wfn.org | The Churches of South Africa: Bearers of Hope for the Future

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

26-October-1999 
99361 
 
    The Churches of South Africa: Bearers of Hope for the Future 
 
    Reflections on the Constituting of the 
    Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa 
 
    News Analysis by Vernon S. Broyles, III 
 
NEW BRIGHTON, South Africa-They gathered, hundreds of Presbyterian men and 
women, in two great clusters of humanity,  down separate streets on either 
side of the huge Centenary Hall in New Brighton, the large "township" on 
the edge of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 
 
    And then they began to sing and move and dance toward a point of 
intersection near the hall.  The marshals struggled to hold the crowds in 
some semblance of order as they followed the marching bands down the 
street, but when the two streams reached the intersection, they spilled 
together in one joyful mass, greeting, hugging, weeping, singing and 
praising God that these two Presbyterian denominations, one essentially 
White and the other essentially Black, were about to celebrate the unity 
which Jesus Christ gives, beyond every barrier of race and culture, and 
join themselves into one church-a new denomination called the Uniting 
Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA). 
 
    The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA) - formerly 
the Bantu Presbyterian Church - and the Presbyterian Church of Southern 
Africa (PCSA) had each held separate General Assembly meetings on Sept. 24 
and 25, in which they made final preparations for the Sept. 26 union and 
bade farewells to the denominations of which they had been a part. 
 
    It is important to note that they chose the term "Uniting" rather than 
"United," reflecting a clear intention to be joined in the future to the 
two other Presbyterian bodies in South Africa, the Evangelical Presbyterian 
Church and the Presbyterian Church of Africa. 
 
    I was asked to take part in that historic occasion on behalf of the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and to bring our formal greetings, 
congratulations and best wishes to these sisters and brothers in this new 
manifestation of the grace of God. Our own church's support for them in 
this new endeavor was made more visible by the fact that three were also 
delegations representing partnerships with the Presbytery of Northern New 
England, New York City Presbytery and Florida Presbytery.  There was also a 
delegation from the First Presbyterian Church of Boise, Idaho.  All of us 
were supported by Rev. Jon Chapman, coordinator for Southern Africa in the 
Worldwide Ministries Division. 
 
    The singing of that 6,000 member congregation rang in our ears as we 
marched in to take our places.  The worship service was a joyous 
celebration that included still more singing, prayers of thanksgiving, a 
marvelous sermon on the theme, "One Body, One Spirit, One Hope," by South 
African pastor and theologian the Rev. Russell Botman, former moderator of 
the Southern Africa Alliance of Reformed Churches. 
 
    Following the sermon, and led by the two retiring moderators, the whole 
congregation stood and declared as one:  "We confess, therefore, that our 
failure to be one comes from our disobedience to God and to the Spirit of 
love and respect.  We so confess!  But now, in obedience to what we believe 
is God's will for us at this time, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
by due decision of both our General Assemblies, confirmed by our 
presbyteries, we declare that the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa 
and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa from this moment 
are no longer separate but are one Church: the Uniting Presbyterian Church 
in Southern Africa." 
 
    As one of its first acts, the new church inducted as its first 
moderator the Rev. Clifford W. Leeuw.  Ordained in 1978, Rev. Leeuw has 
served since 1986 as treasurer of the Reformed Presbyterian Church and 
currently sits as the Principal Officer of its Pensions Fund. 
 
    The next day, Sept. 27, the UPCSA Assembly reconvened at Dower College 
and began the work of deliberation on the report of the Special Commission 
on Union, a joint committee charged with proposing to the new church how 
the denomination is to be structured and by what guidelines and procedures 
it will order its life and witness. 
 
    While some crucial issues were resolved, much remains to be done over 
the next year in preparation for the second General Assembly and certain 
fundamental issues such as the location of the central offices of the new 
denomination still have to be decided.  In the meantime, the central 
offices will be in Johannesburg, with the Rev. Alastair Rodger serving as 
General Secretary. 
 
    The Assembly also elected its moderator-designate - who is in line to 
become the next moderator - the Rev. A. Diane Vorster. Upon her third 
ballot victory,  the Assembly erupted in a spontaneous outburst of joyful 
applause. 
 
    Vorster, who spent most of her early years as a nurse and trainer of 
nurses, was ordained by the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in 1980 
and has served as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Dundee since 
1982. She has provided leadership in various capacities at the General 
Assembly level of the PCSA and has worked closely with members of the RPCSA 
in the Dundee area over the years. 
 
    As the new denomination begins to find its way into the future, an 
early order of business is the constituting of eighteen new presbyteries. 
This is scheduled to take place during October and November in services 
presided over by members of the Special Commission. 
 
    One of  the most rewarding, as well as troubling components of my work 
over the years in the Office of Corporate Witness has been joining in the 
struggle with our sisters and brothers in South Africa to bring an end to 
apartheid.  The foundations of apartheid were undergirded by the 
theological arguments advanced by the White Dutch Reformed Church.  Yet it 
has also been the Church, indeed others within the Reformed family, who 
have named apartheid for the heresy it is and have framed the theological 
hammer and anvil on which the chains of apartheid were broken. 
 
    What has happened in South Africa in the last few years can only be 
described as a miracle of God - a miracle borne on the wings of the Holy 
Spirit and upon the shoulders of all who have stood with courage in the 
face of the oppression of apartheid.  It has been enabled by the gentle but 
strong return of Nelson Mandela, facing his captors not with bitter 
vengefulness but with a spirit of forgiveness and a determination to move 
beyond the terrible history of which they had been a part. 
 
    Moreover, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has made 
public the great importance of the costly effort of human beings to live 
out genuine forgiveness. 
 
    In the joining together of these two faithful Presbyterian streams into 
one new river of hope, we see another glimpse of what God has intended all 
along for the people of South Africa. 
 
    There is much that remains to be done in South Africa in the aftermath 
of apartheid.  300 years of division and oppression are not quickly 
overcome. There are massive needs in areas such as housing, education, 
health care and economic development.  But the way forward is being lit by 
such as this church union and U.S. Presbyterians should all be grateful to 
God for the privilege of being partners with them in their new life 
together.. 
 
(The Rev. Vernon Broyles III is associate for corporate witness in the 
National Ministries Division) 

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