scholarly journals Op pad met gereformeerdheid

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-222
Author(s):  
Christina Landman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
White Woman ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
Women Ministers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Auto Ethnography ◽  
Point Of Departure

An Afrikaans woman minister of the Word: en route with being reformedAuto-ethnography, as developed by Caroline Ellis, allows this author to tell her story as an ordained minister of the Word in the Reformed tradition in South Africa, working within a variety of cultures and ecumenical relationships. After “auto-ethnography” is explained as a methodological point of departure, the author, firstly, describes views on womanhood in the Reformed Afrikaans culture in which she was born as well as her reaction to it. Secondly, the culture of the academic reaction against apartheid is briefly described in which she was engaged as a white, Afrikaans speaking woman lecturer in Theology, of which there were very few during the 1980s and 1990s. Finally, the challenges of being the only white woman minister of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa are identified and discussed within the past, present and future of Afrikaans speaking Reformed women ministers in South Africa.

scholarly journals A Woman’s Journey with the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa: 25 Years

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Landman
Keyword(s):  
State Hospital ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
White Woman ◽  
Turning Points ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Local Family ◽  
The Church

The methodological insights of autoethnography allow the author to write her story in critical-emphatical engagement with the structures and cultures within which her story unfolds. Her story as the only white woman minister of the Word in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) is told as one in which organisational, political and ethnic cultures were in constant creative conflict. An unexpected continuity of intercultural co-operation is established throughout the story of her journey with URCSA over the past 25 years of its existence. Six decisive turning points in her life are described. The first is when she was called to the ministry at the age of 15, several years before women were ordained in the local family of Reformed churches. The second was when she started studying with the liberation theologians of the 1980s. The third was being appointed as a theological professor amidst exclusively male colleagues. The fourth was working with the ill and desolate at a state hospital in preparation for a second doctorate. The fifth happened when she was ordained in a Zulu-speaking congregation in Mpumalanga. The sixth covers her experiences in the leadership of the church the past decade. Throughout, the emphasis is on the outsider-insider experience of both critically and sympathetically engaging with the Afrikaans culture in which she was born, and the black and brown cultures into which she was co-opted.

scholarly journals �The hastening that waits�: A critical assessment of the tangebility of unity within the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rothney S. Tshaka ◽  
Peter M. Maruping
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Church Of Christ ◽  
The Political ◽  
Racial Categories ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Racial Lines ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Tradition

The tale of the Reformed Church tradition in South Africa remains conspicuous with challenges also within the current democratic context. Whilst the political past of South Africa contributed towards a Reformed church divided along racial lines, a struggle continues for a genuinely unified Reformed church today. Conceding to the present discussions about the possibility of uniting all Reformed congregations that were divided along racial categories of Black, Coloured, Indian and White, this article aspires to delve into the intricacies pertaining to the already achieved unity between the �Coloured� and a huge portion of the �Black� Reformed congregations, that is to say, the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. This article will argue that although it is fundamental that the church of Christ must be united, it is equally imperative that the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) waits and assesses whether it has already achieved tangible unity.

scholarly journals A Quarter Century of Democracy and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leepo Johannes Modise
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
Measuring Tool ◽  
The Church

This paper focuses on the role of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in the South African society during the past 25 years of its services to God, one another and the world. Firstly, the paper provides a brief history of URCSA within 25 years of its existence. Secondly, the societal situation in democratic South Africa is highlighted in light of Article 4 of the Belhar Confession and the Church Order as a measuring tool for the role of the church. Thirdly, the thermometer-thermostat metaphor is applied in evaluating the role of URCSA in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, the 20 years of URCSA and democracy in South Africa are assessed in terms of Gutierrez’s threefold analysis of liberation. In conclusion, the paper proposes how URCSA can rise above the thermometer approach to the thermostat approach within the next 25 years of four general synods.

scholarly journals Ministerial formation policies of the Northern Theological Seminary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa:

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-216
Author(s):  
ST Kgatla
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Theological Seminary ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Ethnic Churches ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article investigates the theoretical and practical effectiveness of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa’s (URCSA) ministerial formation of the Northern Synod. The URCSA is part of the Reformed Movement (Calvinism) that was established by the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) of South Africa that mainly came from the Netherlands to establish itself in South Africa and later established ethnic churches called daughter churches into existence in terms of a racially designed formula. After many years of the Dutch Reformed Church missionary dominance, the URCSA constituted its first synod in 1994 after the demise of apartheid. It was only after this synod that the URCSA through its ministerial formation tried to shake off the legacy of colonial paternalism and repositioned itself to serve its members; however, it fell victim to new ideological trappings. This article is based on a study that traces some basic Reformed practices and how the URCSA Theological Seminary of the Northern Synod dealt or failed to deal with them in its quest for the ideal theological ministerial formation.

scholarly journals A forgotten past is the past that is yet to be

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 60-78
Author(s):  
Sindiso Bhebhe ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Natural Death ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Model ◽  
The Government

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that has a running oral history association. In some countries, especially in southern Africa, these oral history associations have arisen and then died a natural death. For example, Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe (OTAZI) did not last long. Therefore, it is a positive development for South Africa to have a functioning oral history association. The Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA) is the brainchild of the government and is mainly funded by the government. It is involved in the coordination and documentation of stories that were silent during the apartheid era. Therefore, with this highly perceived task it is necessary to critically evaluate its successes and failures in meeting the objectives of the National Oral History Programme (NOHP). This paper, through document analysis and purposively selected interviews, critically evaluates the achievements and shortcomings of the OHASA from its inception to present with the aim of proposing a ‘working’ model which involves the setting up of a monitoring and evaluating system. The paper concludes that although OHASA unveiled the muted marginalised voices, it soral history programme demonstrate elitism in critical emancipatory as mostly the stories of the elites are covered. Furthermore, such recorded stories are not accessible as the recordings are stashed in the boxes in archives repositories.

