SACLA Track Civil Society, Health & Medicine

The Institute for Urban Ministry hosted a consultation on Urban Ministry around the theme: “Church without walls: following Jesus in contexts of exclusion”. The first part of the consultation was spent around the issue of the church excluding people from church life and mission and discovering that obstacles of racism, poverty, gender issues and exclusion of children are within the church mostly. During the second part of the consultation participants were informed by visiting innovative ministries around Tshwane. The event was attended by 250 participants from across South Africa, six African countries, Brazil, the USA and UK. The feedback was encouraging and the network of urban ministries in South Africa and Africa was strengthened. One of the outcomes is to improve the quality of training for urban ministry and to collaborate in making contextual training for urban ministry in Africa more accessible to the church.

The society was launched on the 13th of July and was attended by 80 people concerned for the church in the urban context. One of the goals of the society is to maintain a high academic standard and to nurture research without losing passion for ministry and becoming elitist in approach. Andrew Davey presented a paper on “Seeking the peace of the Global City”, Dr Steve de Gruchy on the “Sustainable Livelihood Framework for Urban Ministry” and Dr Clovis de Pinto Castro on “Urban Public Theology”.

The Institute for Urban Theology is planning a research project on Public Urban Theology. The project will be in collaboration with UNISA and other partners in churches, ministry and theology.

This research project aims to include the work of churches, pastors and community workers and elevate the status of research they are currently doing using research methods such as ‘Action Participation Research’ and ‘Narrative Research’. This research project is not about doing research for the sake of research, but to enhance the practice and ministry of the church in suffering urban areas. Workshops on research and urban ministry can be facilitated.

We invite participation by other role players. A draft of the research proposal is available.
Contact: Rev Sakkie Kloppers at ium@telkomsa.net or 012 – 3222792 for more information.

Nobody dared move or breathe as the handicapped David Fumbatha, twisted body, dropped his crutches and started dancing with Gladys Agulhas. Slow at first with balance, power and poise but vigorous and energetic later on. The crowd thawed and started cheering, some shocked at the daring moves. David and Gladys bowed and he was somehow transformed. No longer handicapped, just an artist and a dancer.

This story serves as a metaphor for the National Consultation on Urban Ministry with the theme: “Church without walls – following Jesus in contexts of exclusion”. David powerfully broke through our walls of comfort and showed us the power of our prejudice. Prejudice builds walls, keeping us from uncomfortable places and people, excluding women, children, the poor, landless and marginal, but also the rich and powerful. Prejudice remakes people into the image we have of them.

The Institute for Urban Ministry hosted the National Consultation on Urban Ministry from the 14th to the 16th of July (turning out to be the coldest week of the winter!) in Pretoria. We had 250 guests from all over South Africa, from seven African countries as well as the USA and UK and from across the spectrum of denominations. The consultation was co-chaired by Rev Trevor Nthlola from Vineyard Fellowship in Soweto and Dr Stephan de Beer from Pretoria Community Ministries.

Attendees dealt with issues as diverse as sustainable models of being a church in suffering communities and the apolitical presence of the church in society, unconcerned with the current pressing issues of justice and peace. One story that powerfully underlined this was a pastor that told the conference about being jailed for a week in the beginning of 2004 without charges being laid by the police, for his interceding on behalf of landless people. Apart from plenary sessions and workshops, participants were loaded into minibuses and taken to innovative ministries in townships of Tshwane and the inner city to observe what is been done to break down walls in the church.

Most courses and conferences focus on professional church models that are unsustainable and out of touch with the context of poorer communities. But at the end of the event we could celebrate the fact that God is building a movement of people working in marginal urban areas. We were filled with hope that we could engage our communities with renewed passion but we also realized the need for healthy interaction with the rest of the body of Christ in reaching out to the vulnerable and marginalized in our townships, informal settlements and inner cities.

(The Institute for Urban Ministry was responsible for the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track of the 2003 SACLA meeting and the follow up. If you are interested in becoming part of the vibrant network of people ministering in urban contexts and civil society, you can make contact through: ium@telkomsa.net or phoning 012 3222792)

On the 13th and 14th of July the Institute for Urban Ministry launched the Society for Urban Theology. The society will create space for leadership in the urban context to work in a more focused academic level on unique challenges that face the church in the city. Eighty people from across South Africa, Africa, UK and the USA attended the event.

An important aspect of the Society is to combine rigorous academic work with passion for ministry and for God. The benefits of this initiative should enrich the church and practical ministry in urban contexts. On the first day Dr Andrew Davey from the UK spoke about “Seeking the peace of the Global City”, Dr Steve de Gruchy about the “Sustainable Livelihoods Framework” and urban development and Dr Clovis de Pinto Castro about “Towards Faith and Citizenship” in the South American context.

