Migration is a growing phenomenon affecting African cities. This article engages the current reality of migrants in the City of Cotonou, Benin, theologically. It re-imagines theological education for Cotonou to flourish by 2050, producing an African urban migratory theology that deeply engages the presence of migrants as contributors to socio-economic development. The central question is:..
Read moreAndrew Murray’s “Missionary Problem”: addressing the gap between the spiritual and the everyday lives of church Members
The article compares two views on the missionary problem: one was expressed in Andrew Murray’s book The Key to the Missionary Problem, about 120 years ago. Murray emphasised the low level of the spiritual life of the church as the main missionary problem; the key to solving this problem is the revival of a strong..
Read moreChange-making in a (post)apartheid city: An auto-ethnographical essay
We reflect on living and doing ministry in a (post)apartheid South African city, negotiating ongoing demographic and sociopolitical transitions and discerning appropriate faith responses. We speak about the inevitability of these transitions, but then suggest that a view of theology and ministry as change-making is not inevitable but a vocation and art to be acknowledged,..
Read moreUrban Africa 2050: Imagining Theological Education/Formation for Flourishing African Cities
Africa’s staggering rate of urbanization and the silence of religion or theology in response form the backdrop of this article. Africa’s urban futures, up through 2050, are considered through the lenses of fifteen African cities and theological institutions in these cities. I employ a set of research questions, seeking to contribute theologically to a body..
Read moreChange agency and urban vulnerability: Theologicalecclesial paralysis or deep solidarity
Globally, cities respond differently to their most vulnerable urban populations, notably so during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In the City of Tshwane, there seems to be a general paralysis of the church and theological education in relation to urbanvulnerability. If the church and theological education are to participate as change agents to help..
Read moreDignity, justice and community as a baseline
for re-interpreting being church in a
Corona-defined world
This article is written as a reflection on the relevance of being church in a world defined by the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The reflections are done by listening to the stories and experiences of vulnerable men and women who were displaced from their areas of living onthe streets into (mostly) temporary shelters. Different organisations, state..
Read moreHomelessness and Community Based Healthcare: A Narrative Experience in a Temporary Shelter Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
ABSTRACT This article serves to describe health encounters and social dynamics of 52 homeless men residing in a temporary shelter in Tshwane during the COVID-19 hard lockdown period. The purpose of this article is to explore and modify factors that influence healthcare in homeless persons, as well as to establish a homeless health profile. It..
Read moreFostering Integrated, Collaborative Approaches to End Street Homelessness: A COVID-19 Perspective
ABSTRACT This article maps the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in the City of Tshwane through the lens of street homelessness. This is done through a “thick description” of what happened during this time. This map is then read against both the intention of the Tshwane Homelessness Policy and the said objectives of the Tshwane Homelessness..
Read more“Hey, it is Rough Out Here”: A Resilience Lens on the Biopsychosocial Circumstances of Homeless Older Persons in the City of Tshwane
ABSTRACT The biopsychosocial circumstances of homeless older persons (male and female, 55 years and older), specifically considered from a resilience lens, are inadequately described within the South African context. This study explored and described the biopsychosocial circumstances of homeless older persons in the City of Tshwane from a resilience lens. A qualitative research approach, operationalised..
Read moreSocial exclusion and marginalisation of homeless people: a clarion social work call for the spirit of ubuntu to reign
ABSTRACT Social work is committed to the advancement of human rights and social justice. One strategy for promoting social justice is to inculcate a human rights-based approach to social work practice. Using ubuntu as a theorical framework, this article initially explores social exclusion and the accompanying stigma that homeless people experience; it then examines how..
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