scholarly journals The place of women ministers in the mission of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanie S. Mkhwanazi ◽  
Tias Kgatla
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Women Ministers

scholarly journals FROM CONSTANCE OOSTHUIZEN TO PURITY MALINGA: THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY IN ORDINATION IN THE METHODIST CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-191
Author(s):  
Raymond Simangaliso Kumalo
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Women Ministers ◽  
Ordained Ministry ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

The researcher believes that while in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) women have been ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament since 1976, they remain a minority numerically and are still marginalised in leadership. As a result ordained women remain the most unrecognised and underutilised group in the MCSA. Few women ministers have held leadership positions during this period, particularly primary leadership positions. This article enquires into the experiences (or, ‘acceptance’) of these women, the reasons for the minority representation, and reflects on the future of representative ordained ministry. A theoretical framework of feminist ecclesiology is used as an approach. Primary research provides statistical data upon which the assessment of progress towards gender equality is based. The impact of culture upon institutional gender representation is discussed, together with equality of opportunity in principle and practice. Reference is made to gender equality in other institutions, both secular and religious. The article reflects upon the leadership of the MCSA towards gender equality in the ordained ministry, and some conclusions are drawn and recommendations suggested for the future.

scholarly journals Grant me Justice! Reading the Chronicle of the Ordination of Women in the MCSA as the Making of a Patronage Ministry

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Obusitswe Tiroyabone-A-Sedupelela
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Women Ministers ◽  
Ordination Of Women ◽  
The Church ◽  
Patronage System

In 2016 the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) celebrates 40 years of the ordination of women which signifies a milestone in the ministry. Whilst this calls for celebration, it is also important that we lament the challenges women ministers are facing in the church. The chronicle of how the church came to ordain women as ministers in the MCSA cites tensions and debates as well as theological arguments for and against the ordination of women. This paper reads this chronicle with a hermeneutic of suspicion. The paper holds that the decision of the church to ordain women has not translated to women being ordained ministers like men within the church, but rather the decision created a patronage system within the ministry where male ministers (and their wives) are patrons and female ministers their clients. The woman minister in the MCSA joins the woman in the Luke narrative who continues to go to the judge (the MCSA) and laments “Grant me Justice!”

scholarly journals THE EXPERIENCES OF THIRTEEN WOMEN MINISTERS OF THE METHODIST CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Williams ◽  
Christina Landman
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
40Th Anniversary ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Women Ministers ◽  
Ordination Of Women ◽  
The Church ◽  
Unique Relationship

The year 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the ordination of women into the ministry of Word and Sacraments in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. What are their experiences during their ministry whilst being in a covenantal relationship with the church and their ordained colleagues? What are the particular concerns and issues raised by a sample of 13 women ministers who have served for a total of 90 years since their ordination in the church? The paper describes the unique relationship between the church and ministers and then presents the findings of the experiences of the sample, indicating that the women ministers in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa are being discriminated against in various ways and struggling to find acceptance and appointments in financially viable circuits.

scholarly journals THE PLACE OF WOMEN MINISTERS IN THE MISSION OF THE METHODIST CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
F S Mkhwanazi ◽  
Thias Kgatla
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Women Empowerment ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Women Ministers ◽  
The People ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
The Church

This paper proposes that the ministry of ordained women within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) has not fully integrated women, despite the landmark decision of the MCSA Conference of 1972 to have women ordained into the full ministry of the church. At that Methodist Conference of 1972, the Methodist Church adopted a resolution to have women ordained into the ministry of the church, and yet this has not been fully realised in the life of the MCSA. Despite the fact that women form the majority of the people who come to church on Sundays, they form a very small group within ministers’ ranks. We will investigate the challenges within the MCSA that slow down its policy on the ordination of women. The paper proposes the tools that can be used to address the challenges with regard to the full acceptance of women ministers within the MCSA. Furthermore, it investigates the organisational structure of the Women’s Manyano as a means for women to protest against their exclusion from full participation in the life and leadership of the church. Although what women have learnt and practise within their own women organisation has not infiltrated into the full life of the Methodist Church, they have become a force to reckon with in the MCSA. The paper traces the causes of the marginalisation of women within the Methodist Church to patriarchal and cultural stereotypes that are determining the reading and understanding of the biblical text. Human nature is a condition that needs to be checked regularly in order to remove those elements that are human-made, self-serving and limiting. Some examples of psychological and cultural elements are cited as a basis for reflection and a launch pad for women empowerment, and for the transformation of the MCSA and its policy on the ministry of ordained women.

Reverend Doctor Sox Leleki and His Role in the Black Methodist Consultation

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonwabile Mancotywa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Role Players

The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) is one of the mainline Christian denominations with a very good history. However, it was not immune from the larger political influence of South Africa that was polarised by apartheid. This article is intended to look at the formation known as the Black Methodist Consultation (BMC), which at that time had an individual member who played an important role in its development and activities. Sox Leleki was one of the key role players of this movement inside the Methodist Church

scholarly journals DOCTRINAL SANCTION AND THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS: ECCLESIA DE LANGE v THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE METHODIST CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (726/13) [2014] ZASCA

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun De Freitas
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Religious Doctrine ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Religious Associations ◽  
Sexual Conduct ◽  
Court Of Appeal

Scholarship on the protection of religious rights and freedoms in the context of religious associations in South Africa has gained in momentum since the decision by the Equality Court in Johan Daniel Strydom v Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente Moreleta Park some years ago. Emanating from this were diverse scholarly insights on what the parameters of religious associations should be, with specific focus on sexual conduct, religious doctrine and membership of religious associations. The South African judiciary has not been confronted with a similar challenge since the decision. However, with the advent of the judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Ecclesia De Lange v The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in 2014, questions as to the parameters of the rights of religious associations in the context of sexual conduct and religious doctrine again present themselves. This article consequently analyses the mentioned judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal to further an understanding of the parameters of associational rights of religious institutions against the background of a truly plural and democratic society, as supported by the Constitution of South Africa.

scholarly journals Ordination of Women to the Ministry of Word and Sacraments: A turning point in the history of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ntobeko Dlamini
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Ordination Of Women

In 2016, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) celebrated 40 years since the first woman was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacraments (1976–2016). The MCSA Conference of 1976 ordained the first woman to the ministry of Word and Sacraments, a verdict that was long overdue. This became a turning point in the history of the MCSA. This document seeks to highlight the role of women in the MCSA prior to and after the 1976 Conference resolution. Included herein are key controversies, statements and events in the ministry of women within the MCSA.

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