Praying People: Where the Celestial Church Sits in the Aladura Family

Aladura is a Yoruba word meaning "praying people", and it is the family the Celestial Church of Christ belongs to. According to Wikipedia, the Aladura movement grew among the Yoruba of south-western Nigeria from about 1918, as independent prophet-healing churches that put prayer, revelation and healing at the centre of Christian life.

The family has several branches. The Christ Apostolic Church is described as the largest, and it grew after a mass healing revival led by Joseph Babalola from 1930. The Cherubim and Seraphim societies separated from the Anglican Church in 1928. The Church of the Lord (Aladura) was founded in 1930 by Josiah Oshitelu.

Then comes our own story. The Celestial Church of Christ was founded by Samuel Oshoffa on 29 September 1947 in Porto-Novo, in today's Benin. It was recognised by the Republic of Dahomey in 1965, and today it has followers across West Africa and in the UK, Germany, France, the USA and beyond. The photo above shows a Celestial parish building in London, a reminder of how far a praying people can travel.

What Celestians share with the wider Aladura family is a belief that God still answers prayer and speaks. What sets us apart, in dress, worship and order, is the story we keep telling each generation.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7, KJV)

Over to you:
- What does being part of a "praying people" mean in your own home or parish?
- Which Celestial practice would you most like the wider Aladura family to understand?

Sources: Wikipedia, "Celestial Church of Christ" and "Aladura".
Photo: Terence Chisholm / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)