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Journal articles on the topic 'Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA)'
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1
Kgatla, ST. "Ministerial formation policies of the Northern Theological Seminary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa:." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 5, no. 1 (June 10, 2020): 191–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2019.v5n1.a10.
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This article investigates the theoretical and practical effectiveness of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa’s (URCSA) ministerial formation of the Northern Synod. The URCSA is part of the Reformed Movement (Calvinism) that was established by the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) of South Africa that mainly came from the Netherlands to establish itself in South Africa and later established ethnic churches called daughter churches into existence in terms of a racially designed formula. After many years of the Dutch Reformed Church missionary dominance, the URCSA constituted its first synod in 1994 after the demise of apartheid. It was only after this synod that the URCSA through its ministerial formation tried to shake off the legacy of colonial paternalism and repositioned itself to serve its members; however, it fell victim to new ideological trappings. This article is based on a study that traces some basic Reformed practices and how the URCSA Theological Seminary of the Northern Synod dealt or failed to deal with them in its quest for the ideal theological ministerial formation.
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Davids, Hanzline R. "Recognition of LGBTIQ bodies in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 6, no. 4 (January 22, 2021): 301–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2020.v6n4.a12.
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The human dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people are threatend on the African continent. The sexual orientation, gender identity, expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) of LGBTIQ persons are seen as un-African. Religious communities are one of the biggest perpetrators that violate the human dignity of LGBTIQ people. For the past fifteen years the Uniting Reformed Church in South African (URCSA) made policy decions and compiled research documents that envistigates the SOGIESC of LGBTIQ people. The URCSA failed multiple times to affirm the full inclusion of LGBTQ people. In this article I’m asking, whether the recognition of LGBTIQ bodies in the URCSA is an indecent proposal. This paper is theologically underpinned by late Latin-American bisexual theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Bi/Christology. Starting with my own queer autobiography, I position myself from below and outside in doing theology. Secondly, I engage shortly with the history of the URCSA and the confessional clauses of the Belhar Confession. Lastly, the paper examines whether Belhar makes an indecent proposal for the recognition of LGBTIQ bodies in the URCSA.
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Modise, Leepo Johannes. "THE UNIFICATION PROCESS IN THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH (DRC) FAMILY AND UNITING REFORMED CHURCH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA (URCSA): THE CONFESSIONAL BASIS OF THE BELHAR CONFESSION." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 42, no. 2 (November 15, 2016): 30–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/388.
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This article consists of five mains parts. Firstly the author gives a brief overview of the history and origin of the Belhar Confession as a corner stone for URCSA’s arguments for church unity. Secondly, the discussion focuses on church unity in general in relation to the Trinity, Eucharist and the Word of God. Church unity is a given, as a fruit of the cross of Christ. Thirdly, the article discusses the unification process within the DRC and URCSA. Fourthly, the author explores the Belhar Confession as the corner stone of church unity from URCSA’s perspective, and the challenges around accepting this confession by the DRC. Fifthly, the author deliberates URCSA’s position on the Belhar Confession as fundamental to URCSA’s identity and life.
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Duncan, G. A. "Back to the Future." Verbum et Ecclesia 24, no. 2 (November 17, 2003): 359–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v24i2.331.
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The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa was formed on 26th September 1999 as the result of the union of the black Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and the white-dominated Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa. Various unsuccessful attempts had been made since the latter part of the nineteenth century to effect union. In the spirit of national euphoria which surrounded the first democratic elections in South Africa in1994, the Reformed Presbyterian Church initiated union discussions with the Presbyterian Church. The subsequent union was based on what are now considered to be inadequate preparations and many unresolved problems have emerged to test the witness of the new denomination, not the least of which is racism. At its 2002 General Assembly, as the result of what appeared to be a financial crisis, the Uniting Presbyterian Church appointed a Special Committee on Reformation was established to investigate the problems in the denomination and to bring proposals for dealing with these issues.
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van Niekerk, Attie. "Allan Boesak, Johann Weusmann and Charles Amjad-Ali, eds, Dreaming a Different World: Globalisation and Justice for Humanity and the Earth—The Challenge of the Accra Confession for the Churches (Evangelisch Reformierte Kirche, Germany and Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, 2010), pp. 84, <>." International Journal of Public Theology 5, no. 1 (March 17, 2011): 119–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156973211x543869.
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Nel, Reginald Wilfred. "Reformed, Reunited, Remixed: How URCSA's Christian Youth Ministry has Reimagined Missional Ecclesiology in Southern Africa since 1994." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (October 1, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6236.
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On our continent various former mission churches, like the Uniting Reformed Christian Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), struggle with the quest of becoming an African church. In this article I tell the story of how the Christian Youth Ministry (CYM), through its self-identification, has reimagined “church” within its own structures, especially since 1994 when URCSA united. I relate this to the quest for a missional ecclesiology in southern Africa. The article shows how the CYM self-identifies as a uniting movement, as the voice of youth, as a congress movement, but also as a networked space for diverse identifications. URCSA, but also other churches on our continent, are challenged with this re-imagination towards remixing an alternative future.
