Community-centred congregational ministry in South Africa: a plea for renewal

Abstract

In this paper the author advocates a new approach in the endeavour of local congregations and the church in general to become meaningfully involved in the challenges of community development and social transformation in South Africa. Proceeding beyond a charity mode of thinking and practice will mean that congregations and Christians first of all need to take a critical look at their own theology, worldview and values. This introspection should lead to a new double movement in which the imperative of transformation is no longer directed towards the poor exclusively and is as much directed towards the (capitalist) life world of the rich and powerful, of which congregations and Christians are very much a part. On the basis of such a double movement a new praxis should evolve in which congregations and Christians will become involved in the emancipatory struggles of the new social movements, exert themselves for local (or small-scale) economic alternatives, and engage in larger ecumenical, solidarity and research networks.