Eugene Baron

This chapter explores the challenge as well as the opportunity and role of Black liberation theology in this regard. The research question for this chapter could be phrased as follows: How can Black liberation theology in the future appreciate the value in cultures and identities that developed out of apartheid political agendas, while simultaneously de-racialising those identities?

The discourse on ‘missional church’ has become one of the major buzzwords in practical and missional theology and has been adopted in various forms by numerous denominations: mainline churches; the Dutch Reformed Church that spearheaded some local projects on this discourse; other theology students, and some from Pentecostal and Charismatic backgrounds. Many of them started to employ the notion of a ‘missional church’ and ideas in their discussion on the nature of the church for the future. However, the past has been a learning curve for theologians, especially Black theologians, to always approach these newly imported academic notions, especially from Western contexts, with a hermeneutic of suspicion. Therefore, whilst agreeing that the discourse on ‘missional church’ does provide appropriate handles for the church to understand itself in the world, the authors themselves interrogate the matter further. What is meant by Black liberation theologians (Cone, Goba, and Vellem), and the Black Consciousness Movement, mainly expressed by Steve Biko, on the nature of the church? How should the church represent itself in a society still struggling with racism. The authors want to understand and critically compare the tenets of missional ecclesiology and those of Black ecclesiology, articulated especially in work on Black ecclesiology by Cone, Goba, Vellem, and Biko in the context of White racism and White supremacy.

The death of Black Theology of Liberation (BTL) has been announced, and many were invited to the funeral. This article rejects vehemently such a death as a myth, and provides two reasons why such a theology would have a place to address theologising in the world. It firstly argues that BTL attributes its birth through stories. These stories are captured in history; embodied stories that are told. Secondly, it is found in a broader epistemology than that provided by the Enlightenment paradigm. Therefore, it is not only found in conceptual, argumentative discourses, but other forms of knowledge systems, including stories, poetry, and personal
storytelling. However, this has still not been equally appreciated and explored. Taking the above two reasons into account, the death of BTL cannot be announced by academics, since they were never the sole custodians thereof, only recipients of the tradition of an oppressed people

The sin of racism severely and deeply affects the victims. The response in many instances is to remain silent to survive. The result is traumatic and even becomes symptomatic unless addressed. This article discussed the role that liturgy could play as an anti-racist praxis.
However, firstly is discussed the underlying struggle of two Reformed Churches to become not only in polity but in praxis, non-racial through the liturgy as an anti-racism praxis. Liturgy is defined in the article not only as referring to the liturgical elements of a worship service, but
also within its broader sense as the covenant people’s actions when they meet, listen to, worship and glorify the triune God within all contexts. This is also true when they mutually meet each other for edification. The authors focused partly on some liturgical elements in the worship service; however, the broader context – referring to the liturgy of life – received serious attention.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught most organisations, institutions and leaders off-guard, including church leaders. This was not any different in the congregations in the townships of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The article discusses the responses of the churches in the Mangaung district and poses the question pertinently, ‘How did (or not) the churches in the Mangaung district reimagine, restructure, and position themselves prophetically during the COVID-19 pandemic?’. This is done firstly by providing a background to the development of a missional ecclesiology in North America, United Kingdon, and South Africa. Secondly, a discussion
will be focused on the characteristics of the congregations which are necessary for developing a missional ecclesiology, in terms of these phases, as argued by Baron and Maponya. However, in the final section it will bring the missional ecclesiological discourse in conversation with the shaping and developing (or not) of a missional ecclesiology in respect of congregations in the township of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The authors provide some contours for the missional role of the church in the current South African context and the formation of a missional ecclesiology.
Contribution: This article contributes to the missional church discourse in missiology, that has been a conversation within Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. The authors have been conducting research within mostly Pentecostal church in the township of Mangaung. The
article is an attempt to broaden the missional church discussion in terms of region and Pentecostal ecclesiology.

