Power Dynamics Within the Anglican Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg

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How to cite this thesis

Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017).

Power Dynamics within the Anglican Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg

Gabrielle Helene Tucker 201338461

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

Masters Dissertation

Biblical Studies

The

Department of Religion

Of the

Faculty of Humanities

at the

University of Johannesburg

Supervised by

Dr Maria Frahm-Arp

Date of Submission - 21st January 2018 3

Acknowledgements:

It has indeed been a privilege to have had the opportunity to investigate and write about the Power Dynamics which influence and calibrate hierarchies within the Anglican Church, between the Clergy and laity within the Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg. Going in with my own pre-conceived ideas of the organisation it was indeed a humbling experience spending many hours in interviews and church services in the company of the women who make up the Mother‘s Union. Without the guidance, patience and encouragement from my supervisor, Prof Maria Frahm-Arp, none of this would have been possible. I wish to thank all the participants in this study for their honesty and trust which they placed in me, as they shared their stories about the Mothers Union. I am so grateful to all those who are Mothers Union members who assisted and encouraged me throughout this study. I wish to thank my confidant and life partner, Nicholas Tucker my husband, for his patience and input and encouragement in assisting me in this mammoth endeavour. My daughter, Anita-Andrea‘, my son, Warren Motau and their families, who understood when certain family engagements had to be forfeited due to the many hours required away from them researching and compiling data in order to complete my thesis. I also wish to thank the Parish of Saint Joseph‘s, Toekomsrus, which gave me time off to conduct the interviews, even at times when the parish needed my services urgently. I wish to thank Professor Hennie Villiers for his input and for encouraging me to delve further into the ―Bosadi Approach‖, a methodology which helped me understand Motherhood from an African perspective and as an African mother. I further wish to thank and acknowledge Dr Sarah Marusek who edited this research paper.

Dedication:

I wish to dedicate this thesis to two women who, throughout their lives, battled to overcome patriarchal strictures within their church, society and homes. To my deceased mother, Margaret Josephine Jacobs nee (Adams) who brought the joy and appreciation of Anglican music into our home in Doornfontein and Bosmont, with her tireless zeal whilst being an organist at Saint Mary‘s-the- Less in Jeppe and later at Saint John‘s Anglican Church in Riverlea. To my grandmother Margaret Petronella Adams (nee Phieffer) who during my childhood, taught us the cry and the joy of lamenting with song, our mother of the faith and direct ancestor to the indigenous Xhoi-San the first Natives who were converted to Christianity by the Moravian Mission Station at Genadendal Mission Station.

Table of Contents Acknowledgements: ...... 3

Dedication: ...... 4

Introduction ...... 8

Let It Be ...... 14

Aim of this Study ...... 19

The Broad Research Questions ...... 19

Structure of the Study ...... 20

Chapter 1...... 22

Methodology ...... 22

Research ...... 23

Sampling ...... 25

Research Design...... 26

Ethical Considerations ...... 28

Data Analysis ...... 28

Limitations ...... 29

Strengths ...... 30

Reliability of the Data ...... 30

Brief Profile of the Subjects Interviewed ...... 31

Historical, Cultural and Social Context ...... 34

Chapter 2...... 35

The Mothers Union: a Historical Overview of the MU ...... 35

The Beginnings of the Mothers Union ...... 37

The Beginning of the MU in South Africa ...... 38

Contemporary Understandings of the MU and its History ...... 43

Conclusion ...... 47

Chapter 3...... 48

Investigating Theologies of Motherhood and Womanhood ...... 48

Mothering and Motherhood ...... 48

The MU as a Group that Addresses Social Issues ...... 57

Women’s Understandings of Womanhood and Motherhood ...... 61

Theology of Motherhood in the Anglican Church ...... 65

Conclusion ...... 73

Chapter 4...... 75

The Role of Women‘s Groups ...... 75

Conclusion ...... 85

Chapter 5...... 87

Piety and Power ...... 87

The MU and the Worldwide Council Structures and How it is Governed90

Organisational Structure of Mothers Union ...... 93

Class Tensions ...... 94

Power, Uniformity and Personal Piety ...... 97

The Relationship between Lay Women, Female Priest and Power .... 116

Conclusion ...... 128

Chapter 6...... 133

Conclusion and Recommendations ...... 133

Recommendations ...... 137

References ...... 139

Appendix ...... 144

Questionnaire ...... 146

Standard Letter ...... 148

Abbreviations:

ACSA: Anglican Church of Southern Africa APB: Anglican Prayer Book AGM: Annual General Meeting ANC: African National Congress AVASA: Amateur Volleyball Association of South Africa AZAPO: Azanian People Organisation BC: Black Consciousness BCP: Black Community Programs BCM: Black Consciousness Movement BVM: Blessed Virgin Mary C of E: Church of England CPSA: Church of the Province of South Africa CR: The Community of Resurrection DC: Diocesan Council FoM: Fellowship of Marriage MSH: Mary Sumner House MU: Mother Union PC: Provincial Council PCC: Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity PEC: Pentecostal Evangelical Charismatic Christianity PMC: Provincial Missionary Conference PSC: Provincial Standing Committee SA: South Africa SACOS: South African Council of Sport SSM: Society of the Sacred Mission SPG: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel SWM: Society of Women Missionaries UK: United Kingdom VM: Virgin Mary WHS: Women‘s Help Society

Introduction

The Mothers Union (MU), in the Anglican Church, began in Victorian England as a means to encourage ―good mothering‖ amongst Christian women. It was formally established in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa in 1904, now known as the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The MU in Southern Africa has outgrown its UK counterpart in the sheer magnitude of its current membership. According to the MU Provincial Office of SA, the number of members in Southern Africa was 264,284 as of 2014, while the MU website states that the United Kingdom has 93,000 of its four million members worldwide. In South Africa, the MU became a ―place of refuge‖ during the crucial years of the anti-apartheid struggle (Hassim 1991: 71), primarily for working class and unemployed black women. Since the demise of the ―apartheid regime‖, the organisation‘s membership is now completely black. The organisation continues to attract an ever-growing number of its members from working-class women, as well as middle and upper class women, such as politicians, business women and leaders within community organisations. It has been a century-long journey towards the Africanisation of the MU. However long this has been, it is but one leg of the MU‘s epic struggle to engender social justice, as well as to transform the euro-centric character of the church.

In this study, I investigate the ways that the MU can tackle and become a force for social justice and change in the Anglican church of the twenty-first century. To accomplish this, I am of the belief that there needs to be a greater understanding of the gender and power dynamics within the MU, which addresses their objectives. I therefore examine whether it will at all be possible for the MU to critically challenge and attain these objectives whilst adhering to the ostensible altruism of Mary Sumner and the Vision of the Diocese of Johannesburg. I investigate whether what this religious organisation inherited from Victorian England still influences the aims and objectives of the MU in South Africa, particularly with regards to ideas of motherhood, mothering, womanhood and family. A further important consideration that guides me in my investigation of the MU is ascertaining whether there is a decolonisation conversation that needs to be had in the church.

The overall aim of this research is two-fold: a) to unravel the MU‘s theologies of motherhood and to create an understanding of motherhood as promoted by the MU; thus b) enabling me to examine the social structures of the organisation with a particular focus on the power dynamics and leadership within the organisation. I argue that the MU in Johannesburg is an organisation trapped between two worlds – Western and African, Victorian and Modern. There is a dualism in the Mother‘s Union, which is equally evident in the Diocese of Johannesburg at large, between, gender (male and female), patriarchy and feminism/womanism. Amongst the clergy I found a tension between male and female clergy who were often treated differently by parishioners. Amongst the lay-women, there was a struggle between economically independent women, working class women and importantly, women who fall victim to the social scourge of unemployment and poverty. In South Africa, there exists a chasm between those who cleave to ―first world‖ consumerist/materialist conditions and the vast majority who are forced by circumstance to subsist under ―third world‖ or ―developing world‖ conditions, leaving many MU members caught up in this duality.

The MU of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is affiliated to the worldwide MU that was founded in England by Mary Sumner in 1876. The organisation was established to preserve and strengthen Christian family life. Its primary aim was to foster notions of good Christian motherhood among its exclusively white members in England. The MU had three central objectives at its inception, outlined in its Royal Charter, granted in 1926: 1) To uphold the sanctity of marriage; 2) To awaken in all mothers a sense of their great responsibility in the training of their boys and girls (seen to be the fathers and mothers of the future); 3) To organise in every place a band of mothers who would unite in prayer and seek by their own example to lead their families in purity and holiness of life.

Of these three objectives, Ngewu (2004: 20) believes that upholding the sanctity of marriage has lent itself to various interpretations, causing tension and controversy. When the MU was started, motherhood was a qualifying principal for membership in the MU‘s 1896 Constitution. The constitution stipulated that

membership was accessible to ―Mothers in all ranks of life‖, such that one‘s marital status did not seem to have been an issue. However, in 1912, the MU constitution declared that divorce was a disqualification from membership. Since 1973, the worldwide organisation has permitted divorced women to become members of the organisation (Ibid: 260).

In order to be a member today, a woman has to have been baptised as a Christian, but does not necessarily need to have children. The website of the MU says that their members are not all mothers and include single women without children, single mothers, married parents, grandparents and young adults. When the MU engages with issues of gender equality, they work in a heterosexual framework that speaks of males and females. There is a silence with regard to LGBT people in the organisation. There is little or no space for LGBT women and there is almost no education given to members that validate or endorse women who are not heterosexual.

The MU is governed by its Royal Charter dated 15 June 1926, which was amended 05 September 1974. It is important to have a closer look at how the MU‘s original objectives have since changed, in order to bench-mark the probability/possibility of evolving a more dynamic policy over time. The first objective was ―to uphold the sanctity of marriage‖, which now reads as ―to promote and support married life‖. One needs to question how the MU now addresses issues of, and provides support in, embracing married life as understood in the secular world. In 2006, the Civil Union Act came into being in South Africa, legalising same sex unions, either by marriage or by entering into civil unions. The Anglican Church is still embroiled in finding clear and unambiguous answers over whether same sex marriage can be sanctified within the church. It is important to note that the existent policies of the MU do not exclude males from acquiring membership, and one must presume that the organisation should now be open to both women and men, yet presumably same sex unions are still taboo within the organisation, as in the church.

The second objective was ―to uphold in all mothers a sense of their great responsibility in the training of their boys and girls – the fathers and mothers of

the future‖. This objective now reads as ―To encourage parents in their role to develop the faith of their children‖. This has, in practice, not become more inclusive in encouraging both mothers and fathers to be involved in developing the faith of their children, a responsibility that is placed solely on the mothers.

The third objective – ―organising in every place a band of mothers who would unite in prayer and seek, by their own example, to lead their families in purity and holiness of life‖ – has been amended to ―maintain a worldwide fellowship in Christ‖. The MU organised women prayer groups specifically with joint prayer meetings mostly held on Thursdays at the local church level.

A fourth objective was added in 1974 and that is ―To promote conditions in society favourable to stable family life and the protection of children‖. The fifth and last objective added is ―To help those whose family lives have met adversity‖. The fourth and fifth objectives are framed within the context of social justice and encourage members to promote conditions in society favourable to a stable family life, the protection of children and a charitable approach to helping families that are faced with adversity. This is a mammoth task; can morality and those suffering adversity be addressed in a paradigm that is itself divided? Promoting societal change cannot be done in isolation only with a few community stake holders and the church. The MU has to work with NGO‘s, government support projects and church programmes to accomplish this. The inherent challenges in the Diocese of Johannesburg range from poverty, teenage pregnancy, gender violence, drug abuse, family violence, mental disability and a plethora of other social and moral ills that prevail.

