The churches in City of Tshwane have incredible youth capital. There is so much energy and passion that fill the concrete walls of the mushrooming churches. This article emerges from a research that was conducted to explore religious innovation and competition amidst demographic and social change among churches in the City of Tshwane. The data of the study suggest that the impetus behind most of the innovation and development in the churches is borne from the hearts and minds of the young people. The striking involvement of the youth in the congregations, their participation and also the reflection in the data in terms of youth agency highlight the concern on their involvement in urban, social change, with specific reference to the City of Tshwane. The article assesses the participation of the church youth in the transformation of the city.
In 1976, the youth of Soweto took the bigger agenda of non-racialism to the streets. In a post-apartheid South Africa, in 2016, the bigger agenda of poverty was also taken to the streets of various universities, where the youth protested for free education. The police had their hands full with the protesting students, which in some cases led to a militarised presence of the police at most residential universities in South Africa. This got also the executive branch of government involved in the matters of public university students. It forced the top echelons in government to engage with the most vulnerable in society; students struggle to make financial ends meet. Although the way in which these young people conducted themselves might raise concern, the fact that they were able to take part in the transformation agenda that would impact the broader society is significant. These two events in history have some similarities, though epochs apart.
The City of Tshwane, like most South African cities, has become a space of contestation for resources, a display of poverty of the most vulnerable in society and, indeed, a visible struggle for survival. The urban environment has its own, unique challenges that stifle growth and prosperity for all citizens in the city. One of the issues in the City of Tshwane is homelessness. The issues relating to homelessness have become an ongoing discussion of which some theologians of the University of South Africa joined. In a community engagement project of the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, the said theologians conducted contextual bible studies, had fellowship and had a meal with the homeless people. Through the encounter with the homeless people a series of publications South Africa’s towns and cities are now home to more than 60 percent of the national population and account for 80 percent of economic activity … with these percentages expected to increase. The future of the urban centres is of enormous importance to national development. Rapid urbanisation has exacerbated all of the socioeconomic challenges that were already present, from widespread poverty to alarming levels of youth unemployment and infrastructure backlogs. It is possible that by 2025, the country’s urban areas will be bigger, poorer, more congested, more polluted and more socially fractious.
Nevertheless, the research of academics from nearby Universities, Driven by the spirit of consumerism, city dwellers are confronted with alternatives to almost everything – socially, politically, economically and religiously. That is why, on a spiritual front, city dwellers hop from one church to another shopping around for what is best for them; as such they often prefer to be free riders in any institutional church, rather than disciples. Their choices are diverse and varied, namely: (1) African Initiated Churches occupying open spaces for worship in the city; (2) independent Pentecostal groups gathering in shopfronts, museums and school halls; (3) traditional mainline churches; (4) suburban churches; (5) township and informal settlement churches; (6) mega-churches; and (7) the emerging e-church movement of those who are going virtual and viral. (pp. 258–259)
This study, namely religious innovation and competition amidst demographic and social change among churches in the City of Tshwane, also focused on the urban environment and its social issues, but was particularly interested in how the churches respond to those social issues. Swart and De Beer ( … we are [
This study (2016–2017) was therefore in line with the proposed agenda by Swart and De Beer (
The findings of this study demonstrate that the church has its own way of dealing with issues of migration, urbanisation and other societal challenges.
Firstly, what is the purpose of the church? Secondly, can the church play a role in the social transformation in an urban, city context? And thirdly, where does the church youth fit into the broader scope of the church’s role in the city context? This study will briefly address these questions in arguing for the inclusion of the church youth in the broader agenda of social transformation in the City of Tshwane.
The church’s purpose is not only for the edification of believers and its congregants but to take part in what the triune God is doing in the world. The discussion around the participatory role of the church in society is part of the conversation of ‘missional church’. will never deign to give anyone a blueprint about being church, but it will provide a methodology to discern how to participate in the missional praxis of the Triune God and, as such, how to become what God wants his people to be: his image, his body. (p. 1004)
H. Jurgens Hendriks ( It [
Hendriks’ description of how the church should do theology is well illustrated above – through the Triune God, bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God to all on earth. The church plays a vital role in the shaping, reshaping and transformation of communities. Van Wyk’s ( These reformists were the voice-of-the-voiceless and protested against bribery, corruption and dishonesty in the early Church. These reformists – Luther in particular – used the Bible (Holy Scriptures) as their most commanding and authoritative tool in engaging the devoted followers of the church to break from the Roman Catholic Church. (p. 2)
Van Wyk’s contribution indeed speaks to the transformation of church and society. It is evident through the servanthood of those reformers in the 1500s that not only the church was taking on new shape, but it also brought reforms to the societies and contexts that they and their ideas influenced. Samuel (
In the discussion above, I referred to the priority that some theologians have given to social issues in the context of the City of Tshwane. Cities have many social challenges that need to be addressed. The survey of this study shows that there is an estimate of 100–200 churches in the City of Tshwane. The amount of churches is indeed significant and reflects the space that churches occupy in the city. The statistics also reflect the attendance of citizens in these churches.
