Tosin Elijah Oje

Aya-fifa: A Liturgical Music in Cherubim and Seraphim Church Tosin Elijah Oje

Cherubim and Seraphim (C& S) church is one of the African Instituted Churches (AIC) that has a peculiar way of worship other than the Western Instituted and Pentecostal Churches. There have been scholastic studies and reviews on C& S liturgical music, however, Aya-fifa as one of the liturgical music of the church has received little or no attention. This study therefore examined the structural forms, uses and significance of Aya-fifa as part of C& S liturgical music. The study was anchored on Robertson's theory of Sacredity. An ethnographic research design was conducted, data were collected with: non participant observation, purposive sampling technique to select a key informant, and Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) was conducted with 8 prophets and spiritual heads in Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (CSMC) Ibadan district. Aya-fifa in C& S church can be likened to cantillation in the sense that, it is the melodic singing of 'speaking in tongue', it is a vocal music inspired by God, it usually has short melodies and is often on a pentatonic scale. It is principally used to commune with God and fellow Aaronites that are inspired to understand it. People that perform Aya are not necessarily musically inclined but they do this spontaneously according to divine inspiration.