South African Christian News: Telling the God Stories of Africa
This week I watched the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II at the majestic Westminster Cathedral. You probably watched it too. I was impressed with the imaginative choice of a standard evening hymn as the opening congregational song for her funeral — and that vast congregation knew how to sing […]
There’s a popular worship song that goes like this: “I’ve got peace like a river, peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul. I’ve got peace like a river, peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.” It is […]
These days we hear a lot about death. Usually in sensational news reports. 21 under-age children found dead in eNyobeni Tavern, Gqeberha. Farm attacks leave so many dead. Man kills his partner, then himself, and leaves their three children orphans. Robbers with high-calibre firearms storm a township tavern, killing six people. […]
Da Timothy Code grabbed and held my attention because, with church history as a major at university, I had taught church history at the Union Bible Institute. I had given special emphasis to the churches from which my African students came. I gained many new insights from Chuck’s book. Alongside this has […]
They had already celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary when she passed away. Their love had been strong, their loyalty to each other unbreakable. Sharing everything together – the highs and lows, the confidences and concerns. Now she was gone, leaving a void that no-one else could fill. They had often […]
We have all watched with interest the trial, in which Afriforum has charged Julius Malema for hate speech when he sang the struggle song Kill the Boer. They allege that these lyrics fuel anti-Arikaner hatred that has been inciting farm murders in South Africa. How does Julius defend the song? “The […]
An article written for the New Year was titled Januworry, lamenting all the troubles which the first month of the year bring. It saw only the dark clouds of debts accumulated through reckless spending at the Christmas season — on food, entertainment, holiday-travel, presents for the family and alcohol. And […]
In the previous two Worship Columns, we have surveyed the changes in our worship services in the course of a lifetime. Some changes are neutral, other are harmful. This month we celebrate the positive changes that have been taking place. Let’s identify some contemporary changes that are positively healthy, for […]
In my last column I traced the changes that have taken place in the Church’s worship services. For the most part these were neutral’ changes. They were more superficial cultural changes that did not affect the deeper levels of our Christian being. We observed movements from formal liturgies to freer […]
During the Heritage Month of September we remembered our roots, as a nation. We traced our national evolution from what was to what now is, and we have been imagining our future. The one dominant word has been “change”. So it’s a good time to remind ourselves of our journey as […]