However, to assess the involvement of the churches of Tshwane in social issues, the researchers had to do further analyses, which included two World Cafes
Van Gelder ( … our place of residence: we live, work, and dwell in the city. Of course, the geographic and demographic makeup of our communities varies widely. But unless we find ourselves solitary on a desert island, we are part of a community where we (usually) benefit from one another. From law enforcement and firefighting to markets and hospitals, we live in communities where we share the same values of how to live together. (p. 60)
Van Gelder ( Jerusalem and Golgotha are inextricably linked. Jesus is condemned in the city by the powers and principalities, and he is subsequently marched outside Jerusalem’s gates to be crucified. This close proximity points to the important relationship between the city and the crucified. Our journey to the crucified is within walking distance, and we readily offer our praise to God through Christ (Heb. 13:15) within hearing distance of the city. (p. 60)
Here I wish to also point to the perspective of Van Gelder ( In worship we learn what is good; we are consecrated and perfected in terms of the conscience. Worship creates the space where the city’s [
The above discussion of Van Gelder is well in line with the way in which church life stimulate and inspire the values and morality that is necessary to transform the life of our neighbours, those living in our cities. The churches that participated in this study report on the challenges that they and their ‘neighbours’ are experiencing in the city. The churches and participants did report on issues such as unemployment, poverty, challenges of physical space, lack of housing, crime, shebeens, teenage pregnancy and few others. However, the churches do not show involvement and engagement within those issues and sad realities. There is not even a sign of them participating or engaging in the policy-making processes and dialogue with the government, at least not what their church structure and functions allow.
The South African missiologist, Derrick Mashau ( encourage all of its members (evangelists, educators, counselors, business people, environmentalists, and advocates for social transformation among others) to serve in all forms of mission engagement where God called and placed them in this life. (p. 4)
He states:
Mission [
The ‘hands and feet of Christ in advancing his reign here on earth’ is what the churches in the City of Tshwane have to step up. Without labouring the issue of the role of the church in the city, it is crucial to underline that the cities would be able to socially transform through the visible presence, involvement, participation and contribution of the churches in the city.
Mashau ( Christian mission should serve as agents of transformation by bringing God’s shalom and justice into the city context as they intentionally engage the social ills and economic and political powers in the City of Tshwane. Providing shelter for the homeless, transferring skills to empower those on the margins to access jobs, collaborating with government and private institutions to fight poverty, joblessness and inequality, and advocacy can be cited as some of the practical things that churches can do in and with the community. (p. 10) God helps by prompting us to embrace a spirituality that is intrinsically transformative. The landscape of worship in the city context should therefore be transformed from being consumer-oriented to God-oriented. Our worship (singing, praying, preaching, sacraments, etc.), meditation, praying and fasting should constitute the spirituality for mission encompassing the spirit of transforming encounters. The prophetic voice will in this instance never be missing from our worship services; indeed, worship will become a way of life instead of a once-off event on Sunday. (p. 10)
It is clear in Mashau’s proposals that the church should be more than spaces for ‘personal upliftment’ or ‘entertainment’; it should be a place of transformative encounters, which will also overflow into bringing transformation and ‘God’s shalom and justice’ to the city.
So far, this article has argued that the church has a role to play in the transformation of urban communities. Although the focus in this article clearly advocates the role of the church as being missional in nature and addressed the challenges faced by citizens in the urban setting, it is also important to emphasise the role of the youth in the confines of the church. The churches can do much to increase the agency of the youth in the transformation of the city. The next section will engage in this discussion.
Although it is argued in this article that the church has a responsibility towards society, it should not exclude the church youth, which forms part of the church participating in God’s mission on earth. This is not often the case as the youth in the church is at times only good for church activities, through taking part in the Sunday worship and the various ministry departments in the church. The churches in the City of Tshwane also intentionally overlook these young people in terms of equipping them for participation and mobilising them as agents of change in society.
Nel ( celebrate inclusion celebrate learning how to live life celebrate developing (however challenging) a sensitivity to choose what matters most in life.
The church should be intentional in preparing the church for the various communities, rural and urban communities of which it forms part off. The youth should equally be part of challenging the powers that be
Linhart ( Youth workers build a programme in the local community, from drop-in-centres, sports leagues and tutoring to various clubs, and then work to meet the needs of young people, building community with and within the local context. (p. 182)
He also refers to the words of Shepherd (
It was picked up in the data of one of the churches that the church youth is often perceived by leaders in the church as not matured and naïve to the social challenges in the city. This could be a way of excluding the youth in being agents of change in the social affairs and challenges in the city.
Bowers Du Toit’s (
Given the discussion above, I will specifically report in the next section on the data in relation to one of the questions that was posed to the focus groups on how do they perceive youth agency. However, the discussion will also go broader than this and discuss the researchers’ observations and their experiences of the youth during the focus group discussions. This will allow me to draw some final conclusions and recommendations on the role that church youth currently play and might play within the structures of the churches in the City of Tshwane.
The researchers reported the involvement and participation of the church youth in the focus groups and that their level of involvement was more than the older members of the congregants (F1).
