Denominationalism is a concept that the church became used to. Very few people question the concept and simply accept it as part of the make-up of the universal church. More recently, and specifically with the advent of postmodernism, many people started questioning whether God’s will for the church is for it to function within the boundaries of denominations. The natural question to ask then is whether the concept of denominationalism is still relevant within the postmodern context. At the same time very direct and pertinent questions along the same lines have been asked of the Baptist Union of Southern Africa, specifically as to its relevance as a denomination. To obtain answers with respect to these questions seems simple enough at face value, but it is not really possible to address the relevance of denominationalism in the postmodern era without a thorough understanding of where the church came from and how the concepts of denominations developed over the centuries. Similarly, one cannot ignore the philosophical outlook of the world and how that played a part in the formation of the thousands of denominations we have today. The study finds that denominations, and specifically the Baptist Union of Southern Africa, have a purpose and are indeed relevant in the postmodern era. Any denomination has two distinct functions that it must fulfil in order to justify its existence: A pragmatic or functional purpose and a custodian purpose. These purposes remain constant, regardless of the era in which the church functions. Most denominations fulfil the functional role very well. This includes pooling resources enabling it to achieve more together than what individual congregations can achieve on their own. The custodian function is fulfilled less admirably. The church, and denominations in particular, are custodians of Biblical truth. This truth is to be disseminated to members of the denomination in a responsible, yet effective and efficient manner. The issue at hand is that the postmodern mind rejects the possibility to attain any kind of absolute truth. It is in this environment that denominations have a particularly important role to play. The Baptist Union of Southern Africa is ideally placed to fulfil both the functional and custodian functions, largely due to the way in which it is structured. However, the Union also has many weaknesses that need to be addressed so that the truth of the Gospel may be proclaimed in a responsible, yet efficient manner to a world that denies the very concept of truth. This makes the task particularly difficult and denominations have to consider how they will adapt in order to meet these challenges. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

After highlighting the events that gave rise to the writing of this dissertation, the writer proceeds with a critical analysis of the structural and leadership dynamics of the Baptist Union of Southern Africa (BUSA) from 1960-2005. Beginning with the formation of BUSA in 1877, he shows how that the South African Baptist Missionary Society (SABMS - the Missions arm of BUSA), established in 1892, developed in a parallel manner alongside of BUSA and questions whether the two bodies were over one. Throughout the dissertation, he pointed out how, up to the late eighties, the structural and leadership dynamics of BUSA tended to favour one culture above the others who, in fact, were in the majority. The writer identifies the key trends within each decade from 1960-2005 with regard to BUSA's structural dynamics and views the following two events as causing a major turnaround resulting in great transformation during the 1990's. They were: <ul> <li> The withdrawal of the Black Baptist Convention from BUSA in 1987 and</li> <li> The turbulent 1989 National Assembly in Kimberley</li> </ul> He also asserts that the "affirmative" appointment of the first multi-cultural BUSA Executive in 1997 actually "saved the day" for BUSA and avoided future splits. The writer proceeds to evaluate BUSA's structural dynamics during the period under review in terms of the essential functions of the church, namely, Kerygma (proclamation), diakonia (diaconal service) and koinonia (fellowship). BUSA was strong in Kerygma but weak in Koinonia. He finally concludes that the "separate development mentality" prevalent within BUSA during its formation and the review period was not as a result of Apartheid but, as his research has revealed, namely (i) British colonialism certainly influenced the formation and initial development of BUSA. The cultural divide between "colonial whites" and "emerging blacks" who were accustomed to a social separation between the two groups was certainly a factor. Likewise, the manner in which Europeans perceived the Bantu in the 1870's (ii) The Mission philosophy prevalent in Europe and America round about 1877 was to form native, indigenous churches that would be "self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating". The motto of the SABMS was "the evangelisation of the Bantu by Bantu". It was felt the young churches arising out of mission work would be independent and not dependent upon or controlled by mother bodies that helped to establish them. It is thus not surprising that BUSA through the SABMS followed the same policy. (iii) The British Baptist ministers who came to South Africa prior to and following the arrival of the 1820 Settlers came with the express purpose to minister to the British immigrants in the Cape and British Kaffraria. Missions to the Bantu was not necessarily a part of their agenda. As indicated in this dissertation , it was the German Baptists and not the British who were key factors in the establishment of the SABMS. (iv) The new SABMS was based upon the British model which saw the Missions Society as an entirely separate entity from the Union, but in close association with it. The unjust policy of apartheid, which was implemented and enforced by the South African Nationalist Government from 1948 to the early nineties, cemented and added the "cherry on the top" of the separate development and ultimate separation between BUSA and the Baptist Convention. It provided the ideal context for continued British colonial thinking and practice with regard to the Bantu. Hence the exclusion of the latter from the main BUSA Leadership structures for most of the period under review. In the final chapter, the writer offers some guidelines which he trusts will prove helpful to future BUSA Leaders and Executives. / Dissertation (MA(Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

In Natal and Zululand Swedish missions had precedence through the Church of Sweden Mission from 1876 on, the Swedish Holiness Mission from 1889 on, and the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union from 1892 on. Between 1876 and 1902, thirty-six women were active in these South African missions. The history of all these women are explored on an individual basis in this, for the most part, empirical study. The primary goal of this dissertation is to find out who these women missionaries were, what they worked at, what positions they held toward the colonial/political situation in which they worked, and what positions they held in their respective missions. What meaning the women’s mission work had for the Zulu community in general, and for Zulu women in particular are dealt with, though the source material on it is limited. Nevertheless, through the source material from the Swedish female missionaries, Zulu women are given attention. The theoretical starting points come, above all, from historical research on women and gender and from historical mission research about missions as a part of the colonial period. Both married and unmarried women are defined as missionaries since both groups worked for the missions. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union the first missionaries in Natal and Zululand were women. The Church of Sweden Mission was a Lutheran mission were women mostly worked in mission schools, homes for children and in a mission hospital. Women were subordinated in relationship to male missionaries. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union women had more equal positions in their work. In these missions women could be responsible for mission stations, work as evangelists and preach the Gospel. The picture of the work of female missionaries has also been complicated and modified.

This theses researches the bequest of The Unity of the Brethren in the lore and practice of the contemporary protestant churches in the Czech Republic. The first part evaluates numerous sources to concretize the bequest of The Unity of Brethren to ten points, which represent the most specific characteristics of its lore. The second part focuses on comparison of the previously specified bequest of The Unity of Brethren with practice and lore of particular contemporary churches. Through analysis of church sources and structured interviews with the heads of contemporary churches the thesis shows which points of the bequest of The Unity of Brethren actually appear in the lore of the examined churches and to what extend these points influence the real life of the communities. The main objective of the thesis is to examine whether the rich Brethren tradition can be found in today's Czech churches. Moreover this work also asks to what extend these churches manage to keep the Brethren bequest alive in the modern social environment.