give to the traditional views should reflect that, in the

traditional Shona setting, ancestors are believed to be under God's power and authority.

If they are kept happy by their living relatives, they will always plead favourably on their

behalf before God. After all, they are believed to be nearer God than the living family

°
members. Clearly therefore, their fellowship with the living is not outside God's

jurisdiction, in other words, they are not a force outside, or in competition with God. They

collaborate with God and work for the good of the living. 96This remains true as long as

95 See chapters one and four for discussions on the supernatural powers that the ancestors are
believed to have.

96A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit. p.6. Moyo demonstrates that the Shona are very clear
about this, hence, one often hears the expression, 'Kana Mwari nevadzimu vachida' (if God and the
ancestors are willing) .0This echoes the shift in understanding death, and God's involvement in it discussed
in Chapter four, under Textual Analysis. '

349
good relationships are traditionally maintained, or till generations who do not know the

ancestor are custodians of tradition.

Onething is clear in both Christianity and Shonatradition, that relationshipsbetweenGod

and humanity are not terminated by death. Though conceived of differently, there is

agreement that such relationships outlast death. The Church's pastoral task to the Shona

people is to enable them to understand that their rituals and ceremonies are a means of

consolation, which should not be condemned out of hand. At the same time, they are not

the source of life, and should not be viewed as determining eternity. Here sensitivity is

called for on the part of the Church in its pastoral care of bereaved Shona Christians. It

should use the material gathered through interactive dialogue to put across a theological

understanding of humanity which is consistent with the belief that God is the giver of life.

If God is the sole giver of life, the Shona Christian should be challenged not to seek life

elsewhere? In other words, dual observance should not prevail?

Christian and Shona understandingsof eternity need to be reconciled if the Anglican

church's pastoral care and ministry are to be relevant. The interactive dialogical model

of doing theology is the most appropriate for this task. It considers all the relevant

contextualization questions without being prescriptive, thus allowing Shona Christians to

express themselves. Such an approach by the Church demonstrates its commitment to

ministering to the Shona people, and any other people for that matter, with sensitivity.

350
 Among other things, it encourages a balanced and open reflection on God, death and the

dead, free from suspicion. 97 This dialogue, with interaction, will help to break down the

dual observance. However, it needs to be followed up by an equally sensitive contextual

pastoral care approach. I would suggest that taking this process seriously is our

contribution to the establishment of a relevant and sensitive pastoral care system which

deals with dual observance, in the Diocese of Harare. But, it has implications.

7.7 IMPLICATIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE

As we have seen above, attitudes and habits die hard, and both clergy and laity will need

time to assimilate the method. This will involve the ability to appreciate, understand and

interpret the traditional rituals and their symbolism as important theological sources. There

will also be a need to hold reverently in balance the Christian and Shona traditional views

of death and the dead if the theological method is to be of any value.

For us to appreciate the pastoral implications of the interactive dialogical model, we need

to remember that the Anglican church has been in Zimbabwe for over a century. During

97 This is discussed in Chapter four. See A. Moyo, The Risk of Incarnation, op. cit. p. 16. He
observes that, 'many other Christians have on their own comfortably integrated their Christian faith into the
traditional cultures and participate in rituals relating to the ancestors without feeling guilty. ' The writerwishes
this was the case in the Anglican Diocese of Harare.

351
 that period it has grown from one to four dioceses. ° Three of the diocesan bishops are

indigenous Zimbabweans. The present bishop of the Diocese of Harare is the second

indigenous leader.

The implications of the interactive dialogical model are that we will have to re-examine

present pastoral approacheswith a view to identifying their contextualappropriateness.

This means that we should also redefine the Church's mission. Related to this is the need

to clarify the purpose of pastoral care with specific reference to death and the dead among

the Shona people. A clear understanding of the goal of Christian pastoral care from an

Anglican perspective is essential.

We have noted that current methods of pastoral care seem to be inadequate. Both the

Anglican Church and the Shona people demonstrate this. ' The Church has made three

attempts to address the pastoral situation, but failed. 100These attempts mean that dual

observance is identifiably 101

a pastoral problem. On the part of the Shona people, we see

a desire to have Christian observances of death and the dead integrated into their

98The Diocese of Mashonaland, which was virtually the whole country, was formed In February
1891. So the Anglican church has been in the country for over 108 years, and now has four dioceses, see
map, p.xii, above.

99See above, The quest for relevant pastoral care, ' p.340.

100See 'Relevance of the Church, ' p.312, above.

101Bishops' Pastoral Regulations, 1978.

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traditional views. 102Even now, dual observance prevails. 103Perhaps this is the only way

in which the Shona people can deal with a Church which seems not to "foster people's

growth as full human beings together with the development of ecologically holistic

communities in which all persons may live human lives. "104In other words, the present

methods still do not recognize that Shona traditional views have something to offer, which

the Christian faith and rituals seem not to adequately provide.