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Modise, Leepo Johannes. "A Quarter Century of Democracy and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (September 19, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6253.
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This paper focuses on the role of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in the South African society during the past 25 years of its services to God, one another and the world. Firstly, the paper provides a brief history of URCSA within 25 years of its existence. Secondly, the societal situation in democratic South Africa is highlighted in light of Article 4 of the Belhar Confession and the Church Order as a measuring tool for the role of the church. Thirdly, the thermometer-thermostat metaphor is applied in evaluating the role of URCSA in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, the 20 years of URCSA and democracy in South Africa are assessed in terms of Gutierrez’s threefold analysis of liberation. In conclusion, the paper proposes how URCSA can rise above the thermometer approach to the thermostat approach within the next 25 years of four general synods.
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Modise, Leepo Johannes. "Reading the URCSA Church Order with African Lenses: A Belhar Confession Perspective." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 3 (December 24, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/7014.
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There are individuals within the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) who claim that URCSA is not an African church in the real sense, as it ought to be. These claims have emanated from the narrow reading of URCSA’s Church Order from a European perspective. This article aims at exploring how one can read the URCSA Church Order with African lenses. The author will highlight the identity of URCSA, as was accepted by the 2005 General Synod of Pietermaritzburg, which is African and Reformed. In this article, the author will outline the three concepts that are recently underpinning the African philosophy, namely community, Ubuntu, and Ujamaa as the lenses with which to read the URCSA Church Order. The utilisation of these concepts as lenses will enable us to understand and interpret the URCSA Church Order in an African sense.
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Tshaka, Rothney S., and Peter M. Maruping. "�The hastening that waits�: A critical assessment of the tangebility of unity within the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." Verbum et Ecclesia 31, no. 1 (March 29, 2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v31i1.426.
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The tale of the Reformed Church tradition in South Africa remains conspicuous with challenges also within the current democratic context. Whilst the political past of South Africa contributed towards a Reformed church divided along racial lines, a struggle continues for a genuinely unified Reformed church today. Conceding to the present discussions about the possibility of uniting all Reformed congregations that were divided along racial categories of Black, Coloured, Indian and White, this article aspires to delve into the intricacies pertaining to the already achieved unity between the �Coloured� and a huge portion of the �Black� Reformed congregations, that is to say, the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. This article will argue that although it is fundamental that the church of Christ must be united, it is equally imperative that the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) waits and assesses whether it has already achieved tangible unity.
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Plaatjies-Van Huffel, Mary-Anne. "Whose Land Is it anyway? A historical Reflection on the Challenges URCSA Encountered with Land and Property Rights." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 2 (October 26, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/7359.
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The proposal to amend the Constitution of South Africa 1996 regarding the expropriation of land without compensation has invigorated a robust discourse with regard to the land issue in South Africa. Cognisance should be taken of how the land issue was handled during the apartheid dispensation and the way it has played out in the constitutional democracy dispensation since 1994 in South Africa. This article will attend to issues relating to land in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). URCSA was constituted in 1994 due to a merger of two racially segregated churches, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). The DRMC was constituted through mission endeavours of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) during 1881 to serve so-called coloured members of the DRC. The DRCA was constituted in or about 1910 to serve African members. In order to understand the controversy in URCSA from 1994–2012 with regard to property rights, one has to understand how the colonists and missionaries (and later the apartheid regime) utilised “divide and rule” and supremacy strategies to secure property rights for churches of people from mixed descent and Indian people (the DRMC) and the Reformed Church in Africa [RCA]); while at the same time restricting property rights for churches of members from African descent (the DRCA). This is evident in the way the constitutions of the above-mentioned mission churches were drafted. This article will attend to the following subthemes: property rights of the DRMC challenged by apartheid laws; property rights of the DRCA challenged by apartheid laws; a court case regarding the expropriation of land without compensation; controversy regarding property rights (1998–2012); from litigation to out-of-court settlement on property rights (1998–2012); and lastly out-of-court settlement between the DRC, the DRCA and URCSA.
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Senokoane, Boitumelo Ben. "URCSA as an Impossible Community." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (November 14, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6335.
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This article explores the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), argues it as an “impossible community” and deliberates its existence as an “impossible possibility.” The argument stems from the arrival of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) as a faith, and eventually, a community called a church. The article contends that under normal circumstances, URCSA should not be in existence, yet it has survived for 25 years. The reasons for this survival shall be explored and argued. The Reformed doctrine, church history, and the composition of the church are employed to prove why I speak of an impossible community or an impossible possibility. The reasons provided shall form the basis of why we should celebrate the existence and sustenance of URCSA as an impossible community.
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Fortein, Eugene Andre. "Where have all the Prophets Gone? URCSA 25 years Later: Re-Acquainting with Prophetic Theology in Post-apartheid South Africa." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (November 19, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6226.
