Brethren in Christ Church, South Africa

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Meserete Kristos Church
Ethiopia: World Factbook, 2009
Location	Ethiopia
Contact Information	Group's Contact Information
Date Established	1948
Presiding Officer	Group's presiding officer
MWC Affiliated?	Yes
Number of Congregations	484 (2009)
Membership	172,299 (2009)

The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is the primary Anabaptist-related group in South Africa. The Brethren in Christ congregation was established in South Africa in 1988 near the capital city of Pretoria. Currently the Brethren in Christ Church in South Africa has over 764 members in thirteen different congregations.

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History

Origins

In 1897 the first Brethren in Christ missionaries left New York for Zimbabwe in late November. Since they arrived just two years after the end of the second war of resistance to white colonial rule, the missionaries were viewed by the nationals as having the same ideals and culture as the colonists. The missionaries soon proved themselves and eventually the Zimbabwe Brethren in Christ Church spread to Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. 
The Brethren in Christ Church in South Africa was established in 1988 near the capital city of Pretoria. The original congregation consisted of four different tribal groups that evangelized by hosting tent revival meetings and ministering in prisons and hospitals.
The pastor and organizer of this first church was Rev. Hamilton Madlabane. Anna Engle, who was a missionary working to translate scriptures, first introduced Madlabane to the Brethren in Christ Church. Madlabane then left for the United States and attended Messiah College. At college Madlabane met some Brethren in Christ friends who persuaded him to establish the BIC Church in South Africa. Until recently, Madlabane had been the leader of the Soshanguve Brethren in Christ Church for its entire existence. He has since died.
The second church created was the Hillbrow Brethren in Christ Church, which is currently located in the Johannesburg area. This group was originally formed by expatriate Zimbabweans living in South Africa as refugees that wanted a support group for one another. This small support group eventually created the church, as early leaders, David Masuku and Patrick Sibanda, made efforts to gather everyone together to worship. Their efforts eventually were successful when on January 22, 1991 their first BIC service was held in the home of Buhle Ndlovu. More people began attending, and the church became a uniting of both South Africans and Zimbabweans. This church did not have an official pastor for the first two years of its existence, but eventually the first pastors of this church were Simon Sibanda and Francis Moyo.
Three months after the Hillbrow Brethren in Christ Church began, Rev. Ndlovu, who was on the Zimbabwe NIC Executive Board, travelled to South Africa to introduce the two newly founded groups. This effort was unsuccessful, as their relationship did not work out well.

Growth

After the church began in 1988, Bishop Jack Shenk and his wife Nancy played a vital role in providing the church structures that have helped the church to grow both numerically and administratively. Bishop Shenk is an individual that has been tasked by the Board of Missions in North American Brethren in Christ Church, and has a job to help the BIC Churches in the Southern African region as the Regional Administrator.
Like many other African churches, the Brethren in Christ Church in South Africa expresses and values their culture by singing and dancing during worship services. Through song and dance this group is able to connect with others to build a larger community, which is a factor in why they are so diverse.
The youth make up a vast majority of the growth of the church. However, these youth have not made a logical connection to the Anabaptist faith, however, and so this creates questions of what the church’s identity will be in the future.

Contemporary Trends

Currently the BIC church has branches in the following places: Freedom Park, Eersterus, Johannesburg South, Yeoville, Krugersdorp, Tembisa, Cosmo City, Ivory Park, Tsakane, Cape Town, and Pretoria. These branches have recently been given a General Conference status by the international Brethren in Christ Association (IBICA).
Lately, Zimbabweans have been making efforts to nurture the Hillbrow group. The Zimbabwe Brethren in Christ Church sent Pastor Benedict Macebo to help strengthen their newly formed sister church.
Recently, efforts have been made to build relations with other Anabaptist churches, including Grace Community Church in Philipstown, South Africa.

Important Individuals

• Pastor Benedict Macebo - He is currently the pastor at Hillbrow Brethren in Christ Church in South Johannesburg. Pastor Macebo has done a lot of work with the Anabaptist Network in South Africa (ANiSA). He is an influential leader within the Anabaptist community, and has had success in creating connections within the different branches.

Annotated Bibliography

• "About ANiSA." The Anabaptist Network in South Africa. 2009. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://anisa.org.za/about>.
  

This website helps connect the Anabaptist churches in South Africa. The creators’ goal is to help define what it means to be Anabaptist in a South African context, and allows churches all around the country to have a common place to connect. Along with general information on Anabaptists, ANiSA has contact information for a couple Brethren in Christ churches in the country.

• "Africa." Africa Summary. Mennonite World Conference, 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/files/Members%202009/Africa%20Summary.doc>.

This website directs the reader to a document that lists the different Anabaptist and Mennonite World Conference churches within Africa. The document lists the African countries in alphabetical order, with a list of each church in the pertaining country. Under the church’s name is the number of members and how many congregations exist within each church.

• Launhardt, Johannes. Evangelicals in Addis Ababa (1919-1991). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2004.

This book details the various evangelical institutions within Ethiopia. The section pertaining to Meserete Kristos Church spans pages 149-152. The Meserete Kristos church discusses the history of the church including the preceding period of Mennonite missionary activity.

• Muktar, Bedru H. "Non-formal Theological Education: The Meserete Kristos Church Experience." Mission Focus 5 (1997): 23-46.

This article seeks to illustrate the incredible growth rates Meserete Kristos Church has experienced throughout the last few decades and how they have implemented a non-formal theological education program in order to accommodate this growth and expansion. Not only are their education programs constantly reevaluated, but administrative structures are also reorganized to meet the growing needs of the church.

• Shenk, Wilbert. "New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29, no.2 (2005).

This article argues that Christians should follow the gospels but should not follow a pre-prescribed form of church. Churches should be created with the understanding that local culture should shape the structure and form of the church.

• Yoder, Holly Blosser. "Landmark Decisions in Ethiopia." Mennonite Weekly Review 84, no. 46 (November 2006): 1.

This article reports on the decisions Meserete Kristos Church made at their General Assembly concerning polygamous converts and women in leadership. They eventually decided to allow polygamous converts into the church and to allow women to occupy positions of leadership.

Acknowledgments

This information was compiled by Aspen Schmidt, working through the Anabaptist/Mennonite History course at Goshen College in Goshen, IN.