Original Research - Special Collection: Yolanda Dreyer Festschrift

Faith and reality: The role and contributions of the ecumenical church to the realities and development of South Africa since the advent of democracy in 1994

Jerry Pillay
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 73, No 4 | a4519 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i4.4519 | © 2017 Jerry Pillay | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 03 February 2017 | Published: 19 June 2017

About the author(s)

Jerry Pillay, Department of Church History and Church Polity, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Many Christians feel quite disillusioned and disappointed with the church in South Africa today because they assume that the church, in particular the South African Council of Churches (SACC), is not playing an adequate prophetic role in building the democratic South Africa since 1994. This article traces the role and contributions of the SACC and other ecumenical organisations to the building of a democratic South Africa. It establishes that whilst the SACC had lost its focus and vision and has an ecumenical body, largely because of its partnership with government, it does, nevertheless, continue to contribute to the building of the South African nation.

Keywords

South Africa; ecumenical movement; South African Council of Churches; church; democracy; prophetic voice; justice; reconciliation; healing

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