In 2009, the 46th session of the MU Provincial Council in SA, formulated several resolutions regarding the challenges facing society which they felt all pointed to the moral degeneration that was endemic across the country. The leaders within the MU, who met at this session, resolved that, going forward, the focus of the MU would be to actively address the five areas of social and moral concerns that they had identified. They emphasised xenophobia, human trafficking, prostitution, male circumcision and environmental concerns as the five issues needing to be addressed. Mothering, motherhood and the family

were not mentioned. Previous research by Ngewu (2004) found that on the ground the central concerns of members relate to issues of mothering and of motherhood; however, the leadership of the MU did not propose mothering, motherhood and womanhood as issues of concern in 2009.

This disjuncture between the leadership‘s goals and the concerns of ordinary members sparked my overall interest in the group dynamics of the MU. I argue that the sacraments of the Anglican Church can be a unifying means to bring all into communion; the MU leadership, its members and the community in which they find themselves. Getman (2014: 206) interviewed clergywomen who are courageously claiming their authority and are determined to empower others. Getman believes that motherhood and ministry are both about power, who wields it and how – and how we empower or do not empower other people. Anglicans speak of the ministry of all believers, which implies that all have valuable contributions to make in ministering to each other. Inman-Bamber (2012) believes that feminist theologians have helped to highlight the feminine qualities that are fundamental to any relationship with God. The servanthood of Jesus is testimony to this, too. The Anglican Catechism says that: ―The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as a sure and certain means by which we receive grace‖.

The Anglican Church maintains that the key sacraments given to the church by Christ are Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is a sacramental ritual that celebrates the continual remembrance of Christ‘s death and resurrection, that is, until he comes again. The Eucharist is the way that Christ is made present, uniting those who participate with his sacrifice and offering of himself. The Eucharist is also known as the Lord‘s Supper, or Holy Communion. The ritual and use of the sacraments are employed by the church as a sign of hope; to sustain a present hope and an anticipated future for all people. Inman- Bamber (2012: 45) argues that:

Although the church is considered in the feminine, its structures in the Catholic Church are patriarchal. While the gospel has always been egalitarian, and the faith liberating, the Church has frequently suffered the lack of a feminine face.

Inman-Bamber (2012: 45) is of the opinion that Clergy ―mothers‖ are teaching priests and the laity about the values of sacramental mothering. Sacramental mothering and presiding like a mother at the Eucharist can help to make that idea a valuable and valued common practice. Getman (2014: 8) says that ―power and surrender have been redefined through experiences of symbolic mothering at the altar, and in the pulpit and at the font‖. Much, of the sacramental services, the work that priests do, correlate directly with different aspects of mothering. Inman-Bamber (2012: 104) adds that:

Christ is present and active, in various ways, in the entire Eucharistic celebration. It is the same Lord who through the proclaimed word invites his people to his table, who through his minister presides at that table, and who gives himself sacramentally in the body and blood of his paschal sacrifice.

Getman (2014: 190) believes that when priests presides over the sacraments, they open their hands, hearts, bodies and minds like mothers, who are constantly concerned with making sure that others‘ needs are met. I believe and endorse the idea and belief of Getman (2014: 206), who says that through sacramental mothering and by presiding at the Eucharist, like a mother, it is possible for women priests to make all people buy into the idea that mothering is valuable and valued. I, as a woman priest, agree with Getman (2014: 8) and argue that it is this power and surrender, in experiences of the symbolic mothering and motherhood, which make my calling so appealing.

In part, this research highlights the mothering nature of women priests and women presiding over the Eucharist, shows that there is a clear overlap between women priests and the MU. It is with this in mind that as a female priest in the Anglican Church I realised that I actually knew very little about the workings, social structure, goals, concerns and theology of the MU in my diocese. In pursuit of answers, I was surprised to find that very little academic research had been done into the current MU. There has however been interesting social and historical research that has been done on Christian women‘s groups during the apartheid era, for example by Inman-Bamber

(2012), Camaroff (1985), Gaitskell (1990, 2002, and 2012), Hassim (1991), Haddad (2002, 2016), Moyse (2009), Ngewu (2004) and Walker (1995). In my own research, I have drawn extensively on the work of Reverend Canon Lubabalo Livingston Ngewu, a priest, historian and the then Rector of the College of Transfiguration, who researched the MU in the Anglican Church in Southern Africa. Commissioned by the MU Provincial Council, Ngewu was assigned as a ―Son of the Church‖ to retrace the steps of the MU in the Church of the Province of South Africa (CPSA) as an effective way for the organisation to celebrate their centenary. In Ngewu‘s (2004) publication ―‗Listening to the Silent Voices of the MU‘: The Centenary History of the Mother Union in the CPSA‖, which is essentially about motherhood, he argues that motherhood is derived from the Motherhood of Mary, the ―Blessed Virgin Mary‖. It is interesting to note that they commissioned this study to a man and not a woman. Ngewu worked under extreme time constraints to collect data, travelling extensively throughout the Province of the Southern African Anglican Church. While his work gives informative historical context to my study, I found that little work had been done into the MU‘s theology. Over the years, I have observed the MU within the structures of the Anglican Church, and have had a great interest in the grassroots work that they do in the community, but could find little academic research on the organisation in the contemporary setting. It was imperative for me in doing my research to be cognisant of my own context at all times so as to be able to deal with the contradictions within myself, which would either enhance or be negative towards the subject matter that I have chosen.

Let It Be I am a firm believer in the importance and the urgency of social justice to be addressed in all spectra of society. Being a woman in the church, I have longed for the need for all those on the margins to find their voice, thus enabling us to break down the dualism that divides us. The struggle between economically independent women, working class women and importantly, women who fall victim to the social scourge of unemployment and poverty need to be united to address issues of patriarchy that still exists. I believe that it is imperative that the needs specifically around gender, race and class inequalities can and must be driven by women. Women constitute an important component of any such

change necessary to catapult society into a more just and equitable world. The urgency regarding the serious injustices impacting women has influenced the context and journey of my life, thus influencing the focus and the aims of this study. And Mary said, ―Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.‖ From Luke 1:38

Personal recognition has never been high on my list; but, having said that, being noticed is nice – it makes me feel more human and deserving. That does not make me remarkable. All of us have an important story to tell and our stories are what humanise us and keep us grounded. Granted, while our lives are ours alone, it does not mean that they cannot be a life well lived in the service of others. Here is the thing: our salvation lies in the collective salvation of the many – so while we are singular, we are also ―One‖. In truth, for us as women, our life‘s journey is a rather long and tedious many-paged book, full of poorly written chapters and mistakes; however, I can only hope that somewhere in the closing chapter of our story there will be a paragraph or two celebrating triumph over the small and the mundane, enabling us to remain on the path to true salvation. Here is where we find ourselves, and here is where we must apply our best efforts in order to ―make that little difference‖; not because we claim any special skills, and neither should we attempt to convince ourselves that our current actions are the product of our own choices, as opposed to what was chosen for us by a loving and gracious God.

Perhaps for me, the very attempt at the telling of my story is in reality a self- serving act – or even worse, a false modesty. Nevertheless, I have come to believe that in living by my faith, this means fully accepting God's call without knowing where it will lead me. As I said at the outset, we are all too human; so where you want a long life, so do I, where you want to rise in your profession, so do I, where you want lots of friends, so do I, where you want to grow old and die with your family around you, so do I. There is nothing wrong with those human needs; all of us feel that way. But living by faith means no guarantees and no certainty about the future.

To quote… the final stanza from Robert Frost‘s ―The Road Not Taken‖:

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

I was born in 1959, and brought up in a working class Anglican family in Doornfontein. I was baptised, confirmed and married in Saint Mary‘s the Less, Jeppe which is one of the oldest Anglican Churches in Johannesburg, built in 1889. In the 1960‘s, downtown Johannesburg, our family were victims to the horrors of the Group Areas Act and were forced to move to a designated ―coloured‖ township. I was fortunate enough to have attended a Catholic Convent during my formative years and nurtured by the nuns from the ―Holy Family‖ order. My secondary education was done at a government administered high school under the ―Coloured Affairs Department‖, where my father was a school principal. This, however, did not in any way shield me from the deleterious impacts of race as a class determinant and the rigours of being defined as a second-class ―citizen‖. If anything, for me, being of the generation that survived in spite of the Bantu Education System, my burning desire was to seek social justice and this has formed the very basis of who I am today.

The western areas of the then Transvaal now known as Gauteng, constituted my worldview for most of my youth, and I became a member of the Azanian People Organisation (AZAPO) in the early 1980‘s. Leaving school at the age of 17, as a pre-cursor to the 1976 uprisings, galvanised me to throw my energies completely behind the struggles of the BCM (Black Consciousness Movement). As a young girl, growing up in a township like Bosmont, it became a ―reasonable‖ sequitur that I would become a teacher like my parents. My adherence to the philosophy of Black Consciousness naturally brought me in direct conflict with many of my family members, some of whom were ardent supporters of the Unity Movement, whose slogan was ―Education for Liberation‖

in opposition to the more radical BCM retort that ―Liberation was an Educational Experience‖.

I met my husband Nicholas Tucker, an activist in the BCM, and we eventually married when I turned 21. While playing an active role in the early days of AZAPO, I also played a role in Amateur Volleyball Association of South Africa (AVASA), a South African Council of Sport (SACOS) affiliate that became responsible for the building of volleyball in the townships throughout the 1980‘s. AVASA became one of the most politicised sporting codes in the country. In the 1980‘s and early 1990‘s, sport came to symbolise a sense of freedom amidst the obvious restrictions, oppression and injustices of the apartheid era. SACOS, in concert with the broader BCM and the National Forum, heralded the famous call, ―No Normal Sport in an Abnormal Society‖.

In keeping with BCM strategies and tactics that were developed by the now banned BCP (Black Community Programmes) throughout the 1980‘s and into the 1990‘s, I became a fulltime social activist working in community projects in the townships. I was a founding member of the Advice Centre‘s Association, working with the Legal Resources Centre and Black Lawyers Association. I also worked for the Wits Council of Churches Advice Centres, which was part of the South African Council of Churches community projects. We assisted in establishing and running a network of Para-Legal Advice Offices across the country. Needless to say that even though the Advice Offices sought to function within the ambit of the ―law‖ and used the courts to seek basic justice, harassment by the security police of the apartheid machinery of state was the order of the day. During those heady years of covert and surreptitious activism, I had two children who accompanied me to political meetings, sporting games and political education workshops. Whether it was youth (mostly girls), or seasoned miners, or even tough-looking gangsters, all would chip-in to change, feed and care for my babies. Ubuntu was lived and experienced as my off- spring became the ―children of the community‖; they became the concern of everybody that I encountered in my life back then.

In the 1970‘s, our youth and passion inspired us to dare to seek liberation from a cruel and inhumane system. In the 1980‘s, with a more demiurgic outlook, we conceptualised the building of an equitable and stable society – now with a good deal of wear-and-tear to our names and hopefully a bit of wisdom to our credit. We experienced a strong urge towards a particular way of life, a vocation, or a calling, towards serving others. The liberating Song of Mary (Luke 1: 46-55) has resonated with me for much of my life and has influenced much of my thinking and action: ―And Mary said ‗My soul glorifies the Lord…He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things…‘ ‖(Bible, NIV).