The neo-Pentecostal churches1 in South Africa have in the recent past been in the media for all the wrong reasons.2 However, this issue is not the focus of this chapter; rather, it attempts to reflect on a deepened Christology for the neo-Pentecostal movement by engaging with some of its commonly used biblical texts and its socio-political ecclesial praxis. The author argues that in its complete embrace of the “Spirit of Christ” metaphor for its expression of faith in the world, neo-Pentecostalism could become a source of inspiration as well as widening its transformational praxis in the lives of its adherents in South Africa. In this chapter, the author first picks up on those existing trends through engaging with a very specific Cape Flats version of neo-Pentecostalism and the basic biblical texts and choruses that they employ. The Cape Flats is an area for so-called coloured people in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The author demonstrates that those commonly used biblical texts and choruses are closely linked to the “Spirit of Christ” metaphor in the context of empire. The author argues that though the neo-Pentecostal churches have placed its focus squarely on the gifts and the “unction” of the Spirit, there is, wittingly or unwittingly, very good theological and ecclesial-historical resources present in its commonly used biblical texts, choruses and socio-political praxis. The author argues that neo-Pentecostal churches have a positive contribution to make to South Africa if it would engage in a deepened Christology. For this to happen they need to embrace a fully-fledged “Spirit of Christ” metaphor that would enhance their Christology beyond the current emphasis solely on the gifts of the Spirit.
Such a Christology could address the socio-economic realities plaguing its adherents in the context of neo-colonial South Africa.
The focus of this chapter is thus not on the disturbing ethical dilemmas
that some of the neo-Pentecostal practices present but rather on the issue of how a deepened hermeneutics and exegesis of their existing theological texts and ecclesial-historical praxis can have maximum benefit for its members and even the country.

The Christian narrative of ‘good news’ by missionaries has assisted in the creation of, and breeding the conditions for, radicalization and violence in various countries, including South Africa. Religious narratives were merged with the nationalist ones of colonial and neo-colonial governments which have brought about the dehumanization and loss of identity of the oppressed and marginalized.1 It is those narratives, adopted within neo-colonial contexts, that have been internalized by people and that have bred frustration and resulted in social isolation, often engendering a process of radicalization and violence. It was the task of the missionaries to convey the ‘good news’ to various communities and in South Africa missionaries did so through a particular narrative which did anything but deliver this to the majority of South Africans struggling to make ends meet. The ‘good news’ they proclaimed in most instances supported the oppressive government’s narrative, one which only served to aggravate the oppressive conditions under which indigenous people had to live.2 This chapter will discuss the relationship between narrative and violence in an African context. Subsequently, it will discuss three African contexts (Algeria, Rwanda, South Africa) and the predominant narratives that have engendered radicalization and violence and destabilized those countries. Then the focus turns to the question ‘what kind of narrative should be dominant in South Africa to counter radicalization and violence?’ Then finally, a discussion on how missiology should adopt projects of narrative construction

In honour of Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel, this article is dedicated to her last endeavour, "to reflect on the road travelled" of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Plaatjies-Van Huffel became outspoken against the lack of internal unity in URCSA, especially after the retraction of her nomination as Actuarius at the URCSA Cape Synod elections in 2018. In this regard, the article focuses particularly on reconciliation in URCSA with a focus on the role of the church media as a medium for reconciliation. The paper will focus on the media reporting of the DRMC church newspaper, Die Ligdraer, between 1990 and 1994 on church unification between the DRCA and the DRMC as a case study to reflect on what role church media can play in the internal unification processes in URCSA. The author conducts a rhetorical analysis of the DRMC's newspaper, Die Ligdraer, and its role in the facilitation of unification between two churches (DRMC and DRCA), with different ethnic and cultural traditions that became reconciled and united in the context of political transition within the broader South African context.

