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Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
AFM, AFM of SA, Apostoliese Geloofsending van Suid-Afrika, AGS
Founder: John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch (American missionaries) · Founded: 1908 (registered as a legal entity in 1913) · Headquarters: South Africa (early headquarters at the Zion Tabernacle, Bree Street, Johannesburg; first services held in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, from 25 May 1908)
The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM; Afrikaans: Apostoliese Geloofsending, AGS) is the largest Pentecostal denomination in South Africa and one of the country's larger religious groupings, with roughly 1.2 million adherents. It was founded in 1908 by the American missionaries John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch, who brought a Pentecostal message of Spirit baptism and divine healing to a community of believers in Johannesburg. The AFM is historically significant far beyond its own membership: many of South Africa's Zionist and African Initiated Churches (AICs) — most famously the Zion Christian Church — trace their origins to early secessions from the AFM and to the wider Zion movement that fed into it. The church teaches a classical Pentecostal faith centred on the Trinity, salvation in Jesus Christ, baptism in the Holy Spirit, and believer's baptism by immersion.
Overview
The AFM is a classical Pentecostal denomination and the largest organised Pentecostal church in South Africa, with an estimated 1.2 million adherents across more than 2,000 assemblies and branch assemblies. It is often counted among the larger religious groupings in the country. Its name reflects two of its core emphases: 'Apostolic' (a restoration of New Testament Christianity) and 'Faith Mission' (dependence on faith for healing and for the support of its work). The church is widely known in Afrikaans as the Apostoliese Geloofsending (AGS).
History
The AFM grew out of the early-20th-century Pentecostal revival. Its founders, John G. Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch, were shaped by the divine-healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie at Zion City, Illinois, and by the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. They arrived in South Africa in 1908 and held their first services at a rented hall in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, on 25 May 1908. The young movement initially had an interracial character, but — as with American Pentecostalism of the period — this was short-lived, and by July 1909 baptisms were conducted separately along racial lines. The church was registered as a legal entity in 1913. Through the 20th century the AFM grew into the country's leading Pentecostal body, while also experiencing several schisms (including the Latter Rain Mission associated with Maria Fraser in 1928, and the Pentecostal Protestant Church separation in 1958). In 1991 black members were granted legal membership for the first time, and in 1996 the previously separate white and black structures were unified into a single church under one president, Dr Isak Burger. The AFM later confessed before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to having, during the apartheid era, characterised opposition to apartheid as inspired by communism and hostile to Christianity.
Founder and leadership
The AFM was co-founded in 1908 by John Graham Lake (1870-1935), a Canadian-born minister and faith healer, together with Thomas Hezmalhalch, who had come from the Azusa Street Revival. Hezmalhalch served as the first president and Lake succeeded him; Lake returned to the United States in 1913. The most consequential early South African leader was Pieter Louis Le Roux, a former Dutch Reformed missionary and disciple of Andrew Murray who had previously led Zion congregations; he served as AFM president from 1913 to 1943. Later figures include David du Plessis, who became general secretary in 1935 and went on to international prominence in the ecumenical Pentecostal movement. Dr Isak Burger became president in 1996 and led the church through its post-apartheid unification.
Beliefs
The AFM holds a classical Pentecostal, evangelical theology set out in its Confession of Faith. Core teachings include belief in the Trinity and in Jesus Christ as the Son of God; salvation through faith in Christ; and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, understood with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. The church practises believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper as ordinances instituted by Christ. It affirms a final judgment, with eternal life for the saved and eternal punishment for the lost. Divine healing through prayer and faith has been a hallmark of the movement since its founding.
Worship and practices
AFM worship is experiential and expressive in the Pentecostal tradition. A typical service includes congregational singing, the collection of an offering or tithe, prayer, a sermon, and an altar call inviting personal response. Worship may feature shouting, antiphonal (call-and-response) singing, simultaneous and spontaneous prayer, and dance. Prayer for healing and the exercise of spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, are common. An early practice influenced by the Zion movement was baptism by triple immersion — once each in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Structure and organisation
At national level the AFM combines presbyterian and episcopal elements of church governance. Its constitution (a version adopted in 2000) incorporates what the church terms a 'New Apostolic Paradigm.' Governance bodies include a triennial General Business Meeting and a National Leadership Forum, while local assemblies operate with considerable autonomy to set their own policies. Offices of elder and deacon were introduced in 1945. The church has historically run several theological-training campuses and has pursued ministerial education in partnership with North-West University.
Membership and the church today
The AFM is the largest Pentecostal denomination in South Africa, with around 1.2 million adherents and more than 2,000 assemblies and branch assemblies. Since the 1996 unification of its racially separated structures into a single church, it has operated as one body under a single president. It remains active in evangelism, church planting, and theological education across South Africa and beyond.
Significance for Zionist and African Initiated Churches
The AFM occupies a pivotal place in the history of South African Christianity because the country's vast Zionist and African Initiated Church movement traces much of its lineage through it. The Zion movement began when emissaries of John Alexander Dowie's Christian Catholic Apostolic Church (headquartered at Zion City, Illinois) reached South Africa; Dowie's emissary Daniel Bryant arrived in 1904, and early converts included Pieter Le Roux and Daniel Nkonyane of Wakkerstroom. When Lake arrived in 1908, many of these Zion believers — together with Le Roux and the Zion Tabernacle in Bree Street, Johannesburg — embraced the Pentecostal message and joined the AFM. A great many independent Zionist churches subsequently emerged through secessions from the AFM and from this shared Zion heritage. By the late 20th century, research suggested that a very large share of black South African Christians belonged to a Zionist-type church, making this one of the most significant religious developments in modern South African history.
Related: Zion Christian Church (ZCC), St Engenas Zion Christian Church, Christian Catholic Apostolic Church (Zion City, Illinois), Zion Apostolic Faith Mission Church, Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe / iBandla lamaNazaretha), African Initiated Churches (AICs), Zionist churches, Pentecostalism in South Africa, John G. Lake, John Alexander Dowie, Pieter Louis Le Roux, Engenas Lekganyane, Daniel Nkonyane, Assemblies of God, Full Gospel Church of God
Described factually and respectfully from documented sources; practices vary within and between congregations. Corrections welcome.