Abstract:
Healing practices and health related rituals play a vital role in most religious groups including African Traditional Religion, Christianity, Islamic and Hinduism. This phenomenon of healing has been a challenge to religious institutions as well as African based churches. This study examined and analysed the healing practices within mega-churches in relation to the health related aspects. It appears that healing practices performed in those churches make them popular and enhance their growth in membership numerically. The study focuses on the philosophy and theological understanding of both mega-churches and mainstream churches. It is ostensible that healing, as a phenomenon, cannot be separated from core African culture, values and practices. Current church healing practices seems to be a more practical and accessible alternative way to deal with sickness as medical facilities has become inexorably costly especially to poor community who have no access to efficient medical amenities. Underprivileged members of society are drawn to religious healing practices because healers such as prophets, pastors and apostles dangle the capacity to heal people from all kind of ailments. Poor communities become a target because they are victims of government and the department of health malfunctions which are depicted by the poor and below standard medical services in those underprivileged communities. Most people in those communities believe that the above-mentioned emerging prophets and apostles from mega-churches are anointed and possess special power to heal them as well as to redeem them from life’s harsh realities.
In the context of current healing practices, the researcher discovered that there is a need to probe and analyse the aforesaid practices particularly whereby healing seekers seems to have not receive what they anticipated from those mega-churches. The study exposes inappropriate healing dynamics conceived in the selected mega-churches within African tradition context. This study followed a qualitative approach, in which participants from both mega-churches and mainline churches were interviewed. The study further points out some perceived challenges affecting current healing practices in the selected mega-churches of Vhembe district of Limpopo Province. The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis strategy to analyse the data for the study.