The doctrinal controversy, which led to the formal Synod in Dordrecht (1618–1619), had many stakeholders. The different European countries and its governments also had much at stake in terms of how the issue would have been dealt with by the Reformed Church. Although for different reasons than now, the controversy and the ultimate decision taken at the renowned Synod still has significance for the church and society in the 21st century and even beyond. Therefore, a recent study on the reporting of four South African newspapers on corruption (as a form of sin) is telling in terms of the way such cases are presented. Their reporting displays a different way of presenting ‘sin’ mainly as an actual sin and not as a human condition which calls for the church, in response to the missio Dei, to reflect theologically on contemporary media discourse on ‘sin’ if it wants to address the root cause of corruption in South Africa. Although I realise that there is other ways for the church to resp...

Missiology as a theological discipline is dynamic and forever evolving. This dynamism can be observed through trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, and contextual hermeneutics. The authors of this article, by means of literature analysis, scrutinise contributions of some retiring and retired South African missiologists to unearth trends and trajectories in biblical, missiological, and contextual hermeneutics prevalent in South Africa. The authors used the data analysis programme Atlas.ti with a focus on the current four pertinent questions in missiology: What is mission? How should we do mission? What are the goals of mission? What are the contextual issues of mission today and in the near future? The findings reveal interesting trends and trajectories, and points of divergence and similarities, and because of the dynamic nature of missiology, current emerging and established missiologists should continue to shape the future trends and trajectories. Introduction Missiology, the cutting edge of the Christian movement, is dynamic and forever evolving. This dynamism can be observed through trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, and contextual hermeneutics that have emerged on the global as well as national stage. The face of missiology, including trends and trajectories, is expected to change if the issues that preoccupy it change in different contexts. Current missiological focus areas, namely evangelisation in context, intercultural communication, interreligious dynamics, patterns of mission theology, mission practice and history, women and youth empowerment, and sustainable communities and earth healing remain relevant in these changing landscapes. However, appropriate ways to attend to these focus areas vary from context to context and can be observed in trends and trajectories relating to missiological, biblical, and contextual hermeneutics. Missiology in South Africa and the world has been exciting in this decade. In this article, we aim to unearth trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, missiological, and contextual hermeneutics prevalent in South Africa. Therefore, the central question of this

Missiology as a theological discipline is dynamic and forever evolving. This dynamism can be observed through trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, and contextual hermeneutics. The authors of this article, by means of literature analysis, scrutinise contributions of some retiring and retired South African missiologists to unearth trends and trajectories in biblical, missiological, and contextual hermeneutics prevalent in South Africa. The authors used the data analysis programme Atlas.ti with a focus on the current four pertinent questions in missiology: What is mission? How should we do mission? What are the goals of mission? What are the contextual issues of mission today and in the near future? The findings reveal interesting trends and trajectories, and points of divergence and similarities, and because of the dynamic nature of missiology, current emerging and established missiologists should continue to shape the future trends and trajectories. Introduction Missiology, the cutting edge of the Christian movement, is dynamic and forever evolving. This dynamism can be observed through trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, and contextual hermeneutics that have emerged on the global as well as national stage. The face of missiology, including trends and trajectories, is expected to change if the issues that preoccupy it change in different contexts. Current missiological focus areas, namely evangelisation in context, intercultural communication, interreligious dynamics, patterns of mission theology, mission practice and history, women and youth empowerment, and sustainable communities and earth healing remain relevant in these changing landscapes. However, appropriate ways to attend to these focus areas vary from context to context and can be observed in trends and trajectories relating to missiological, biblical, and contextual hermeneutics. Missiology in South Africa and the world has been exciting in this decade. In this article, we aim to unearth trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, missiological, and contextual hermeneutics prevalent in South Africa. Therefore, the central question of this

