Selfstandige ontwikkeling van Gereformeerde Kerke binne agtergeblewe gemeenskappe sedert 1994

Abstract

Self-reliant development of the Reformed Churches in disadvantaged communities since 1994

This article attempts to apply the development strategy of selfreliance to the Reformed Churches in disadvantaged communities within the greater Johannesburg area. The timeframe spans the 1994 transformation date to the middle of June 1999.

The article looks at the marginalised and disadvantaged position – which appears to be in a peripheral state – of existence of the above churches. Attention is first focused on the extent of the problem from which the specific objective is derived: the setting of guidelines by which these churches can develop towards self-reliance. Since the subject is closely related to the discipline of theology and the subdivision, ecclesiology, this article also involves this discipline.

The guidelines for self-reliant development vary between orthodox reformed principles and radical unorthodox guidelines, in line with the challenges facing these churches and their available resources. A change in the existing structures and relations is fundamental to the proposed guidelines for the self-reliant development of the Reformed Churches in disadvantaged communities.