White smocks clinging to their bodies, the Shembe congregation files hypnotically into the early morning surf on Durban’s beachfront. Predominantly Zulu, these members of the Shembe Church have been visiting the beach for decades to perform their customary baptisms.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain
Known for their celebration of the godly gifts of nature, the Shembe begin each year with a pilgrimage to Nhlangagazi, the Holy Mountain, on the first Sunday of the New Year.
Dressed in spotless white robes, thousands of believers, young and old and irrespective of the weather, walk 80 kilometres from Ebhohleni, the church’s headquarters near Durban, to the Holy Mountain.
Spiritual Calling
The 3-day pilgrimage is a re-enactment of the journey taken by the church’s founder, Bishop Isaiah Shembe, who, in 1910 received a spiritual calling to the Holy Mountain where he was instructed by the Holy Spirit to start the Shembe Church.
The Shembe path he paved includes several evocative pilgrimages and festivals throughout the year, which visitors are welcome to attend.
Month of Prayer
Another key date on the Shembe calendar is their annual October festival. Over 25 000 Shembe gather for a month of prayer, healing and religious celebrations in the village of Judea near Eshowe on KwaZulu-Natal’s north coast.
The village, which does not exist outside of the Shembe festival month, literally springs up overnight. Hundreds of family-run shops appear, selling everything from food to clothing to Shembe icons.
Mixing Business with Belief
The Shembe mix business with belief as comfortably as they do African traditional practices with Christianity. The combination of traditions is their interpretation of the African renaissance.
Reverend Mthembeni Mpanza of the Shembe Church explains:
“Dance has always been part of Bible as a way of worshipping God. Isaiah Shembe integrated African dance with Hebrew dance and merged religion with culture.”
Hero to Healer
The hybrid rituals have another resonance for Mpanza: the Zulu traditional warrior has been turned into a peace-lover and sticks, spears and shields transformed into biblical staffs.
“In traditional Zulu culture, sticks were made to kill, but in Shembe culture sticks are for healing. In traditional Zulu culture, heroes are counted by the number of people they have killed. In Shembe culture, heroes are counted by the number of people they have healed,” he explains.
©Photographs courtesy and copyright Paul Weinberg
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