One of the preoccupations of God's mission on earth (missio Dei) includes unity and reconciliation. This is well documented in the work of the catholic missiologist, Robert Schreiter (reconciliation), David J Bosch (unity) as well as the ecumenical World Mission Conferences (New Delhi, 1961; Athens, 2005). Unification processes of all the South African Churches (especially between traditionally/originally black and white race-based Churches) coincided with the transition period since 1990. The Churches, including the DRMC and the DRCA, went on a path of unification. This did not come without a wide range of "stumbling blocks." Die Ligdraer, as the official newspaper of the DRMC, announced the date of the founding Synod between 14-17 April 1994 using the metaphor of a 'wedding' to reflect on the union between the two separate, racially-based Churches (NGSK, 1993). From a missiological perspective, this paper deals with the case of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in presenting the perspectives and sentiments on the 'stumbling blocks' experienced, particularly the informal conversations and discussions that are mostly presented in the Church's newspaper (Die Ligdraer/Ligstraal). It focuses specifically on the 1990-1997 period of the Church, where most of the letters from members of the congregations, emotions and sensitive issues on the road towards unity were discussed. The paper limits itself to the newspaper of the DRMC, with a focus on the discussions and voices from members at the grassroots but also ministers that were listening to members in congregations to reflect on the 'sacrifices', compromises, accommodation and mutual trust that was at play and the strategies of the leadership of these Churches to facilitate reconciliation.

South African missiology has seen a shift in its praxis since the late 20th century. David J. Bosch made a crucial contribution in this regard. The shift includes mission as a contextualised praxis and agency. In mission studies, agency has become necessary in postcolonial mission, primarily because of the loss of identity of the oppressed in colonised countries. Through contextual theologies of liberation, African theology, Black Theology of Liberation and postcolonial studies, theologians were able to reflect on the human dignity of the colonised. However, there are still significant efforts needed in this quest, and therefore, the praxis cycle used in missiology is
useful to also assess effects on the oppressed and marginalised through the emerging context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). In the task of doing mission in the world differently, the questions that missiologists ask are important. The emergence of the 4IR aims to merge the biological with the technological and will bring more challenges to mission work in Africa. This will bring upon us the responsibility to reflect on the notion of human agency, the theologies espoused in such a time and missiologists’ contextual lenses and strategies employed. These should have to be carefully considered especially in a post-apartheid context. The researcher
will, therefore, use the commonly used praxis cycle in missiological research to explore through a Socratic (questioning) approach what the implications will be for missiologists and mission agents in the quest of transforming church and the post-apartheid society.

The recent debate on decolonisation calls for all academic disciplines, including missiology modules, at public universities to reflect on its content, curriculum and pedagogies. However, the danger is always that to ‘de-…’ might lead to an exclusivist and essentialist pattern of a person or institution, and an act that does not take all epistemic communities seriously. The author argues in this article that such tendencies would not be conducive in South Africa, a country with a rich heritage of various cultures. Epistemologies at public universities should embrace all cultures in order to be relevant and transformative. The article oscillates between
essentialism in social, racial identities and non-essentialism thereof – primarily contending for the inclusion and appreciation of all social and cultural identities in South African curriculum and content for higher education, in particular, the cultural tradition and heritage among the
so-called ‘coloured’ communities. The article reassesses the contributions of theologians towards racial and ethnic identity. The author uses one particular ‘racial identity’ as a case study for racial essentialism and to argue for an inclusive approach in mission education. The article conclusively argues for the re-imagination and inclusion of ‘coloured’ as an African identity in the discipline of missiology

The social context of church members spawns different ecclesial imaginations of the nature of the church. Those different ecclesial imaginations often function within one particular church.
It interacts with each other – in isolation, competition or hostility – to ultimately shape the life of that church. This article discusses the result of a historical study in which the authors dissected the primary ecclesial imaginations of members of churches in South Africa. The authors, therefore, discuss three of the ecclesial imaginations that emanated from the research, which can be observed within the sampled congregations. The authors argue that because the congregants of the churches have such ‘ecclesiological imaginations’, the prophetic voice of the church in South Africa has become silent. Therefore, the authors suggest that the members
of the churches in South Africa should re-imagine the nature of the church in terms of the missio Dei if it wants to recover the prophetic voice of the church. The authors conclude that the missional church discourse provides specific conceptual tools to assist congregations to recover the prophetic voice of the church in South Africa.

