Leaders meet to revisit ‘Kairos Document’, reimagine prophetic voice of Church in SA

Pear Kupe reports on a conference in Pretoria on Tuesday and Wednesday this week where leaders reflected on the historic Kairos Document and on the prophetic role of the Church in South Africa today

The Kairos Document is a Christian and biblical commentary that was written on the political crisis in South Africa in 1985.

It was issued by an ecumenical group of theologians and pastors in Soweto and based predominantly in the townships and was a call to action. 

The document challenged the Church’s response to the prevailing political environment of the time. The word Kairos was used to reflect “a moment of truth and moment of grace and opportunity”. 

You can read about the Kairos document online at https://urc.org.uk/images/Global_and_Intercultural/Black_History/TheKairosDocuments.pdf 

This week’s conference in Pretoria was hosted by the Ecumenical Leadership Council of South Africa (ELC), an association of church organisations which offers leadership development programmes, training resources, and networking opportunities for its members. The ELC’s mission is “to maximise the impact of churches and church organisations, develop their leaders, and strengthen the community”.

Ably led by its president, Pastor Sipho Mahlangu, the ELC hosted the two day conference in partnership with UNISA Principal and Vice-Chancellor Prof Puleng LenkaBula and Prof TD Mashau UNISA chair of the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology.

The theme of the conference was “Revisiting the Kairos Document & Reimagining The Prophetic Voice of the Church of South Africa”. The key mandate was to reflect on and review the SA Kairos document and discuss the prophetic voice of the Church in the current era. More than 70 leaders attended — all of whom were active and vigorous in their participation. 

Conference speakers and topics
Speakers included Rev Frank Chikane (World Council of Churches), Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Rev Moss Ntlha (TEASA, The Evangelical Association of South Africa), Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana (South African Council of Churches) , Pastor Sipho Mahlangu (ELC) , Pearl Kupe (Global Forum of Women Entrepreneurs , also representing Christian Leaders Forum), Dr Fundisa Kobo (UNISA), Prof MJ Masenya (UNISA) and Prof Credo Mangayi (UNISA). 

Topics included gender-based violence, drug and alcohol abuse, pandemics, corruption, service delivery issues, poverty, inequality, unemployment, racism and xenophobia, ecological degradation, global wars etc.

Conference highlights
Rev Frank Chikane explained how the Kairos Document came about within the context of the prevailing political situation of the time. In 1985 South Africa was experiencing violence, detentions, treason trials, torture, etc. The Kairos document was in direct response to the prevailing time. He emphasised the dire need for an informed Church. An uninformed Church, he said, will practice an irrelevant theology. He also spoke about the principle of “praxis”, defining it as the marriage between theory and practice. He stated that there is a greater need for Christians to practice the biblical tenets and operate at the grassroots level.

Prof Credo Manganyi addressed a subject that is not often spoken about, namely the ecological dimension and the role of the Church in practiicng ecomissiology. This entails the practicing of missiology within the environmental and ecological context and ensuring shalom and wellbeing with life. 

Rev Moss Ntlha of TEASA talked about the issue of power and the seduction of power and its corrupting influence when handled inappropriately. He stressed that it was important to hold those in power accountable for their actions and said that any prophetic movement that emerges must speak with credibility. 

Prof Mashau of UNISA spoke about the dangers of denominationalism. He emphasised the need to do away with creating dependency and talked about the need for proper theological training. He said the Church must embrace the idea of being a change agent. 

Pearl Kupe was asked to address the issue of gender based violence and how the Church must play a critical role in preventing it and facilitating healing. She cited 1 Peter 4:17 and  reminded the delegates that judgement must start in the House of God. She said that the Church must clean its own house first and stop hiding and protecting believers and Church leaders who practice gender-based violence. She encouraged the Church to play a more active role in legislation and drafting legislation to deal with GBV, She also talked about the limitations of legislation. She said that legislation cannot change hearts and minds and that for GBV and other forms of crime to be eradicated, hearts needed to be changed and minds renewed with proper education in line with Romans 12:2. The Church was best placed to facilitate the change of hearts and minds. She concluded by sharing on restorative and rehabilitative justice and preventive measures for dealing with GBV.

Critical lessons from the Kairos Document

The host of the event and president of ELC, Pastor Sipho Mahlangu concluded the meeting by thanking UNISA, the speakers and all who attended. He assured the audience that a report would be produced and follow up actions would come out of the process. 

The Kairos Document urged the Church to take responsibility and to be accountable. It was a call to the Ecclessia to take up its salt and light and provide direction. It was a wake call for the Church to line up with its original mandate and be a voice and platform of Kingdom expression on earth. After independence, the Church became a recluse again and its voice was no longer heard and presence no longer felt. 

The Church is not called to just be a voice in times of crisis, but at all times. May the Church of Yeshua be reminded of its mandate to express Kingdom principles and facilitate transformation in the communities and nations of the world.

The Church must embrace the notion of being a change agent. In his closing remarks Bishop Mpumlwana, the general secretary of SACC, said the Church has lost her sense of purpose and will be judged by posterity if she does not embrace the mandate given to her by God. 

The conference concluded with the thought that the Church cannot allow her prophetic voice to be swallowed up by worldly systems. The voice of the Church must be heard! 

ELC will release a conference report to be circulated articulating and proposing a way forward. 

The conference ended with a clear consensus that there is a great need for the Church to organise herself going forward and for strategies on how to be a prophetic voice to the nation. 

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