Unity negotiations between the Bantu Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (1959-1971)
Master Thesis
1994
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University of Cape Town
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Talk about church unity evokes differing responses, with people responding both positively and negatively. These responses stem from memories of the past, realities of the present, and expectations of the future. Many believe that history is opening a door to a new ecclesiastical era. A door of opportunity, an opportunity to address the divisions that exist within the Church of Jesus Christ. But are churches prepared to forget their divided past, strive to find new expressions of fellowship, of witness, of communion with one another as the new South Africa promises to open the political door a little wider? In the attempt to wrestle with the unity negotiations between the Bantu Presbyterian Church (renamed Reformed Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1979) and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, this paper will look at opportunities that were missed. South AfriG.an history, bitter as it has been, provided the churches with possibilities to work towards unity. But these were not grasped. The Bantu Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa confess the same faith with no doctrinal differences. One would have hoped that it would have been less problematic to bring them together than two denominations from different confessional backgrounds. But the history of colonisation and of African resistance to it has largely shaped attitudes against proposals for a united church. European missionaries were seen by many Africans as identical with the colonial powers, and the gospel was regarded as a weapon to disarm them. In a brief historical discussion of missionary expansion I will trace the origins of the two churches, the Bantu Presbyterian Church with a history of African control, and, in fact a near total absence of whites, and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa which has always been white dominated. This will highlight the historical reasons that led to conservative attitudes grounded in racial prejudice, the main stumbling block for organic unity. Anyone who is aware of the level of race relations in South Africa since 1 948 cannot avoid asking questions on how the two churches even came to dream of such a union between white and African Christians. In this thesis it will be argued that the ecumenical movement and the World Council of Churches contributed much to challenging these two churches to talk about unity. Through their participation in conferences and programmes of the ecumenical movement, problems resulting from a divided witness became more glaring. The need to address these problems became an urgent matter. The clear witness of the World Council of Churches, its uncompromising challenge to social, economic, and political structures of injustice shaped the agenda for the General Assemblies of both the Bantu Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.
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Bibliography: leaves 85-86.
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Reference:
Xapile, S. 1994. Unity negotiations between the Bantu Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (1959-1971). University of Cape Town.