In 2004, synchronous with my discernment into the priesthood in the Anglican Church, I became an HIV/AIDS facilitator and then trainer, becoming active in the HIV/AIDS programme of the Anglican Church. I assisted in establishing the Faith Based Initiative – an inter-faith support group that assists HIV/AIDS patients and alleviates their trauma of transitioning through the healthcare system. As a deacon and then later as a priest working in the Anglican Church, I came to see how the MU is a pivotal power structure within the Anglican Church. My research shows that the MU has influenced social and political outcomes within our broader society; this applies to the past and likely future. As I began to understand the impacts of this organisation, I started to realise that I knew very little about the MU and that when I asked my fellow clerical colleagues they also knew very little about the organisation.

As a woman who has grown up with a strong Anglican ethos, I have the conviction that the church‘s fundamental tenets are to seek justice and equality for all of humanity. Accordingly, this shaped my perspective that the Anglican Church was and hopefully still is about working towards bringing or encouraging a life for its people that is free from racism, class division and economic deprivation. My positionality and experiences inform my world view and allow me to see the church through the eyes of a womanist and a Christian, as well as a social justice activist. Could this make me too subjective? No – my bias and view of both the Anglican Church and the MU cannot be a falsehood if in the final analysis it helps me to advance the condition of the downtrodden in

society. There is always a big however, and here it is that there could very possibly be a negative inversion where the church‘s mission and its many members within the MU view this as a platform for a singular position ahead of collective and personal salvation.

Aim of this Study The aim of this study is to explore the MU‘s power dynamics, theology and understanding of mothering. To do this, I first need to come to grips with the historical transformative character of the organisation. I already touched on this in the introduction, as I seek to unpack theologies of motherhood, mothering and womanhood in order to further understand how this is promoted by the MU; on how this elaborates on the social structures of the organisation with a particular focus on its power dynamics and leadership. The MU is in a complex space of identity negotiation. It is an organisation that developed from a specific narrative (white, colonial, privileged) and now finds itself in a completely alternative context, but still having to make sense of past legacy. The MU current leadership are driving a specific agenda that is hard to reconcile with its past focus. Looking at the MU currently, and the resolutions that it has taken, I investigate whether the organisation‘s original aims and objectives of motherhood and family values, expressed by their founding Mother Sumner, still resonate with its current membership, other church groups and grass-root. women in Johannesburg

The Broad Research Questions 1) What theologies of motherhood, mothering, and womanhood are promoted by this organisation and what roles of motherhood and womanhood are now being presented, particularly given that motherhood does not feature as a key resolution? 2) How has the leadership and membership of the organisation changed, particularly since 1994? Do the very politically aware resolutions of 2009 resonate with women at the grass roots level of the organisation? 3) Does the latest charter of the MU address the concerns of its members, from the captains of industry to domestic workers? Furthermore, how are

technologies of power used by women to control and regulate how they all live out the ideals/visions/theology of the group? 4) Have the dynamics of power shifted between clergy and the MU, particularly where the Anglican hierarchy and theology recognise the ordination of women? 5) And finally, I seek to ascertain whether a members‘ economic and social status give them greater or lesser privileges in the MU?

Structure of the Study My study on the theologies of motherhood, mothering, and womanhood that are promoted by the MU, defines what roles of motherhood and womanhood are presented within the organisation. Over an 18 month period, I focused on six Anglican churches in the Diocese of Johannesburg, in the South Western Gauteng Metropolitan areas, and the MU groups within those parishes. I used qualitative research methods in my study of the MU and conducted semi- structured, open-ended interviews with 10 subjects, seven of whom where MU members and three who were Anglican priests who had worked with the MU organisation and had served at parishes that had MU groups operating within them. In chapter one, I discuss and outline the research design methodology and elaborate on how the data was produced, the methods I used to analyse the data, its reliability and the viability/validity of data collection and collation.

Chapter two presents a historical overview of the MU in attempting to understand how it has developed over time. I therefore make an attempt in understanding the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg and how it functions in its present social context. It is important to understand how the organisation was founded and why, as well as what its present aims and objectives are. Accordingly, this formed the base of the questions posited to each interviewee: MU members interviewed were asked if they knew the origins of the MU and who qualifies as members of the MU. Their ideas of marriage and the sanctity of marriage were important to understand their context of the organisation and provided a wealth of information that is evident throughout my document.

Chapter three, on mothering and motherhood, investigates the theologies of motherhood and womanhood that are promoted by this organisation. This was necessary to establish how theologies of motherhood and womanhood shape the understandings of the social roles of motherhood and womanhood held by members of the organisation. Those interviewed gave their understandings of mothering, motherhood and womanhood, as well as outlines the pressures that impact their actions in society.

In chapter four, I explore the role of women‘s groups in the Anglican Church across South Africa. The goal of this research is to ascertain if the politically aware resolutions passed by the Provincial Council of the MU resonate with women at the grass-roots level and tie into ideas of motherhood. Issues that are important to MU members that impact their daily lives in church, work, home and community were addressed.

I investigate in chapter five the technologies of power that are used by women to control and regulate how the MU functions, and how its members live out the ideals, visions, and theology of the organisation. I further attempt to uncover the class tensions, uniformity, personal piety and theology of lay women and priests in relation to female power; and how all this has changed since the ordination of women in the Anglican Church. Important to this investigation of technologies of power, the uniform worn by MU members was extensively considered and the restrictions, freedoms or privileges that the members experience in the wearing or non-wearing was analysed. In researching the theologies of the MU members, their understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary was examined.

In chapter six, my conclusion, I report on my findings of the internal dynamics of the MU and make some recommendations that will hopefully be beneficial to the MU, as well as to the Anglican communion, as a way forward that is not only beneficial to the respective institutions, but also advancing the discourse on gender within the wider society.

Chapter 1

Methodology

My particular interest in researching the MU comes from my own experiences as an Anglican priest and my own lack of knowledge about the MU in my parish within the Diocese of Johannesburg. I realised that in the broader Anglican Church of Southern Africa, a wider discourse of gender and power within the church and the organisation must of necessity take place. My study explores the essential character of the MU and whether by virtue of its sheer numbers, it can influence change within the Anglican Church. Power is not limited to or necessarily even vested in size or numbers of people as theorists like Foucault (1978, 1995, 1980, 1983), Gramsci (1975, 1980) and Bourdieu (1984, 1988) have shown us. The question I ask in this study is what perceived authority or influence the MU members have in regards to worship, music, spirituality, financial growth and gender equality within their respective parishes. I also investigate the decolonisation of the MU in South Africa, an organisation that was inherited from Victorian England and which is still being influenced, in its aims and objectives, by the United Kingdom.

I examine Foucault‘s analysis and application of technologies of power, as they apply to the MU, and this leads me to believe that the ―environment within‖ has over time became interwoven into the political and social relations of the patriarchal church, such that there are constrained theological understandings that underpin how women in the MU understand themselves, their role in the church and the concepts of mothering and crucial social practices. I further examine the argument of Ngewu (2004: 232), who claims that the MU is not comprised of theologians; its precepts of theology find expression in how its members feel.

I used qualitative research methods in my study of the MU to uncover how the women shape and create their own theologies, theologies of motherhood and mothering. In order to achieve this, I used a multi-variant research approach using desktop data collection, a short questionnaire, participant observation and

open-ended semi-structured interviews. My interactions with members of the MU in their social settings, during meetings and gatherings, afforded me the opportunity to observe patterns, trends and tendencies that could be deemed natural or congruent to their group dynamics. The evidence of patriarchal influence and power dynamics was revealed as the data was collected and developed. I interviewed 10 people, including nine women and one man. I also gathered data about the MU in South Africa and worldwide through an analysis of the literature on the MU and the literature that the organisation publishes in hardcopy and online formats, such as websites.

Research In this study I focused on six Anglican churches in the Diocese of Johannesburg in the South Western Gauteng metropolitan area and the MU groups within these parishes. I used a qualitative research approach, with triangulation of ethnographic data from three different sources. The first source was open- ended interviews; the second a short questionnaire; and the third participant observation, where I observed patterns of behaviour and social settings to ensure the reliability and validity of the data (Neuman 2000: 125; Guion et al 2011). I had the opportunity to observe meetings, as well as participation in church services such as the ―Lady Day Service‖ in Orlando, a day when MU members venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. I also attended the annual ―Priests Appreciation Day‖ in Newclare, a day where members of the MU hold a special prayer service for their priests. Priest Appreciation Day is recognition of the clergy and their families in the diocese. At these gatherings, MU members invite their parish priest and their families to pray with them. The guests that they host receive a lunch and are given generous gifts to thank them for their ministry.

The focus area of research was the South West Region of Johannesburg, covering five townships and one former white enclave – totalling six parishes. All these parishes form part of the Diocese of Johannesburg which has 76 parishes, geographically covering the north and west of Johannesburg – from Midrand to the far west of Carltonville. The southern region of the greater Johannesburg metropolis falls under the Diocese of Christ the King and the eastern region falls under the Diocese of the Highveld.

Saint John‘s the Divine – the former white enclave since the early part of the 1900‘s – was once the epi-centre of the West Rand and a veritable industrial hub for the mining industry. With the winding-down of the mining industry, economic hardships have become the order of the day. The parish now has a racially mixed congregation; however, all its MU members are black. Saint Joseph‘s Toekomsrus is also situated on the western boundary of Randfontein and is a township where many of the current residents were forcefully relocated from as far afield as Carltonville, Krugersdorp and Randfontein – all a consequence of the Group Areas Act in 1973. This community is a melting pot of different languages, culture and religions. Due to high levels of unemployment amongst the youth and many of the older residents being recipients of social grants, the community is faced with the many social ills that impact economically impoverished communities. Saint Pauls Motlakeng is also situated in the proximity of Randfontein, and high unemployment, due to closure of the mines in the area, has impacted the economy of those who live there. Saint Pauls Jabavu is in White City and is part of the larger Soweto Township, where many of the people commute to Johannesburg to work. Saint Francis of Assisi is in Newclare and borders the infamous Sophiatown that housed the Community of Resurrection in the 1940‘s and 1950‘s, where many of the missionaries from England lived. The Church of the Resurrection Meadowlands is in Soweto and many of its parishioners and MU members have a historical connection with Sophiatown, having been relocated from there during the mass forced removals. All of the parishes except for Saint Johns the Divine are situated in townships and are predominantly black with people from the working and unemployed classes. An interesting dynamic of the township culture is that many of these parishes have middle class and upwardly mobile members who still come and worship in their home parishes, although they now live in more affluent and ―former white suburbs‖.

Over an 18 month period, I conducted interviews with 10 subjects; some of the same interviewees were seen more than once to understand the subjects in their different environs and to get clarity around certain responses initially given. I made one-on-one contact with each of those interviewed, and helped them to

fill out a standard questionnaire with specific questions pertaining to my research study. I posed my interview questions in a manner facilitating ease of understanding and open-ended in order to establish trust and to allow the subjects to be at ease in expressing themselves.

Their behaviour and social interaction were observed when I participated with them in their branch meetings and larger group or regional meetings. I attended parish/branch prayer gatherings with members of the MU. Distinct practices and social dynamics within different groups were observed at parish level, MU arch- deaconry level, as well as on a diocesan level when all MU branches in the diocese of Johannesburg gather. I took notes of sermons preached by members of the MU at their gatherings on different occasions. I made extensive notes of my observations of the prayers, singing and conversations at these meetings. I sought to determine what members‘ understanding of motherhood and womanhood was and what their theology was in order to explore if these ideas influenced or informed their understanding and practices of the MU.

