A leader of Ethiopianism in South Africa. Born into the Xhosa royalty at Debe Nek, in the Eastern Cape, Dwane is known for his role in promoting Ethiopianism, a nationalist pan-African church movement in the late nineteenth century. He served as Methodist minister before heading up the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1900, he founded the Order of Ethiopia, which he affiliated with the Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa. The Order has continued as a quasi-independent indigenous body. Dwane eventually became its provincial, but not its bishop as he had hoped. He is renowned for his commitment to the education, evangelization, and liberation of his people.

Janet Hodgson

Bibliography

Sigqibo Dwane, Issues in the South African Theological Debate (1989), pp.1 - 6, 83 - 101; D. M. Balia, Black Methodists and White Supremacy in South Africa (1991); Cecil Lewis and G. E. Edwards, Historical Records of the Church of the Province of South Africa (1934), pp. 217 - 226; L. T. Moeti, Ethiopianism: Separatist Roots of African Nationalism (1981); T. D. Verryn, A History of the Order of Ethiopia (1972).

This article is reproduced, with permission, from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, copyright © 1998, by Gerald H. Anderson, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved.