Spirit, Structure, and Flesh: Gendered Experiences in African Instituted Churches Among the Yoruba of Nigeria

Crumbley, Deidre Helen

ISBN 10: 0299229149 / ISBN 13: 9780299229146

Published by University of Wisconsin Press, 2010

About this Item

Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Seller Inventory # G0299229149I2N00

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Spirit, Structure, and Flesh: Gendered Experiences in African Instituted Churches Among the Yoruba of Nigeria
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0299229149
• ISBN 13: 9780299229146
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 0.75 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Although popularized in Africa by Western missionaries, the Christian faith as practiced by Africans has acquired unique traits over time. Some of the most radical reinterpretations of Christianity are offered by those churches known as “AICs” (variously, African Initiated, African Instituted, or African Independent Churches)—new denominations founded by Africans skeptical of dogma offered by mainstream churches with roots in European empires. As these churches spread throughout the African diaspora, they have brought with them distinct practices relating to gender. Such practices range from the expectation that women avoid holy objects and sites during menstruation to the maintenance of church structures in which both men and women may be ordained and assigned the same duties and responsibilities.

            How does having a female body affect one’s experience of indigenized Christianity in Africa? Spirit, Structure, and Flesh addresses this question by exploring the ways ritual, symbol, and dogma circumscribe, constrain, and liberate women in AICs. Through detailed description of worship and doctrine, as well as careful analyses of church history and organizational processes, Deidre Helen Crumbley explores gendered experiences of faith and power in three Nigerian indigenous AICs, demonstrating the roles of women in the day-to-day life of these churches.

About the Author

Deidre Helen Crumbley is associate professor of Africana studies at North Carolina State University, where she teaches courses on African civilization, religions, and diaspora.