Review of Unpublished Works

Samples of undergraduate and graduate long essays obtained for review from the Lagos State University, Ojo and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife are case studies that probed into the history, beliefs and practices of the Aladura and their contributions to the environments where they exist. One of the long essays examines female leadership in Aladura churches using Captain Abiodun Emmanuel of the Cherubim and Seraphim Society (CSS) as a case study.

In his undergraduate thesis, Ogungbile (1987) did a brilliant comparative and theological study on glossolalia and spirit possession in the C&S in Ilesa. He presents the medical explanation of glossolalia and spirit seizure as a mental disorder with physical expression.

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From the religious perspective, Ogungbile draws on the Old Testament, New Testament, Islamic, Graeco-Roman and Ancient Near East traditions to explain glossolalia as unexplainable divine gift and manifestation that is associated with the spirit of God at work.

Humans generally are people of inquisitive nature who want to know about the past, present, and future. Hence, the author sees the contribution of the C&S, Ilesa from the perspective of its revelation service to its host town and the surrounding communities. The author examines the manifestation of glossolalia and spirit possession, its genuineness and contribution to solving existential problems. Although this study shares similarity with Ogungbile’s work as it probes into the spiritualities of the Aladura of which spirit possession and divination/revelation is a part, the point of departure between the two is that this study focuses on all encompassing issues of transformation in three major strands of Aladura as a multiple case study in three major cities in Nigeria.

Meadows (1990) examines the dynamism in the internal operations and giant strides in evangelism and expansion in CSMC Surulere from 1971 to 1990. The author attributes the success to the influence of elitism and modernity. The author notes that the combination of elitism and modernity produced elaborate administrative and organizational structure that helped place the church on a model ladder in comparison with other district headquarters of the CSMC in Nigeria. The study sees the elites in the church as a capital responsible for contributing operational principles typical of a secular firm (64-69). The study highlights how elitism has impacted on the church in the areas of architectural design of the prayer house, information generation, dissemination, and management using electronic media and the cyberspace, and deemphasizing old practices that have put Aladura churches on the cultic books of the mainline churches. The study sees elitism and modernity from the positive perspective of church development. However, it is an overstatement to declare that the elites in the church constitute about seventy percent of the population in the absence of demographic statistics to substantiate such figure (196). This study examines far reaching transformation in a wider perspective than Meadows’ study.

In his master’s dissertation, Ogungbile (1992) adopts a comparative analytical method in establishing a wide range of relationship between the practice of revelation in Aladura Christianity and Ifa divination in Yoruba traditional religion. At the core of his study is the concept of ori the spiritual representation of the physical head, on which the practice of revelation and divination in the two religious traditions lies. The author investigates the processes and models of revelation and concludes that the two religious traditions share

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similarities in their means of obtaining information from the spiritual realm through dream, audition, spirit possession and prophecies. His work establishes that the traditional spirituality of the Yoruba shapes the healing practice of the Aladura. However, Ogungbile’s work is dated and that the author examines a minor aspect of Aladura spiritualities, which constitutes part of the focus of this study.

Kilanko (1996) examines the life and times of a female spiritual icon in the C&S and a contemporary of the generally acclaimed founder of the C&S Saint Moses Orimolade Tunolase whom an informant refers to as Ajagunmokadi¹⁹. The author examines the humble background of mother Abiodun, her membership of the Anglican, trance experience and her role in the evangelical group of the C&S during its formation. The author presents mother Abiodun’s charismatic qualities and leading role in the days of founder Orimolade. The study posits the co-founder of the C&S as a rare female who in 1929 became the first female church founder and leader of an independent church in the comity of Aladura churches in Nigeria.

This study differs from Kilanko’s in scope and focus.

The present study as stated earlier in this chapter is located in Nigeria where the Aladura emerged and was nurtured to a transnational religion. The reviewed literature presents rich data on the spirituality and operations of the three major strands of Aladura that are being studied. Yet, none of the works reviewed in this study provides current data on how the Aladura churches are responding to the diversified and competitive religious landscape in Nigeria. Furthermore, none of the literature provides information about the theoretical root factor from the perspective of the theory of religious economy that can be factored into the transformation in the organizational structure, survival strategies, and spiritualities of the C&S, TCLA, and CCC. The dynamics of innovation and continuity in the churches’ rituals, symbols, doctrines, programmes, social services, and liturgical practices of the three churches are not the major focal points of previous studies. Some of the previous studies are conceptual, leaving a wide range of Aladura phenomena, which this study intends to investigate. Some previous studies treat Aladura churches in a compact whole and also as case studies. The current activities of the C&S, TCLA and CCC and their response strategies to the dynamics of the religious landscape in Nigeria within the theoretical frame of this study will be used to analyze how they have been able to reposition themselves in comparison with how they were in the past.

19 A sacred word and the title spiritually revealed and given to only Moses Orimolade confirming his divine task

of forming a religious body with the purpose of bringing the idolaterous and the sick to Christ and proclaiming Christ’s salvific essence through preaching and healing (Interview with O. O. Sowande, CSMC, Apapa-Oshodi Express Way, Surulere, Lagos, 03 August, 2011).

26 1.4. Theoretical Approach