scholarly journals Die beroepsbrief in die Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika – ’n kontraktuele werksaanbod?

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Smit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Contractual Relationship ◽  
Contract Of Employment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The letter of calling in the Reformed Churches in South Africa – a contractual labour proposal? In the Schreuder case the court found that the letter of calling should be considered a legally valid letter of service. Therefore the relationship between a congregation and a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church is regulated by a contract of employ- ment. Consequently Labour Law applies to the position of this church’s ministers. In the court’s verdict on the Church of the Province case, the court found that a priest/minister of the Anglican Church does not enter into a legal binding contract of employment with the church. According to the court the rela- tionship between the Anglican Church and a priest/minister cannot be described as a contractual relationship, but rather a spiritual or religious agreement that is regulated by the canons of the church. Therefore the question should be asked: Is the letter of calling to a minister in the RCSA a contractual labour proposal by a local church? In this article it is argued that a letter of calling in the RCSA should not be considered a letter of service. In the light of Scripture, the confession and the church order the aim of the letter of calling is merely to inform a minister of a religious calling by the Lord. It is therefore suggested that the draft form of the letter of calling currently in use, should be adapted to avoid misunderstandings regarding the position and service of a minister in the RCSA.

scholarly journals The local church as a non-governmental organisation in the fight against poverty: A historical overview of Bethulie 1933–1935

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Organisation And Administration ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Church

Poverty is one of the greatest threats to society. In South Africa it is also one of the biggest challenges. This article starts with the challenges put to society by Mr Trevor Manuel at the Carnegie 3 conference. It then explores the possibility of if and how the church can act as a non-governmental organisation in the fight against poverty. A historical overview of the actions of Rev. E.P. Groenewald, during the drought of 1933–1934 in the Dutch Reformed Church Bethulie, serves as a case study of how the church can make a difference. It, however, also illustrates the many pitfalls on this challenging road. The article comes to the conclusion that the main challenge of the church in the fight against poverty is to act as a non-governmental organisation, which transforms values and assists society with good organisation and administration.

scholarly journals Preaching and culture

2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
T.F.J. Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Topical Issue ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Changing Environment ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Before the new political dispensation in South Africa (1994), the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika) referred to the church as a “peoples church” (volkskerk). Owing to political changes the qualification “volkskerk” has created a certain degree of disturbance in the ranks of the church. The relationship between “church and culture” became a topical issue. Since 1994 the focus of the homiletical debate shifted to the question of the role of the church within a changing environment and again the answer to the question of “church and culture” was of utmost importance. Nowadays the reality of a multicultural society becomes a new challenge to the church. This article is an attempt to define the relation between culture and preaching from different hermeneutic perspectives, namely the cultural embedding of the biblical kerygma; the interwovenness of language and culture; and the necessity for contextuality in preaching.

Kerk, staat en politieke modelle in ‘Kerk en Samelewing -1990’

1992 ◽  
Vol 48 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The State ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
South African Government ◽  
African Government ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Church And Society ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Church, state and political models in ‘Church and Society - 1990’ In this article the author looks into motives and trends surrounding the viewpoints of the document ‘Church and Society - 1990’ with regard to the relationship between both the church and the state and the church and practical political models in South Africa. This document of the 1990 General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church - traditionally labelled as a significant pro-apartheid church - is the sequel to a statement by a previous Synod four years earlier. The main finding is that ‘Church and Society - 1990’ tends to give a Scriptural basis to current political tendencies and thinking in South African government circles.

scholarly journals Traversing a Tightrope between Ecumenism and Exclusivism: The Intertwined History of South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church and the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Nyasaland (Malawi)

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Retief Müller
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Church History ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Christian Nationalism ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

During the first few decades of the 20th century, the Nkhoma mission of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa became involved in an ecumenical venture that was initiated by the Church of Scotland’s Blantyre mission, and the Free Church of Scotland’s Livingstonia mission in central Africa. Geographically sandwiched between these two Scots missions in Nyasaland (presently Malawi) was Nkhoma in the central region of the country. During a period of history when the DRC in South Africa had begun to regressively disengage from ecumenical entanglements in order to focus on its developing discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism, this venture in ecumenism by one of its foreign missions was a remarkable anomaly. Yet, as this article illustrates, the ecumenical project as finalized at a conference in 1924 was characterized by controversy and nearly became derailed as a result of the intransigence of white DRC missionaries on the subject of eating together with black colleagues at a communal table. Negotiations proceeded and somehow ended in church unity despite the DRC’s missionaries’ objection to communal eating. After the merger of the synods of Blantyre, Nkhoma and Livingstonia into the unified CCAP, distinct regional differences remained, long after the colonial missionaries departed. In terms of its theological predisposition, especially on the hierarchy of social relations, the Nkhoma synod remains much more conservative than both of its neighboring synods in the CCAP to the south and north. Race is no longer a matter of division. More recently, it has been gender, and especially the issue of women’s ordination to ministry, which has been affirmed by both Blantyre and Livingstonia, but resisted by the Nkhoma synod. Back in South Africa, these events similarly had an impact on church history and theological debate, but in a completely different direction. As the theology of Afrikaner Christian nationalism and eventually apartheid came into positions of power in the 1940s, the DRC’s Nkhoma mission in Malawi found itself in a position of vulnerability and suspicion. The very fact of its participation in an ecumenical project involving ‘liberal’ Scots in the formation of an indigenous black church was an intolerable digression from the normative separatism that was the hallmark of the DRC under apartheid. Hence, this article focuses on the variegated entanglements of Reformed Church history, mission history, theology and politics in two different 20th-century African contexts, Malawi and South Africa.

