In Honour of Dr Sam Buti: a Beacon of Hope in the Struggle for Justice.

This article was authored by Rev Reggie Nel, minister of URCSA Riverlea Congregation in Johannesburg and professor of Missioniology at UNISA.

UNISA recently honoured Rev Dr Samuel Palo Ernest Buti for his contribution towards the new South Africa. I am grateful to have known him and to have worked with him. He was a dignified church leader with a sharp intellect. He was also fearless.

Rev S. P. E. Buti was a third generation pastor. His father, Rev E. T. S. Buti, was the first black Moderator of the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA) General Synod. He was born on the 01^st June 1934 and grew up in the rural areas of the Western Transvaal (now North West Province). He received his academic and professional education primarily in Afrikaans.

He graduated from the Stofberg Theological Seminary in 1959 and began his pastoral ministry in 1960 in Alexandra, where he continued to serve until his retirement. Initially his ministry was under duress, as community members were suspicious of his allegiance to the white Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). As a result the church buildings were burnt down at some point. His, however, was a journey of growth in conscientisation and activism. Of this, fellow pastor Rev Z. E. Mokgoebo writes: "Serving his parish with this uneasy conscience and being involved in the DRCA's struggles and the struggles of the community of Alexandra, would lead Sam to a critical awareness and an involvement from which he would not easily retreat." (1983:134)

In 1971 he went to further his studies in the Netherlands, which sharpened his mind and increased his resolved to oppose ecclesial and social apartheid. He became one of the organisers and founders of the Alexandra Liaison Committee that resisted the proposed resettlement of Alexandra by the apartheid government. He was also the chairperson of the Black Renaissance Convention.

In 1977 he was elected as the President of the South African Council of Churches when the bitter confrontation between the government and the prophetic church was deepening. This was a period when this confrontation shifted from critical engagement to non-collaboration and non-violent protest.

Protest action was also part of the two terms that he served as vice-president of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod (RES). In 1980 he boycotted participating in the RES when the white DRC, which supported apartheid, participated.

In 1982, he obtained a Master of Theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary and continued to travel worldwide and to be involved in church leadership, fighting for the cause of the oppressed globally.

He was elected as the mayor of Alexandra in the mid 1980s. This, however, did not sit well with a number of Alexandra residents. As a result his house was petrol bombed in 1985. The pressure was taking a toll on his family. After consultation with Nelson Mandela, who was a political prisoner at that time, Rev Buti decided to quit politics.

In 1987 he was again elected as the Moderator of the DRCA General Synod. In 1994 he led the DRCA when it united with the Dutch Reformed Mission Church to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). He was elected as the first Vice-Chairperson (Assesor) of the URCSA General Synod in 1994.

His relentless commitment to the struggles of the poor and the oppressed was acknowledged on the 25^th October 2008, when Selbourne Street in Alexandra was renamed Reverend Sam Buti Street. In 2010 UNISA conferred upon him an honourary doctorate.

May his legacy live on!!!

Source: http://rwnel.blogspot.co.za/2010/08/in-honour-of-dr-spe-sam-buti-beacon-of.html?m=1

The Church in South Africa Past, Present and Future: Lessons from the Past – Compromises

This article was authored by the former Scribe of the General Synod, Rev Dr Dawid Kuyler

It is sometimes very easy for us to be hard on our ancestors and the decisions they made. With hindsight it is easy to criticise them. As we grow older we realise that when we were young it was easy to criticise our parents, but now when we are parents and grandparents we are milder in our judgment. Although I do not think that we should condone all the wrongs of the past, we can certainly learn lessons from the past.

I would like to venture into the history of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and explore some incidents and the lessons we can learn from those incidents.

From 1652 until 1857 there was no formal racial separation in the Reformed church in South Africa. In 1857 a number of white congregants in the District of Graaf-Reinett requested permission from the General Synod to be served separately at the Lord´s Table and the infamous decision was taken – “because of the weakness of some” the request was approved and it opened the door for separate churches based on race. In 1880 the synod decided to establish the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) for the indigenous people. The first synod of the DRMC was established on the 05^th October 1881 and functioned for many years like a church colony of the Dutch Reformed Church. Only on the 15^th August 1935 was Rev A. D. Andries ordained as the first indigenous minister. For many years the DRMC was controlled by white missionaries and racial separation in the church was implemented. In 1948 the National Party came into power with Apartheid as its policy. When they started to implement forced racial segregation and people were forcefully removed from the so-called white areas, some indigenous ministers and congregations started to speak out and asked questions about the Scriptural justification of Apartheid. The synod of the DRMC in 1950 did not want to get involved in politics and refused to oppose Apartheid. In a way the church settled for a compromise. The Gospel of Christ was compromised by the church. But a few could not live with the compromise.