During the South African amnesty process perpetrators would get amnesty if they could prove that there was a political motive for committing their actions, their deeds were proportionate, that they happened during and between the years 1960 and 1994, and if they gave full disclosure. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the following: the fact that remorse and repentance were not required in order for perpetrators to get amnesty, left the reconciliation process in a vacuum. The inclusion of remorse and repentance as a requirement for amnesty, would have established a true (not a cheap) forgiveness and a 'thick' reconciliation process between perpetrators and victims. Remorse and repentance would have requested an admission and regret of wrongdoing, followed by an act of repentance underwritten by acts of contrition.

Rightfully so, the Confession of Belhar was never intended to be a ‘stok om mee te slaan’ (a stick to beat with) (Smit 2009b:299), as it is often perceived. This sentiment prevails due to the association of the Confession to the ‘work of Boesak’ or ‘liberation theology’ (see Kritzinger 2010). It became to many a ‘stumbling block’ because they argue that the confession has ‘strong political connotations’ and ‘the potential to divide the DRC’ (see Botman 2006:243). Along these lines, the Belhar Confession has a very negative connotation among DRC family members. I might not be fully able to turn the negative connotations around, but this small contribution is intended to look for a means in which this confessional document can minimise the negative connotations attached to it, like the references made to the document mentioned earlier, but also to rightfully ask the question, how can this confessional document, Belhar, be a therapeutic resource for the DRC family during the current reunification process, as well reaching the moment we all hope for, becoming a united church?

The churches in City of Tshwane have incredible youth capital. There is so much energy and passion that fill the concrete walls of the mushrooming churches. This article emerges from a research that was conducted to explore religious innovation and competition amidst demographic and social change among churches in the City of Tshwane. The data of the study suggest that the impetus behind most of the innovation and development in the churches is borne from the hearts and minds of the young people. The striking involvement of the youth in the congregations, their participation and also the reflection in the data in terms of youth agency highlight the concern on their involvement in urban, social change, with specific reference to the City of Tshwane. The article assesses the participation of the church youth in the transformation of the city.

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.

This contribution is part of a festschrift in honour of emeritus professor, Nico Adam Botha, who laboured tirelessly for the concretisation of justice to all citizens in the boundaries of South Africa and beyond. His academic treatise offers volumes to matters of justice/injustice, in most cases particularly related to those with economic power, abusing the resources that cripple the economy and result in the most vulnerable (the poorest of the poor!) suffering. This contribution also reflects critically on the unequal representation of media reports on government corruption, as opposed to corruption in corporate South Africa. Moreover, it transposes beyond such media reporting. The author argues in this contribution that the academic corpus of Nico Botha provides a theoretical framework that can be used as a diagnostic analysis and probe, but also to re-imagine the causes and eradication of corruption in South Africa.

The doctrinal controversy, which led to the formal Synod in Dordrecht (1618–1619), had many stakeholders. The different European countries and its governments also had much at stake in terms of how the issue would have been dealt with by the Reformed Church. Although for different reasons than now, the controversy and the ultimate decision taken at the renowned Synod still has significance for the church and society in the 21st century and even beyond. Therefore, a recent study on the reporting of four South African newspapers on corruption (as a form of sin) is telling in terms of the way such cases are presented. Their reporting displays a different way of presenting ‘sin’ mainly as an actual sin and not as a human condition which calls for the church, in response to the missio Dei, to reflect theologically on contemporary media discourse on ‘sin’ if it wants to address the root cause of corruption in South Africa. Although I realise that there is other ways for the church to respond to widespread corruption, this article focuses mainly on a theological contribution in terms of a broader discussion on ‘sin’.