Shona traditional views of death and the dead should be brought centre stage, so that they

become key players in understanding the Christian faith. This means that the Shona

people should be empowered to wrestle, faithfully and openly, with the involvement of

Christ in their lives and world view. Note, they are invited to identify themselves as they

are, and, through dialogue and interaction, work out for themselves who Christ is for their

lives, their relationships, their environment and their life after death. The model aims at a

holistic and wholistic view of life. Though some Shona Anglicans are already unofficially

engaging with these questions, for the "official" Anglican Church as a whole to be seen to

be seeking to understand its Shona Christians' views without condemning and confronting

them, would be an important step forward.

102 Chiefly, chapter four.

103See Chapter four and interviews with Mrs V Mutandwa, 414

p and Mr T Mukwishu, p.407.

104E.Y.Lartey, In Living Colour, p.9.

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 If this were to happen, the need to engage clandestinely in traditional rituals would no

longer exist. In the same way, the kind of harsh discipline which demands that those

'caught' engaging in traditional practices should be excommunicated, would have no room.

The All-Africa Seminar on the Christian home and family life, commenting on

excommunication in another context, noted that the practice has resulted in,"(a) hypocrisy;

sin is hidden in order to avoid detection; and (b) pharisaism; those who are not tempted (or

not caught) may become satisfied and proud, and are tempted to look down upon the

sinner. "10'The openness we advocate through the interactive dialogical model will mean

a change in methods of, and attitudes to, Shona traditional views.

When the Church as an institution ceases to be seen as an enemy, its pastoral care

becomes the concern of all its members, and though those Christians may hold different

views, 106
the proposed theological method provides them with room to enter into dialogue

with each other as Shona Christians. This will not only enable them to understand each

other, but it will also equip them for dialogue with people of other denominations. The

method gives them the tools for engaging in ecumenicaldialogue, an area which might

still be viewed with suspicion by some Anglican Christians. Granting expression to the

105Report of the All-Africa Seminar on the Christian Home and Family Life, held at Mindolo
Ecumenical Centre, Kitwe, 17 February to 10 April 1963. p.44.

106See p.341, above under 'varying positions. '

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 cultural communal understanding of life and relationships could greatly enrich our

understanding of ecciesiology as well.

Our aim is neither to condemnnor to romanticisetraditional Shonaviews. The theological

method we propose to adopt is not prescriptive, but attempts to allow the process to evolve

from familiar Shona views of reality. Through this interactive dialogue, Shona Christians

are challenged to express their understanding of Christ in the light of their traditional

107
views. This is made possible by the fact that we adopt the consensus model for dialogue,

community building and problem solving. This provides the space for sharing a variety of

insights, to enrich the process, including opening the pastoral concern to the leadership

of the Holy Spirit.

In interacting, diverse Shona symbolism and rituals are allowed to be part of the

'legitimate' or official procedure, engaged with in relation to death and the dead. By

acknowledging them (symbolism and rituals), the model endeavours to provide the Church

with an opportunity to provide meaningful comfort and care. When someone is bereaved,

he or she needs support, or counselling. Effective counselling enables the one counselled

to see his or her disintegrated system coming back to normal, or at least, making sense.

It should speak to the situation in understandablelanguage, backedwhere necessary,by

107We are actually using the insights we got from Chapter four, where an attempt to express faith
in Christ within traditional views is demonstrated.

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 appropriate symbolism and rituals. This helps the grieving process. Such counselling

also facilitates the coming to terms with the reality of losing a loved one, providing

comprehensive, spiritual support. 108

7.8 CONCLUSION

A relevant and viable method like the interactive dialogical method can fully address the

shortfalls of present theological methods in the Diocese of Harare and provide for a

change. But the situation it creates has strong pastoral implications. It makes the Church

revise its relevance through dialogue with its context.

Dual observance is addressed through shifting the emphasis. Instead of starting with the

Church, the model proposes that we start with the people. It is the people and their

108The writer attended Manyaradzo (Condolence Service) on the 140'August, 1999 following the
death of Mr Zephaniah Matimba, a local leader who was also a famous hunter. Zephaniah was a member
of the Baptist Church who had died on the 19'hof July, 1999. Though the whole setting was to be Christian,
there was traditional beerwhich had been brewed earlier In the week. People spent the whole night in singing
and prayer for the soul of Zephaniah and the condolences of his relatives and family. Early the next morning,
there was the traditional practice of kugova nhumbi (distribution of the deceased's clothes) done in traditional
Shona style. It is the words and actions of the headman which are informative. (a) He stood up and said,
`Zephaniah was a child of God who has now gone to be with his ancestors..... So I thank all of you for having
come to pray for the rest of Zephaniah's soul and the strengthening of his family. Above all I thank you for
representing God in our community... ' (b) Clapping his hands he squatted and said, 'we also thank you the
custodians of this land for protecting our visitors; go with them as they leave this place... ' He spoke to both
the world of the living and the spiritual world (God and the custodians of their land) acknowledging their
involvement in the world of the living; an all-embracing, and strong Shona world view that needs to be taken
note of.