Rev Izak David Morkel from the congregation of Rondebosch resigned as minister of the DRMC and a large number of congregants followed him to establish the Calvin Protestant Church. He was later joined by Rev W. A. September and Theological Candidate I. Theron.  Thirty years later in 1982 the DRMC drafted the Belhar Confession and in 1986 adopted it as a fourth confession. Through the Belhar Confession the church declared Apartheid a heresy. Rev Morkel paid a high price for not settling for a compromise.  Does it mean that all the other ministers who did not have the courage to join him were sellouts? I think the question that we have to ask is whether we have the courage to stand up and go against the many compromises we make in the church currently. Racism, economy, ecology, gay and lesbian issues are still part of the agenda of the church. In many cases we still make compromises. Are we really so different from our ancestors? The Belhar Confession calls us in Article 5 to obedience: "We believe that, in obedience to Jesus Christ – its only Head – the Church is called to confess and to do all these things, even though the authorities and human laws might forbid them and punishment and suffering be the consequence."

Dr Dawid Kuyler

Dr Dawid Kuyler served as Scribe* of the General Synod of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa from 2008 till 2016.  Kuyler is a church historian, who has become a practical theologian teaching counselling.  He has been in the ministry for 30 years and continues to enjoy its challenges.

*A position that is equivalent to a Stated Clerk of the General Assembly or highest governing body of a denomination

Source: http://www.ecclesio.com/2014/05/the-church-in-south-africa-past-present-and-future-lessons-from-the-past-compromises-dawid-kuyler/

Lessons from the Past: Courage

This article was authored by the Scribe of the General Synod, Rev Dr Dawid Kuyler

Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courage)

The Bible teaches us much about people with courage. Noah had the courage to build an ark while everyone was ridiculing him. Abraham had the courage to leave all that was known to him and obey God’s command to journey to an unknown land. The many prophets had courage to preach even when their lives were in danger. Daniel had the courage not to follow the ways of the Babylonians. Paul showed his courage in preaching the Gospel of Christ. Church history is full of people who had the courage to go beyond the known.

What lesson of courage can we learn from the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA)? In 1990 the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and Dutch Reformed Church in Africa already had plans for re-unification. This, however, only became a reality on the 14^th April 1994. Many congregations of these two churches had received financial support from the white Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), which was not in favour of the re-unification and (especially) the acceptance of the Belhar Confession.

Congregations and ministers knew that the re-unification of the two churches would have a negative financial impact on them. It is one thing to say that we live by faith, but faith does not pay our bills. The ministers had families to support and their congregations, which consisted of poor people, were not in a position to provide financially for them. Many of these ministers’ names will not be recorded in history. I would like to share with you the brief stories of two of my colleagues who had the courage to do what was right. They represent many others in the URCSA who had the courage to be obedient to God.

Rev Baks Lebakeng

One is Rev Baks Lebakeng. He was a minister in the Botshabelo congregation. It was a macro congregation with five ministers – of which three were white. Once it became known that he was supporting the re-unification and the Belhar Confession, the white ministers made life difficult for him. They even stopped his salary.

Rev Lebakeng and his church council decided to join URCSA. Legal proceedings were instituted against them and they were barred from using church properties. Together with his congregants he had to start all over again. Together they erected a tin shack as a church structure and continued with the ministry. Rev Lebakeng had the courage to live the Belhar Confession. His salary was much less and his family had to rely on the salary of his wife Susan, a teacher.

Rev Lebakeng later became the Scribe of the Free State and Lesotho Regional Synod. Currently he is a minister in a URCSA Congregation in Thabong in Welkom.

Rev Langa Fokase

The other minister I would like to tell you about is Rev Langa Fokase. He was a minister at Excelsior, a small rural town in the Free State. They were also supported financially by the local white DRC. When the local DRC minister came to know that Rev Fokase was supporting the re-unification and the Belhar Confession, the church council and Rev Fokase were informed that they would no longer receive any financial support. What was Rev Fokase supposed do?  He was married and had a family to support. He could withdraw his congregation from the re-unification process. Yet, with courage, he stood by his decision. With the help of a URCSA school inspector, he got a teaching job at the local school and continued his ministry. Today he is still a teacher and a tent making minister. He had the courage. Today he is in the leadership of the Free State and Lesotho Regional Synod.

Rev Lebakeng and Rev Fokase represent many others who had courage. May we remember the ordinary ministers and congregants who had the courage to be obedient to the Lord of the Church.

Dr Dawid Kuyler

Dr Dawid Kuyler served as Scribe* of the General Synod of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa from 2008 till 2016.  Kuyler is a church historian, who has become a practical theologian teaching counselling.  He has been in the ministry for 30 years and continues to enjoy its challenges.

*A position that is equivalent to a Stated Clerk of the General Assembly or highest governing body of a denomination

Source: http://www.ecclesio.com/2014/05/lessons-from-the-past-2-courage-dawid-kuyler/