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The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) was formed in 1994 as a merger between the former Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). URCSA, as the bearer of the Belhar Confession, has always stood within the tradition of Prophetic Theology. This article upholds the presuppositions that the prophetic nature of Black Liberation Theology impacted on the reasoning of the authors of various anti-apartheid documents like the theological declarations of the Belydendekring and Alliance of Black Reformed Christians in Southern Africa (ABRECSA), the Kairos Document and Belhar Confession; and with the advent of our democracy, URCSA not only lost her Kairos conscience but parted with Prophetic Theology—hence the title of this paper. Issues like state capture, corruption, the expropriation of land without compensation, poverty, racism, and so forth are all issues plaguing our young democracy and require a clear theological response. This article argues for renewed acquaintance from the church, URCSA, with Prophetic Theology, which will enable the church to not only speak prophetically but to challenge the status quo. Prophetic Theology is much better prepared to engage with the challenges posed in post-apartheid South Africa because it is grounded in a hope that is unprepared to accept the world as it is.
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Tshaka, Rothney S., and Tshepo Lephakga. "Karl Barth’s understanding of Christian Baptism as a basis for a conversation on the praxis of Sacraments in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 69, no. 1 (January 14, 2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v69i1.1330.
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This article is an initial attempt to bring the subject of baptism and to a lesser extent infant baptism in particular, as demonstrated in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, into a conversation with the practice of this phenomenon in African Reformed churches in South Africa, specifically the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Whilst the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions regarding the sacraments differ significantly in the understanding of this subject, this article will examine Barth’s understanding of baptism. This is done by critically examining key themes in his Church Dogmatics. The praxis of the sacraments and especially that of baptism continue to be a praxis that is highly venerated in African Reformed theological circles. This is so because it is believed that symbolism continues to occupy centre stage in African Reformed churches. In a sense therefore it seems that the African Reformed Christian leans more towards a Roman Catholic understanding of this sacrament. Is that perhaps true? Essentially this conversation will explore the relationship of faith to baptism and how this impacts on infant baptism for instance.
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Plaatjies van Huffel, Mary Anne, and Johan M. Van der Merwe. "Die reis met kerkeenwording tussen die Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk in Suider-Afrika en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk in Afrika." Verbum et Ecclesia 33, no. 1 (February 8, 2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v33i1.724.
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The journey to church unification between the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa. The article gives a historical overview of judicial problems that the Dutch Reformed Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA) encountered in their journey to church unification. On 14 April 1994 the DRMC and the DRCA merged and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) came into being. Firstly, attention is given to a historical overview of the unification process. Secondly, the resolutions of the General Synod of the DRCA (1991), the judicial problems that surfaced shortly after the unification between the DRMC and the DRCA, the objections against the unification process and the lawsuit that followed, will be attended to. The unification between the DRMC and the DRCA was tested in court and in 1998 the Supreme Court gave judgment in favor of the DRCA. The verdict indicated that all decisions with regards to church property were ultra vires and that the DRCA as a legal corporate entity remains. The article concludes with a few legal aspects that may be derived from the judgement. The verdict highlights the administration of justice according to established rules and principles, namely that a juristic person cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards. The article proposes that Reformed churches in the South African context should seriously take cognisance of the judgement. This article attempts to identify the important criteria for and characteristics of administration of justice with regard to church unification.
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Tshaka, Rothney S. "The black church as the womb of black liberation theology?: Why the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) is not a genuine black church?" HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 71, no. 3 (March 11, 2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v71i3.2800.
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This article sets forth a controversial thesis which suggests that the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, although considered a black church, is in fact not a black church in the sense in which a radical black church is traditionally understood. A black church, it is argued, is perceived to be one that is a self-determined church which supports initiatives of ameliorating the depressive situations in which black people find themselves. References are made to black theology as a critical theology which was never accepted in the black church due to the dependency syndrome which was brought about by the white benevolence of the Dutch Reformed Church. This, it is argued, had become innate in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa which still considers itself as a so-called daughter church of the white Dutch Reformed Church.
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Meiring, Lieze. "Discovering and exploring ubuntu-language in the dialogue between the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." Verbum et Ecclesia 36, no. 2 (June 8, 2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v36i2.1439.
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Discussions with members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in Ohrigstad illustrate the possibilities of ubuntu-language in overcoming racism and prejudice. After proposing a number of meanings and values related to ubuntu, this research explores the role of ubuntu-language � and at times the lack thereof � in the concrete relationship between these two faith communities as an expression of recent South African history. Ubuntu-language seems to offer unique outcomes in this relationship in strengthening identity, unleashing vitality, celebrating diversity, awakening solidarity, revealing humanity, bolstering individualism and enhancing Christianity.
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Landman, Christina. "A Woman’s Journey with the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa: 25 Years." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (October 11, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6732.
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The methodological insights of autoethnography allow the author to write her story in critical-emphatical engagement with the structures and cultures within which her story unfolds. Her story as the only white woman minister of the Word in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) is told as one in which organisational, political and ethnic cultures were in constant creative conflict. An unexpected continuity of intercultural co-operation is established throughout the story of her journey with URCSA over the past 25 years of its existence. Six decisive turning points in her life are described. The first is when she was called to the ministry at the age of 15, several years before women were ordained in the local family of Reformed churches. The second was when she started studying with the liberation theologians of the 1980s. The third was being appointed as a theological professor amidst exclusively male colleagues. The fourth was working with the ill and desolate at a state hospital in preparation for a second doctorate. The fifth happened when she was ordained in a Zulu-speaking congregation in Mpumalanga. The sixth covers her experiences in the leadership of the church the past decade. Throughout, the emphasis is on the outsider-insider experience of both critically and sympathetically engaging with the Afrikaans culture in which she was born, and the black and brown cultures into which she was co-opted.
