This study considered indigenisation to involve a process of making the local people `feel at home' in their Church. The ministry of early catechists such as Bernard Mizeki and Frank Ziqubu was crucial in showing the fact that the Anglican Church was not necessarily a church for Europeans only, but for the indigenous people as well. After this first generation of catechists there were numerous indigenous catechists who also ministered in the Diocese of Mashonaland by way of preparing people for the different sacraments found in the Anglican Church. On the other hand the training of the indigenous people for the ordained ministry was also another significant step in the process of indigenisation in the Diocese of Mashonaland. In this regard theological institutions such as St Augustine's Seminary in Penhalonga Manicaland, St Peter's Seminary Rossettenville in Johannesburg and St John's Seminary in Lusaka provided the much needed training. This study also revealed that although the Diocese of Mashonaland had an indigenous person at its helm in 1981, it remained European in several facets of its life. Although translations as a form of indigenisation started from the beginning of the Diocese of Mashonaland and continued right up to 1981, it seems it actually crippled the local indigenous peoples' innovativeness and ingenuity. In addition indigenous musical instruments also took sometime before they could be accepted in divine worship. On the other hand local art and décor as well as local architectural expressions took time to be incorporated into the Diocese of Mashonaland. However few early European missionaries such as Arthur Shirley Cripps and Edgar Lloyd tried to implement local architecture and décor in their churches in Daramombe and Rusape respectively. This study has also established that although the Anglican Diocese of Mashonaland got indigenous leadership by 1981, its liturgy, theology as well as its Acts and Canons remained European. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Div. (Church History)

Hymns can and have functioned as powerful strategic tools to change social and religious landscapes, and to inform and transform people’s notions about ‘doing church’. A few words about Ephrem the Syrian, which emphasised liturgical singing and accentuated the force of truth, the power of persuasion and socio-religious transformation was the starting point and connecting thread, which formed the backbone of this dissertation throughout—a research project that was also guided by some principles of new historicism to view Ephrem as a textual construct, living in a particular context and dealing with specific religious issues in a particular way. His trump card was the female choirs he founded, which became a distinct feature of orthodox Syrian Christianity. Through their singing performances, he ‘silenced’ the unorthodox voices of—especially Bardaisan—and created a community of believers where each person had a part to fulfil, where women and men would become ‘two harps’, ‘singing one praise’. / M. Th. (New Testament)

Hymns are handed down from generation to generation, from country to country, and from church to church. In every time in history, hymns and songs are needed that are new for that time and generation – hymns through which the timeless message can be voiced in a new and unique way. The historical binding, as well as the ecumenical tie, are thus indispensable features for the church, her liturgy and her music. In the processes of creating new hymns and liturgical forms, the una sancta ecclesia always needs to be in focus. In this study the ecumenical and liturgical movements of the twentieth century, their goals, and the influence they exerted on liturgical renewal and hymn singing, are investigated. The ecumenical meaning of new hymns and liturgical forms is evaluated in terms of these goals. To determine the functionality of new hymns, a theoretical grounding for the various functions of hymns is given. Renewal in the form of contemporary material, new styles and ecumenical-liturgical forms is reflected in the Liedboek van die Kerk (2001), the new hymnal for the Afrikaans-speaking churches. The hymnal is discussed with regard to the content, and the processes of compilation. The versification of the psalms, fundamentalist views, and the resistance to transformation in the processes of canonization, also comes under scrutiny. Documentation, motivation and report of about sixty new hymns and liturgical forms in the Liedboek van die Kerk (2001) are given. Hymns, songs and liturgical forms are researched from hymnological perspectives, by relevant musical and textual analysis, and by exploring their origin, history, working history, and liturgical function. The functionality of the hymns is assessed, and their hymnological, liturgical, contextual and ecumenical significance determined, with regard to the theoretical grounding in the preceding chapters. The conclusion is that ecumenicity is a sine qua non for the hymns and songs of a new generation. History and tradition, but also the contemporary church as a whole, should co-determine processes. The future of liturgical singing depends on the way in which theological, liturgical, hymnological, ecumenical and anthropological fields of tension could be kept in balance. Balance thus needs to be found between functionality, ethics, and aesthetics; between tradition and creativity; historical fidelity and contemporary embodiment; individualism and community; between the individual church and ecumenism; quality and popularity; between Christian/confessional identity, and general religiosity; between orthodox expressions of faith, and the poetical-symbolical shifting of boundaries. Boundaries are exceeded through the singing of hymns – boundaries of language, of confession, of time and space, and boundaries between individuals and groups. Liturgical singing can be the singing of believers of all times and all places only by preserving the traditional ecumenical heritage on the one hand, and on the other hand, through ecumenical cooperation when creating new hymns and forms – thus the one faith in many languages, the audible sign of the una sancta ecclesia. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Music / DMus / Unrestricted