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. […]
God’s own inspired songbook is The Psalms. 150 of them. Walter Riggans has written a provocative article* asking: “If the Psalms have many sad songs of lament, why is it that our church services are ‘overwhelmingly dominated by praise songs?” This is a valid question. It needs an answer, and it requires corrective […]
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 […]
At our weekly “Chat” session here at Glenhaven Retirement Centre, the general manager Rene gave her usual announcements. One was this: “We will play background music during mealtimes in the dining room. There will music — not noise” “Music, not noise!”. This was a not-so-subtle commentary on the current sound that […]
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 […]