This article aims to address the issue of habit formation in the context of homeless people in the City of Tshwane. Subsequent to the conversation and Bible study with the group of homeless people, the author introduces the emerging themes that emanated from the encounter. The article demonstrates the formation of good habits and the struggle to get rid of bad habits.

In this article, the metaphor of dancing is used to discuss the skewed gender relations in society as a result of the various interpretations available in terms of the narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (Jn 4). The question explored is the following: how scholarly interpreters
of the Bible and the homeless people describe this ‘dancing’, that is, the human movements between the male and female conversation partners? The author uses the ‘woman-friendly’ interpretations of various theologians on the John 4:1–42 narrative and juxtaposes it against other theologians’ interpretations. Furthermore, the author discusses how a homeless group in the City of Tshwane reflects on and interprets the text. The article builds on the premise that biblical texts like John 4:1–42 – which are interpreted in a way that sustains patriarchy – serve as the cause for gender-based violence. Therefore, although the article does not refer directly to the issue of gender-based violence, it is contributing to ‘woman-friendly’ interpretations of Biblical texts to counter patriarchal tendencies in society.

During the South African amnesty process perpetrators would get amnesty if they could prove that there was a political motive for committing their actions, their deeds were proportionate, that they happened during and between the years 1960 and 1994, and if they gave full disclosure. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the following: the fact that remorse and repentance were not required in order for perpetrators to get amnesty, left the reconciliation process in a vacuum. The inclusion of remorse and repentance as a requirement for amnesty, would have established a true (not a cheap) forgiveness and a 'thick' reconciliation process between perpetrators and victims. Remorse and repentance would have requested an admission and regret of wrongdoing, followed by an act of repentance underwritten by acts of contrition.

It affords us real pleasure to present this editorial on behalf of the Majority World Christian Leaders Conversation (MWCLC). The MWCLC started slowly, but surely since 2016, following a groundbreaking conversation among eleven mission practitioners from the Majority World who met in the United Kingdom somewhere between London and Oxford. At the meeting, several themes emerged under the banner of missionary questions and impulses of the Majority World, from the perspective of the reign of God. These themes and more find reflection in the book. However, before proceeding to the content of the anthology, a note on the concept “Majority World” seems necessary. The time where terms like “Third World” gained strong currency, is long since gone. The term “Majority World” is a new kid on the block and requires some clarification. The use of the term is a strategy of avoiding concepts like “Developing” or “Third World” or even “Global South” which are pejorative in a real sense. To speak of...

It is poignant to note that after the official South African Truth and Reconciliation hearings discontinued there has not been adequate progress made in terms of racial and ethnic reconciliation in South Africa. Therefore, the chapter aims to address the issue with a focus on the contribution that Steve Biko made from his perspectives on a Black Consciousness ideology and how it can be used to address the matter. The chapter commences with stating the problem of racial and ethnic reconciliation in South Africa, that is still a challenge, and has often been observed in media spats between coloured and African blacks. The chapter uses this ethnic and racial tension as a case study to explore how the work of Biko can complement the discontinued work of the SouthAfrican TRC’s process in ensuring racial and ethnic reconciliation.

Missiology as a theological discipline is dynamic and forever evolving. This dynamism can be observed through trends and trajectories in biblical, theological, and contextual hermeneutics. The authors of this article, by means of literature analysis, scrutinise contributions of some retiring and retired South African missiologists to unearth trends and trajectories in biblical, missiological, and contextual hermeneutics prevalent in South Africa. The authors used the data analysis programme Atlas.ti with a focus on the current four pertinent questions in missiology: What is mission? How should we do mission? What are the goals of mission? What are the contextual issues of mission today and in the near future? The findings reveal interesting trends and trajectories, and points of divergence and similarities, and because of the dynamic nature of missiology, current emerging and established missiologists should continue to shape the future trends and trajectories.

