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International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC)
IPHC, International Pentecost Church (IPC), Silo, The Modise Church
Founder: Frederick Samuel Modise (1914-1998) · Founded: 1962, Meadowlands, Soweto, South Africa · Headquarters: Silo (Ntlokgolo), Zuurbekom, Gauteng, South Africa
The International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC), also widely known by the name of its headquarters, Silo, is one of the largest African-initiated churches in South Africa. It was founded in 1962 in Meadowlands, Soweto, by Frederick Samuel Modise, a former minister of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). The church is best known for its emphasis on divine healing, its distinctive red, white and maroon uniforms, and the monthly pilgrimage of members to its sprawling headquarters at Silo in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg. Its supreme spiritual leader holds the title "Comforter." Since the death of Frederick Modise's son and successor in 2016, the church has been divided by a prolonged leadership-succession dispute. (Note: this South African church should not be confused with the unrelated United States denomination of a very similar name, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, founded in the early 20th century.)
History
The International Pentecost Holiness Church was founded in 1962 in Meadowlands, Soweto, by Frederick Samuel Modise. Its founding is often described by scholars as the largest schism from the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) since 1948, as Modise had been a minister within the ZCC before establishing his own movement. According to accounts of the church's origins, Modise was seriously ill and hospitalised at Coronation Hospital in Johannesburg in 1962 when he reported hearing a divine voice instructing him to pray; he recovered and began a healing and preaching ministry. From a small beginning in Soweto, the church grew rapidly through grassroots evangelism centred on spiritual healing. Modise relocated the church's headquarters to Oskraal, near Pretoria, around 1970, and later to Zuurbekom. The large Silo complex at Zuurbekom was inaugurated in May 1991 by South Africa's then State President, F.W. de Klerk. By the early 1990s researchers estimated the church had around 165 branches across South Africa and in neighbouring countries including Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing African-initiated churches in the country.
Founder and leadership
Frederick Samuel Modise (born 14 March 1914 in the Rooiberg area of present-day Limpopo; died 21 September 1998 in Johannesburg) founded and led the church until his death. Before founding the IPHC he worked in trades including carpentry and the funeral business, and was a member and minister of the Zion Christian Church. Within the IPHC he was regarded with deep reverence and was addressed by honorific titles including "His Grace" and "Comforter" (Moemedi), reflecting the central role followers attributed to him as a channel of divine healing. The office of supreme leader is known as the "Comforter." After Frederick Modise's death in 1998, leadership passed to his son, Glayton Modise, who led the church until his own death on 9 February 2016. Glayton's death without a clear, undisputed succession plan triggered the leadership conflict that has since divided the church.
Beliefs
Although its name includes the word "Pentecostal," scholars note that the IPHC is not a Pentecostal church in the strict, classical sense. The founder is reported to have set aside practices such as speaking in tongues and prophecy that are typical of classical Pentecostalism. Instead, the church places a pronounced emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, who is believed to have come upon Frederick Modise in a singular way, and on the gift of divine healing understood to operate especially through the church's leader. Healing has historically been the most prominent and distinctive feature of the church's message and its appeal to new members. Because of the elevated spiritual status attributed to its founder and leader, academic observers (notably Allan Anderson) have described the IPHC as among the clearest examples of a "messianic" African-initiated movement in South Africa. The descriptions here record how the church and its members understand these matters; they are not doctrinal endorsements or criticisms.
Worship and practices
The IPHC is a Sabbatarian church: it observes Saturday as the Sabbath, with its principal gatherings taking place from Friday night through Saturday. A central practice is the monthly pilgrimage of members to the headquarters at Silo, Zuurbekom, where large crowds gather for worship and healing. The main auditorium at Silo is reported to seat around twenty thousand people, and the complex includes facilities to feed the multitudes who attend. In worship gatherings, seating has traditionally been organised with men and women in separate areas, and uniformed members seated behind visitors. The church is well known for the discipline, order and scale of its services.
Regalia and uniform
Members of the IPHC are widely recognised by their distinctive uniforms in brilliant red, white and maroon. Some members wear full uniforms while others wear badges. The colourful regalia is a strong visual marker of membership and is associated in the public imagination with the church's large gatherings at Silo. (Details of the precise meaning and grading of uniforms are not consistently documented in reputable sources and are therefore described here only in general terms.)
Membership and the church today
The IPHC has long been counted among the largest African-initiated churches in South Africa, with branches in the country and in neighbouring states. Its founder built a substantial institution, and the church accumulated significant assets; reporting on Glayton Modise's estate referred to hundreds of millions of rand in property, vehicles, investments and cash. Since 2016 the church has been the subject of a high-profile succession dispute (see subpage), and the South African CRL Rights Commission (the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities) has intervened in the conflict over leadership and assets. Despite the divisions, the church retains a very large following and the Silo headquarters remains a major centre of religious life.
Related: Zion Christian Church (ZCC), African-initiated churches, Saint Engenas ZCC, Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe), Sabbatarian Christianity, Pentecostalism
Described factually and respectfully from documented sources; practices vary within and between congregations. Corrections welcome.