Faculty of Theology
Department of Church History and Church Polity
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The aim of this research project entitled: Reconciliation through Church Union in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The United Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, was to study the inadequate view of reconciliation in a Christian context that has led to many misunderstandings concerning the mission and the vision of the young United Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPC).
Presbyterianism arrived in Cape Town in 1812. As early as 1882 attempts were made to unite the various congregations and presbyteries. Their attempts resulted in the formation of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1897. Another strand of Presbyterianism developed when missionaries were sent to the country from Scotland in 1824 in an effort to promote the Gospel.
The ideal of one church for all races had developed but as a result of the racist policies of the country at the time, this was not a great success and subsequently a black Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa was established in 1923. The latter was renamed the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA) in 1979.
In 1994 RPCSA initiated talks with the PCSA to encourage reconciliation. At the initial meetings the need to make a clear commitment to unity was emphasised. A decision was also taken to analyse critically historical issues that might impede the process of union.
During this process – which made provision for the inclusion of members in decision-making – various matters including the adoption of the PCSA Manual, structures of the PCSA, property, ministry, communications, fears, church associations, racism, presbytery problems, and the General Assembly office, were dealt with.
The latter became one of the most contentious issues of the union. Another bone of contention was that of communication. Non-withstanding these initial teething problems, the UPCSA came into being in September 1999.
The researcher found that secular and not theological understandings of reconciliation were at the heart of failed attempts at reformation and renewal. In a secular context, reconciliation can take on different meanings including the restoration of friendly relations between those who have been separated or the demonstration of compatibility of those who appear to be incompatible.
It can also imply appeasement or acceptance of something that is disagreeable. In a Christian context, reconciliation can be defined as human participation in God’s work of reconciling the entire created order to Himself. The process was flawed because UPCSA focused on the human perspective and not unity in Christ.
Dr Graham Duncan
Church History and Church Polity
+27 (0) 12 420 2888
graham.duncan@up.ac.za
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