a prophetic church in the democratization of the south african society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Real leadership ought to involve motivating people to solve problems within their own communities, rather than reinforcing the overlords of the state over its citizens, and to build and strengthen political institutions that can mediate between individual and group interests (2006:56). The challenge is that even those who were elected by the people to be their leaders are not always held accountable by the people who elected them. This is because the floor crossing law allow MPs to change from one party to another, without the permission of their constituencies. This also lead to political apathy because if people can just change parties without talking to me as the one who voted them in the first place why do I need to take voting seriously. The above reason may be true for most sectors of society not to have a way of influencing government, but I am not sure if that is the case with the church. As we were told by Dr Frank Chikane in this same hall a month ago, the President has standing appointments to meet with religious leaders twice a year and more if they wanted to, is that not an invited space for the church to use? Where is the loophole? Secondly if you go to most of the provinces especially here in KZN there is a willingness from the part of government to collaborate with religious groups (the church included), of course they want to do this in their own term and for their own agendas, but can we not use these as opportunities to use in our own terms too as a church so that we become a prophetic church? I think the church can use the willingness and few opportunities given to it by government to turn this democracy from a parliamentary one to a lived one, where the people can govern. 3.5. Revitalizing socio-ecclesial analysis. Churches have relative autonomy from the state as well as the state towards the church. To move towards working together, or challenging one another, requires a rigorous process of analysis so that the reasons, issues and terms of cooperation, or resistance can be seen clearly. This requires the church to do socio-ecclesial analysis. Analysis enables the church to see the issues that need to be contested or affirmed much more clearly from an informed position. This was confirmed by Itumeleng Mosala when speaking in the RGP convention in 2005 he said” no analysis, no voice” (Report of Convention, 2005: 12). This means that the ability of the church to engage government lies in the amount of work it is going to do in socio-ecclesial analysis and research. When Frank Chikane spoke to us he emphasized the importance of research so that the church can talk from an informed point of view instead of making naïve statement, thus embarrassing itself to its adversaries such as politicians and business people. For instance with regard to the succession debate the church has been silent, it has not given any leadership direction to the masses especially its own members on what to do think and say about this issue. Christians have been left to their peril and only dependent to the views of the contesting forces such as partners of the alliances who are divided and other political parties who may be enjoying the divisions in the ruling party. The church does need to do clear analysis of the situation and then guide the nation, because this is not just a political issue party concerning who they are to elect as
their president. This issue has to deal with vital matters of national interest, here we are talking about a party that is ruling the country and is likely to rule for more years to come, instability in that party threatens the stability of the country. A prophetic church needs to come forward and call the both the party to sanity again. It must remind us that the issue round who will be the next president is not just a party political issue or one that has to do with personalities. It has to do with the foundations and future of the country, something we al have approach with the required seriousness, humility and integrity. How the church will have the courage to do this only if it takes time to study and analyze what is going on. Thus social analysis is key to giving a credible voice to the church. 3.6. Strategic networks and partnership The effectiveness of the church in fighting apartheid was through its partnership with other movements such as the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the, Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). This indicates that the idea of partnering and collaborating with other organizations committed to a common course can enable the church to make contribute effectively in the public arena. Currently in KZN, the KwaZulu Natal Christian Council has partnered with five Faith-based organization to form the KwaZulu Natal Christian Consortium. This strategic partnership among members constituting the consortium seek to ensure that the quality and quantity of civil society engagement with public duty bearers is increased and, thereby, contributed to a strengthened social contract between the state and citizens in Kwa-Zulu Natal. It also provides a framework for multifaceted institutional cooperation as well as channels for making linkages from the poorest citizens at community level to decision makers in local communities, provincial and national institutions. Among the critical questions include questions of how do churches and church-based organizations (CBOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) relate to one another so that they can engage government structures at local, provincial and national levels? At the ESSET meeting there was a passionate call by delegates for their churches to join them in their struggles. I must admit that by nature I am an eternal optimist, I believe in the redemptiveness of unpredictability. I am already seeing an active prophetic church in this country by just looking at the recent events. For instance there was a time when religious leaders of Khutsong stood up with their people, marched and led them in prayers of support. Just recently here in KZN some of our leaders marched with the Abahlali basemijondolo and were sprayed with water with them here in Durban. This for me is a sign of the coming back of the prophetic church. 3.7. Ecumenical and multi-faith mobilizations One of the strengths of the church under apartheid is that it was backed by strong ecumenical constituencies and agencies thus it could maximize its impact in society. The challenge faced by the contemporary church is the loss of the spirit of ecumenism. There are two reasons for this. One is that churches are training their leaders denominationally, thus church leaders no longer value the ecumenical colleagueship which those who went before experienced during their
Page 1 and 2: A PROPHETIC CHURCH IN THE DEMOCRATI
Page 3 and 4: of the kingdom as its vision and mi
Page 5 and 6: There was a shift in the way the ch
Page 7: church included), to engage it or p
Page 11 and 12: uild bridges which are vital to sus
Page 13 and 14: De Klerk, 1998. F.W. de Klerk: The

a prophetic church in the democratization of the south african society

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?