Although the focus groups were requested by the researchers to be diverse in terms of gender, age, race and other demographics, the focus groups at the end comprised of congregants whose ages ranged between 21 and 35, which can relatively be classified as youth. It seems this category made up the majority in terms of the type of participants that were involved in the focus groups.
In the one focus group the researchers report of a 60% attendance of young people during their worship services (F1). The one group also discussed the likelihood of young people coming from rural township churches and moving to the city, then joining those churches which worship services are ‘lively’ [ … so a lot of young people tend to move to church[
In speaking of the dynamics of the church of which the youth are members – they refer to the freedom they have as youth, for instance, to have an opportunity to talk about issues (for instance sex) that they were not able to talk about in their rural churches back home (F1:11). They feel that the church in the city is more open towards change in terms of the liturgy of the church, as well as the way the church in the city is structured. One of the focus groups, which comprised mostly of young people echoes, ‘maybe the change is that people are moving with the times … do I still want to do what my grandmother was doing 17 years [
The data also reflect the role that the young people play in terms of the congregational structures and activities:
We want our church to move with the times but why are we finding ourselves within [
Young people convey their agency in the church through their involvement in the church council and believe through their participation in the decision-making body of the church – things will change (F1:13). But they also speak of the inclusion of children, women and people with homosexual orientation in the church, which are welcome in the church (F1:13). There is so much freedom in the church for them (for instance, women allowed to wear trousers, and boyfriend and girlfriend can hold hands). The young people are well aware of the struggles and challenges people face in the city in which they stay and articulate in their response their sympathy.
There also seems to be a ‘political consciousness’ among the youth in the church. Although the young people in the focus groups did not explicitly articulate it, it becomes clear through the transcripts on the issues and themes that they address during the discussions, that they want to see social transformation in the city.
When the young people in one of the focus groups (F1) were given the opportunity to say what they are doing outside the walls of the church, there response shows clearly that they felt helpless: ‘… they [
The responses from the young people show their commitment towards change within the structures of the church, but it also shows their commitment to move with the ‘times’. That young people that were part of the focus groups are well informed on the challenges that are apparent in the city is evident. In fact, in some cases, most of the responses in terms of an assessment of social diagnostics and to determine what is wrong in the city came from the young people in the churches. It was young people that made up in some of the focus groups almost half or more than half of the participants. It shows their awareness and simultaneously also their concern for social transformation.
What concerns involvement – the data reflect much involvement of the youth in the activities of the church, being at times the driving force behind innovative ideas and suggestions that steer the church towards qualitative growth. However, when responding to the question of youth agency, one of the leaders of the church was quite reserved in terms of the participation of the church youth in what was termed ‘political matters’. The above is a short reflection of what one can glean from the responses and observation of the researches during the focus group discussions.
It is evident in the analysis of the data that the youth are active and show deep involvement in the activities and affairs of the church. The question ‘How does the youth respond amidst demographic and social change in the City of Tshwane?’ is been answered through the analysis of the data obtained from the focus groups discussion. In those discussions, it became clear that the youth have an awareness of the social changes in the city and show a ‘political consciousness’. It shows agency of the youth in the confines of their own congregation, but not much involvement and participation in the social agenda of the city. The youth with their vigour and innovative ideas filling the walls of the churches in the city are not encouraged through their church structures to ‘take the social agenda to the streets’ of Tshwane. The youth’s response is within the church walls and not in the streets of Tshwane.
Although much has been said by the academics and missiologists alike on the mission of the church, the study places once again the agency of youth in the transformation of the city on the agenda. Churches should identify the youth capital in their respective congregation and encourage the youth to join the mission of the triune God in the transformation of our cities in South Africa.
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
In 2014, colleagues from the Department Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology released a book with eight articles entitled
Swart and De Beer (
There are also other ongoing academic, research projects focusing on issues in the City of Tshwane, but these are specifically known to me. The third project that is mentioned is the one that provided the data for the article. The project was sponsored by donors outside of South Africa in which various colleagues in academia and field workers participated from 2016 to 2017. These colleagues affiliated with the University of South Africa (UNISA), as well as the University of Pretoria (UP).
They largely base their argument on the role of the church in cities on the work of Graham and Scott (
The findings on the churches’ response in terms of various societal issues are included in other scholarly contributions and publications that are based on this research project that was launched in 2016 and ended at the end of the first quarter of 2017.
The term ‘missional church’ gained prominence after the release of the book edited by Guder and Hunsberger (
See the work of Fouché and Light (
See above the discussion of Mashau (
See above the remarks of Van Gelder (
Bowers Du Toit uses the work of Walter Wink and his theory on systemic powers in the world.
It is apparent in her response that she focuses on the institutional church.
She makes reference to Walter Wink (
Please note that the codes (F1, F2 etc.) are used to conceal the identity of the particular church from which the data came. Therefore, F1 may represent a particular church from which the data was extracted.
The amount of young people varies, however, F3 (focus group) was 99% young people using the classification above.
Note that the codes (F1, F2 etc.) are used to conceal the identity of the particular church from which the data came.
See the questions of the facilitator: ‘some of the comments have been dealing with matters inside the congregation but if you look outside the congregation …’ (F1: 14).