Graham A. Duncan

’African Churches Willing to Pay Their Own Bills’: The Role of Money in the Formation of Ethiopian-type Churches with Particular Reference to the Mzimba Secession

ABSTRACT Matters related to money were fundamental to the causes of the formation of Ethiopian-type churches. These included inter alia the raising of funds abroad and the subsequent need to control such funds by white ministers, delay or refusal of ordination due to cost factors and differentials in stipends, lack of or poor allowances, lack of trust in the use of funds, poor emoluments and accommodation. This was in contradiction to emerging mission policy as propounded by Henry Venn in his Three-Self formula, particularly with regard to the principle of self-support following Pauline methods. At the heart of such issues was the need for missionaries to control what they had created, and maintain and perpetuate a sense of dependency. The Mzimba Secession offers substantial evidence to support the suggestion that finance was a central concern in fostering inferiority and subjection in the mission field leading to the formation of a new church movement.

A Critical Historical Evaluation of the Formation of the Anglican Province of Zimbabwe (APZ) by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga

The continued appointments of white expatriate priests as rectors of Zimbabwean parishes constituted a challenge to the Quest for Belonging in the post-independence period in Zimbabwe. A substantial challenge to the status quo came from Bishop Nolbert Kunonga with the formation of the Anglican Province of Zimbabwe in his apparent attempt at “belonging” and indigenisation. However, subsequent developments testify to Kunonga’s domineering leadership style, his disregard for the doctrines, laws and traditions of the denomination.

Reformed Churches Working in Unity and Diversity: Global Historical, Theological and Ethical Perspectives

The constituent papers are grouped into three sections. The first is on historical, social and pedagogical aspects, considered from Scottish, Hungarian, English, Romanian and USA perspectives. The second focuses on theological concepts and particularly the relationship between Calvin’s view of the Trinity, the African concept of ubuntu, the sanctification of French Protestantism and Calvin’s academic legacy. The third considers ethical perspectives on the mission of Reformed churches, sola caritate as a response to economic justice, collaboration in the ecumenical movement, reinterpreting work and vocation for a changing global political landscape and the issue of how to deal with tensions between denominations.

The Conferment of Martyrdom: Retracing Bernard Mzeki’s Life from his Formative Years in the History of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe until his Death (1890–2013)

The conferment of martyrdom is a thorn in the flesh in the Anglican Church today. Bernard Mzeki has been commemorated annually since the late 1930s as a martyr in the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe. This is because Mzeki died a mysterious death on 18 June 1896 during the period of the first War of Liberation ( Chimurenga ) in Zimbabwe. Although there are other factors that might have contributed to the death of Mzeki, the church strongly believes that he died for his Christian faith. Whilst it is a fact that the Church of the Province of Central Africa does not have official, written criteria to confer martyr status, the mystics surrounding the death of Mzeki—as documented by Farrant (1966) and Broderick (1953)—authenticated his martyr status. In this regard, the martyrdom of Mzeki remained unique from the 1940s during the bishopric of William Paget, who accepted the unwritten “bottom-to-top” procedure in canonising his martyrdom. It is interesting to note that from the 1990s the church in Zimbabwe has had figures like Rev. Peter Wagner and Mrs Mandeya, who were presumed to have died for their faith, but were not recognised as martyrs. In the same period, Zimbabwean Bishops like Ishmael Mukwanda and others were advocating for an official, written procedure to canonise them. It is based on the above analysis that this article will examine the role played by Mzeki in the strengthening of the Anglican faith in Zimbabwe.