scholarly journals Inclusive Communities: A missional approach to racial inclusivity within the Dutch Reformed Church

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Fourie Rossouw
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Racial Diversity ◽  
White Identity ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Hybrid Identities ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article dealt with racial diversity in homogenous white Afrikaans faith communities such as the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). This study was partially an account of the researcher’s own discontent with being a minister in the DRC against the backdrop of his own journey of finding a racially integrated identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. It focused on the question of how a church like the DRC can play an intentional role in the formation of racially inclusive communities. The study brought together shifts in missional theology, personal reflections from DRC ministers and contemporary studies on whiteness. The researcher looked towards a missional imaginary as a field map for racial diversity in the church. This was mirrored against contemporary studies on white identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. From this conversation the researcher argued for a creative discovery of hybrid identities within white faith communities. Missional exercises such as listening to the stories of strangers, cross cultural pilgrimages and eating together in strange places can assist congregations on this journey.

Missionaries, Anthropologists, and the Policies of the Dutch Reformed Church

1984 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Linguistic Group ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article discusses the relationship of missionaries and anthropologists in South Africa. Due to such important factors as ethnicity, linguistic group membership, denominationalism, and party political affiliation, it is essential to present historical perspectives on these and related matters. The vocation of missionary is almost exclusively a white enterprise as is that of professional anthropologist. Blacks have however had significant influences in both realms and are today entering these vocations.

scholarly journals Die predikant: bewaker of veranderingsagent in ’n tydperk van transformasie?

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Potgieter ◽  
P. M. Heyns ◽  
G. B. Roux
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Church Members ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Racial Democracy ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation ◽  
The Church

South Africa finds itself in a transition period on its way to a non-racial democracy and an integrated society. This is in contrast to a past charac­terized by apartheid. In this transition period, many South Africans and members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) struggle with questions and uncertainties concerning a future dispensation for the country and the church issues that need to be addressed. The question is whether the DRC, and specifically the minister, can play an active role in the transition to an integrated South Africa by, for instance, facilitating acceptance, un­derstanding, peace and reconciliation among church members of all races within the congregation and wider contexts. It is probable that ministers have questions concerning their own role, as well as the role that church members expect of them to play during this transition period.

scholarly journals Christelik-nasionale onderwys in die nuwe Suid-Afrika

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Van der Westhuizen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
New South ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
New Era ◽  
National Education ◽  
Cultural Milieu ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Christian national education in the new South Africa The Dutch Reformed Church of Africa (Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika), as a People’s Church, according to Scripture takes an intense interest in the education of the nation’s youth. According to educational principles, the best school is one in own cultural milieu. The negative reports on multicultural education received from various countries are disquieting for the Church. Consequently, it is necessary to contemplate different options for maintaining Christian national education in a new era.

Kritiese realisme, die Bybel, die gereformeerde belydenisskrifte en die Christelike geloof

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-205
Author(s):  
I.J.J. Spannenberg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
High Tide ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ebb And Flow

AbstractA number of overviews on the Biblical Sciences in South Africa have recently appeared. This article pays special attention to the one written by F E Deist (1994) Ervaring, rede en metode in Skrifuitleg: 'n Wetenskapshistoriese ondersoek na Skrifuitleg in die Ned Geref Kerk 1840-1990. Deist identifies two epistemological traditions in the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk): naive realism and critical realism, and indicates the 'ebb and flow' of these traditions in the history of the Biblical Sciences. Since the seventies critical realism has experienced a high tide. The article discusses the effects that this high tide has for the relationship between the Biblical Sciences and Dogmatics, the Biblical Sciences and the Reformed confessions of faith, and the Biblical Sciences and the Christian religion.

scholarly journals Sending in die kerk: ’n Gevallestudie

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
J. J. Kritzinger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The World ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Church ◽  
Significant Factors

Mission in the church: A case study Based on an enquiry into mission interest in the NG Church. Although there can be no doubt that mission is the essential task to which God called the church into being, to be his witness in the world, the empirical church often shows very little awareness of this. This article relates some results of research done in the Dutch Reformed Church in the Republic of South Africa on the church members’ interest in and involvement with mission. Some of the significant factors influencing the missionary interest of the members were (a) their personal spirituality and activities within the church, (b) their political leanings, and (c) the missionary preaching and enthusiasm of the ministers. A few aspects of the ministry are highlighted as worthy of attention.

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