scholarly journals A forgotten past is the past that is yet to be

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 60-78
Author(s):  
Sindiso Bhebhe ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Natural Death ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Model ◽  
The Government

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that has a running oral history association. In some countries, especially in southern Africa, these oral history associations have arisen and then died a natural death. For example, Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe (OTAZI) did not last long. Therefore, it is a positive development for South Africa to have a functioning oral history association. The Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA) is the brainchild of the government and is mainly funded by the government. It is involved in the coordination and documentation of stories that were silent during the apartheid era. Therefore, with this highly perceived task it is necessary to critically evaluate its successes and failures in meeting the objectives of the National Oral History Programme (NOHP). This paper, through document analysis and purposively selected interviews, critically evaluates the achievements and shortcomings of the OHASA from its inception to present with the aim of proposing a ‘working’ model which involves the setting up of a monitoring and evaluating system. The paper concludes that although OHASA unveiled the muted marginalised voices, it soral history programme demonstrate elitism in critical emancipatory as mostly the stories of the elites are covered. Furthermore, such recorded stories are not accessible as the recordings are stashed in the boxes in archives repositories.

scholarly journals Contradiction and Paradoxes in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (01) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Khum Prasad Sharma
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Context ◽  
White Woman ◽  
African History ◽  
Black African ◽  
Social Milieu ◽  
The Past

J.M Coetzee’s Disgrace is a portrayal of characters in a social context of South Africa where the writer himself was brought up. It throws light on the new social milieu of post apartheid society where Lucy, a white is raped by a black African. She seems to accept this heinous deed with an ease by giving it a historical blend. She understands her rape as a black’s way of taking revenge for what whites have treated the blacks in the past. She considers it different from the universal concept of rape as a forceful sex. By making the blacks raping the white woman, Coetzee seems to be rewriting the African history and in this he dismantles the black/white dichotomy. So, I contend to carry out that Disgrace being a highly paradoxical and contradictory novel presents a world dying without hope and fear. It exposes the intellectual insecurity in South Africa which proves to be a threat to white man’s stability and culture.

scholarly journals Negotiating Elusive Justice: Dilemmas of Land Distribution in Southern Africa

Obiter ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Anstey
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Societal Transformation ◽  
Land Distribution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transitions To Democracy ◽  
Principle Of Justice ◽  
And Control

Transitions to democracy across southern Africa have been difficult and inevitably flawed. Shifts in international values, national demographics and power realities see social conflicts mutate through time, making societal transformation not a point of arrival, but an ongoing process. In Zimbabwe, and more recently Namibia and South Africa, land ownership and control have become bitterly contested issues. If one accepts that injustices were perpetrated in the past, what principles should guide their remedy? This article considers the complexities arising from competing conceptions of justice over land ownership and management in the context of changing political pressures and dilemmas as to who land might be taken from, along with future dilemmas about equitable distribution and productive management. If the crisis-driven experience of Zimbabwe is to be averted, stakeholders in Namibia and South Africa must find jointly acceptable principles to guide action into the future, and it is likely that no single principle of justice will suffice – a principled multi-track approach based on a mix of utilitarian, restorative and economic empowerment logics must be negotiated ... and then urgently implemented.

scholarly journals Homoseksualiteit: Die standpunte van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika in 2007

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Intercourse ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk ◽  
Church Life ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Homosexuality: The viewpoints of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa (NRCA) in 2007 These two churches, through their broadest assembly namely the General Synod and the General Church Assembly respectively, show remarkable similarities in their approach to Scripture on the matter of homosexuality, the position of gay people in church life and the time frame in which they took decisions on these matters. The point of departure for both is marriage as something only for one husband and one wife. This is explicitly complemented by the NRCA with a limitation of sexual intercourse to marriage, which rules out the possibility of homosexuality. In the DRC the same principle is tradition, thus basicly coming to the same conclusion as the NCRA. The reason for these similarities is not that the two assemblies openly copied each other, but the fact that they both are reformed churches in Southern Africa serving, mainly, Afrikaners. Perhaps these similarities supply another reason for the present increase in cooperation between the two churches.

Seven ‘deadly’ assumptions: unravelling the implications of HIV/AIDS among grandmothers in South Africa and beyond

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 935-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAY CHAZAN
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Hiv Aids

ABSTRACTOver the past few years, the pivotal roles older women play in responding to the unprecedented HIV/AIDS epidemic in southern Africa has received increasing recognition by academics, governments, funding agencies, non-governmental organisations, and citizens around the world. Yet, discourses surrounding AIDS and ‘grandmotherhood’ are laden with a number of ungrounded assumptions that have important implications for researchers, advocates and decision-makers. Drawing on ethnographic and survey data predominantly from South Africa, this paper challenges seven such assumptions. The paper illustrates how certain prevailing ‘wisdoms’ about grandmothers and AIDS in southern Africa are not entirely accurate and may mask many women's struggles and vulnerabilities, perpetuate stereotypes and misguide well-meaning policies. It also suggests that the societal impacts of AIDS in the region are, at present, not as dramatic as often portrayed, largely because the strength and resilience of many older women have cushioned some of the negative consequences. The paper thus calls for more nuanced and forward-looking analyses and interventions – ones that recognise grandmothers as central to the society's thin safety net and that grapple with older women's complex and diverse vulnerabilities.

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