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 understanding of God from a cultural standpoint which should inform the Christian

approach to Shona traditional views of death and the dead. 109

The possibility of dialogue between representatives of differing opinions helps to build the

community of Christ. Such a community, built in openness, with sensitivity, can make

ecumenical dialogue possible, thus demonstrating unity in Christ.

By engaging the consensus model in its dialogue, the interactive dialogical model leaves

room for the Holy Spirit. Though this should not be construed as implying that only the

consensus model creates room for the Holy Spirit. What this model does is to (a) allow the

expression of as many views as possible (b) provide room for the discussion of each view

by all concerned. The whole process should be conducted in a prayerful atmosphere. All

concerned are challenged to exercise a degree of self-introspection in the light of faith.

Finally, the open expression of Shona traditional views of death and the dead has

theological significance for Shona Christians. It gives them the opportunity to express

themselves and their feelings honestly before God. The consequence is that God is

affirmed as the one true 'Creator God' for both belief systems. Pastoral care carried out

according to the interactive dialogical model would be affirming and relevant.

109V. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered: An epistle from the Masai, London: SCM Press, 1978,
p.30. Particularly when Donovan realized that 'God enables a people, any people, to reach salvation through
their culture and its tribal, racial customs and traditions. '

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 CHAPTER EIGHT

CONCLUSION

8.1 THE COMMUNAL NATURE OF SHONA LIFE

This is a concluding summary of the study in which we raised a number of issues relating

to Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead that have significant

theological and pastoral implications. We saw how fundamental the sense of community

is among the Shona people, and how their views of death and the dead make sense within

that communal setting. The Shona people do not split life into secular and religious; '

religion permeates all life. In dealing with death and the dead from a Shona perspective,

there is a wholeness, in which both the physical and the spiritual are involved, which is

the totality of existence. The ceremonies, observances and rituals they engage in are the

means through which this totality is expressed and maintained. We shall highlight some

of the views again in this concluding chapter.

The communal nature of Shona life offers us some useful theological insights. God is

believed to be ultimately involvedwith the whole of human life, but the responsibilityfor

ordering day to day activities and concerns is delegated to the ancestors. So, in dealing

1 See Chapter one, p.16.

358
 with death and the dead from a Shona view point, awareness of the involvement of the

ancestors has theological implications which reinforce the communal nature of life. It

complements the understanding of religion permeating all life. It further reflects the Triune

God as a communal God who by his nature fosters community.2 This strengthens the

perception of God as God in, and beyond life. Understanding community and God in this

way explains and justifies the solidarity shown by Shona people in the face of death,

helping them to experienceand witnesssomethingof the love of God,who is three in one

and communal.

The pastoral implications of this communal understanding of God and community are that

the present generation feels attached to past generations through social practices,

observances, rituals and symbols. Participating in these communal activities is a vital

expression of belonging, which gives a deep sense of identity. In turn, this enables

participants to play their role in community. In a sense, by adhering to traditional views,

a Shona person believes that he or she is co-operating with past generations and sharing

their lives and values. For that reason, he or she is a vital link between the past and the

future of the community. He or she has the responsibility for keeping the different

categoriesof the communityin harmonywith each other. It is againstthis backgroundthat

2 Gen. 1:26 `Then God said, 'let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over
the fish of the sea... ' Von Rad helps to spell out the communal nature of God when he says, 'The
extraordinary plural ("Let us") prevents one from referring God's image too directly to God the Lord. God
includes himself among the heavenly beings and thereby conceals himself in this multiplicity. ' G.von Rad,
Genesis, London: SCM, 1961, p.58.

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the pastoral nature of Shona views of death and the dead should be understood.

Admittedly,the communalnature of Shona life is anthropocentric,that is, it has humanity

as its starting point, rather than God.

8.2 CONDEMNATION AND CONFRONTATION

When the Anglican missionariesbroughtthe gospel of Christto Zimbabweover 108years

ago, Shona views became a source of conflict, because the missionaries put their

understanding of God first. With the benefit of hindsight, we are able to see how they

approached the Shona people, and evaluate their methods. As we noted, their close
identification with the colonial powers tended to discredit them. In fact, it was detrimental

to their initiatives, especially because they were party to the land apportionment which was

championed by the British South Africa Company. The missionaries were perceived as

accomplices to the colonial settlers. They did exactly what the settlers were doing, though

using different language, the language of the gospel. 3

The missionaries were from a different ethnic background, and so did not prize the

communal nature of Shona life. They resorted to condemnation and confrontation of

Shona traditional life, characterising it as evil. This meant that, from the initial encounter

between Christianity and Shona traditional views, there was no reciprocity. This missionary

3 See Chapterthree, 'Anthropologicalresponses,' p.111.

360
approach was justifiable, only if we understand that the missionaries believed themselves

to be soldiers of Christ, who had come to liberate the Shona people from the devil and his

forces. In reality, this approach was anthropologically, religiously, sociologically and

theologically insensitive to the realities of Shona people's lives, thus failing to provide for

mutual interaction between the two religious belief systems.