Sampling I met with 10 people from the six parishes in this study. I used snowball sampling: the first few interviewees were people referred to me by their priests, and then these women referred me to others. The ages of the subjects ranged from their late forties to eighty years of age. I found that the younger women were attracted to organisations, like Saint Mary Magdalene, the AWF (Anglican Women‘s Fellowship) and Bernard Mizeki Men‘s Guilds within their parishes. To ascertain perceptions of marriage and motherhood, which are core pillars of the MU‘s aims and objective, I purposively choose only to interview subjects who were married, divorced or widowed. Seven of the subjects where card-carrying members of the MU, while the other three were priests who worked with the MU. Two of the priests at various times held the position of chaplain within the MU structure. One of the priests was male; the other two were female. The MU subjects ranged from ordinary members, to women holding various levels of leadership within the organisation. The economic status of all the subjects varied from business owners to state supported pensioners.

All the subjects were informed before the start of the interview as to the reason for the interview and advised that at any time they could withdraw if they felt discomforted in any way. While all agreed to this, none withdrew and they all continued through until the end of the questionnaires and interviews. The subjects where given the option to remain anonymous, and once this option was offered there was a lot more openness in our conversations. All have given their consent to be interviewed and I have identified them in this study in a manner that provides anonymity by using pseudonyms.

Research Design The research was conducted by using semi-structured, open-ended interviews, which lasted between one hour and one and a half hours. I did revisit some of those who were interviewed to gain clarity or a broader understanding of our initial interviews. While all the interviews were conducted in English, I did have an interpreter on stand-by if there was any need to have something translated. The questionnaires I distributed amongst the participants enabled me to collect their biographical data, such as name, age, status, children, economic status, where they lived, the church they attended, their role in the MU, the statutes of their membership and how long they had been a part of the MU. In the interviews themselves, I had a further set of 23 standard in-depth, open-ended questions. These interviews were recorded with the participant‘s permission and formulated in a manner which allowed the respective respondents the space to raise issues that were important to them, thus enhancing my understanding of their context (Agozino: 2000). In the interviews, the questions asked and responses given were geared towards ascertaining how much knowledge each respondent had with regard to the MU. The questions also asked the women to discuss their understanding of mothering, and motherhood. I sought to establish whether they had any specific feeling and/or understanding around the wearing of a uniform as members of the MU. Furthermore, the participants were asked if they had any understanding of the aims and objectives of the MU and what was required of them in this regard. I attempted to gain insight into their understandings of any theologies that the organisation might have and their feelings around gender issues within the church and MU as an organisation. Throughout the interviews, I was interested in determining their understanding

of motherhood and mothering and how they felt this related to the work of the MU and their membership of the organisation. The interviews were recorded electronically and transcribed verbatim. Each interview was rigorously analysed and tabulated for easy perusal and reference. This helped to determine the extent of the power structure and theology of the MU within the six parishes included in my study and to accurately record the responses of the clergy interviewed. The data was further extracted into sub-tables to further amplify the social dynamics and theological understandings of the subjects, particularly on questions of mothering, womanhood and their relationship to God.

The review of available source material and literature of the MU worldwide, as well as material released by the MU in the Anglican provincial news and on diocesan and provincial websites of the Anglican Church and Mothers Union, has been both informative and integral to this research. In attempting to understand how the MU had developed over time, I established a historical overview using available literature, as well as my insights from the women interviewed. Again, the focus of the analysis was to establish an understanding of the MU‘s theology on mothering, motherhood and womanhood in the Christian context. A literature review into topics relevant to issues that make up the ethos, aims and objectives of the MU were studied. Throughout the process, I kept a research diary in which I reflected critically on my own gaze, examining how my own biography, as discussed in the introduction, intersects with my interpretations of the fieldwork (Finley and Gough 2003). During most of my interactions with members of the MU and when attending their meetings and services, I chose to wear my clerical collar, which identified me as a priest within the Anglican Communion. My reason for wearing my clerical collar was both an act of submission to the church and a way to represent myself as a servant to those whom I serve. It, however, may have unfortunately been conceived by some ordinary members of the church as a sign of authority. I myself am of the opinion that the MU members whom I interviewed saw it as a sign of my respect for them and this encouraged a level of trust. Specific to the study was my interaction with members of the MU at two of their big annual events that all the branches of the MU attend, the ―Lady Day‖ celebration and

―Priest Appreciation Day‖. These two events were respectively hosted by the Orlando and Newclare parishes.

Ethical Considerations It is not my intent to sully the Anglican Church, nor the status that the MU enjoys within the church. I have tried to do my research reflectively, while being aware of a potential bias or preconceived views or notions that I may have regarding the MU, as discussed in the introductory chapter. I have respected the anonymity and confidentiality of those being interviewed. My research has attempted to be unbiased towards those whom I have had the pleasure of interviewing. Any sensitive information has been treated confidentially and all participants are dealt with anonymously in the study. However, the anonymity of leaders of MU groups and priests is difficult to guarantee and therefore they were asked to participate on the understanding that the anonymity of their identities cannot be guaranteed. I did seek permission to quote verbatim from any interview. Permission was granted on condition that the lay (not priests) respondents remained anonymous.

Data Analysis I naturally assumed that a certain hierarchy existed in the MU, thus cognisance was taken of Neuman‘s (2000: 501) study which says that in ―qualitative research, we often ‗map‘ the connections among a set of people, organisations, events, or places. Using socio-grams and similar mapping techniques, we can discover, analyse, and display sets of relations.‖ In my study it was important to study the MU organisation flowchart to get a clearer understanding of its social structure and complexity within the parish, region and diocesan church and the larger organisation to gain a better understanding of the social relationships and linkages that may be ―unseen‖.

All the interviews in this study were conducted and have been recorded electronically and each was transcribed for further analyses, such that the data collection could be properly coded. The data was categorised as guided by my research questions, leading into other questions that needed to be pursued and engaged with. Neuman (2000: 480) suggests that while performing qualitative

research, new concepts can be formed or concepts can be refined that are grounded in the data. Concept formation is an integral part of data analysis and begins during data collection. Neuman (2000) believes that conceptualisation is a way to organise and make sense of data. I attempted searching for repetitive patterns in the collated data, and then proceeded to interrogate why there was silence around certain questions.

By structuring the data into categories based on themes or concepts, for example of motherhood, theology, gender, leadership, technologies of personal and group power, I was able to scrutinise the un-answered. The data collected was analysed according to the main themes of the study and then into relevant sub-themes that emerged from the data (Woods 2006). To analyse the power dynamics, I observed and engaged extensively with Foucauldian notions of technologies of power and ―the pastorate‖ as a form of power.

Limitations Initially when requesting people to participate, as was the case with several of the MU members, it would take a few days before they agreed to being interviewed. I got the sense that there was a certain apprehension in the beginning, that they were possibly breaking some ―unspoken‖ code of conduct. It would take several calls or visits to get many of the participants into agreeing to participate in the interviews. The oddness felt in relation to the dynamics of the MU was because I was both an insider as well as an outsider. I was an ―insider‖ by virtue of my being a priest, with perceived, yet undefined authority, over members of the MU organisation. The second reason was by virtue of my gender as a woman, my views could be internalised. I also realised that the MU has certain social constructs that define who its members are, that they believed I was perhaps not privy to. Neuman (2000: 170) says that we ―walk a fine line‖ between intimacy and detachment and place personal integrity and honesty at the forefront. I realised, as advised by Neuman, that in conducting my research I had to become highly sensitive to my own views, preconceptions, and prior assumptions and then ―bracket‖ them, so that I could see beyond them more clearly. After securing trust with my interview subjects, there was an expectation from some of them that I would have the authority to change or

intervene to change some of the processes, or assist in some of the difficulties that they may be faced with, within their organisation. I had to explain to them that I was there to hear about their experiences and ideas and that I did not have any authority to change the organisation or the church.

Strengths The strength in conducting the interviews was that it was the first time that many of the participants felt comfortable to converse about their participation and membership in the MU. I conducted most of the interviews in the homes of the subjects, which was advantageous, affording them the comfort of being in their own social context, either in their home or church parish environs. This also advantaged the participants as it made them feel more open and comfortable with me as a guest and in their own environment. At the end of each interview, many of the participants felt that it was a cathartic process, discussing issues such as mothering and leadership, which they perceived should be discussed within the broader organisation of the MU. What I initially thought, prior to the collation of data, as a limitation was the participants veering off from the subject of the MU, and retelling their own domestic hardships that they faced; however, this proved to be some of the most valuable information. Many of the participants gave me their life stories, which had not been part of my planned research but which proved to be invaluable oral histories of the organisation.

Reliability of the Data Neuman (2000: 211-212) says that all researchers strive for reliability and validity, which are central concerns in all measurements. Both requirements connect and measure the inherent underlying supposition that I seek to construct. Reliability and validity are salient because our constructs are usually ambiguous, diffuse and not observable. Reliability and validity are ideas that help to establish the truthfulness, credibility, or believability of findings. Neuman (Ibid) defines reliability as the ―means (to) dependability or consistency. It suggests that the same thing is repeated or recurs under the identical or very similar conditions‖, while the definition of validity suggests truthfulness. It refers to how well an idea ―fits‖ with actual reality. The reliability and validity of this research has been strengthened by the multi-variant methodologies that I used.

Over the 18 month period, my fieldwork was consistent with the broader literature researched for this study. The research was conducted with a representative group of members of the MU organisation in specific sub-groups. A sub-population of priests who had interacted with the MU was sampled, to test the validity of the members of the regional MU population interviewed. The lay women interviewed came from six different churches, thus adding to the reliability and validity of the findings across contexts over an 18 month period. Voice recordings where transcribed requiring an understanding of the individuals‘ context in which they saw themselves making it authentic.

Brief Profile of the Subjects Interviewed Mariam is 69 years of age, and has remained in a difficult marriage which spans 50 years. She is a mother of four children, one of whom was murdered, whilst employed as a security guard. She now cares for her grandchildren. She is a retired seamstress and previously worked in a clothing factory. She is and has been an active member of the MU for 22 years and the date on which she became a full member is important to her, as she recalled it immediately. She was given full membership after a trial period of three months. She was previously a treasurer at a parish level in the MU. She believes that the responsibilities of the MU in the branch are now shared between its members.

Shirley is now 61-years-old and was a receiving controller in a major retail company before she retired. She is divorced with two children, from a previous relationship with a married man. She has been an active member since 2003 and considers herself as a long-standing member in the organisation. There was a tension between her and the present parish leader, and she articulated that she is currently unsure what her position is in the MU. At the regional level of the MU, she says that she was previously a spiritual leader.

Jackey is a retired 67-year-old business woman, who was instrumental in starting the MU in her parish. She is now the leader in her parish MU and is the wife of a retired priest.

Reverend S is a retired male priest who is married and is 81-years-old. His wife is presently a leader in the parish in which he serves as a licensed ordained priest commonly known as a LOP. As a male priest, he was previously a chaplain in the MU. He had a long history of interaction and ministering to the MU and his historical knowledge of the organisation was invaluable in doing the research for this paper.

Ronny is a 60-year-old widow who had four children, three of whom are still living. She is retired and was a bank employee, however I was not able to establish what type of work she did in the bank. Her position in the MU is as a leader of the parish and she has been an active member for 18 years.

