School of Religion, Classics and Philosophy

... 2) Hypostasis (prosopon) which means that which can be designated by personal pronouns “I ... for their past persecutions and wrongdoings towards Anabaptists in the 16th century and beyond. ... 19 community that sought to witness to the already present Kingdom of God on earth ...

The Christian church's expansive zeal has often, throughout its history, walked hand-in-hand with the colonial pursuits of empires and nation-states. This cooperative approach between church and empire, which has been described as a Christendom or Constantinian paradigm, has not only implicated the church in the oppression and violent exploitation of people, but, because this paradigm has shaped the church's ecclesial and missiological imagination, such violent and oppressive tendencies are perpetuated. This paper will argue that, in order to break free from such an understanding, we need to reimagine how we understand our ecclesial being and missional purpose. In remembering what it means to be " witnesses " of Jesus Christ in the early church, an understanding which, because of the lifestyle it required, was intimately connected with the very real possibility of becoming a martyr, we are challenged by this alternative paradigm to reimagine our ecclesial being and missional purpose. This alternative imagination, based on a self-sacrificial paradigm of power, changes the very nature and " witness " of the church and its mission.

The church. What has it become? What was it meant to be? Does it pave the way or get in the way? Are we suspicious of the institutionalization of church bureaucracy? Or thrilled with the relevant impact of its presence?

Robert J. Suderman writes about the church as a practitioner. His inspiration emerges out of the crossroads of biblical vision and human sincerity always tempered with frailty. Years of ministry, never a stranger to complexity, only serve to sharpen the vision of possibility. His imagination of what can be is never divorced from the realities of what is. He does not bow to the common assumption that "you can't get there from here." "Here" is the only possible point of origin for us.

In his succinct, easy to understand writing style, Suderman provides insightful and thought-provoking perspectives to what it means to be the church. To be a people "called out" to participate together in God's activity in the world, and to create programs and structures needed for effective ministry are two sides of the same coin. This book is for dreamers and bureaucrats alike; indeed, it assumes that the two are indispensable pieces of God's coming presence.

Historically, the Believers' Church movement of the Reformation proved to be a counter political movement that challenged the status quo of Christendom Europe. Although this movement encouraged a separation of church and state, it was not apolitical. Rather it embraced an alternative political allegiance—an allegiance to Jesus and his politics over and above that of the state. South African churches whose historical roots derive from the Believers' Church movement (e.g., Baptist, Pentecostal, and the more recent charismatic and neo-Pentecostal churches), especially the white churches within these denominations, have largely adopted an apolitical stance, thereby forgetting their own (counter) political ecclesial expression. The Kairos Document of 1985 argued convincingly that such an apolitical stance made them complicit to apartheid and its racially-based social engineering. This paper argues that such churches have fallen into the Constantinian temptation of separating their responsibility for the spiritual from sociopolitical realities. The Anabaptist understanding of the Believers' Church tradition provides an alternative political imagination that can help the South African church reclaim and re-embody its prophetic witness.

The journey toward reconciliation is not an easy one. Any attempt to repair wrongs involves time and intentionality. Healing broken relationships takes longer still.

In Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), beginning in 2009 and coming to an end in June 2015, emerged as a way to “support Aboriginal peoples as they heal from the destructive legacies of colonization that have wreaked such havoc in their lives.”  In particular, it sought to confront and raise awareness of the pain and suffering caused by Indian Residential Schools (IRS); a school system that served as a nefarious tool for colonization and dehumanization in a process that George Tinker describes as cultural genocide. 

In seeking to heal from this legacy, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission sought to establish not only a process through which the painful truth would be brought to the fore but also a foundation on which reconciliation could be built—a foundation that could establish and maintain respectful relationships.  Such a pursuit could establish the possibility of healing. The report stated that “reconciliation must inspire Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to transform Canadian society so that our children and grandchildren can live together in dignity, peace, and prosperity on these lands we now share.” 

Canada and South Africa have a close relationship, learning from each other over the years. South African government officials, in the early- to mid-twentieth century, visited several countries, including Canada, to learn how they “dealt with the native problem.” South Africa became particularly interested in the reservation system that the Canadian and US governments employed and began using a similar system as one of the basic building blocks for their own system of apartheid or “separateness” that began in 1948.

Forty-five-plus years later, upon the official demise of apartheid in 1994, South Africa utilized a TRC process to confront and deal with its painful history to create the possibility of a new future in which its people could be reconciled. As South Africa learned from Canada about how to “deal with the native problem,” Canada, in turn, has since gleaned insights from South Africa’s TRC process in confronting its painful history of abuse against a segment of its own people—a history connected at least in part to Canada’s own story. 

But, seeing as Canada sought to glean from South Africa’s TRC process and experience, it may also want to learn from South Africa’s post-TRC experience, especially as Canada now enters its post-TRC era.  Toward that end, this paper seeks to articulate some of the challenges South Africa has faced and the lessons we can glean since the end of their formal TRC process, in the hope that these learnings will help Canada walk further along the path of confronting a painful past to reach a more hopeful future.