Christianity was presented to the Shona people as a universal, tailor-made religion which

required that the Shona people should adopt English values. Shona traditional values and

views had no place, as the condemnatory and confrontational tendencies made clear. For

instance, vernacular names could not be accepted as Christian names. The mission station

approach further consolidated this relationship of suspicion by withdrawing to the mission

station those who had become Christians. Christianity seemed to be a religion which

sought to destroy the communal nature of Shona life, hence giving rise to mistrust. It was

therefore seen as a religion which was not part of village life, but a 'mission'4 religion to

which people had to go. Given the Shona people's understanding of life, this made

Christianity `other,' right from inception, so curtailing any chance of genuine dialogue.

4 See Chapter two, p. 88, above for a discussion on 'Mission stations. '

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 It is important to note that, though the approach was not the most suitable one, seeds of

the gospel were sown and aspects of Shona culture were transformed. ' However, lack of

opportunity for Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion to enter into dialogue, because

of condemnation and confrontation, led to the embracing of dual observance. I would

suggest that dual observance demonstrates the otherness of Christianity which has

characterised the co-existence of the two religious belief systems, from their first encounter

to the present.SomeShonapeoplestill do not see anyway in which the two religiousbelief

systems can be integrated, ' especially in matters to do with death and the dead.

It can be argued that zeal made the missionaries fail to appreciate that Shona views of

death and the dead needed time and space to develop', just as views of death and the

dead had developed over time in their own home countries. This could be because of (a)

a peculiar understanding of ministry and pastoral care. Clergy in the Church of England,

through the parochial system, controlled the pastoral ministry of death and the dead. (b)

s Cf, Isa. 55: 10-11, where the Lord says,'As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do
not return from it without watering the earth so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return
...
to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. '

6 Evidence from field

work, pp 409 and 414.

There are three distinct stages through which the understanding of death in the west passed. They
are (a) The Tame Death; where death was regarded as a `communal and public act whose approach could
be anticipated and met with ritualised expression of mourning around the deathbed. ' (b) The Death of the
Self; here, the 'individual' began to take centre stage. Instead of the communal view, individuals saw
something of their own deaths in the deaths of others. The idea of a final judgement caught on marking a
shift from universal salvation to Individual judgement. (c) Remote and Imminent Death; during this period
of development, people realised that death was everywhere and that all people were equal before it, so,
people always had to be ready for it. Cf. D.W. Moller, Confronting Death, New York, Oxford: OUP, 1996.

362
 There was also a sense of religious superiority. Perhaps it is for these reasons that they

condemned and confronted Shona views, and became overly prescriptive. " Unfortunately,

this was adopted as the Christian approach, and is still used as such, in the Anglican

Diocese of Harare. This leads us to conclude that Shona views of death and the dead have

not been considered as relevant to the Christian life of the Diocese of Harare.

8.3 CHRISTIAN AND SHONA TRADITIONAL VIEWS

Christian and Shona traditional views of death and the dead, as we noted above, have

always co-existed in parallel and, at times, as rivals. Anglican missionary Christianity saw,

and continues to see Shona Traditional Religion as evil, while adherents of Shona

Traditional Religion viewed, and continue to view Anglican missionary Christianity as

insensitive to their views of death and the dead. This relationship of suspicion has been

the fertile ground on which dual observance has thrived. In the face of condemnation and

confrontation by the Anglican Church, the Shona people have clung to their traditional

views as the only way of upholding their dignity and identity. Interestingly, they are happy

to experiment with Christianity in their own way, so much so that they have developed a

"popular Christianity" as opposed to the 'official Christianity". ' This is an indication that

8 See chapter two, p. 102.

9 See Chapter four for the way in which Shona Christians have integrated the views of the two
religious belief systems in the observances of death and in honour of the dead. Official Christianity is what
the Anglican Church hierarchy teaches and popular Christianity is what the people practice, all need to be
in dialogue with each other.

363
Christianity has something to offer to the Shona people; perhaps the Anglican church is

failing to pass it on effectively.

This development of 'popular'

'popularand Christianity has rightly been seen as a problem

by the Diocese of Harare. But because the Church did not appreciate how deep seated the

traditional views of death and the dead were, it believed that they would die out as Shona

people became more educated. So, instead of seeking to understand the Shona people's

views, the diocese issued guidelines prescribing what the Shona people had to think and

do in relation to death and the dead. 1° It is perhaps such tendencies which made the

Church'spastoralcare appear insensitiveto the Shona people'sviews.On the other hand,

the ordination of indigenous black clergy was seen as a step in the right direction, but

because official thinking did not change, no specific attention was given to Shona views.

Instead it was condemnation and confrontation as usual, even by the black clergy.

Even with an indigenous suffragan bishop, the diocese continued to prescribe how the

Shona people should think and respond to issues relating to death and the dead. " This

only helped to reinforce dual observance. In 1980, when Zimbabwe gained its

independence, statements were made to the effect that the recognition of Shona traditional

views of death and the dead was long overdue. However, no practical steps were taken to

10Especially Chapter two, 'Church literature on burial, ' p. 102.

