De-colonising history : on being a church on the borders of South Africa

Abstract

This article is a report on experiences of black ministers while managing congregations situated on the borders of South Africa. One such congregation is the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) found in the area of Musina. The report is also about the missionary enterprise of the Dutch Reformed Church in the erstwhile Northern Transvaal in the years 1864 to 1961 and subsequent years (1962-1976) up to the arrival and ordination of a black minister in approximately1977 to 2005. The paper will also show how the church made an input into the development of the Africans through education. It will also show how the church works in a community and that it has a role to play in history. The research question is, therefore, relevant: What is the role of the church in the process of de-colonising history? Although many books have been written about the church in the area, the researcher realised the need to report on the contribution made by URCSA in Musina society up to the present. Using the heuristic method of acquiring primary and secondary source material and the hermeneutic method of inspecting source material critically while interpreting and evaluating various sources scientifically, the information gathered was then synthesised scientifically.