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Modise, Leepo J. "Women liberation in church and political organisation governance: Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and African National Congress perspectives." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 52, no. 1 (November 8, 2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v52i1.2358.
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This article consists of six parts: firstly, the author will provide orientation on how this research was conducted and the origin as well as the motivation to pursue this research study. Secondly, concepts like gender, equality and human dignity will be defined and clarified to give the reader a better understanding of these main concepts in this article. Thirdly, the position of theologians on the struggle against gender will be discussed. Fourthly, gender policies of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) and the African National Congress (ANC) will be discussed to explore the correlation between URCSA gender policy and ANC gender policy. Fifthly, the shortcomings in terms of the implementation of these gender policies during an elective conference or synod will be stated. Finally, the author will provide findings and recommendations that can assist to improve the implementation of these policies.
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Baron, Eugene. "The Call for African Missional Consciousness through Renewed Mission Praxis in URCSA." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (September 12, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6184.
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The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) has since its inception always celebrated its prophetic and missional heritage from all the avenues of the black church. However, it remains crucial to reflect whether this can be ascribed only to a few individuals and whether the struggle against injustice was nurtured on “grassroots” level. The black churches in their own right have certainly made significant contributions during the apartheid years. However, the impact of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) on the black wing of the church, in terms of its mission thought and practice, will still be felt by the newly established church (URCSA) for some years to come. Therefore, this contribution focuses specifically on the mission praxis that has been apparent in the DRC in the Cape since 1652, but it will also subsequently discuss various historical developments in terms of mission thought and practice within the DRC family until 1994 and beyond—the 25 years since the existence of URCSA. The article will provide a fragmentary historical account aimed at presenting an idea of the thought and practice of mission before and after the establishment of URCSA. This paper argues—as part of a critical reflection on the said period—that URCSA should position itself in such a way that it does not perpetuate the patterns of mission thought and practice of the past. It would be crucial for the church to avoid the objectification of mission, as well as being too comfortable to focus on forming external partnerships, without tenaciously and intentionally establishing a praxis of African “missional consciousness” in URCSA.
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Kritzinger, Johannes N. J. "Concrete spirituality." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 70, no. 3 (February 21, 2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i3.2782.
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This article reflects on a number of liturgical innovations in the worship of Melodi ya Tshwane, an inner-city congregation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). The focus of the innovations was to implement the understanding of justice in Article 4 of the Confession of Belhar, a confessional standard of the URCSA. The basic contention of the article is that well designed liturgies that facilitate experiences of beauty can nurture a concrete spirituality to mobilise urban church members for a justice-seeking lifestyle. After exploring the message of Article 4 of Belhar, the article analyses eight liturgical features of Melodi ya Tshwane, showing how beauty and justice interact in those acts of worship.
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Modise, Leepo J. "Language as a barrier to ministry of the Word with special reference to sign language in ministry: Human dignity perspective." Verbum et Ecclesia 37, no. 1 (March 31, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v37i1.1596.
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This article is born out of my participation in the General Synod Ministerial Formation for theological training of Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), when a decision was taken to license a student with a disability to be a minister of the Word in URCSA. Furthermore, my experience and observation of the licensing of the two candidates with hearing impairments to the ministry of the Word and Sacrament in URCSA and Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRCSA) has encouraged me to conduct this research. This article is made up of four important parts: Firstly, the researcher will discuss Belhar Confession as the confession that emphasises unity (inclusivity), reconciliation and justice. Secondly, Belhar Confession and disability from the human dignity perspective will be discussed. Thirdly, the ecclesiological practices and shortcomings from the human dignity perspective will be highlighted. Fourthly, pastoral care as the affirmation of human dignity will be discussed.Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The fields involved in this article are Systematic Theology, Sociology and Psychology. The author challenges classification of people with a disability under the category of limited competence by the Dutch Reformed Church when they license the ministerial candidates. The future results will reveal the inclusivity in terms of licensing and calling of ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church Family. This research calls for the change in the traditional discourse within ecclesiological, sociological and psychological fields, which exclude the people with a disability from the ministry of the Word and Sacraments.
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Meiring, Pieter Gerhard J. "The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Rev. James Buys at the Microphone." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (December 4, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6225.
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On October 19, 1997, Rev. James Buys presented the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa’s submission to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He firstly reported on the extent to which URCSA, through its theology and activities, contributed to the violation of human rights during the years of apartheid, especially referring to the church’s stance on the notorious Group Areas Act, the government’s Labour Policy, the Mixed Marriages Act and the chaplain services. For all of this, a heartfelt apology was rendered. Buys, secondly, reported on the decisions and actions taken by URCSA during the 1970s and 1980s to resist apartheid, ranging from prophetic statements by individuals and synods, to eventually taking an active part in the struggle against apartheid. The role that the ecumenical community inside as well as outside South Africa had played to encourage and empower URCSA to define its message and actions, was also mentioned by Buys. Concluding his statement, Buys discussed URCSA’s recommendations for the process of reconciliation in South Africa. The author, who was present at the Faith Communities Hearing when Buys addressed the TRC, added a number of personal remarks pertaining to URCSA’s statement and to the role that URCSA is called to play on the road to reconciliation and nation-building in the country.