11See discussion on 'Pastoral Regulations' in Chapter two p. 10617.

364
reflect the seriousness of these statements. The missionary era came to an end in 1981

with condemnationand confrontationfirmly establishedas the official Christian approach

to traditional Shona views of death and the dead. Another indigenous clergyman became

the first diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Harare, where indigenous Shona clergy were

already in the majority. In 1993 a Commission of Enquiry was set up to investigate this

long-standing problem. Surprisingly, the Commission's report was dismissed out of hand,

by a majority of Shona people at the 1994 Synod. In the meantime popular Christianity was

gaining ground.

One might be persuaded to accept that the missionaries' approach to Shona traditional

views of death and the dead was prompted by fear, ignorance, suspicion and sheer neglect

of anthropological insights. Add to this the conviction and enthusiasm which Gann notes

in the evangelists who took the Anglican Church from South Africa to the Far North

(Zimbabwe). He says of them:

Early evangelists - black and white - took their lives into their hands by going
to the Far North; they did not go to analyse, synthesize or apologise, they went
to fight Satan and all his works; they took risks because they believed they
were fighting evil, and evil brooked no compromise. 12

It is difficult to find such justification for a similar approach to Shona traditional views by

Shona clergy, given that the diocese is under indigenous leadership. It is most probable

that the relationship of suspicion is subconsciously being upheld in the name of 'good'

12L. H.Gann, A History of Southern Rhodesia, p.206.

365
 Anglican practice. This could perhaps be an indication of lack of contextual theological

reflection. In which case, a theological method which allows the Anglican Church to re-

examine its own approach, self-understanding and relevance among the Shona people

could be a natural and lasting solution to this problem.

It is with this in mind that we submit an approach which shifts the emphasis from

'officialdom'to the whole peopleof God, with the aim of meetingtheir spiritual needs. The

tendency has been for the hierarchy to identify the problem and then provide what they

think is the solution. Such an approach always started from the biased position which holds

that Shona Traditional Religion is evil. 13The model we propose recognizes that Shona

Traditional Religion has an important place in the lives of its adherents, offering them what

Christian rituals do not seem adequately to provide. For that reason it should be taken

seriously as a formative factor of a sound contextual theology of death and the dead. This

model does not only address the problem, it also seeks to help the Anglican Church

honestly to evaluate its ministry among the Shona people.

The interactive dialogical model, through dialogue and interaction, seeks a mutual drawing

out of the essentials in both Christianity and Shona Traditional Religion with reference to

views of death and the dead. It seeks amicablyto break down the walls of suspicionthat

13See Chapter four p.204, The dialogue, ' for what we said with reference to why the three official
attempts to solve the problem of dual observance failed.

366
 have existed between the two belief systems, providing each side with an opportunity to

articulate itself. Popular religion and official Anglicanism are given a chance to wrestle with

their differentviews. Suchan approachhas the potentialto help both the Anglican Church

and Shona Traditional Religion to each appreciate and articulate the significance of Jesus

Christ, and so break the dual observance for Shona Christians.

While this model is a critique of present practices of the Anglican Church it also offers a

way forward. The insights gained in the process of dialogue and interaction point to a

solution. It challenges Shona Christians to demonstrate, in their own way, what it means

to be a Christian. We use the words'Shona Christians' to emphasize that such Christians

will be upholding their traditional views and expressing them openly as part of their faith. 14

8.4 TOWARDS A SYNTHESIS

Before mapping a way forward, it is fitting to make a few submissions based on the

research findings. First, it is my submission that there is no such thing as a "Christian

burial", but, rather the "burial of a Christian". There are two arguments to support this

observation, (a) Jesus Christ, on whom the Christian claims hinge, does not seem to have

14This model also corrects the mistaken thinking that it is the preaching of the Church which
converts. When the Church preaches conversion it is only doing its duty, but the actual act of converting is
done by the Holy Spirit. If this is born in mind, then the condemnatory and confrontational approaches will
be seen for what they are - misguided enthusiasm.

367
 been buried according to any practice we can recognise as distinctly Christian. Instead,

he was buried according to Jewish custom. 15 (b) The so-called Christian burials, and

practices around them, developed over a period of time, and down the years have

incorporated practices which had little to do with Christ. 'BAt the burial of a Christian, Christ

is the focus, " and the Christian is commended into the fellowship of those who share the

risen Christ's eternity. At a Christian burial, Christian liturgy is the focus. In the writer's

view, popular Christianity undertakes the "burial of Christians", 18and the Anglican Church,

"Christian burials". This helps to explain why Shona Christians experiment freely with

Christianity, while finding it difficult to go along with the Anglican Church's official teaching.

Christianity is broader than the denominations, hence the need for interactive dialogue.