Pharaohs on Both Sides of the Blood-Red Waters—Prophetic Critique on Empire: Resistance, Justice and the Power of the Hopeful Sizwe—A Transatlantic Conversation

Published by the Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Book Review Pharaohs on Both Sides of the Blood-Red Waters—Prophetic Critique on Empire: Resistance, Justice and the Power of the Hopeful Sizwe—A Transatlantic Conversation

The Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa and ecumenism : 1923–1939

The Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA) was birthed out of a quest for union amongst Presbyterians, which began in the 1890s more than 30 years before it was actually established as the fruit of the mission of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1923. From that date onwards church union hardly ever disappeared from the agenda of the highest court of the denomination, the General Assembly. During the twentieth century such discussions involved two of the three other Presbyterian churches and the Congregational Union of South Africa. In addition, the BPCSA has maintained a high ecumenical profile in both the South African and global contexts. The main thrust of this article describes and analyses the vicissitudes of Presbyterian conversations during the period 1923–39

A church of strangers: the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in South Africa

This book is a powerful and engaging ethnographic study and expose of a church of Brazilian origin, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in South Africa (UCKG), which has taken root in South Africa as a feature of the post-apartheid era. It is part of the rapidly growing Pentecostal movement, yet is quite distinctive from it in the sense that it denies the expression of emotions and eschews the formation of community which are fundamental to Christian community. Its markers are demonology and angelology which are basic to the work of spiritual warfare. As is common in gnostic bodies which claim to possess arcane special knowledge, it is dismissive of mainline Christianity and African Traditional Religion (ATR). It is neither biblically based nor Christocentric. What it does have in common with similar churches is the prioritisation of material rather than spiritual growth as a source of blessing in the forms of wealth, health, social harmony and happiness. Pastors are money-makers while congregation members are pressed into making large donations, even when this means the denial of basic family subsistence needs. Obedience is required to the institution rather than to the call of the Holy Spirit. Its organisation is eclectic yet basically hierarchical, exercising total control often by remote means and micro-management, thus denying the manifestation and operation of charismatic leadership. This indicates the presence of worldly features and multi-national corporate strategies. Control is often exercised by means of the spread of gossip, hearsay and rumour. From their entry into the church, members

Through the past into the future: Jean-François Bill - pastor, activist, theologian 8 July 1934 -12 March 2005

Jean- Francois Bill was a significant church leader of the second half of the twentieth century. He was born, raised and educated in South Africa, and he lived, worked and died in South Africa. He possessed a multi-cultural identity. He had a rare academic ability but was no academic recluse. His varied and intensive ministry was marked by committed, responsible, constructive engagement. He was a convinced yet reasonable ecumenist with a powerful social conscience who offered a great deal to the field of theological education. He had a vision of a responsible church which was responsible in a practical way by working through the live issues of the day.This would be a church which would strive for authentic unity and be the leaven in the lump of the world.

Mission councils - a self-perpetuating anachronism (1923-1971): a South African case study

If ever mission councils in South Africa had a purpose, they had outlived it by the time of the formation of the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA) in 1923. However, autonomy in this case was relative and the South African Mission Council endured until 1981. It was an anachronism which served little purpose other than the care of missionaries and the control of property and finance. It was obstructive insofar as it hindered communication between the BPCSA and the Church of Scotland and did little to advance God’s mission, especially through the agency of black Christians. During this period blacks were co-opted on to the Church of Scotland South African Joint Council (CoSSAJC) but they had to have proved their worth to the missionaries first by their compliance with missionary views. This article will examine the role of the CoSSAJC in pursuance of its prime aim, “the evangelisation of the Bantu People” (BPCSA 1937, 18), mainly from original sources.

ETHIOPIANISM IN PAN-AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE, 1880-1920

This article surveys the origins, development and extent of Ethiopianism (part of the African Initiated Church Movement [AIC]) in Africa which was widespread throughout Africa during the ‘high’ imperial and missionary era (1880-1920) which is the main focus of this article. However, they appear to have a number of common features – response to colonialism, imperialism and the missionary movement, the response of nationalism in the political sphere and Pan-Africanism linked to Ethiopianism in the religious sphere. This article seeks to explore these sometimes indistinguishable features, through selected examples, in a novel way as a Pan-African movement.