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Muller, Retief. "The Awkward Positioning of a Dutch Reformed Missionary in Apartheid South Africa." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 1 (July 16, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6805.
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The Rev. D. P. (David) Botha was a lifelong apartheid critic and minister in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and later the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Early in his career, he served as a “missionary” in a DRMC congregation in Wynberg, and subsequently in other congregations in the Western Cape, South Africa. During his career, he wrote an important book and engaged in public discourse through contributions in newspapers and other mainstream publications. Focusing on these sources, most of which now form part of his private collection in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Archive, this article traces Botha’s growing agitation regarding the implementation of apartheid policies, in the aftermath of the institution of the 1950 Group Areas Act. Among other things it illuminates the early apartheid-era white view of the other, as experienced and critiqued by this insider-outsider minister with respect to his assessment of general white perceptions of so-called “coloureds” in the Cape Town area. Through specific attention to Botha’s correspondences with A. P. Treurnicht and Beyers Naudé, this article also shows the problematic perspective of a white missionary seeking to alleviate the impact of policy decisions on his church members, while simultaneously buying into the predominant ideology of racial categorisation.
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Nel, Benita P. "To Build a New Church together? Exploring Interdisciplinary Dialogue with a Christian Women’s Ministry: Addressing Patriarchy in URCSA." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (October 1, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6234.
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There are many routes to address patriarchy in faith communities. This article asks the question whether one particular Christian Women’s Ministry, that of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), can empower black women to address gender justice. It utilises a historical-narrative approach to interpret the goals, functioning and impact of this ministry in terms of its own primary documents. The findings point to the potential of such a dialogue, yet also highlight the complexities with regard to impact analysis within a denominational context. Some strides have been made, but this article shows there is still a need to work together to build a church where—besides putting policies and programmes in place—the church should prophetically address injustice and seek witness to the partnership between women and men.
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Kritzinger, Johannes N. J., Moses Selaelo Maponya, and Katleho Karabo Mokoena. "25 Years of Ministerial Formation Praxis in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa: How Belharic Have We Become?" Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (November 19, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6238.
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Since the inception of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in 1994, the issue of theological education has occupied a key place in the meetings of General Synod. This article analyses the development and implementation of URCSA’s ministerial formation programme over the past 25 years through the lens of the Belhar Confession. It examines the extent to which not only the curriculum but also the practices of ministerial formation have become driven, guided and shaped by the commitments inherent in the Confession of Belhar. Due to space constraints, this paper uses only Article One of Belhar as an interpretive and evaluative lens and focuses only on the Northern Theological Seminary in Pretoria, hoping thereby to stimulate further reflection in a similar vein.
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Laubscher, Martin. "Belhar, Liturgy and Life." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (September 12, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6347.
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Celebrating 25 years of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) inevitably calls for further exploration of how to live and love the Belhar Confession. I shall argue that, within the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), we have discussed the acceptance of the Belhar Confession at great lengths, with hardly any suggestions of prayer and worship within the Confession itself. Much has been written in academic literature on the relationship between the Belhar Confession, the rule of faith (doctrine), and the rule of life (ethics). Yet, it is surprising that there is hardly any literature on its relation to the rule of prayer (worship). Writing from a very specific social location, I argue and suggest that our deepest challenge and opportunity, at present, is to explore how to receive, embody and celebrate the Belhar Confession by exploring its rich and varied liturgical potential and use for Christian worship throughout the entire liturgical ordo. Bathing the liturgy in the joyous words of the Belhar Confession might help us find new impetus in discovering and receiving each other anew.
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Modise, Leepo Johannes. "The unification process in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) family and Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA): The confessional basis of the Belhar Confession." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE) 42, no. 2 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2412-4265/2016/388.
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Plaatjies Van Huffel, Mary-Anne. "A History of Gender Insensitivity in URCSA." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (October 1, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6250.
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This article utilises autoethnographical methodology to dissect the history of gender insensitivity in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). According to Carolyn Ellis (2010), autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to “describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno).” Ellis (2004) states that autoethnography refers to writing about the personal and its relationship to culture. This paper utilises self-reflection to explore anecdotal personal experience and to connect this autobiographical story to wider understanding of gender in URCSA. Sandars (2009) defines reflection as a “metacognitive process that occurs before, during and after situations with the purpose of developing greater understanding of both the self and the situation …” This article concentrates on research grounded in personal experience. It aims to sensitise readers to issues of identity politics in URCSA. It will highlight experiences shrouded in silence within URCSA, and deepen knowledge about the struggles that women in ordained positions within URCSA have had to endure. Foucault (1982) describes three types of struggles: either against forms of domination; against forms of exploitation; or against that which ties the individual to himself and submits him to others. The article deconstructs the relationship between text and theory, praxis and context, and presents an alternative interpretation. It highlights central themes regarding women in ordained positions within URCSA, but focuses more on the sub themes: from ordination to academia; ordained women in leadership positions, the gender equity policy of URCSA; a milestone never embraced 1994–2005; inclusive language and the draft worship book of URCSA; women as delegates to ecumenical gatherings.