Dianne is 50 years old and has been married for 23 years. She has four children and her husband is employed. She says that she is a business woman because she provides and drives school transport for scholars. She is a parish 16 years. She also oversees the trial period of the young women who join the guilds of Saint Agnes and Saint Mary Magdalene, which are guilds that younger girls and women join prior to becoming members of the MU. Two of her daughters are associate members in the Anglican men‘s guild of Bernard Mizeki. While Bernard Mizeki is a men‘s organisation, women are allowed to join, however they only become associate members. When questioned as to the reason why they did not follow her into the MU, Dianne said that her daughters felt less constrained as they are allowed to preach, to both women and men, and that their preaching was not confined to domestic subjects.

Lizzy is an 85-year-old widow. She presently lives with her daughter and granddaughter. She was previously a factory worker before being boarded from work more than 20 years ago. She is an active member, whose membership in the MU seemed to have spanned more than 50 years as per the historical information she could provide during the interview. She has remained a member of the MU; however, she says that her interest has lately been more in the parish choir.

Patsy is a 47-year-old recently divorced mother of three daughters. She is a business owner and her focus is on marketing. She has been an active member in the MU for ten years, however she says that her knowledge about and influence in the MU have been life long as her mother was a president at a diocesan level of the MU. Her role in the MU has spanned from being a parish leader, an enrolling member, and in several positions at a regional, diocesan and provincial level in the MU. She has visited the Mary Sumner House (MSH) in the UK and wears the MU pin in preference to the uniform. Reverend C is a 64-year-old female priest who is married. She is a mother of two children who are both married. There is an active MU branch in the parish where she serves.

Reverend M is a 69-year-old female priest, who is married with two daughters. She has worked within the MU for 40 years. She has held positions as a chaplain of the MU, in a different region. She has been involved in co- coordinating policies at a provincial level within the MU. She never wanted to join the organisation due to the uniform; however, she wears the MU pin. She has visited the MSH Her historical input on the evolving nature of the MU has been as valuable as her knowledge and she has been witness to how certain criteria of the organisation have been opened up, particularly the inclusion of divorced women into the organisation, which has been important in understanding the underlying power dynamics within the MU.

In realising that a wider discourse of gender and power needs to take place in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I ask in my study what authority or influence does the MU have in each of its respective parishes. I also investigate the decolonisation of the MU, inherited from Victorian England, the latter which still influences the aims and objectives of the MU in South Africa. The methodology of the study had to consider my research methods and how I interacted with the MU. I focussed my study on six Anglican parishes in the Diocese of Johannesburg with in a specific geographical area. The reliability of the data over the 18 month period had to be measured so that the same answers that were assumed by the broader literature researched for this study

where consistent. The research was conducted with a representative group of members of the MU organisation in specific sub-groups.

Historical, Cultural and Social Context In understanding the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg and how it functions in its present social context, it was important to understand how the organisation was founded in England, and what its aims and objectives were, both historically and at present. For me to further understand the historical and cultural setting of the MU, the next chapter expands on how the MU was founded in Victorian England before being imported to Southern Africa. In chapter two I provide an historical overview of the MU in an attempt to understand how it has developed over time, representing my understanding of the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg and how it functions in its present social context.

Chapter 2

The Mothers Union: a Historical Overview of the MU

In understanding the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg and how it functions in its present social context, it was important to understand how the organisation was founded in England, and what its aims and objectives were historically and what they are now. Neuman (2000: 94) writes that one needs to understand how specific historical cultural settings, and people‘s practices within it, shape what we see now. It is thus important to understand how this organisation was imported from England to her colony of South Africa through the CPSA – the Anglican Church in Southern Africa.

The historical and cultural setting of the MU is traced from its beginnings in Victorian England, through the twentieth century in South Africa to its twenty- first century practices. In this chapter, I outline how the organisation was founded in the Victorian era. The importance of the Royal Charter of 1926, which is the MU‘s founding document, is unpacked to ascertain if its aims and objectives resonate with the MU members in the Diocese of Johannesburg. The make-up of the membership in the early 1900‘s and how the MU evolved in the Diocese of Johannesburg to a black organisation today is investigated. How the MU in Johannesburg evolved to what it is now is taken into account in an attempt to understand how the organisation functions in its present social context and how its practices shape what we see today.

After the Anglo-Boer war in 1909, the British brought all the four colonies in South Africa into one. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was created. The influence of the British Empire and the influence of the Church of England (C of E) on its colony in a social, economic and political paradigm must be understood to adequately deal with the current theme of ―decolonisation‖. Pato (1998) believes that because Anglicanism is an ecclesiastical culture, it is defined by the symbolic structure and historic traditions of the mother church, which lives on. The Anglican Church in South Africa has been deeply influenced by the ever powerful mother church (C of E), with a history of Victorian values,

colonialism and patriarchy. In understanding the MU in its present context, consideration must be taken of the political history of the Anglican Church in South Africa. LenkaBula(2007:5) writes that by women being marginalised in the church and in church history, painfully demonstrated ways in which the church participated and colluded with unjust systems that created and developed hierarchies of oppression, which feed on injustices and she highlight gender injustice in this case. The black parishioners of the Anglican Church did not escape the colonial racism, economic deprivation and exploitation, as cheap and readily available labour to be fed into the mines and the industries owned by the imperial overlords. In the Diocese of Johannesburg, the discovery of gold guaranteed that black people became victims of indentured labour and domestic labour, as they migrated from rural environs to sprawling urban settlements. Haddad (2016: 157) says that in the 1930‘s, poverty was rife among urban African families and that women in the urban areas became full- time domestic servants living in white suburbs, often leaving their own children in the care of aunts and grandparents for most of the year. She believes that in rural areas, family life was under siege as male migrants left, and rural women were left struggling, as families were unable to access the cities due to influx control laws.

The entire church operated on a racially divided basis, where the demarcation of clergy as well as women‘s organisations worked separately as black and white, thus accepting the egregious status quo. In 1910, Britain declared that South Africa was a union under their control. In 1934, the British Empire allowed South Africa to become a sovereign state, and by 1948 the National Party became the dominant party, thus enabling it to implement its legal framework of Apartheid policies. It was only in 1961 that South Africa left the Common Wealth and became an independent republic. In 1993, the African National Congress (ANC) started its negotiated settlement in Kempton Park, and in 1994 the ANC came to power after winning the national election. Throughout this tortuous journey, the church was complicit in maintaining social divides as it segregated its members on the lines of race, gender and class. It can be said that the MU has, under such extraneous condition, toiled and functioned in order to create a semblance of moral clarity in a not so certain world.

The Beginnings of the Mothers Union In 1876, Mary Sumner founded the MU, an organisation whose primary purpose was to preserve and strengthen Christian family life with the view of fostering notions of good Christian motherhood. Gaitskell (2002: 377) claims that fostering Christian motherhood was seen at the time as a universal priority for all women. The MU manual briefly gives the history of how Mary Sumner started the organisation. Born Mary Heywood, after completing her education in music she married George Sumner, the youngest son of Charles Sumner, Bishop of Winchester in 1848. She remained married for 61 years. The MU was founded in Old Alresford in Hampshire where George Sumner was the Rector. Haddad (2000: 272) says that Mary Sumner ―gathered women from the parish with the explicit purpose of teaching them the spiritual value of wifehood and motherhood, the great responsibility of parents for their children and the power and example of prayer‖.

It was due to a wave of public enthusiasm that in 1887 the Bishop of Winchester decided to make the MU a diocesan organisation in England, with the wives of bishops and priests assuming key roles in the organisation. It soon became a well-established organisation within the larger C of E. After witnessing the meeting of the Anglican Bishops at Lambeth, Mary Sumner was determined to run a parallel organisation to function synchronous to the Lambeth Conference for the wives who accompanied their husbands to the conference. In a ―Short History of Mary Sumner‘s, Life and Works‖, reference is made that at the Lambeth Conference of 1920, ―many Bishops' wives (came) from Overseas to England, who were Diocesan Presidents in their own sphere of work. Many other overseas workers came especially to England for this Mothers' Union Conference and the occasion was unique.‖ (Trinity Library: 157 Internet resources). Ngewu (2004: 37) believes that because of the success of the MU in the United Kingdom, and the usefulness of the MU in bringing women together, Mary Sumner was encouraged to look beyond Great Britain. The MU set up branches in the British Colonies, where Anglican dioceses were established, and white British women in these different countries began to join the organisation. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in the

colonies the MU was exclusively for white women, in particular the wives of white clergy. Rose (1996) claims that from the inception of the MU, its conservative and narrow look brought the organisation into contention with church feminists, even though like many churchwomen‘s organisations it was conceived in the period of first wave feminism.

The Beginning of the MU in South Africa The MU organisation was first imported from England to the CPSA in 1904. The pioneer missionaries, Mrs Philip and Mrs Braithwaite, arrived in South Africa in 1904 and travelled extensively throughout the country sowing the idea of the MU among the British settlers. As a direct result of the work of Mrs Philip, the MU was started in the Diocese of Cape Town (Ngewu 2004: 38). MU members had settled from abroad with their husbands and it is believed that Mary Sumner conceived the idea of raising funds to assist in sending out the CPSA‘s ―pioneer missionaries‖ to break new ground to form and co-ordinate work to be done in the mission field (Ngewu, 2004:38). The MU was introduced into South Africa with the explicit mandate of helping to establish strong mothering and family life ―within the contextual ideology of ‗devout domesticity‘ as promulgated by female missionaries sent by the Church of England‖ (Haddad 2016: 158). Gaitskell (2002: 377) says that weekly devotional meetings were held, aimed at helping women to sustain their Christian loyalties and remain good wives and responsible mothers. Ngewu (2004: 38) notes that it is unsurprising that in the beginning years the MU operated as though it was an association of the white wives of the white bishops and priests. Ngewu explains that this is why for a long period the wives of bishops were the diocesan presidents of the organisation, including in the Diocese of Johannesburg.

After the Boer War (1899-1902), in Johannesburg the African church expansion, within the Southern African Anglican Communion, was overseen by monks from the Community of the Resurrection (CR). The CR brothers played a significant role in working with nuns and other spinster missionaries, recruited by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to develop church life among black women and children. Gaitskell (2002: 380) names some of the mission women who lived out and put into print their esteem for African society and culture.

Dora Earthy, Dorothy Maud and Hannah Stanton were missionaries who worked closely with married African women‘s groups, fighting to improve the municipal provision of urban amenities for African families. One of their great desires was to facilitate African female theological and ecclesiastical empowerment. Gaitskell‘s (2012: 1) research finds that in the early twentieth century, there were between one and two hundred British women at any one time serving among South Africa‘s black population as paid Anglican missionaries. This is 50 years before women would be elected to the Provincial Council of the Province of Anglican Church in Southern Africa. Rose (1996) says:

First wave feminist zeal, when incorporated into missionary service, provided opportunities for churchwomen to widen the narrow parameters offered by home, society and Church. Missionary endeavour provided women with lifestyles which were spiritually more satisfying as their service to God was not so controlled by male clergy. In mission fields, women could often work more independently and, where working alone, exercise the ministerial and authoritative roles normally reserved for males.

