25 Years of Ministerial Formation Praxis in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa: How Belharic Have We Become?

Abstract

Since the inception of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in 1994, the issue of theological education has occupied a key place in the meetings of General Synod. This article analyses the development and implementation of URCSA’s ministerial formation programme over the past 25 years through the lens of the Belhar Confession. It examines the extent to which not only the curriculum but also the practices of ministerial formation have become driven, guided and shaped by the commitments inherent in the Confession of Belhar. Due to space constraints, this paper uses only Article One of Belhar as an interpretive and evaluative lens and focuses only on the Northern Theological Seminary in Pretoria, hoping thereby to stimulate further reflection in a similar vein.

Ministerial formation policies of the Northern Theological Seminary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa:

“…Ministers who participated in the research categorically deny that they are aware of the in-house courses where they are called upon to come and strengthen the confessional identity of students. The URCSA NTS policy for ministerial formation as presented in the article by Kritzinger (2010) does not represent the true state of affairs in the Northern Synod.…”