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Thyssen, Ashwin. "Children of God: Exploring URCSA’s Catechetical Sexual Ethic." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 3 (December 24, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6954.
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Human sexuality has been on the agenda of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA’s) General Synod since at least 2005. Since then, at each respective General Synod, the discussion has been set forth to theologise about the lives of members who are LGBTIQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other sexual minorities). Yet, throughout this time no attention has been afforded to the denomination’s catechesis, specifically its sexual ethic. This essay, then, attempts to contribute to the present dialogue on human sexuality with a focus on catechesis, or faith formation. It does so by following a queer theological hermeneutic, informed by the cultural criticism tradition in the form of queer theory. In order to investigate the sexual ethic at work in URCSA, the primary text engaged is its catechetical literature, Children of God. The essay, as such, attempts to note how URCSA has constructed its sexual ethic as heteronormative; and therefore, against all other sexual orientations. In order to do this, the essay probes three questions. First, it questions the existence and identity of URCSA. Second, it questions how a queering of catechesis may be done and what value it may contribute to the denomination. Third, it asks the question: quo vadis, where to URCSA? By asking this question, an attempt is made to qualify what it is that URCSA may need in queering its catechesis. Still, it is important to note that this reflection is much informed by the author’s experience of the denomination as a gay man.
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Beukes, Jacques Walter, and Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel. "Towards a theology of development in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA): Embodying Article 4 of the Belhar Confession." Missionalia 44, no. 2 (December 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.7832/44-2-138.
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Botha, Nico. "Unsettling Theology: Sunday school children reading the text of the Bible in the age of recolonisation." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72, no. 1 (February 4, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i1.3569.
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During Women’s month in South Africa (August), a group of Sunday school children from the rural congregation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), Middelburg- Nasaret, got together to read the narratives of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of the woman suffering from a blood disease. The exercise which appears to be quite innocent is in a sense subversive in its hidden script. In the Reformed tradition, the pulpit as a centre of reading and preaching the Word has become the ‘holy of holiest’ which nobody, leave alone children, except the ordained minister could occupy. This is of course contrary to the intention of the Reformation to return the Bible to the people and have the people return to the Bible. The reading exercise of this article goes beyond all exegetical and theological presuppositions, unsettling conventional interpretations of Scripture. The children allow their real life experiences in the township of having witnessed, among others, child and women abuse to inform their reading of Mark 5:21–43. In the process they avoid a linear reading of the Bible which is based on the explication-application scheme of matters. Put differently, instead of doing a deductive reading of the portion, i.e. trying to explain or exegete the text clinically and then applying it to their context, they read it inductively, resulting in a hope sharing and hope giving understanding of the rising from the dead of the 12-year-old girl and the healing of the woman with a blood disease. A major spin-off of such reading of the Bible by children is the unlocking of refreshingly new avenues of reading the Bible and interpreting the text.
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Modise, Leepo Johannes. "The Role of the Church in Socio-Economic Transformation: Reformation as a Transformation Process." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 44, no. 3 (September 19, 2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/3900.
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This paper consists of five parts. Firstly, a brief historical background of reformation will be discussed as an exercise to remember reformation. Secondly, we review the role of the ecumenical church (SACC) prior to democracy in South Africa. The purpose for focusing on the role of the church from this period is that it gives us a model to follow in our involvement in socio-economic transformation. Thirdly, the social and economic challenges facing the church and society in democratic South Africa will be discussed. Fourthly, we debate the role of the ecumenical church (SACC) in democratic South Africa. Fifthly, the article explores what role the Uniting Reformed Church in South Africa (URCSA) is playing (descriptive) and ought to play (normative) through all her structures to transform the socio-economic situation in South Africa.
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Tucker, Arthur Roger. "Financially resourcing the ministry in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in the 21st century." Verbum et Ecclesia 33, no. 1 (February 8, 2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v33i1.695.
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From 1994 the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa has increasingly encountered tremendous challenges in financing its ministry on a just and equitable basis across all communities. This issue peaked when the Presbyterian Church of South Africa and the Reformed Presbyterian Church united to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in 1999. The union produced tensions concerning the financial support of the ministry. These centred on as yet unresolved proposals for the centralisation and equalisation of ministerial stipends, which have been discussed at every biennial General Assembly of the UPCSA from 2006. This article has briefly analysed the theological, ecclesiological, missional, economic, sociological and practical administrative issues that it believes should inform the final decision and may help to establish a new ministerial, missional and congregational support paradigm for many other churches in the new South Africa.
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Mogashoa, Moroka, and Karabo Makofane. "Challenges facing the ministerial formation in Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa: A critical reflection." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 73, no. 3 (February 8, 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i3.3102.
