Today we also considered in the public theology examples de Gruchy gave us of the practice of public theology / ministry. One was a well timed article by a couple of scholars into a public debate on whether Christian morality should be imposed into the conduct of politicians in the public arena- the offending politician was Jacob Zuma; another was a congregation in Cape Town during the apartheid era; and the third was a denominational general secretary - Joseph Wing. De Gruchy says it is very unusual to consider an administrator as a model for a public theology; their work is often tied to structures, by laws, the internal life / mission of the church, but Wing was different and exceptionally able. he had considerable theological insight and political wisdom. he was at the helm during the apartheid era and also kept the church abreast of many social issues.His pastoral letters to ministers and congregations were not anecdotal and introspective with regards the life of the church: their horizon was much more open and were models of careful theological formulation and informed social analysis. He grasped what was at stake behind the institution and how the church sat within the wider society. He was deeply concerned for the unity of his church... But perceptively argued that the truth should never be sacrificed for the sake of unity. he made that claim while being nicknamed Mr Ecumenism. he often had to wrestle with that which was not good in his own church and the world but rather than convert hope into optimism (which it is not), he would declare that the world belonged to God and cling to the nevertheless of the gospel when things threatened to go wrong. Our discussions this morning were very enlightening.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:25:50 +0000
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