Gaitskell (2002: 379) writes that within the Anglican Church, its mission practice was often influenced by and in contrast to the greater prestige of the celibate life among the ―High Church‖ staff brought out from England. But not all celibate clergy and missionaries looked for prestige and Anglican monks from the Community of Resurrection worked alongside the single Anglican missionary women from the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel. These mission women did not foster work in the white parishes, which would have come with prestige, but instead worked amongst the black women and children. In the first half of the 20th century, between one and two hundred British women were serving among South Africa‘s black population as paid Anglican missionaries. In 1913 these missionaries joined the Society of Women Missionaries (SWM). Gaitskell (2002: 379) believes that these women did not have the ostensible authority of marriage and motherhood; however, they were put into presidential

positions within the MU, with overall supervisory control. But not all these missionaries link their work amongst African women with the MU.

The Diocese of Johannesburg was the only diocese in the CPSA that did not link its African women with the MU once regular prayer meetings were organised (Haddad 2000: 346). In her research, Haddad finds that Deaconess Julia Gilpin arrived in Johannesburg with two helpers in 1907 and they started a branch of the Church of England‘s Women‘s Help Society (WHS). Membership was less stringent than the MU and women were encouraged to join irrespective of their marital status – whether they were married according to the Christian marriage rites, according to African custom, divorced, or unmarried mothers. Deaconess Gilpin is believed to have thought that it was a simple guild that would ―bind their Anglican women together and help them lead a better life‖. In the different colonial provinces of the Anglican Church, the WHS was set up for black women. But in 1938 this organisation was dissolved and two thousand black women who belonged to the WHS were absorbed into the MU – which at that time had barely a hundred white members. Gaitskell (2002) claims that this move was carried out hastily and imperfectly, which disadvantaged the black members. It was believed by the existing white MU membership in 1938 that the newly absorbed black women into the MU were not given sufficient training. There is no evidence to suggest that the new members of the MU fully understood the aims and objectives of the organisation. Due to this hasty move, they were unaware of the restrictive requirements in becoming full members of the MU. Gaitskell believes these new black members did not understand the prestige that the older white women believed was their right as the spouses of white clergy and that these women felt it was their place to dominate and assume authority over the new affiliates.

In Ngewu‘s (2004: 62) research, he finds that it was only in the Diocese of Johannesburg that white and ―coloured‖ branches of the MU were under one umbrella; however, there was no ―coloured‖ enrolling member before the 1950‘s on the diocesan council. It is suggested that in the early years, the MU was a society that operated on two fronts. In the late 1930‘s the Anglican Church tradition brought all of its African groups and a small group of white members

into the Mothers Union – into what was supposedly a non-racial international organisation, however these groups all met separately. There were separate branches for different races, with white members playing the role of overseers in the MU. In Ngewu‘s (2004:141) study of the MU, there is the impression that the black section of the MU was not left entirely to their own devices. The black component of the MU was assigned a white woman to supervise them. The assigned white person‘s role was to apprise the annual general meeting of the MU and to keep tabs on what was transpiring within the different branches of the organisation. The women who were assigned to the task of overseeing the African section were known as ―Vice- President of the Bantu Branches‖ or ―Vice President of African Members‖. Their primary role was to apprise the Annual General Meeting of what was happening in the African section and this remained the practice until 1947. In order to help the assigned ―Vice-President‖, it was agreed in 1938 within the Diocese of Johannesburg that the Bishop would choose a committee, which could discuss issues of the MU during the year. This group of African advisors played a phenomenal role in African conferences. Significant to the black MU members was the organising of these conferences, during which the members could discuss factors affecting them as Africans. Due to the success of the conferences held by the black MU members, they insisted that these conferences should happen annually instead of bi-annually. At the 14-15 December 1949 MU conference of the African branch in the Diocese of Johannesburg, it was agreed at St Paul‘s parish in Krugersdorp that these conferences would be held annually for the African membership.

These conferences were also used as a medium through which the African members of the MU could express their spirituality. It was in the Diocese of Johannesburg, more so than anywhere else in the CPSA, that the manifestation of ―subtle protest‖ soon emerged (Ngewu, 2004: 142). It is Gaitskell‘s (2002: 388) belief that white women saw themselves at the heart of power and as spiritually superior over the newly converted black women. The white members were of the opinion that black women needed instruction and guidance to enable them to attain Christian womanhood. Gaitskell (Ibid: 380) adds that the reason why African women joined was because they ―wanted to ‗pray to God for

their families and for the common unity and for their sins‘; Christian motherhood brought them together, along with community solidarity and penitence‖.

Prior to 1960, the MU did all in its power to ensure that it stayed locked into its Victorian morality, failing to respond to the travails of its flock in spite of ―loving service‖ being one of its main objectives. Ngewu (2004: 28-29) observes that before the 1960‘s, the MU remained inward looking, often self-serving, until it was plunged into controversies over its stand regarding the sanctity of marriage, the wearing of uniforms, its authoritarian leadership styles and its adaption of the process of a domestication of an alien tradition. Ngewu claims that although these controversies were painful, the MU became bound together with one voice and, from the 1960‘s onwards, the organisation was eventually catapulted into becoming a forward moving group. This resulted in liberating the MU from being just a guild helping women to be better Christians, wives and mothers. By becoming acutely aware of the pain of broken families and broken communities, the MU members became a body with obligations and ideals higher than those of just being ordinary good Christian women and mothers (Ngewu 2004: 29). The women in the MU began to see that their role was also to speak out against racial abuse.

African women slowly advanced to overall leadership as diocesan presidents in the then Transvaal, culminating in the election of the first black vice-president in 1948, and the first black president was finally elected in 1974. Gaitskell believes that the balance then shifted and the MU effectively became a largely black movement in South Africa. The MU, which started in its formative years to cater for the needs of white British women, seemed to have lost its appeal to white Anglican women by the 1960s. The MU began to develop a distinctive African identity and has since become an exclusively black and coloured guild (Gaitskell 2002: 377). It is suggested that from its formative years in the CPSA, African women perceived the MU to encompass much more than their white counterparts ever conceived and perceived the MU of becoming (Ngewu, 2004: 13). Consciously or unconsciously, African women were determined to find a home in a ―foreign‖ organisation where their spiritual needs would be satisfied, thus transforming the image and membership of the MU in SA.

For MU members who could not find their spiritual needs met and who were unable to find full expression within the formal structures of either the church or the confines of the MU, spiritual satisfaction was found in secretive prayer gatherings known as “Thapelo ea Sephiri”, in Sotho the word thapelo meaning prayer (secret prayers). Ngewu (2004: 143), in researching the MU documents (File AB 1018B) in the Cullen Library at Wits University, found that in the minutes of the conference held at the Church of All Souls, Brakpan between the 4-6 October 1955, it was reported that the Bishop of the Diocese of Johannesburg condemned “Thapelo ea Sephiri” entirely. The Bishop instructed clergy to discipline any members who joined such a society. Ngewu (2004: 144) says that the “Thapelo ea Sephiri” society is made up of members of a prayer group that meet surreptitiously at night, and that many who attended these meetings were in need of emotional, psychological or physical healing and prayer from its women leaders. I, however, was unable to ascertain from any of those interviewed if any of them or those whom they knew were members of such a group. One of my interviews with Dianne ended abruptly after I asked a question about ―Thapelo ea Sephiri”. She firmly said that there are no secrets or secret societies in the MU. What seemed to be of most importance to the people I interviewed was what the MU meant in their lives today and how it helped them to cope with the daily struggles they faced.

Contemporary Understandings of the MU and its History In my study, there was little interest from ordinary members of the MU as to the founding history of their organisation as a worldwide organisation, or of its foreign origins. I found that the majority of working class participants in the study who were members of the MU for more than ten years had either no idea or only a vague recollection of hearing stories about the original founder of the MU. There was little knowledge as to how the MU came to be in the Diocese of Johannesburg. More important to them, was identifying with the founder of the local branch that they belonged to and who the current regional and diocesan leadership was. Mariam, one of those I interviewed, did not know how the organisation started but knew the date and name of the priest‘s wife who started their local chapter. It must be noted that when asked who started the MU, she

first referred to the priest and then agreed that it was his wife and named her by her first name. To all the questions around the aims and objectives of the MU, her responses were just agreement by way of a ―yes‖ – suggesting that she had little interest in the history, aims or objectives of the organisation. Her interest was in what she gained from being a member today, which I will discuss in the following chapters.

Shirley struggled to remember the name of the founder of the MU in her branch and after a long time gave the name of the priest‘s wife. She had heard of Mary Sumner but offered no further insight. With regard to knowing the aims and objectives of the organisation, she said that it was to uphold Christianity and felt that the branch‘s aims and objectives are in line with the broader organisation.

Jackey, one of the parish leaders who was previously a disadvantaged person but now a retired businesswoman, did not know how the MU started, and when asked if she knew how it started in the diocese, her excuse was that she is not a long standing member. There was a long silence when I asked if she as a leader knew the aims and objectives of the MU. She then said that she wouldn‘t waste my time explaining them.

Reverend S, who is a priest, went into great detail telling me that as a MU chaplain, he had been to MSH. His trips to England were frequent and he gave the impression that it was almost like taking a short local trip to Pretoria. He went into great detail telling me how he thought the MU‘s aims and objectives had evolved.

Ronny, who is a parish leader, knew about Mary Sumner, and explained that Sumner had started the MU as a young girl, but I must highlight here that her understanding was not historically accurate. Although not a founding member of her branch, she knew much about the history of the local MU in the parish. She said that she knew the aims and objectives, but did not go into any detail.

Dianne knew that Mary Sumner was the founder, but said that she was unaware in what year that was. She was one of the few who had a reasonable grasp of the aims and objectives, answering thus:

Aims and objectives – I know them when I am reading them from the Mothers Union book...Like I said there are no right or wrong answers – what do you think the aims and objectives are? Maybe – let‘s say we have these five objectives of Mothers Union – spirituality, marketing, out-reach, finance and recruiting mothers – helping the sick and helping people who are at the hospitals and hospice also kids who don‘t have parents. As Mothers Union we are supposed to be part and parcel of – we – actually the problem is that most of Mothers Union is not working, and financially they can‘t afford. Like those ones in the hospice, maybe tissues and like, pampers for them...

Lizzy remembered how the MU was started in Vrededorp by an Indian priest. While there was no historically record to suggest this, I asked if it was Father Sigamoney and she said yes. This is an interesting history, as SA History gives some information about Bernard Sigamoney born 1888 died 1963:

Sigamoney took a break from South African politics in December 1922 and travelled abroad to Lincolnshire, England where he studied for four years to be an Anglican pastor. By 1927 he returned to South Africa and moved to Johannesburg. He married and had seven children with his wife Georgina. He then began to work at St Anthony‘s Indian Mission in Vrededorp. The Reverend set up tents in St Anthony‘s grounds for tenants who had been evicted from their homes. He was revered by the citizens of Pageview (Vrededorp) and regarded as an advocate for the impoverished‖ (sahistory.org.za).

The Johannesburg Diocesan MU interestingly has at its office ―The Ethel Mbalula MU Centre‖, a property in Pageview, previously known as Vrededorp before the group area evictions in the late 1950‘s. Lizzy went into some detail telling me how she used to go to Sophiatown at the time when Trevor

Huddleston was there as a member of the CR Brothers Mission. When I asked her about Mary Sumner, she did not know who she was, but she did have knowledge of the nuns and missionary women from England who had worked in the community of Sophiatown before the forced re-location to Soweto.