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Following the union of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA) and Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA) to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in 1999, it was necessary to consolidate theological education of a united church. This was a wise and bold decision by UPCSA, as a first attempt to integrate the training of both black and white students, but more importantly to give institutional expression to the advancement of unity. University of Pretoria (UP) became a major training centre of the UPCSA. Collaboration in ministerial formation between UPCSA and UP, its partner institution, has been plagued by manifold challenges. The challenges which will come under the spotlight are ecumenism, relationship between the university and the UPCSA, curriculum and spirituality.
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B�chner, Elsje P., and Julian C. M�ller. "The story of the Department of Practical Theology." Verbum et Ecclesia 30, no. 3 (December 17, 2009). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v30i3.153.
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This article tells the story of the development of the Department of Practical Theology of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria. The story goes back to the start of the Faculty in 1938, although the Department of Practical Theology was only established in 1966 when Professor H.D.A. du Toit applied himself fully to the subject and Professor C.W.H. Boshoff became the first full-time lecturer for Missiology. The article is written mainly from the perspective of the Dutch Reformed Church, but with the acknowledgement of the appointments of Professor Yolanda Dreyer from the Nederduitsch Reformed Church of Africa and Professor Maake Masango from the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.
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Tshaka, Rothney. "‘Doing theology as though nothing had happened’ – reading Karl Barth’s confessional theology in Zimbabwe today?" HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72, no. 1 (February 4, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i1.3028.
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Although confessional theology is making its rounds across Reformed communities, this theology remains virtually unknown north of the Limpopo River. The Reformed Church of Zimbabwe (RCZ) is one of the immediate neighbours of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, which produced the Belhar Confession during the apartheid era. The confessional theology of Karl Barth, which informed this confession, has proven to be versatile in diverse contexts. Confessions, it will be argued, do not exist independently from the socioeconomic and political situations from which they arise. This article will attempt to argue that this theology can contribute to the Reformed theology in present day Zimbabwe. It will therefore attempt to introduce the confessional theology of Karl Barth to Zimbabwe; however, it also argues that the RCZ will have to realise that a number of adjustments need to be made on its part to ensure that it appropriates this theology profitably for its situation.Keywords: Zimbabwe, Karl Barth, confessional theology, Reformed Church in Zimbabwe, politics
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Maseko, Xolani, and Wim A. Dreyer. "Ecclesiological Renewal for a Relevant Ministry and Church Polity, with reference to UCCSA and UPCSA in Zimbabwe." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 47, no. 1 (June 2, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/8373.
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This article is a critique of Reformed Ecclesiology, particularly as regarding ministry and church polity. It is argued herein that a static ecclesiology results in church ministry that is seemingly deficient in responding to the context. This is seen in the current church polities and ways in which different denominations explain and carry out their ministry in the face of the new religious environment of the 21st century. This critique demands imperatives from the church, especially now in the advent of the emerging church, virtual ministry and such pandemics as Covid-19. The church cannot afford to remain ambivalent; her relevance is at stake. This article deals with Reformed Ecclesiology and polity in the context of Zimbabwe, with a special focus on the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in Zimbabwe. These two denominations are in a “prolonged” engagement for church unity. From a strategic perspective, a possible ecclesiology will be proposed that can facilitate this renewal in the context of a Calvinistic ecclesiology. It is argued that a change in ecclesiology will result in a refined church ministry and polity. This is done by investigating the “church as epiphany.”
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Plaatjies Van Huffel, Mary-Anne. "Die stryd om die aard en omvang van die tugreg by die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk (1881−1994)." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 68, no. 1 (January 11, 2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v68i1.1007.
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The struggle of the Dutch Reformed Mission Churches (1881–1994) with reference to the character and extend of discipline. In this article the struggle concerning the nature and extent of the disciplinary power in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) (1881–1994) is discussed. Since the establishment of the DRMC in 1881 until 1982 the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) retained the right to censure and discipline the missionaries in the DRMC. The article argues that the struggle for disciplinary power under the Constitution of the DRMC, the Statute of the DRMC as well as under the memorandum of agreement between the DRMC and the DRC, was nothing less than an attempt by the DRMC to entrench the principles of Voetius in the disciplinary power of the church polity and church government of the DRMC. In 1982 the DRMC accepted a new church order in which these principles were entrenched. The acceptance of this church order provision concluded the DRMC’s struggle for disciplinary power of all its officers, missionaries included, which already began in 1908. At the inaugural meeting of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa a Church Order was adopted in which provisions with regards to the disciplinary power based on above principles was hedged.
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Duncan, Graham A. "South African Presbyterian women in leadership in ministry (1973–2018)." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 75, no. 1 (February 12, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i1.5180.
