Church of the White Bird


The Church of the White Bird was a Christian church in eastern Rhodesia that combined Christian religious beliefs with traditional Shona symbolism.
The Church of the White Bird was founded by Matthew Chigaga Zwimba, the son of a government-appointed chief of the Zwimba Reserve. After years of difficulty with the white authorities, Zwimba founded the church in 1915 by physically occupying the existing Methodist station. The Church of the White Bird was the first of a number of independent Shona churches.