Brethren in Christ Church, South Africa

Translate page into: español, Deutsch, français, Bahasa Indonesia, Kiswahili, 한국어, Nederlands, 日本語, 中文, português

Brethren in Christ Church, South Africa
South Africa: World Factbook, 2009
Location	South Africa
Date Established	1988
Presiding Officer	Frank Nkala
MWC Affiliated?	Working Towards MWC
Number of Congregations	13
Membership	764

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.

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.

Identifying as Anabaptist

The church has committed itself to a message of compassion, peace, and reconciliation. Members in the Brethren in Christ church do not participate in wars. Learning to lead a separate lifestyle from that of the world is encouraged and necessary as an Anabaptist in this church. The church also puts a lot of emphasis on living simply, and forgiveness is a core part of their teaching.

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.

Current Challenges

Probably the biggest problem of the Brethren in Christ Church is the capacity to finance all of the church programs. While the church continues to grow at a very good pace, many of the members are unemployed and do not help the church financially. While the church desires to plant 60 churches by 2014, they do not have enough money to develop a strong leadership program. Another issue within the church is the continued affects of apartheid. In this way, xenophobia within the church is sometimes a serious challenge. Some problems to mention would also be that tribalism is also felt in the church. Poverty is a constant frustration among members. The church is still at an infant stage, which is a challenge in itself. Crime is very prevalent in the South African society. Faith Healers also challenge the church as members are leaving the church in large numbers. One of the challenges facing the BIC Church in South Africa today is the growing numbers of youth in the church. While many churches would feel blessed to have such a young church, it can pose as a problem if the youth have not completely latched on to the Anabaptist ideals. This has come as a concern since the youth are the future of the church. A further challenge within the BIC branches is that there is a lack of knowledge about Anabaptism. The Anabaptist Network in South Africa (ANiSA) is an organization that is working to fix this, but hopefully the problem is not too big at this point.

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.

• "BICWM | International Flag Processional Script." Brethren in Christ Church. Brethren in Christ World Missions, 2000. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.bic-church.org/wm/global-impact/resources/script.asp>.

While the need for a processional script is unclear, this website provides a little information on when the Brethren in Christ church began. It also lists a few things that the church has been focusing on.

• Checole, Alemu, et al. Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts. Ed. John Allen Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder. 3rd ed. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2006.

This is one of the most thorough books on Anabaptist history within the African context that I used during research. While it focuses on the whole continent, this book pays ample attention to the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in Southern Africa. There was even a small section specifically on the Brethren in Christ Church in South Africa. This was a primary source.

• Macebo, Benedict. "I Want to Know More About Your Church." E-mail interview. 10 Apr. 2011.

Benedict Macebo is the pastor at Hillbrow Brethren in Christ Church in South Johannesburg. Through this interview Benedict presented his obvious and clear passion for the church, as well as provided some very direct and necessary information about the Brethren in Christ Church. He answered every question in the interview in full detail, delighted that someone was interested about his church. Benedict is a major leader within the South African Anabaptist community, and really knows his history but also where he wants to lead the church in the future. This was a primary source.

• "Picture of the Week: Hillbrow BIC Church." Africa and the Meeting House. Brethren in Christ, 14 Nov. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://africa.themeetinghouse.ca/2010/11/picture-of-the-week-hillbrow-bic-church/>.

This site doesn’t have a lot of information on the Hillbrow Brethren in Christ Church, however there is a picture of the church and congregation.

• Suderman, Andrew. "Tell Me About the BIC Church." E-mail interview. 10 Apr. 2011.

Andrew is one of the web developers for the Anabaptist Network in South Africa (ANiSA). He knows a lot about the Anabaptist churches working within the country.

Acknowledgments

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