The Story of the Church in South Africa

by Kevin Roy

Overview

From Calvinist to Catholic, from Charismatic to AmaZioni, the Rainbow Nation has one of the most colourful, variegated, and bewildering array of Christian churches in the world. Where on earth did they all come from? How did they develop? What do they believe? How are they related to one another?

In this clear and readable history of Christianity in South Africa, Kevin Roy answers these questions with comprehensive, succinct and rigorous historical analysis with sympathy and honesty. Dr Roy does not shy away from the failures and sins of the participants in this story that intertwines with the history of the peoples and tribes in South Africa. This book is a testimony of divine love and patience in the midst of human folly and frailty, of successes and faithful service to God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783682485
Publisher:	Langham Global Library
Publication date:	04/30/2017
Series:	Global Perspectives
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

KEVIN ROY has been teaching church history in South Africa for over twenty- ve years and earned his DTh from the University of South Africa. He has also pastored and founded several churches and currently is Pastor of Muldersdrift Union Church, Gauteng, South Africa. His major passions include church history, the body of Christ, walking and music. Born and raised in Zambia, most of his schooling was in Zimbabwe. He was an evangelist with the Dorothea Mission for eight years in Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe before marrying Ina with whom he has three adult children and five grandchildren. South Africa is his home.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

List of Abbreviations

1 An Overview

The Dutch Period

The British Period

The Modern Period

2 The Dutch Period

Van Riebeeck and the Dutch Settlers

The Indigenous People of the Cape

Slaves and the First Minister

Arrival of the French Huguenots

George Schmidt and the Moravians

Lutheran Beginnings

Helperus Ritzema van Lier

Michiel Christiaan Vos

The Re-establishment of the Moravian Mission

Some Closing Reflections on the Dutch Period

3 The Start of the British Period

The London Missionary Society (LMS)

Dr Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp

Ntsikana – The Morning Star of the Xhosa Church

John Philip

Churches of British Origin

The Journey So Far

4 “Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands”

Robert Moffat

David Livingstone

The Great Trek

Daniel Lindley

The Formation of Two New Afrikaans Reformed Churches

Andrew Murray

Revival

Charles Pamla

Doctrinal Conflict in the Dutch Reformed Church

Bishop Colenso

Ethiopianism

Lutherans

Reflections on the British Period

5 A South African Pentecost

The Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902)

Prisoner-of-War Camp Revivals

Zion and Pentecostal Beginnings

The Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM)

The Full Gospel Church of God

Assemblies of God (AG)

Nicholas Bhengu

Further Pentecostal Movements and Churches

The African Instituted (or Independent) Churches

6 The Growing Church Struggle

The Ecumenical Movement

The Rise of Apartheid

The Development of the Christian Council of South Africa (CCSA) and the Growing Rift between Afrikaans

and English Churches

The Federal Mission Council (FMC) of the DRC and Its Efforts to Devise a Just Racial Policy

Sharpeville and Cottesloe

Albert Luthuli

Z. K. Matthews

Beyers Naudé

A Non-Political Interlude

7 Towards a New South Africa

The Struggle Intensifies

The Newer Charismatic Churches

The Collapse of Apartheid

The New South Africa

8 The Last Twenty Years: A Brief Postscript

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Looking Ahead

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Many books have been written on the history of the church in South Africa. But the difficulty is in finding one which is unbiased in its presentation of the facts, one which represents the whole Christian community with a breath of fresh air that dispels the stench of our past partisanship. As a black South African with a strong AIC background, I have not only found Dr Roy's book to be a captivating account of the events, but a very sensitive, refreshing and trustworthy account on what needs to be known concerning the history of the church in our Rainbow Nation.

Sipho J. Mfusi

Missionary to the Zulus and AmaZioni

Dr Kevin Roy's history of the South African church is my go-to text every time! For over a decade now, I recommend it in every new member's class and to every one of our pastoral interns. When I lectured at seminary, it was a required text. It's not simply the best, it is the only option! If you want a concise, readable, well-written account, Dr Roy's text is in a league of its own. Here you can feast on an exciting, colourful, informative, and sobering account of how Christ has built his church in southern Africa against all odds - in the face of war, persecution, heresy, division, and discouragements of every kind. Yet the gospel's advance is unstoppable! Kevin has been a dear friend, example, and encourager to me for some fiteen years now, and I am delighted that Langham is giving this book a new lease on life. It has been one of Africa's best-kept secrets for too long.

Rev Tim Cantrell, PhD

Pastor of Antioch Bible Church President, Shepherds' Seminary, Johannesburg, South Africa

South Africa is a country of great diversity. The varieties of our natural terrain, local tribes and foreign involvement have all helped to form our unique and multifaceted identity. The church of Jesus Christ in this land has also been stamped with this distinctive plurality. In this book Dr Roy serves us well by telling the story of the church in South Africa in a way that captures something of this complex and diverse history. Its strength is found in the way he firmly situates the church in the political context of its day, and also in the obvious broad and non-sectarian love he has for the body of Christ. It is certainly a candid and surprisingly comprehensive book on the South African church, and one I can heartily recommend.

Paul Hartwig, PhD

Lecturer in Church History and Systematic Theology, Cape Town Baptist Seminary, South Africa

Kevin Roy has written a clear and accessible account of South Africa's Christian history that is both well informed and judiciously balanced. Constructed around the personal stories of a number of awed but faithful Christian witnesses, it never fails to inspire.

Rev Alan Spence, PhD

Minister, United Reformed Church, Deal, UK

Former Moderator, Uniting Presbyterian Church of South Africa

From the Publisher