This article focuses on the plight of refugee children and families and takes the form of a dialogue between an academic theologian and a community activist who works for an organisation assisting refugees in Tshwane. This article is structured according to a sixdimensional ‘pastoral cycle’ that explores agency, contextual understanding, ecclesial scrutiny, interpreting the tradition,..
Read moreRethinking sin and evil through the life of a child sex slave
This article rethinks (original) sin and evil through the life of a child called Engela who has been ‘sold’ into sex slavery. Focus is placed on the high value with which children should be regarded, especially children who have been sold as sex slaves. During this argument the emphasis is placed on ecclesiastical evolutionary perspectives..
Read moreProviding mentoring for orphans and vulnerable children in internally displaced person camps: The case of northern Nigeria
The challenge of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) has become central to the response of many organisations (UN, UNHCR, AONN, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, etc.) today. The number of OVC throughout northern Nigeria is growing as a result of the Boko Haram pandemic. Mostly, this is caused by the death of parents who have been killed..
Read moreUnsettling Theology: Sunday school children reading the text of the Bible in the age of recolonisation
During Women’s month in South Africa (August), a group of Sunday school children from the rural congregation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), Middelburg- Nasaret, got together to read the narratives of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of the woman suffering from a blood disease. The exercise..
Read moreThe task of urban black public theology
Twenty years after the demise of apartheid, a typical South African city remains bifurcated. The mushrooming of squatter camps, mekhukhu, in our big cities, symptomises a history that defined the majority of South Africans as sojourners and vagabonds in their motherland. Destined to die in the rural reserves after the extraction of their labour and confined..
Read moreStructural transformation and democratic public spaces: Reflections on Habermas and the 2014 Tshwane State of the Capital City Address
Judging by the immense global academic interaction with his work, Jürgen Habermas’s social theory, with particular reference to structural transformation of the public sphere and democracy, is one of the most constructive models for understanding the role and function of citizens in forming healthy societies. This article investigates the recent 2014 Tshwane State of the City..
Read moreYour sister in Babylon sends her love: Towards prophetic solidarity in post-apartheid South Africa
How does a self-respecting Christian from Galilee who now finds himself based near the seat of empire relate to power in light of his faith? How are his admonishments, especially those which relate to the public arena, to be appropriated by those living on the periphery of the empire? I reflect on these questions from the vantage point..
Read moreLiving in the townships: An appraisal of Pentecostal social ministry in Tshwane
This article offers an appraisal of the social ministry of Pentecostal churches through fellowship, healing and livelihood creation in the township communities of the city of Tshwane. In meeting this aim the discussion advances a thesis of these churches as agents of social support and survival of the downcast. In particular, the article attempts to..
Read moreInformal community-based early childhood development as a focus for urban public theology in South Africa
This article highlights important dimensions of public theology and shows how the identifieddimensions are relevant to the specific situation of informal early childhood development (ECD) facilities in a South African urban setting. The article considers the contributions andchallenges of informal community-based ECD on the basis of research conducted in the Rustenburg/Phokeng area of the North..
Read moreFaith community as a centre of liberationist praxis in the city
Theologians speak of the silence of churches’ prophetic voice in the ‘new’ South Africa, whilst the country features amongst the socio-economically most unequal countries in the world, and the urban areas in particular continue to be characterised by segregation. In this context I ask: where is liberation theology? I spell out my reading of some..
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