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The issue of women in the ministry has been a vexed one historically. In many denominations, the ordination of women has been represented by some form of struggle, which culminated in the first ordinations of women during the second half of the 20th century. This article investigates the process towards the ordination of women in two Southern African Presbyterian denominations – the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (renamed the ‘Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa’ in 1979) and the Presbyterian Church of South Africa (renamed the ‘Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa’ in 1958), prior to their union in 1999 to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. This article focusses on women in leadership in ministry, not exclusively on women ordained to the ministry of ruling or teaching elder (minister). It begins with an historical overview and proceeds to an investigation of developments in the two relevant denominations. The terms ‘leadership’ and ‘ministry’ are used separately and together and are considered to be synonymous. The article uses primary sources from the records of both denominations considered and suggests that the process was gradual and progressive as the worth of women in leadership was recognised following the general acceptance of the biblical and theological arguments.
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Van der Watt, Gideon. "Van 1619 na 1857 en 1986: 'n Lyn van Dordt na Belhar?" Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (September 12, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6437.
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The fourth centenary celebration of the Synod of Dordrecht 1618/19, as well as the twenty fifth commemoration of the birth of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa—both having been celebrated in 2019—naturally leads to the question of the relation between the two historical events. In the historical development leading to the formation of separate churches in the “Dutch Reformed Family of Churches,” a distinct interpretation of election based on grace alone, as decided upon by the Synod of Dordrecht, played a major role. In this historical process of the formation of separate churches the 1857 synod decision by the Dutch Reformed Church has been a watershed moment; it not only brought a separation between people around the Lord’s table, but also a division between confession on the one hand and the practical ministry embodying the confession on the other hand. The 1857 decision eventually led to the necessity of the Belhar Confession in 1986. The Belhar Confession deliberately seeks a linkage to the central Reformed doctrine of “election by grace alone.” The Dutch Reformed Church’s inability and unwillingness to accept the Belhar Confession remain a tragic reality.
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Le Roux, Cheryl S. "How environmental stewardship is viewed and evidenced in the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa: An appraisal of students’, lecturers’ and ministers’ perceptions." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 3, no. 1 (July 31, 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2017.v3n1.a10.
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To care for the environment as part of a Christian believer’s Christian stewardship duty is biblically founded. The Church is consequently well-positioned to make a significant contribution in addressing the environmental crisis by developing, preaching and practising a holistic spirituality that promotes a custodial ethic towards the natural world. The research report discusses how seminary students, lecturers and practicing ministers in the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa perceive and practise this custodial ethic as environmental stewardship. There is consensus amongst respondents that Christian stewardship and environmental stewardship are biblically mandated and should be addressed and practised in the Church. However, the findings provided evidence that the realisation of environmental stewardship is tentative, both within the ministry and within seminary programmes. It is concluded that the teaching and practice of environmental stewardship is generally neglected in the Church. Areas for improvement in the ministry and seminary training curricula to support environmental stewardship are suggested.
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Van Rooi, Leslie. "What is in a name? Lessons learnt from the choice of name for the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa." Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif 54, no. 3-4 (December 2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.5952/54-3-4-392.
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Landman, Christina. "Violence as development? A challenge to the church." Verbum et Ecclesia 32, no. 2 (June 7, 2011). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v32i2.577.
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Dullstroom-Emnotweni was the site of protests against the lack of service delivery by local government in 2009. The local leadership of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was confronted with challenges when its members got involved in acts of violence both from the side of the community and from the side of the police. Viewing itself as an asset to the community and an agent in its development towards health and wellbeing, the church was challenged by the situation in its prophetic capacity as well as in its relationship with the �state�. In an attempt to negotiate answers to the church�s relationship with the �state� in situations of violence, the uprising in Dullstroom-Emnotweni is used as a case study, and Calvin�s notion of the church as a world-transforming agent, the views of African women theologians on nonviolence, the practical piety of local religiousness, and the memory of systems of governance as �evil� are used as intertexts to define the church�s position vis-�-vis violence as an option for development. A position of caution is taken, a position in which the church retains both its political distance and its prophetic voice, remains true to its calling as an asset to community development, and condones violence cautiously when development is at stake.
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Landman, Christina. "Constructing the self in later life: The life story of Selaelo Thias Kgatla (1949–)." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72, no. 1 (February 4, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i1.4210.
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On 15 April 2014 the author conducted an interview with Selaelo Thias Kgatla (then 64) by means of a prearranged interview schedule to revaluate a life review. Kgatla’s years of academic and ecclesiastical involvement leading to his ordination as the minister of the Polokwane Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa at the age of 47 were considered. However, the focus was on the last 18 years before his retirement, which was to happen in December 2015. This period commenced with his ordination in 1997 and covered his involvement in church leadership as Assessor and later Moderator of the Northern Synod (since 1999) and as Moderator of the General Synod (since 2005), as well as his appointments as professor at the University of Limpopo in 1997 and at the University of Pretoria in 2010.In freezing this interview into the academic account given here, oral history and methodological sensitivities are considered. The interviewee’s ownership of his life review is acknowledged; his construction of the self as a coherent story of church leadership is respected; and the characteristics of remembering in later life are pointed out reverentially.The life review with Kgatla was expanded with interviews from colleagues and congregants of his choice who confirmed the construction of his life story as one of relationship and resistance. Finally, the author gives a concluding overview of aims achieved in the article in terms of oral methodology and the contents of a life review in which the interviewee constructed his life as a church leader on the interface between resistance and relationship.