practices, churches focusing on the idea of one God as presented in the old testament, and finally churches focusing on Jesus as Savior and the revelations of the Holy Spirit (Mazrui 518). All of these types of independent churches brought about some Christian truths but also clung to many of the African traditions. Was this so wrong? Many leaders of affiliated churches in the mission field feel negatively about these independent churches, while others are very pleased with what their seeds have produced. Not only did the numbers grow in the independent churches but also in the protestant and Catholic churches (Chidester 451). By 1967, there were 15,500,000 members of the Church of Christ on Earth independent church and by 1970; there were 6000 churches and sixteen million members (Mazrui 516). By 1965 there were only 2,870,000 Catholics in the whole of Nigeria (Hastings 206). Many Africans felt safer when belonging to a predominantly black independent church. They felt this way because they felt that the western white people were not simply trying to change their culture (Chidester 453). White missionaries could train a few leaders of the tribes and then send them out to be pastors. This action was smarter and worked better because the black pastors knew how to relate the stories of God and the Christian rituals in a familiar non-threatening way to the natives (Chidester 450- 454).It is obvious that independent churches played an important role in the spread of different forms of Christianity in Nigeria. Not only did the numbers increase in independent church populations, but the membership in affiliated churches also increased substantially when independent churches held outreach projects (Chidester 453). Since the first missionaries arrived in Nigeria in the late 19th century, Christianity has flourished. Much of the credit for the spread of Christianity, and the preservation of African Culture of the tribes of Nigeria i...