Secondly, following from the above, there seem to be neither theological nor pastoral

reasons to justify the condemnation of Shona traditional views of death and the dead. The

Shona people, even in popular religion, see the hand of God in death and acknowledge

his sovereignty over the dead. They hold that unless God wills it, a person cannot die

simply because the ancestors have withdrawn their protective powers, which ironically,

is Shona burial customs have similarities with Jewish burial customs, (i) they share the same
sentiments about death which are (ii) based on similar woridviews.

16See P.Aries, Western Attitudes towards death, op. cit.

17See chapter five, p.258, The interactive dialogical model. '

18See Chapter four for'present practices, ' particularly how official Christianity and popular' or `folk'
Christianity are integrated.

368
 they are given by God. 19This gives Shona views both theological and pastoral integrity.

Instead of writing them off, the Anglican Church could seek to find out why they have held

their own for so long. The best way of doing this is to adopt the interactive dialogical

model. 20

Thirdly, interpreting 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 as authority to forbid wailing and weeping in the

face of death is misplaced, and probably outdated when it comes to pastoral counselling.

Such interpretation reflects the official Anglican thinking, where the Church tells people

what to think and how to react to death. 21 It does not recognise that death whips up

emotions. In most cases the relationship which prevailed between the deceased and the

bereaved intensifies the emotional reactions. Good pastoral care and counselling should

be aware of this in order to accommodate and provide for it. So by suppressing the

traditional Shona wailing and weeping in the name of faith, the Church is ignoring the

psychological need for emotional expression. "The good, healthy bewailing cry of grief

should be accepted as normal rather than be treated as sick. °22

19See the shift in Chapter four, 188.

p.

20See Chapter four, 258 for full discussion

p. a on the interactive dialogical model.
21See what we said about the Rwendo
rweMuKristu and the Pastoral Guidelines, under'Church
literature on burial, ' p. 102.

22M. Rawlings, Before Death Comes, London: Sheldon Press, 1980, 84.
p.

369
 Fourthly, in the light of the commandment, "Honour your father and mother, so that you

may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Exodus 20: 12), condemning the

Shona people's views is perhaps not necessary. What makes it unnecessary is the fact

that one's parents remain one's parents, whether they are alive or not. People refer to their

deceased parents as 'my late father or mother.' If we take the communal nature of Shona

life seriously, one's parents, whether dead or alive, are an integral part of the community

and should be honoured. With regard to death and the dead, this commandment touches

the core of Shona relationships, because the Shona people "live with their dead. n23It is

clear therefore that, from a cultural perspective, for the Shona people, honouring one's

parents does not end with their death. The complexity of this religio-cultural situation

justifies dialogue between biblical and traditional Shona views.

Finally, it is perhaps useful to discuss the 'communion of saints' at this stage, since it has

connections with some of the concerns raised above. The Christian phrase is employed

to emphasize that the'communion of saints' is based on (a) the saints' communion with the

Father through the Son.24(b)They also have communion with each other through the Spirit

(2 Cor. 13: 13). This covers the 'saints' both living or departed. For the Shona people both

understandings make sense from the point of view of the communal nature of life. The

An expression from C.G. Baeta, cited by E.W. Fashole-Luke, "Ancestor Veneration and the
Communion of Saints, ' in M.E. Glasswell and E.W. Fashole-Luke (eds) NewTestament Christianity forAfrica
and the World. London: SPCK, 1974, p.210.

24A.. Richardson & J. Bowden, (eds) A New Dictionary of Christian Theolocy, London: SCM Press,
1983, p. 114. It echoes 1 John 1: 3f.

370
 understandings become even more comprehensible when we define a saint as a

canonized person regarded as having a place in heaven, or as a holy person. Obviously,

for one to become a saint in this sense, one must have died. The canonizing is done by

people who obviously have a desire to remain in communion with the deceased, for good

religious reasons. It is important to note that for one to be considered to be in communion,

in the Shona setting, he or she should have lived a socially responsible life. With this at

the back of our minds, there is nothing to justify condemning the Shona Christians for

claiming to have communion with their deceased, as long as they do so within the

parameters of the Christian faith, that is, they should do so from the joy of being in Christ. 25

However, there is a need to understand their views better.

My thesis is this; there is no reason for retaining condemnation and confrontation as a

viable theological approach to Shona views of death and the dead. It is my submission that

there are no anthropological, or biblical, or ecclesiastical, or pastoral, or psychological, or

sociological, or theological grounds to sustain its continued use. Its resultant dual

observance is equally undesirable,serving a negative purpose. Taking our cue from the
Shona traditional religious understanding of life, where 'religion permeates all life, '26a

synthesis of Christian and Shona views of death is defensible; that is, 'official' and'popular'

u St. Paul says, 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation; the old has gone, the
new has come! ' 2 Cor. 5: 17.

26See Chapter one, p. 16, particularly explanatory footnote no. 2, and Chapter three.

371
 views of death27should engage in interactive dialogue. Orthodoxy and ortho-praxis should

complement each other, to produce a Shona Christian theology of death.

