In the 1970s and 1980s African historiography generally treated Christianity in Africa as an alien phenomenon, introduced as a tool of capitalism and colonialism. As Thomas Spear (1999:3) puts it, ‘African conversion to Christianity has been seen largely in materialistic and instrumental terms as individuals sought to gain political allies, land, education, medicine and jobs in the new colonial order through the missions’.

An exception to this was the African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches (AICs). Studies of the AICs in the 1970s and 1980s emphasised African initiative in Christian mission, and in the development of Christianity and the appropriation of Christianity as a way of life in Africa. Many of the major works on AICs published in that period (especially those in East and Southern Africa) were written by whites (Daneel 1971, 1987; Dillon-Malone 1978; Kamphausen 1976; Oosthuizen 1979; Sundkler 1976; West 1975). But after reading them many black members of Western-initiated churches (WICs) protested that what was described in those works was part of their religious experience too.

Church historians and missiologists began re-examining the history of WICs, and began to pay attention to movements that had hitherto been largely ignored. There was also more emphasis on the specifically religious dimension of African Christianity.

The main purpose of this series is to highlight African initiatives in Christian mission, and this volume is no exception. The core of the book is four case studies, two of AICs, and two of Western-initiated churches, in Zimbabwe.

One of the most notable characteristics in African Christianity has been the revival of the healing ministry in the Christian churches. This has been noted in many AICs, but it has also come to characterise many other Christian groups as well.

The core of this book is four case studies of the healing ministry in Zimbabwe, based on research by Dr Tabona Shoko and Dr Lilian Dube. The case studies examine aspects of the healing ministry in four different denominations: the Zvikomborero Apostolic Church, the St Elijah Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. They are also situated in four different parts of the country. There have been similar studies of healing ministry in other parts of Africa, and it is interesting to compare them with those in Zimbabwe.