A Church of Twelve Recommendations: What Celestians Hold Dear

Ask a Celestian what sets the church apart and you will hear about white garments, bare feet and candles. Underneath all of that sits a simple framework: the twelve major recommendations.

According to Wikipedia's article on the Celestial Church of Christ, the church is governed by twelve major recommendations, mostly prohibitions that echo older biblical food and holiness laws. Tobacco, alcohol and pork are forbidden. Members are also expected to stay clear of idolatry, fetish ceremonies, cults, black magic and charms. The church says its teaching rests on the Bible, and it excludes superstition and animist belief, as other churches in the Aladura movement do.

Purity is a thread running through worship too. Members wear white one-piece garments, remove their shoes inside the main church, and sit in separate rows for men and women. Services use candles and perfumes in prayer, and the church uses English Bibles alongside Yoruba translations. The photo above shows white-robed Celestians at a baptism ceremony on a beach in Cotonou, Benin, where the church was born in 1947.

Whatever one makes of each rule, they shape a distinct way of life that many members describe as a daily discipline of holiness.

Over to you: Which of the twelve recommendations has shaped your own daily life the most? And how would you explain the reason behind them to a young Celestian or a curious friend?

Sources: Wikipedia, "Celestial Church of Christ" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Church_of_Christ).
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, "Benin - batism ceremony in Cotonou"