8.5 THE WAY FORWARD

We identified dual observance as an unnecessary burden that some Shona Christians

have to live with. To be able to offer relevant ministry and pastoral care the Anglican

Diocese of Harare has to locate Shona views of death and the dead within their cultural

and social context. To facilitate this, the diocese has to be prepared to face reality from a

Shona view point. This will assist the diocese honestly and seriously to establish why dual

observance still exists , in spite of all its efforts to eradicate it. In the light of the fact that

the Anglican Church has been in Zimbabwe for over one hundred years, this remains a

relevant question. So asking that question will enable the diocese to re-assess its own self-

understanding, and help it to clarify its aim or mission and purpose among the Shona

people. It is my submission that there is need for a different theological approach to this

pastoral reality; interactive dialogue should be part of the ongoing apologetical,

pedagogical and contextualization process.

Since adopting new methods is difficult, the viability of the whole process demands an

element of re-education for all involved. Such education should aim at changing attitudes,

27See Chapter six.

372
 particularly those of the Church's hierarchy. 28 Through dialogue and interaction the

educational method aims at enabling the Church to re-learn the implications of the

incarnation; how Christ became part of the Jewish context, to the extent of synthesizing

contemporary beliefs. The hope is that this process will lead to an enriching contextual re-

reading of the Bible which could help the Church officialdom to extricate itself from the

colonial mentality and obsolete traditions. To use a phrase from Roland Allen; so that the

Church officialdom may learn not to "fear for the doctrine. n29

When the Anglican Church has redefined its purpose, revised the relevance of both its

ministry and pastoral care, and re-examined its theological methods and approaches, it

should be ready to move forward. This search for contextual sensitivity can be facilitated

by three basic assumptions relating to the Church's preparedness. First, the Church should

be prepared to learn from its own history. 30Secondly, it should be willing to learn from

popular Anglican Christianity. Thirdly, it should be inclined to learn from other

28 Ralph Peter Hatendi, the Bishop who was instrumental in setting up the 1993 Commission of
Enquiry 'maintains that a Christian is one who turns away completely on conversion from his or her old way
of life, embraces in its entirety the new life of Christ. Therefore a church member who continues to follow
traditional religious practices is not fully converted. Among its responsibilities, the church should foster the
complete conversion of its members. Although Christians are to honour their parents in terms of the Fifth
Commandment, this is not a warrant for praying to the ancestors. ' Cited in P. D.E. Bertram, The Kurovanuva
Ceremony and some Responses of the Churches and their Members, (Unpublished) University of Zimbabwe,
B.A. Honours Thesis, 1992, p.28. This is an example of rhetoric by church leadership; it gives the impression
that the Church's teaching is adequate, if there is anything lacking, it is the convert's fault.

29R.AIIen, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, p.43.

30In this study we have highlighted a lot of historical baggage which needs to be
shed.

373
denominations and also Anglicans elsewhere in Africa who have addressed these issues.

Such a predisposition will help to balance the theological and pastoral aspects of its

ministry. 31

To do this effectively, the Anglican Diocese of Harare probably needs to consider

establishing a Theological or Pastoral Committee, as opposed to a Commission of

Enquiry.32 Such a Committee could have the responsibility for overseeing the ongoing

dialogue and interaction with traditional Shona views, and engaging in research on how

other provinces in the Anglican communion have dealt with such issues. This could also

include researching into other denominations. The appropriateness of the contextualization

process could be left to this Committee, which could experiment with burial liturgies as it

deems fit. Whenever there is Synod, this Committee should share something of its ongoing

work and receive comments, insights, queries and questions from members.

Another area which needs looking at, as part of the way forward, is clergy training.

Teaching methods,content and approach,need some revision if the contextualnature of

theology is to be realized. Perhaps it is important to point out that clergy should not be

311draw attention to a paper which could be used in pointing out that synthesizing Christian and
traditional Shona views of death and the dead is not a hit and run exercise. It demonstrates how the pastoral
aspect can be developed by encouraging the theological involvement of the church in the preliminary
arrangements for the kurova guva ceremony. X. Marimazhira, Kurova Guva Rites and Procedures, p.440.
32The Committee, as its name suggests, has to deal with relevant theological and liturgical issues
which need addressing. My preference for a Committee stems from the observation that a Commission of
Enquiry suggests a limited and specific engagement. Once the pressing need is over the Commission has
accomplished its work. I see this as an ongoing reflection exercise.

374
trained to see Shona traditional views, or any other indigenous views, as necessarily

opposed to Christianity. Their theological reflection should enable them to realise that

such views are part of the context within which they will be serving. I would suggest that

an approach to training which seeks to equip clergy for a mutual understanding of the

context of their ministry and pastoral care, without fear of losing control, is the most

appropriate.

Learning from one's mistakes is a very edifying, but humbling undertaking, which the

diocese should take on board. In a number of attempts by the Anglican Church to address

the pastoral problem of dual observance, it has offered solutions which have not helped

much. But, if there is to be progress, the context has to be understood, and all key players

identified. As we have noted, Shona views of death and the dead do not simply relate to

death and the dead, but to the whole understanding of humanity. The same is true of the

ceremonies and rituals which are engaged as a means of coping with these life changes.