On the second day the meeting dealt with issues like “Xenophobia and the Experience of Foreigners in South African Cities”, “Exodus: a Window on the Missio Dei”, “Creating Communities of Care for Women at Risk”, “Pentecostalism and the City”, “A Contextual Model of Theological Education in an Informal Settlement” and “Pastoral Redemptive Communities”.

(The Institute for Urban Ministry was responsible for the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track of the 2003 SACLA meeting and the follow up. If you are interested in becoming part of the Society for Urban Theology, you can make contact through: ium@telkomsa.net or phoning 012 3222792)

United in Christ we shall conquer the giants
The second last day at SACLA, and the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track came together under the theme; 'unity', agreeing that this can be achieved through sharing values and actions.

To share knowledge and experience about this was Dr Stephen Carpenter who has been engaged in community projects since his early teens. Dr Carpenter taught illiterate women to read and write English when he was fourteen, and they taught him to speak Zulu and shared their experiences of what it was like to be domestic workers with him. Because of his commitment to sharing, living a common life, learning and understanding their language and culture, his mission was a success.

Another value is humility, which simple means to acknowledge the inherent resources and not act arrogantly and naively. Having mercy by caring for the vulnerable by either advocacy or challenging unreliable government systems draws people closer to each other.

Exercising justice by challenging fundamental inequalities that are the root causes of poverty is also a core value for unity. However, Dr Carpenter advised that these values can be worthless if Christians are unreliable or do not have sufficient time to engage in helping the poor. When meeting for the last time at SACLA II the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track will commit themselves to what each one will do after SACLA II. They will also discuss how to sustain what has happened here.

Sandile waka Zamisa

Why Jesus came to the world

Today's session focussed on what society would look like if repentance was the key to transformation and development. The focus areas for the day were: what do we leave behind, and where are we going?

An inspiring address by Dr Tony Compolo, a professor of Sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and founder of the Evangelical Association, paved the way for transformation, and upliftment of the poor. Compolo referred to Jesus who said: "I've come to declare the Kingdom of God," adding that Jesus meant exactly that. "Churches prepare people to meet God, rather than preparing them to transform," he said. He suggested that churches should come together and form micro-businesses, where people can own and run businesses to build a just society. Referring to crime and sexual immorality, he said the church should provide an economic alternative for people involved in these activities, because doing these things is often a result of poverty. Teaching individuals to earn a legitimate living will draw them to salvation. He explained that salvation is a social system rather than an individual thing.

Compolo also strongly criticised multinational companies who produce products that people do not need. He said that, through the media these companies seduce poor people by promoting style and therefore helping to create criminals. He further emphasised that this responsibility lies within the Church, which should take swift action. He also reminded delegates that Jesus risked His Divinity to save the lost, reveal God and reveal the essence of what it means to be human. Compolo believes: "The society is supposed to be like the Kingdom of God, then the kingdoms of the world shall be like the kingdom of God."

Sandile Zamisa

Transformation and development comes after repentance
Repentance, tolerance, compassion and love for each other were the major issues discussed in this track. Delegates felt that in order for transformation and development to speed up, there is a need for repentance in the Christian communities in South Africa.
Adressing this track yesterday morning was Dr Zolile Mlisana, who shared his life experiences as a young black South African in the apartheid regime. Mlisana is the head of the Communications and Publications Department at 'Focus on The Family', and a founding Chairman of the South Africa Medical Association (SAMA). He talked mostly about the challenges that young people face in churches and communities of South Africa. Mlisana said that the church lost the youth during the apartheid era, primarily because there was minimal entertainment in churches: "Entertainment can either lose or draw young people to the chuch."

The Revd Smangaliso Khumalo, a Methodist clergyman, posed the question of what it means to be a church in a transfoming society, and said that the answer to this relates to issues of both the church and the state. "Some churches decided to stand with the government and help theologically justify the system of apartheid, while others clearly denounced the system and those standing in the middle." However, Khumalo belives churches are hiding behind "denominational cocoons" in the post-apartheid regime. He says it is for these reasons that, "churches need to repent and walk away from seeing what is social as secular, and what is in the church as sacred."

The discussions mainly focussed on reaching out to the poor and underprivileged, uplifting and empowering everyone, rather than the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.

Sandile waka-Zamisa

Feedback from the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track hosted by the Institute for Urban Ministry

Feedback from the Civil Society, Health and Medicine track
hosted by the Institute for Urban Ministry