Doctrine and Creeds
Like other christian churches, the AIPCA has adopted and professes the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, and in her catechism there are traces of the Athanasian one. Otherwise, the church seems to be unaware of other, more recent, professions of faith, such as the Augsburg Confession. Some people's view, however, is that there are seven or six sacraments. Here again
, the problem is that the written documents, where the higher number of sacraments is taught, do not necessarily reflect the actual practice in the congregations. In the Catechism, Mugnai has put down that there are six major sacraments. From the traditional Roman Catholic and Orthodox sevenfold number, he seems to have omitted the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The other sacraments are explained as follows:
Baptism: The mode of baptism is by sprinkling water and making the sign of the cross on the forehead of the baptized with the forefinger of the priest which has been dipped in holy oil. Infants are also baptized, their sponsors (god parents) standing surety to their profession of faith and Christian living. Adults are baptized after they have completed a catechism class. Confirmation: This sacrament entitles the church member to participate in Holy Communion. It is conferred only by the bishop, who lays his hands on every candidate. The conferring of this sacrament is also preceded by a catechism class. Hence, AIPCA practice closed communion and not open communion. Holy Communion: This sacrament is just like in other Christian churches. The bread that is used is the wafer, and the wine is the ordinary altar wine. The understanding of this sacrament is more in line with the Lutheran idea of consubstantiation. By partaking of the Eucharist the believers partake spiritually of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing they receive the remission of past sins. When receiving the sacrament, the communicant kneels down prayerfully and in a spirit of repentance; and the distribution starts with the bread followed with the wine. During the Holy Communion service the bell is rung, as the congregation recite: “Holy, holy, holy”. The priest then turns to the congregation and says three times: "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us". The rest of the ceremony is very much like in service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania. Confession: Confessions were heard by the priest, usually prior to Holy Communion, although not always. In the past members were expected to confess their sins to the priest in the vestry before Holy Communion, as is the custom with Roman Catholics. But since the church adopted the new liturgy, this practice has ceased. As a way of preparing for the service there is now one congregational confession which is said by all members together after the call to worship as in the liturgical order. The priest, archdeacon or the bishop declares the forgiveness of sins to the congregation after confession. Marriage (or Holy Matrimony): The church also conducts Holy Matrimony as one of its sacraments. The marriage takes the form of common weddings as conducted by other Protestant churches. Announcements (banns) are announced three Sundays (three times) before the wedding day. These are usually done at the churches where the marriage candidates belong. Unction: This consists of anointing with holy oil a person who is very sick in view of purifying him/her even if death comes. The seventh sacrament, as found in the catechism which is of Orthodox origin, is
Holy Orders or Ordination: It is a sacrament through which men who receive the call from God, and are recognized by the church, are set apart by the laying on of hands signifying the giving of the Holy Spirit. By this ceremony these men become
clergy and are distinguished from the laity. These sacraments, as found in the written texts, are not all celebrated everywhere. Some priests are unable to explain to the laity their biblical basis or their significance. The reason is that most of the clergy do not know much about them; and so much of them are not celebrated today. The only commonly celebrated sacraments are: Baptism, Holy Communion, Matrimony and Confirmation. Sunday Service
Worship service is normally performed on Sundays, starting at 10.3 0 a.m., and ends at 12.3 0 p.m. When the bell has been rung, and the Christians are seated, the priest and team who are to lead the service that particular Sunday enter the church in a procession: two by two, or if they are two: one by one. As they approach the altar the congregation rises up, and keeps standing while the liturgical call to worship statements are read loudly by the priest. In most cases lay elders sit on the first pew near the altar. The choir has no special place; when the time comes for singing, the choir comes to the front and starts to sing. During the singing there is dancing and use of musical instruments, the most common of which is the tumbrel. Church announcements are made in turn, by the priest, the elder (chair of the local church), women chairperson, and even the youth chairman. This may take quite a while, robbing the preaching of a lot of time. Other Ordinances and Rituals
There are other rituals and liturgical ceremonies, most of which are found in the books that the congregation may want to use like common book of prayer. However, the most used ceremonial book the liturgy contains provisions for morning services, evening services, Holy Communion, Baptism for adults and infants, weddings, burials, and other special days like Pentecost, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, etc. There are other rituals that the AIPCA calls Ordinances, that are, rites established by divine authority. Some of these are really not ordinances but rather worship services, like the dedication of a church building. The real ordinances are two. The first set is that of the two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which is celebrated regularly and is observed as the seal of God’s covenant with humanity and with the visible church: a sign of spiritual membership. The second ordinance is “Foot-washing”. It is celebrated only once a year, on Holy Thursday (during the ceremony of prayers and dedication for church instruments) the eve of Good Friday, and not by all members but only by the Archbishop who washes the feet’s of the bishops as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. There is some controversy regarding this ordinance of Foot-washing. Some members argue that Christ gave it as an example (John 13:15) which should be followed, and not just preached about. He used the words “you ought”, “you should”. So it is an obligation. Differently from churches like the Church of God in East Africa, most other churches do not regard it as an ordinance. They consider it simply as an example of love shown by Jesus to his disciples: an impressive lesson “to love one another”. The Cross as Symbol of the Church
As is the case with other churches, the AIPCA has adopted some symbols which mark its identity and function as signs of solidarity among its members. The most important one is its special Cross which is meant to distinguish it from other churches. This particular cross is found on the rosary that AIPCA clergy wear and in its shrines. It is also seen on the altar table, on table cloths, on stoles, on the bishop's rod, and so on. Its particular shape consists in being three crosses in one: across the one vertical bar there are three horizontal arms, the middle one of which is longer than the top one, and the lowest one is slanting to one side. Several explanations circulate as to the meaning of this rather unusual shape of the cross. According to Mungai (in Shenk 1973, 46) some priests explain that the upper arm stands for Jesus, the middle one for his arms, and the bottom one for his feet. Another informant put the suggestion more clearly by saying that the first arm is for the head of Jesus, the middle one for his arms, and the third for his feet. Others have explained that it is question of Jesus and the two criminals who were crucified with him. The middle, longer, arm is for Jesus, while the upper shorter one is for the Good Thief who rebuked the bad one represented by the slanting arm! But I think the simplest explanation is that the shape of the cross has been borrowed from the Orthodox Church, if we remember that Bishop William Alexander, who trained the first clergy of the AIPCA, was a South African Primate of the African Orthodox Church. The AIPCA has indeed adopted practices from other churches in its worship and order of service: like the making of the sign of cross on the face, similar to Roman Catholics, and the burning of candles during the ceremonies, and the vestments, from the Orthodox Church.