Patsy had a fair amount of knowledge about the founding of the organisation, as she had visited MSH as a tourist. Prior to joining the MU, she was encouraged by her mother to visit MSM on a holiday trip she took to London. Patsy gave a vivid description of her trip to MSM, saying how intrigued she was by all the beautiful things there. She said that she was able to take a tour of the facility. She also described the gift shop, which they run in order to support the work of the MU. She described the shop as a central place to which dioceses and parishes from all over the UK could bring their handmade crafts to sell as part of the MU‘s fundraising and marketing initiative. She said that she had been greatly influenced in her understanding of the MU by her mother, who had been a devoted member and leader within the MU. She claimed that she had read extensively about the MU as her mother was involved with the organisation. Her mother was a Diocesan President of the organisation and asked Patsy to do her administration work for the organisation. This automatically put Patsy into a position to become a full member of the MU.

In my interview with Reverend C, a priest, she stated that she had no idea how the organisation started, but was given a book by the MU in her parish a year or two back – a book that she has yet to read. She said that the MU in her parish informed her that they are there to work for the church and amongst the families with problems and to be prayerful. She also said that the MU members in their parish informed her that they were there to support her as their parish priest.

From my interviews questioning the MU‘s history and context of how the organisation was started in England in the Victorian era and how it had evolved into a largely black organisation in Southern African, knowledge of the current members of the MU is at best vague. The historical details of the organisation were of little value or interest to the majority of subjects in the study. Grosfoguel (2011) says that we must always be reminded that we always speak from a

particular location in the power structures: ―Nobody escapes the class, sexual, gender, spiritual, linguistic, geographical, and racial hierarchies of the ―modern/colonial capitalist/patriarchal world-system―. There appeared to be no interest on the part of many of the interviewees to know the historical imperatives that underpin the ethnic, racial, gender, sexual and economic episteme.

Conclusion As one engages with available sources and records of the MU, delving into its genealogy from its ―more-or-less‖ inchoate origins, the idea that forms and takes root is that its primary purpose as an organisation was to further episcopal oriented functions, geared towards servicing and maintaining the interest of the Bishops, the clergy and their wives. Further, I can only conclude that this was the deliberate making of an exclusive organisation from the onset. As far as the CPSA is concerned, the MU was never intended for its ordinary ―native‖ members, but founded to cater for the needs of ―European women‖. The ―aims and objectives‖, as originally conceptualised by Mary Sumner, hardly took into account the daily struggles of the hard set-by working class women in Britain at the turn of the century – one could hardly imagine a line of thinking further removed from liberating the minds of native women on the distant shores of a remote colony.

Equally, the MU at its formation in the CPSA had no such ―noble‖ ambitions either – such that at present the rank and file MU members are still grappling with its westernised aims and objectives locked into a bygone Victorian era. Haddad (2016: 157) cites Gaitskell, who writes that ―Victorian Christianity ‗offered a contradictory package to African women, a way of escape from some of the constraints of pre-Christian society and yet a firm incorporation into the domesticity and patriarchy of Christian family life‘‖. From a historical perspective I get the impression that black women joined the MU in the hope and belief that they had found a home wherein they could express themselves in prayer, song and dress, thereby challenging the theology that was determined by their circumstances in order to find a theology of hope and change.

Chapter 3

Investigating Theologies of Motherhood and Womanhood

In the previous chapter, I showed that the women I interviewed had little knowledge of or interest in the colonial history of the MU. It became clear through my own reading of the history of the MU in South Africa that black women joined the organisation in the hope of finding spiritual and emotional support, but that this was not always what they found. What they did find was an organisation that had very particular ideas of what Christian family life and mothering meant, and that these Western largely Victorian ideals were far removed from their everyday experiences.

In exploring the theologies of motherhood and womanhood that were promoted by the MU, Ngewu (2004) learns that the MU theology finds expression in how its members ―feel‖, determining the kind of theological practices as expressed by their actions, which evolve from the margins. Does this theology shape the understandings of the social roles of motherhood and womanhood held by members of the organisation and what tensions exist that differ from concepts that are popular to feminist authors? The focus of this chapter is therefore to find and unpack what theologies of motherhood are being promoted by the MU in the early twenty-first century. One needs to interrogate how these theologies shape and are shaped by the majority of mothers in the organisation who vary from captains of industry, to professional women such as nurses, priests, teachers, to workers in industry, to the unemployed.

Mothering and Motherhood In understanding the theologies of motherhood and womanhood as promoted by the MU and as expressed and experienced by its members, I have researched various authors and writers who have tried to understand (external to the Mothers Union) how the theology of motherhood shapes the understanding of the social roles of motherhood and womanhood.

Understanding the constructions of motherhood has been one of the most productive spaces in women studies (Potuchek 2001). In reviewing the works of authors that have done studies with regard to motherhood and mothering Potuchek (Ibid: 364) engages with the work of Sharon Hays (1996), who argues that we currently live in an era of "the ideology of intensive mothering". Hays sees contemporary ideas of mothering in terms of the ideology and institutional practices of the business world, which she argues dominate the rest of our culture, including notions of good mothering. Hays suggests that at the end of the twentieth century there was a cultural contradiction between popular notions of mothering, which maintained that the good mother intensely mothers her child/ren, meaning that she gives intense amounts of time and attention to her child/ren. At the same time, in modern industrial societies there is a culture of rationalisation, according to which people out-source tasks and functions to either the most qualified to do the work or those willing to be the cheapest labour. What Hays notes is that there are two cultural views, one of intense mothering and the other of rationalisation, which are in contradiction with one another. The rational thing for a high earing lawyer, who is also a mother, is to out-source childcare to someone more experienced or whose time is cheaper than her own. But according to cultural ideals of intense mothering, she should be available to meet her child‘s every need. In Hays‘ study of middle-class working women, middle-class stay-at-home mothers, and working-class stay-at- home mothers, she finds that a core set of beliefs about the appropriateness of intensive mothering cuts across employment status and guides the mothering practices of most of these women, although there is considerable variation in the ways that mothers negotiate and interpret their beliefs.

Potuchek (2001: 363) further quotes Hays, who believes that mothers of different social classes "share a set of fundamental assumptions about the importance of putting their children's needs first and dedicating themselves to providing what is best for their kids", believing that mothers "have standards for what ‗good‘ mothers should provide for their children as well as differential means and differing images of how to achieve what is best for them". Similarly, Potuchek (2001: 363) herself finds that employed and stay-at-home mothers share basic assumptions, even as they use somewhat different mothering

practices and emphasise different elements of the core ideology. Potuchek says that Hays‘ argument is that mothers do "ideological work", selecting among the cultural logics available to them to make sense of their current position in the society. Hays understands mothering as a critical social system organised on gender specific roles that centres on the ―social practices of nurturing and caring for dependent children‖.

Arendell (2000: 1192), a sociologist studying motherhood, writes that mothering involves dynamic activity and always evolving relationships. In defining mothering as a socially constructed set of activities and relationships involved in nurturing and caring for people, she argues that its greatest significance is that mothering is the main vehicle through which people first form their identities and learn their places in society. Arendell (Ibid) says that motherhood is ―(m)ultifaceted and complex mothering often represents what is characterised as the ultimate in relational devotion.‖ Arendell further believes that mothering is associated with women, because universally it is women who do the work of mothering – entwined with the notions of femininity and gender identity that are reinforced by mothering. However, I would argue that mothering is not necessarily universal to defining women. Following Butler (1990: 25), who quotes Nietzsche‘s claim that ―there is no ‗being‘ behind doing, effecting becoming; the ‗doer‘ is merely added to the deed the doing being itself everything‖, I posit that motherhood and mothering are not a state of being but of doing. Butler argues that there is no gender identity behind the expression of gender, that identity is performativity constituted by the very expression of doing something, not because one is something through or because of biology. Frahm-Arp (2014: 151), in examining the theology in Pentecostal Evangelical Charismatic Christianity (PEC), uses Sherry Ortner‘s argument that ―gender is both constructed and made‖. Therefore, the construction of gender identities and categories are accomplished through the texts, examples, media, discourse and cultural text that surround believers. Frahm-Arp researches into the PEC explores how theological ideas that aim to construct gender are done so using biblical text. The PEC churches use biblical texts to construct gender enabling us to understand that the articulation and the ―making‖ of gender varies across cultures, communities and churches.

For much of history, mothering has been presumed to be a primary identity for most adult women. Womanhood and motherhood have in both Western and African culture been treated as synonymous identities and categories of experience. However, the role of the mother and mothering is not central for all women, just as nurturing and caring work is not exclusively the function/work of women (Arendell 2000: 1192/1193). Walker (1995: 417-437) states that previously:

Sociologists and social historians accepted as a given, as natural women's social and self-definition as mothers, without feeling compelled to probe their own, culture-bound assumptions about the content and meaning of this dense identity-cum-occupation.

Walker further argues that the term ―motherhood‖ is multi–layered, suggesting that the ―work of mothering‖, being the practice of motherhood, and the discourse of motherhood, embracing the norms, values and ideas about ―the good mother‖, are paradigms that pervade much of African societal thinking. She believes that motherhood is a social identity, and that it shapes a certain self-image, derived from membership of various social groups. Akujobi (2011: 3) says that ―maternal ideals are entrenched and valorised in all cultures, patriarchal societies present a woman's central purpose to be her reproductive function and so motherhood and mothering become intertwined with issues of a woman's identity‖.

In questioning to what extent we have to deconstruct our importation of what motherhood means to the members of the MU and the Anglican Church, we need to take cognisance that the MU was born out of the Victorian colonial church and would have been accordingly shaped and influenced thusly from its inception. Gaitskell (1990: 271) believes that motherhood was central to African women‘s personal and cultural identity, as well as to their economic roles long before the advent of Christian mission in South Africa. Gaitskell believes that church groups transformed and elevated the importance of marriage, wifehood and motherhood and became central to the notion of motherhood in African

women‘s organisations. Rose (1996: 1-18), in her study of women shaped by colonial patriarchy in Australia, realises that there is an on-going ambiguity in the Australian Anglican Church around motherhood. Central to this is the belief dating back to the nineteenth century, where the phrases ―the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world‖ and ―the life and work of the mother is in some measure representative of the life and work of God himself‖. This, however, was contradicted by the belief that ―male headship‖ gave authority in the home to the father of the family. Rose says that the belief and heavy emphasis of virtuous motherhood in the nineteenth century resulted in the MU being the most influential and powerful churchwomen‘s group to form within Anglicanism in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century.

In Africa gender justice has been encouraged and has spurred the systematic development of African feminist theologies by The Circle of Concerned African Woman‘s. In her pursuit of justice in the church and in society, Mercy Amba Oduyoye‘s has since 1988 led the theological debate, particularly with regard to notions of motherhood and womanhood and how this is negotiated conceptually in the African context (LenkaBula:2007). Stewart (2012: 6) believes that mothering is a fact of human existence and relational life and although some women and all men are not biological mothers, we all have biological mothers, so that many have experienced the pro-social aspects of mothering, even if by someone other than a biological mother. Stewarts reflection of the 2012 Womanist Consultation with the Circle of Concerned African Women, believes that African feminists, have brought under scrutiny the suppressive social stigmas attached to women who are not biological mothers Stewart (2012: 5). She interrogates mothering as:

…a term whose semantic purview expands well beyond the literal to register the metaphorical and even the ontological. Mothering, or what Oyèrónk Oyěwùmí calls ―mothernity‖ and Ifi Amadiume calls ―matricentricity‖ is an advisable tradition to interrogate because it introduces at once the vexing effort required to apprehend the purchase and perils associated with the loaded concept of ―motherhood‖.