The Christian narrative of ‘good news’ by missionaries has assisted in the creation of, and breeding the conditions for, radicalization and violence in various countries, including South Africa. Religious narratives were merged with the nationalist ones of colonial and neo-colonial governments which have brought about the dehumanization and loss of identity of the oppressed and marginalized.1 It is those narratives, adopted within neo-colonial contexts, that have been internalized by people and that have bred frustration and resulted in social isolation, often engendering a process of radicalization and violence. It was the task of the missionaries to convey the ‘good news’ to various communities and in South Africa missionaries did so through a particular narrative which did anything but deliver this to the majority of South Africans struggling to make ends meet. The ‘good news’ they proclaimed in most instances supported the oppressive government’s narrative, one which only served to aggravate the oppressive conditions under which indigenous people had to live.2 This chapter will discuss the relationship between narrative and violence in an African context. Subsequently, it will discuss three African contexts (Algeria, Rwanda, South Africa) and the predominant narratives that have engendered radicalization and violence and destabilized those countries. Then the focus turns to the question ‘what kind of narrative should be dominant in South Africa to counter radicalization and violence?’ Then finally, a discussion on how missiology should adopt projects of narrative construction

In celebrating a quarter of a century of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URSCA) (1994 2019), quite a few well-organised activities and events took place. These activities reflect a mix of serious academic seminars and liturgical celebrations of which the ones in the Cape, both in Belhar and at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) warrant special mention. In his sermon based on John 17 at the closing liturgical celebration at UWC, Prof Daan Cloete raised several pertinent issues pertaining to unity and justice as a challenge to the leadership of URCSA. Despite all the significant events taking place throughout the year (2019), there has been a major deficit. Attempts at serious historiography are few and far between. This book is an attempt at starting such a study process. However, to put it modestly to contribute to the writing of the history of the URCSA. It has been resolved to start right at the beginning: the founding synod of URCSA with a specific focus on ...

South African missiology has seen a shift in its praxis since the late 20th century. David J. Bosch made a crucial contribution in this regard. The shift includes mission as a contextualised praxis and agency. In mission studies, agency has become necessary in postcolonial mission, primarily because of the loss of identity of the oppressed in colonised countries. Through contextual theologies of liberation, African theology, Black Theology of Liberation and postcolonial studies, theologians were able to reflect on the human dignity of the colonised. However, there are still significant efforts needed in this quest, and therefore, the praxis cycle used in missiology is useful to also assess effects on the oppressed and marginalised through the emerging context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). In the task of doing mission in the world differently, the questions that missiologists ask are important. The emergence of the 4IR aims to merge the biological with the technological ...

In honour of Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel, this article is dedicated to her last endeavour, “to reflect on the road travelled” of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Plaatjies-Van Huffel became outspoken against the lack of internal unity in URCSA, especially after the retraction of her nomination as Actuarius at the URCSA Cape Synod elections in 2018. In this regard, the article focuses particularly on reconciliation in URCSA with a focus on the role of the church media as a medium for reconciliation. The paper will focus on the media reporting of the DRMC church newspaper, Die Ligdraer, between 1990 and 1994 on church unification between the DRCA and the DRMC as a case study to reflect on what role church media can play in the internal unification processes in URCSA. The author conducts a rhetorical analysis of the DRMC’s newspaper, Die Ligdraer, and its role in the facilitation of unification between two churches (DRMC and DRCA), with different eth...

The churches in City of Tshwane have incredible youth capital. There is so much energy and passion that fill the concrete walls of the mushrooming churches. This article emerges from a research that was conducted to explore religious innovation and competition amidst demographic and social change among churches in the City of Tshwane. The data of the study suggest that the impetus behind most of the innovation and development in the churches is borne from the hearts and minds of the young people. The striking involvement of the youth in the congregations, their participation and also the reflection in the data in terms of youth agency highlight the concern on their involvement in urban, social change, with specific reference to the City of Tshwane. The article assesses the participation of the church youth in the transformation of the city.