So in our quest for theologicalcontextualization,the totality of humanexistencehas to be

appreciatedfrom a Shona perspective.This helps to inform the theological and pastoral

approaches to be adopted. 33

33Though this could be said of the missionary approaches, what makes it different is what Paul in
the letter to the Philippians calls the motive 'of goodwill. " Phil. 1:15. The interactive dialogical model is
liturgically, pastorally and theologically sensitive, with the aim of enabling the Shona Christians to Integrate
the faith into their worldviews, see Chapter six for an elaborate discussion.

375
 We have come full circle to realise that the words of Pope Gregory the Great to Augustine

contained godly wisdom. They were words which sought to make the Christian faith take

root in the English context using familiar imagery, practices and symbols. Pope Gregory's

letter was written on June 22,601, and excerpts from it, as cited by Margaret Deanesly

read

Pagan temples (fana idolorum) are not to be destroyed among that people, but
the idols among them must be destroyed: 'let holy water be sprinkled in the
temples, altars built, and relics set there'. This must be done especially if the
temples are well built. People will resort to the temples the more readily if they
are used to frequenting them. 'And because many oxen have been wont to be
sacrificed to demons, in this matter also there should be some substitution of
solemnity: on dedication days, or the feasts of the holy martyrs whose relics
have been set there, let them make tabernacles of boughs of trees around
these churches which used to be pagan fanes, and keep the solemn day with
religious feasting: let them not sacrifice animals to the devil but slaughter them
for their own eating to the praise of God, so that while certain external joys are
preserved for them, they may the more readily share in internal joys. "

If only the early Anglican missionaries to the then Mashonaland had cared to learn a

lesson from their own past, their methods of approach to what appeared heathen to them

would have been different. The relationship of suspicion might not have developed, and

34M. Deanesley, The Pre-Conquest Church in England, London: Adam &Charles Black, 1961, p. 52.
Contents of the same letter are also found in W. Hunt, A History of the English Church from Its Foundation
to the Norman Conquest 597-1066, London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1901, pp. 32-3. In the latterworkthe pagan
background to some of the Christian festivals is given.

35Article xxiv of the 39 Articles of the Church of England composed in relation to Rome is an
excellent statement of contextual theology from the 17"' century with roots in the 161'century. Speaking of
the traditions of the Church, it says, 'it is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be In all places one,
or utterly like, for at all times they have been diverse, and may be changed according to the diversity of
Countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word.... Every particular
or national Church, has authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the Church ordained
only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying. ' O. O'Donovan, On the Thirty Nine Articles:
A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Exeter. The Paternoster Press, 1986, pp. 150-1.

376
 dual observance would not be presenting itself as a pastoral problem. Revisiting their

approach to the Shona people with a view to learning from it is a positive way forward. In

this study we have attempted to do just that. We took our cue from the words of the late

David Bosch who said, "we reflect on the past not just for the past's sake; rather, we look

upon it as a compass - and who would use a compass only to ascertain from where he or

she has come?"-16

I am fully aware that in writing on this subject I am joining an ongoing theological debate

from a specific perspective. In this way I am emphasizing that the need for contextual

theological reflection is ever before us. It is therefore my prayer that this study will provoke

some response. The following issues demand urgent examination: Shona Spirituality; the

relevance of traditional Anglican liturgy to Shona Christians; and the place of traditional

Shona religious songs and instruments in the worship of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe.

m D.J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, Maryknoll, New York:
Orbis Books, 1991, p. 189.

377
Wilson T. Sitshebo
Towards a theological synthesisof Christian and shona views of death
and the dead

Thesis (Ph. D) - University of Birmingham, Faculty of Arts, Department

of Theology, 2001

The appendices are not available in this digital version

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USPG ARCHIVES AT RHODES HOUSE LIBRARY, OXFORD.

CLR VOLUMES

142 Copies and Lefters received July 1892 - July 1927

D VOLUMES

106a Lefters and Papers received from abroad, 1893

110 Lefters and Papers received from abroad, 1894

114 Lefters and Papers received from abroad, 1895

E Volumes

48b Missionar y Reports, 1893

49c Missionar y Reports, 1894

50c Missionar y Reports, 1895

51 b Missionar y Reports, 1896

52b Missionar y Reports, 1897

53b Missionary Reports, 1898

54a Missionar y Reports, 1899

55a Missionar y Reports, 1900

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56a Missiona!y ReRortS,1901

57a Missiona[y Reports,,1902

58b Missionary ReRorts,1903

59a Missiongy ReportS,1904

60a Missiona!y Rel?ortS, 1905

61b MissionaryRegorts, 1906

62b Missionary Reports, 1907

63b Missionary Rel?ortS, 1908

64b Missionary Regorts, 1909

65b Missionary ReportS, 1910

66b Missionar y Reports, 1911

67b Missiona[ y ReportS, 1912

68b Missionar y Reports, 1913

69b Missiona! y Reports. 1914

475