In Congo, some people are looking to the Kimbanguist Church and to its founding figure as the country confronts an increasingly dangerous security environment in the east. The Associated Press reported that the church’s founder, Simon Kimbangu, endured 30 years in prison under Belgian colonial rule and died as a prisoner after colonial authorities judged his religious activities to be dangerous. Decades later, followers say that April 6—now observed as Kimbangu Day—captures a living message of sacrifice and African identity that resonates beyond the church itself.
Kimbanguist believers describe their movement as a home-grown Christian tradition with roots in the Bible but distinct features tied to how they venerate Kimbangu. The AP reported that Kimbangu identified God with Nzambi, a deity in the Kikongo language, and that presenting himself as God’s envoy carried implications about the Blackness of God that alarmed European settlers while drawing Congolese workers who traveled to Nkamba seeking healing. Church members now visit Nkamba, a town southwest of Kinshasa that believers call the New Jerusalem, and they also observe Kimbangu Day in places including the Kinshasa branch.
The movement has grown large enough to have followers even in Belgium, according to the AP. The Kimbanguist Church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth Through the Prophet Simon Kimbangu, is described as a revival movement and one of Africa’s largest independent churches, with the AP citing a belief that it has anywhere between 6 million and 17 million members. Its leadership remains hierarchical, with the church in its third generation of leadership, and the AP reported that Simon Kimbangu Kiangani, a grandson of the founder, has led the group since 2001.
Beyond worship, the AP described church rules and social practices that followers say set it apart. The Kimbanguist Church prohibits polygamy, encourages peaceful ways of resolving conflict among members, and invests in schools and other social enterprises, with women able to rise to positions of authority. Church elder André Kibangudi told the AP that “Women are ministering in the church” and that “They have a key role to play because the church is so thankful for what the wife of Simon Kimbangu did when her husband was in prison,” adding, “We should have more female leadership.”
In addition, the AP reported that believers connect the church’s discipline to daily life and relationships. A widow, Chantal Makanga, told the AP that the church’s rules forbid “dating a married man,” and she also described what she said are the values behind that standard—saying, “It’s not bad to fall in love or to date me, if the final goal is to get married.”
The AP linked the church’s appeal to the current environment in Congo, where the president’s “major challenge” is armed conflict in eastern Congo. It said that the largest city, Goma, has been controlled by rebels since January 2025 and that the rebels—described by the AP as Rwanda-backed M23—have effectively carved off mineral-rich North Kivu province, causing the flight of hundreds of thousands. As a result, some people fear secession and say President Félix Tshisekedi has faced pressure to respond with drastic measures.
As the rebellion continues, the AP reported that Tshisekedi has offered U.S. companies access to eastern Congo’s minerals—described as mostly untapped and estimated to be worth $24 trillion—as a bargaining chip for U.S. support. The AP also said that some critics predict that the minerals issue could intensify as China has long been active in mineral extraction in the region, and it cited lawyers and activists who filed a petition arguing that a mineral partnership with the U.S. threatens Congo’s sovereignty. It added that the leader of the National Episcopal Conference compared such a partnership to “selling off the minerals of an entire nation to save a regime or a political system.”
Within that backdrop, Kimbanguists and other observers told the AP that the church’s history offers political and moral lessons. Prime minister Judith Suminwa, one of the Kimbanguists, is described by the AP as a sign of the government’s respect for Kimbangu as a champion of Black emancipation and as an indicator of the church’s political significance as a source of votes. Paul Kasonga, a Kimbanguist pastor in Mongala province, told the AP that “The church today is very dynamic, very influential,” and he said what Congo’s leaders can learn is that Kimbangu “didn’t work for himself,” but instead “sacrificed himself to free people who had been in slavery, who had been suffering.”
The AP also quoted Bwatshia Kambayi, a historian of Congo who sees parallels between Kimbangu and Nelson Mandela. Kambayi told the AP that “The first challenge for African leaders, or Congolese leaders, is that they are not free,” and he said, “African leaders, they do not realize that they have a slavery mindset. We are independent, but we are not free.” He later said the elite running Congo “are poor men who want to live as rich people,” and he added, “This is not the fight of Simon Kimbangu,” and that “None of them has reached the level of fighting for people’s freedom, for people’s liberty.”
Other church leaders described a lasting personal encounter with Kimbanguist teaching that influenced their faith. Toussaint Mungwala, pastor of Kimbanguists in Kwilu province, told the AP he felt the force of Kimbangu’s legacy back in 1981 after seeing a German priest praying while holding a picture of Kimbangu and Marie Muilu. Mungwala said he converted from Catholicism five years later, saying he was convinced that Kimbangu “was on the side of the people,” and he told the AP that “The lesson that people can learn from the church is that the prophet, the founding prophet, fought for people’s rights.”