Ecumenical dissent from Christendom to Christian nationalism: The testimony of a South African Congregationalist dissenter

Abstract

This essay on Dissent within Christendom is a contribution to the celebration of significant ecumenical anniversaries in 2025: the Nicene Creed (325), the Anabaptist movement (1525), the Kairos Document (1985), and the Voluntary Act in the Cape Colony (1875). Within that framework, I celebrate the eightieth anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s death in 1945 and consider its significance for responding to the current resurgence of Christian Nationalism. Woven into the narrative are reflections on my own journey as a Nonconformist Dissenter and the way in which the Congregational tradition as represented by the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, (UCCSA), of which I am a minister, has evolved within the context of South Africa.