During our visit, Rachel and I had the privilege of
visiting the Connexional Office of the Methodist Church of South Africa where
Rachel led the staff devotions.
After the morning prayers we
were taken for coffee to a room in which there was an amazing exhibition
telling the history of Methodism in South Africa.
I learned that Methodism in
South Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the
English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold
prayer meetings as early as 1795. This
paved the way for missionary work from 1816 onwards and the establishnment of
mission stations along the Cape. The Methodist
Church of South Africa formerly began in 1833 and gained independence from the
British conference in 1926. Today there are reportedly 2 million members
in the Methodist Church of South Africa.
What saddened me here (and in
other countries I have visited) is the way the churches seem to operate in a
very ‘British’ way and don’t always reflect the culture within which they are
placed. If you look at the photos below
of one of the churches we visited, it is interesting that there is nothing to
give it away that we were in Africa (other than maybe the palm trees!) – it could
be a church anywhere in the UK.
The township churches
definitely had a more African feel to them and even though the services were
organised in a very ‘British’ style, when the congregations began to sing in
worship, their passion and exuberance burst out and we felt that we were truly
worshipping in a way that was natural to the people. We were in awe of Rev
Steve Day who has worked hard to learn to speak in the language of the people
and who on the day I was with him in the township church of Good Hope, led the
entire liturgy in Xhosa. The local
people are amazed that a British man has gone to the trouble of learning their
language and he has earned a lot of respect for that.
From various countries I have
visited it seems that congregations feel that the ‘British’ way is the correct
way to ‘do’ church and I have a sense that in the building of congregations,
much of the original culture of the indigenous people has been lost. There is a colonial feel to a lot of our
churches overseas and that makes me feel sad.
Ernest Cole, writing in 1967 (House of Bondage) about the arrival of Christianity in South Africa
states that ‘The white missionaries, no matter how high their purpose, could
not help but impose their own Western background onto African converts whose
traditions and culture were far different.’
I know from various African
Christians with whom I have spoken that many are grateful to the white people for
bringing Jesus to them but often want to be free to worship in their own way
rather than in a way imposed on them from Britain.
It seems that we have a long
way to go within the church in releasing people from the religious traditions
and culture of our way of doing church, so that they can be enabled to worship
and run their churches in a way that is at one with their own culture and
traditions.
Again Ernest Cole writes, ‘The Africans learned from white example that Christianity can
be treated as little more than a religious social club, something to join
because it is somehow better to be inside than outside but not something to affect
ones everyday life deeply.’ How I pray
that the African church will be able to hold on to Jesus and not allow dead
religion to squash their faith and passion for God.
The other thing we learned
about the churches from our visit is that there is still a lot of segregation
within the church with different groups for blacks, whites and coloureds and
there is still a lot of prayer needed for the healing of old wounds and
bringing about unity so that the church of Jesus can be an example to the rest
of society in reconciliation and fellowship.
The Magnify programme, run by
Jane, seeks to do just that as it brings together women from across the
cultural and racial divides in a common sisterhood and that is a powerful,
prophetic statement in this country and a lesson in unity to all of us wherever
people are excluded or separated.
I close with the words of a
song from the song book at the Connexional Office which is a prayer for the
nation of South Africa:
Who will save our land
and people?
Who can rescue us from
wrong?
We are lost – faint,
false and foolish
We have slighted God
too long.
Save the people, Lord
our Saviour,
Guide us home from
country far
Holy fire consume our
rancours;
Thy Kingdom come – in Africa.
