This article sets out to describe how churches have responded and continue to respond to fast-changing urban environments in Pretoria Central and Mamelodi East, animating Henri Lefebvre’s sociological perspective of citadins or urban inhabitants. We make tentative interpretations and offer critical appreciation. Churches, which were historically separated from the city centre, now directly participate in..
Read moreConceptual considerations for studying churches’ engagement with urban fractures and vulnerabilities
This article provides an overview of conceptual considerations underpinning the design of a research project on religious innovation and competition amidst urban social change. The conceptual work developed out of the planning of the research methods, questions and questionnaires, and provides the background on which particular methodological choices and research foci were built. In six..
Read moreExploring possibilities of social entrepreneurial activities as a tool to reduce unemployment amongst churches in Tshwane central and Mamelodi East: Pretoria case study
Unemployment is one of the major problems in South Africa. It is the concern of the government and the people at large to engage in means in order to reduce poverty. In this research, I would like to explore the possibilities of social entrepreneurial activities as a way of social and economic transformation in Tshwane...
Read morePolitics of faith: Transforming religious communities and spiritual subjectivities in post-apartheid South Africa
The enforcement of racial segregation during apartheid was aimed not only at regulating public spaces, residential areas and the workforce, but also at shaping the subjectivities of individuals who were socialised to see themselves through the lens of a white racial hierarchy. The ideology of white supremacy and superiority that informed apartheid policy was largely..
Read moreAn ethnographic study on managing diversity in two Protestant theological colleges
For many reasons Christian higher education institutions struggle to embrace diversity. Diversity is a relationship of mutuality, where differences are engaged and respected. This study aimed to understand diversity management via the institutional culture to understand how these interactions of dealing with diversity form and prepare future religious leaders. These issues are highlighted through two..
Read moreRace, whiteness and transformation in the Promise Keepers America and the Mighty Men Conference: A comparative analysis
This article takes cue from Sarojini Nadar’s article analysing the Mighty Men Conference (MMC) in South Africa as a case study of masculinism, where the author makes some passing comparison between Promise Keepers in America (PKA) and the MMC in South Africa. This article investigates the specific ways in which PKA and MMC are ideologically..
Read moreWhen faith does violence: Reimagining engagement between churches and LGBTI groups on homophobia in Africa
‘Homophobia’ is shorthand for stigmatising attitudes and practices towards people who demonstrate sexual diversity. In this article, we reflect on how African Christian faith may become redemptive rather than violent in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex forms of sexuality. Click to view orDownload
Read moreTowards liberationist engagement with ethnicity: A case study of the politics of ethnicity in a Methodist church
The article calls for critical theological examination of the politics of ethnicity in the context of mainline churches in South Africa. The category of ethnicity is largely missing in the interrogation of diversity in the delineated context. Including this category of difference in the theological and religious studies diversity discourse would, if brought to bear..
Read more‘Not in our name without us’ – The intervention of Catholic Women Speak at the Synod of Bishops on the Family: A case study of a global resistance movement by Catholic women
This article will illustrate through a case study of the intervention of the Catholic Women Speak Network (CWSN) at the Synod of Bishops on the Family, the dynamic movement within Steyn’s Critical Diversity Literacy theory from ‘reading’ the social script of injustice to conscientisation and finally actions for transformation, a methodology similar to that of..
Read morePractising chaordic beauty: On embracing strangers in one inner city faith community
In this article I read one inner city faith community – the Tshwane Leadership Foundation (TLF) – through the lenses of literature that reflects on chaordic organisations and chaordic leadership. I explore whether an emphasis on the management of diversity, which is widespread in organisational and ecclesial practices and languages, should not be replaced with..
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