The Spirit in Worship and

Worship in the Spirit Presenter

Professor Jonathan Draper

Biography:
Jonathan Draper is a Professor of Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Title:
The Holy Spirit in the Worship of the Independent African Churches

Abstract:
Holy Spirit is the fundamental concept in the life and worship of those African Independent Churches often called Zionist. It draws on an underlying holistic understanding of the nature and power of the numinous in African culture in a creative new indigenous expression of Christian faith. Drawing on both historical and field data this paper affirms the positive valuation given to these expressions in the work of recent scholars such as Allan Anderson, but also calls into question attempts to homogenize them with more traditional Pentecostalism. The overlap between angels, ancestors, spirits and Spirit is more significant and fluid than Anderson allows.