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 o...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught most organisations, institutions and leaders off-guard, including church leaders. This was not any different in the congregations in the townships of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The article discusses the responses of the churches in the Mangaung district and poses the question pertinently, ‘How did (or not) the churches in the Mangaung district reimagine, restructure, and position themselves prophetically during the COVID-19 pandemic?’. This is done firstly by providing a background to the development of a missional ecclesiology in North America, United Kingdon, and South Africa. Secondly, a discussion will be focused on the characteristics of the congregations which are necessary for developing a missional ecclesiology, in terms of these phases, as argued by Baron and Maponya. However, in the final section it will bring the missional ecclesiological discourse in conversation with the shaping and developing (or not) of a m...

In the first chapter, the authors focus on the lack of consistency on the notion of obedience during the constituting synod of URCSA in April 1994, as on the issue of unity, justice and reconciliation. Therefore, the authors argue that what was evident in the lives and ministry of these members was their willingness to be obedient and pursue unity, justice and reconciliation.
In chapters two to six, the authors focus on one of the moderature members of the constituting moderature (1994) in each of the four chapters and in the following order: Rev. Nick Apollis (Moderator), Rev. Leonardo Appies (Scriba Synodii), Rev. Sam Buti (Assessor) and Rev. JD Buys (Actuarius).  The content of these chapters focuses on each member’ missional role, through discussing their agency, their context analysis, their theological interpretive lens(es) of church and society, as well as the particular strategies that they employed to enact transformation. The authors focused on the primary sources – addresses, sermons, papers delivered from these members – to understand their contributions made to the church and society. The authors also focused on secondary sources, written and presented by their colleagues, congregants and acquaintances, that provided perspectives on their missional role in church and society. Through the two-pronged data collection process (primary and secondary), the authors were able to construct the missional character of these members.
The authors’ focus in the seventh chapter is a comprehensive bird’s-eye view of the four moderature members’ contributions and personalities and how their actions, addresses and analyses of the context contributed to their obedience to facilitate transformation. Nonetheless, the 1994 founding synod was the start of a new journey within URCSA. The church was in its ‘baby shoes’ and was already at the brink of a schism but was able to keep the ‘ship’ afloat. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the congruence of their actions, behaviour, choices made, but also the management of their differences and how their unique contributions would assist the positive outcome and, eventually, beyond its 25-year celebration in 2019.
4. Academic Contribution
This book makes a contribution in two fields or disciplines within theology. It makes a missiological contribution, which lies in the aspect that with this book it has been shown that the four moderature members’ spirituality was grounded in the everyday realities, and their rootedness in the political, economic struggle of the majority of the people in South Africa. They were able to transform the church through imagining the church beyond its racial divisions (URCSA), and their active role in encouraging members of two black churches to promote greater unification (with DRC) and facilitate the restructuring of their denomination but also the South African society. The book shows how these members brought the members in the church as well as society to a different understanding of church in society. It further shows that a ‘broken’ and wounded church can become God’s agent for reconciliation, unity and justice in the world.
The book also makes a contribution to the discipline of South African Reformed church history. There are several previous academic contributions that come to mind. An important book in this regard is the project between scholars of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Uniting Reformed Church (URCSA) who documented various perspectives of the Reformed churches’ history between the period 1960-1990 in the publication Reformed Churches in South Africa and the Struggle for Justice (2013), edited by the late Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel and Robert R Vosloo. This excellent work captures the memories and the history for the said period. However, excellent as it might be, these moderature members whom the authors undertook to study do not feature prominently in terms of their actions, sacrifices, and intentional contributions to serve the church and society at large. Moreover, this book will also document beyond the demarcated scope (1990) of the edited volume, and build on the future of the reformed history specifically related to the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA).