Church and Theology

Amidst increasing security issues in several African countries plagued by violence, political turmoil, religious intolerance and lack of democratic governance, churches are called to engage in peace-building, said African church leaders in a presentation on “Burning issues of insecurity in Africa” at a World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Kigali, Rwanda.

“For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed;
nor is anything secret except to come to light” (Mark 4:21-25)

There has been a raging controversy in the letters column of the Cape Times over the past few weeks about science and religion. You can be sure that this hoary debate will resurface several times a year in the newspapers, and that the same old arguments will recur on both sides. The endless repetition of clichés is tiresome but the heated discussion demonstrates a passionate interest in either denying or defending the existence of God. A comment in one of the letters struck me as a worthy introduction to this meditation.

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty…” 1 Cor. 1:27

Re-imagining Church for 21st Century South Africa – a somewhat presumptuous title for an article. But I beg your indulgence in my presumption. What makes this article even more presumptuous is that based on some of my thought patterns over the past few years, I would not have imagined myself writing on the church in the 21st Century. My imagination of what church can be like had caused me to be somewhat disenchanted about what I saw church to be like.

This evening Isobel and I set off on a five week journey that will take us first to London and then to the United States. I can’t say we are looking forward to the eight flights that lie ahead or waiting in airports and going through security checks and passport controls. But the anticipation of spending time with family and friends explains why we embark on these mad escapades.

Every year on this coming Sunday the parish of St. George’s Cathedral celebrates the life of two heroes of the struggle against apartheid, Steve Biko and Beyers Naudé. This year this coincides with the tenth anniversary of “9/11”, that terrifyingly dark day so deeply etched in our memories. I have been asked to preach in the Cathedral on Sunday so I share some of my preparatory thoughts with you. What do we as Christians say and do in a world of terror and war, violence and vengeance?

Southern Africa’s Bishops have reaffirmed their support for Anglicans in Zimbabwe, as Archbishop Thabo Makgoba prepares to accompany the Archbishop of Canterbury on his pastoral visit there next month.

Written by Mzonke Poni (Chairperson, Abahlali baseMjondolo, Western Cape Region)

On Wednesday 31 August Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Western Cape had an important meeting with a number of church leaders and church organisations. The meeting was held in Khayelitsha and was called by the church leaders.

The church leaders present included:

Interesting word “authority” – an author of a book originally meant someone who was an authority on some subject he or she had written about. The Authorized Version of the Bible was the one that had the authority of the King behind it, and was the only Bible permitted to be used in King James’ England. Authorization means being given permission to do something. In short authority is about power to enforce obedience. When a military commander gives an order, soldiers normally obey whether they like it or not his commands are backed by the state.