Abstract:
The church founded by the South Africa General Mission (SAGM) missionaries in
Chimanimani, Zimbabwe, is now called the United Baptist Church (UBC) of Zimbabwe
(Dube, 2017; 2022). Like other missionary-founded churches in Zimbabwe
and elsewhere in Southern Africa, its members wear church uniforms. Missionaries
introduced church uniforms in these churches to foster uniformity and to distinguish
between Christians and non-Christians. These church uniforms are only
bestowed to certain members who meet certain established criteria, especially at
UBC. The departments (youths, women, and men) have different church uniforms.
While church uniforms are not a problem, the unintended consequences of having
church uniforms that only some qualify to wear and not all the members have
been quite a major bone of contention within the church. This article focuses on
church uniforms in general and at UBC. The article is a phenomenological study of
the phenomenon, presented from an emic perspective. It employs the theological
approach to assess the relevance of church uniforms. It recommends that inside
piety should be more of the focal point in African Christian churches, not church
uniforms that only adorn the outside.