Stewart (2012:10) says that Amadiume frames gender ideologies, ―matricentricity‖ and social and sacred positioning of mothers in Africa. Stewart (2012:14) states that Oyěwùmi who explores ―mothernity‖ as a wider African ideal acknowledges that mothering does not necessarily imply a biological relationship to those being mothered, and that co-mothering is celebrated and engaged in across Africa.

Akujobi (2011: 3) says that in African patriarchal societies a woman's central purpose is presented as her reproductive function and so motherhood and mothering become intertwined with issues of a woman's identity. She shows that feminists in Africa concede that motherhood may at times operate in an oppressive manner, but many read other meanings into motherhood, meanings that are empowering for women. Within these meanings, they agree that giving birth bestows a certain status on women – even mystical powers. Walker (1995: 421) argues that women are defined within patriarchal roles, like mothers, wives, daughters and sisters, and are thus lumped together into a single category. The question then arises why women should identify with motherhood particularly if it is not in their own best interest. Walker (1995: 421) cites Campbell and Posel, who both argue that ―motherhood may empower women, but that empowerment takes place within the overriding confines of patriarchal authority and is thus of limited value, as a basis for challenging gender oppression‖. Walker (Ibid: 417-437) says that Posel, in using the 1950‘s pass law campaign as her example, believed that, ―women usurped some of men's legitimate powers (authority) as head of the household‖. However, Walker argues that these powers were depicted and defended as necessary extensions of their roles as mothers, within the discourse of patriarchal relationship.

Walker (1995), in her work on ―The Uncoupling of Marriage and Motherhood‖, believes that in the twentieth century motherhood and marriage have been uncoupled for and by African women, at both a social and practical level. She claims that it is well documented that there is a rise of female headed households. She also cites evidence that the stigma of single motherhood is continually declining, where many women view it as preferable to marriage.

Walker is of the opinion that motherhood cannot be equated with the same terms as wifehood, but has to be viewed as an identity that is infused with a separate meaning and carries an independent appeal.

An Anglican priest, Pato (1998: 56), writes that some of the black and white congregants‘ resistance towards a change to indigenise the church was due to the fierce loyalty that many felt towards the Anglican traditions and identity, preferring to do what ―Father‖ told them to do years ago. Pato believes that the idea of an Anglican identity attempts to reinforce a class factor and he cites Ramphele, who observes that ―the very name, Anglican, carries with it assumptions about a system of values and traditions which have become ingrained within the institution‖. Because ―Anglicanism‖ is so entrenched in English history it becomes difficult to divorce the two. With the influence of the missionary churches in South Africa, certain practices became issues which made women feel ashamed of their cultural mores and practices. The acculturation tendencies of Christianity and its Western dictate‘s resulted in many cultural practices being abandoned over time and becoming taboo for the newly baptised. Much was lost; however, one wonders if some of the cultural aspects of African rites of passage, as well as others, were not deliberately hidden and surreptitiously find expression in some other form of initiation. Ngewu (2004: 24) believes that the cultural norms that were suppressed have resurfaced under other guises in the church. In looking at the stages that precede motherhood as a symbol, it seems quite reminiscent of the ―African rites of passage‖. There are certain stages understood as being in preparation for entering the MU from an early age. The first stage is when young girls from the age of six are initiated into the Saint Agnes guild, then on to the Saint Mary Magdalene for young women, finally being co-opted into the MU. In a sense, the MU becomes an expression for women as a ―homecoming‖. In conducting my research, Patsy put forward the idea that:

In the old days the Mothers Union only had 3 objectives – all were around marriage – it was an association for married women – married women whose husbands were priests – their husbands had a lot on their plate so they would do the social out-reach with families. People that

were not married or were divorced began forming other groupings. It came about after relooking at the situation of young women who were very prayerful and were very involved in the life of the church; these young women had children and were not married.

In almost all the interviews conducted, particularly where mothers had struggled to raise their children, either because they were single mothers or abused by spouses, the concept of mothering was not only a response to one‘s immediate family but also being a ‗mother‘ in the context of community. They saw themselves as mothering the children of other women who were in economic or emotional need and that it was acceptable when they were in need, other women would step in to help mother their own children. These women displayed no passivity to the role of mothering but rather saw it as a form of social activism, in which mothering was not confined to the domestic realm. I concur with Walker (1995), who notes that ―motherhood‖ for black women is influenced by the philosophy of Black Consciousness and is very different from the conventions associated with Western maternity. As opposed to the authority and active involvement in public affairs that Black Consciousness associates with motherhood, Western middle-class conventions of mothering are understood to be underpinned by silence, passivity and women's confinement to the domestic realm.

Mariam said that the work of mothering was her working within societies and admitted that she worked with a lot of people, whom she had mothered and who offered her love in return. She believed that her job of mothering continued even when her children had left the home. Shirley believed that motherhood and mothering are not determined by one‘s biological functions as a women/mother – she felt that the church must ensure that the Ubuntu concept, where every woman is the mother of your children, is deepened. Jackey said that mothering and motherhood were almost the same because you have to be a mother not only to your children but for the whole community. Reverend S said that motherhood has evolved. He believed that the women in the MU have not only been mothering their own children, but that it was much broader than that, because the MU used their talents to mother the community. Ronny believed

that mothering was not difficult because as a single mother she had to work to raise her children and went into great detail describing her work, which enabled her to raise her family. She believed that being a mother and mothering were the same, because when you are a mother it was immaterial if it was your child or someone else‘s child that you took care of. She was of the belief that sometimes the other person‘s child is also your child. Dianne spoke about her role as a mother for her four children, but then went into great detail telling me how she would feel for the homeless or drug addicted child in the community.

So, one can deduce from these interviews that irrespective of one‘s economic status, or their being a married or single parent, motherhood was a response not just to the needs of a woman‘s own children, but to the needs of community at large. Many of the women felt that being mothers within their communities was a shared responsibility. Their responsibility was not merely homebound, but functioned within a larger social context. The idea of ―male headship‖ within the home was not topical for most of these women as many were economically independent, and had some kind of means that supported the well-being of their families in the past and the present.

Due to the historical influence from within the church, societal dictates, media, discourse and cultural text, the concepts of motherhood and mothering have been intertwined with the women‘s social identities. This is in strong contrast to the idea of motherhood as first conceived by Mary Sumner when she established the MU as an organisation. The Victorian MU‘s primary aim was for the explicit purpose of teaching mothers and wives the value of wifehood and motherhood in the family which was that of devout domesticity. On the other hand, the African concept of Ubuntu still resonates strongly with all the participants, which has allowed the role of family and mothering to become a shared responsibility. I believe that this has been influenced as the members of MU come together in their weekly meetings, and are able to support one another emotionally, with their strong focus on spirituality.

The MU as a Group that Addresses Social Issues As people look to the church and its groups in addressing their needs, certain questions need to be asked. Most importantly, is the church delivering what women are looking for within the Anglican Communion? In 2000 the United Nations, in partnership with 189 countries, signed a declaration and came up with eight goals to eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life for the world‘s poorest people. One of the millennium goals was to promote gender equality and empower women; this position was endorsed by the Lambeth Conferences of 1998 and 2008. In 2006, Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane sent excerpts from ‗Reflections on Faith and Gender‘ to all clergy, which read:

As far as God is concerned every human being is equally important, equally deserving of dignity and respect. We are equally made in his image. As St Paul writes: ‗There is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.‘ Jesus preached a kingdom in which every individual should have the opportunity to grow into the person they were created to be. … The gospel should be liberating for everyone. Men and women alike should be freed from narrow stereotyping, and find freedom to live together creatively, joyfully, knowing that all our differences, whether of gender or personality or race or culture, all serve to enrich our common life. Sexuality and gender are always sensitive subjects about which to talk, and this has especially been the case in church. Yet these are increasingly the subtext of life around us, not least in advertising and the wider media, who give a very narrow view of what it is to be attractive and successful. Our message is that in God‘s eyes, we ourselves, and everyone else whom we encounter, are his beloved, and significant to him.

Accordingly, the website of ACSA on gender holds forth its vision as:

To be a bold and prophetic voice for Anglican women throughout the Anglican Communion and in the wider world. Our Purpose: To enable

and empower all women of the Anglican Communion to work cooperatively at national, provincial and communion-wide levels to strengthen the ministries of women in God‘s world and to ensure women are influential and equal participants throughout the entire Anglican Communion.

When the MU engages around issues of gender equality, it most often applies to males and females. There is a silence with regard LGBT people in the organisation. There is little or no education to validate and endorse women who are not heterosexual. It was felt by Ronnie and Reverend M that issues around sexuality and the LGBT community were not even being discussed and that the guilds are still very conservative. Although the Province has a gender desk, it has been difficult to establish who runs this portfolio, how it liaises with the various dioceses in the province and other organisations that exist within the Anglican Communion in Southern Africa. The organisation, HOPE Africa, which stands for Health, Opportunity, Partnership, Empowerment, an initiative of ACSA, seems to have taken the lead in addressing any issues around gender in the Anglican Communion. However, presently, at a diocesan level, the Diocese of Johannesburg has no such portfolio in any of its structures or parishes. To my knowledge, as a priest licensed in this diocese, the discussion of such a portfolio being established has only recently been proposed. I often wonder whether the ACSA as church is serious about engaging in the discussion around gender, whether it is capable of addressing issues/concerns of the LGBT community, let alone issues that impact women. Butler (1990: 1) believes that a language is needed which serves to represent, within a political process, the aspirations that seek to extend visibility and legitimacy of women as political subjects, fostering the political visibility of women. It is important to consider the pervasive cultural conditions in which women‘s lives are either misrepresented or not represented at all, both within the secular state and the Anglican Church.

In 2017, South Africa witnessed a wave of protest, reminiscent of the protests of the 1980‘s. Simultaneously, ACSA (previously the CPSA) was calling for mass support for rallies launched by the ―Free South Africa Campaign‖. The spate of protests ranged from anti-corruption, ―Zuma Must Go‖, ―Free university

education‖, and protests around the issue of ―femicide‖. ACSA has supported mass rallies hosted by the MU, both through marches and preaching. One needs to understand the inherent reasons why the church supports such calls to action. MU president of the Diocese of Johannesburg, Meisie Lerutla, reported in the September 2017 Synod that various regions implemented programmes in 2017. These programmes were centred on creating awareness of gender-based violence. A protest march in solidarity with women who are victims of domestic violence and abuse was held in Soweto, where the police co-operated with the MU. The protestors submitted a memorandum, asking the police to treat violence-related cases reported to them with sensitivity and dignity.

The support by the current Archbishop Thabo Makgoba must also be noted, as he addressed one of the bigger rallies hosted by the MU in Cape Town on 04 June 2017. He said that the Anglican Church condemns the escalating violence against women and children in the country, challenging the nation to pause and ask ―what are we not doing?‖ and further addressing issues that impact women and children, like kidnapping, trafficking, rape and murder. I quote Archbishop Thabo Makgoba concerns:

As a community and as a nation, we have failed terribly in not protecting the most vulnerable among us, the women and girls who have suffered violence, not once but many times over. We cannot claim to love, care and cherish women and children if their welfare and their lives count so little (Anglican Media Office: Bishops Court).

I am convinced that the Archbishop‘s position represents both a challenge to and an opportunity for the MU, not only to run mass campaigns around the issues impacting women and children, but to consider it a serious daily campaign in their worship, education and outreach.

Hassim (1991: 74) believes that women‘s groups were popular in the 1970s under apartheid South Africa because there was a political void that did not address or confront women‘s daily concerns and issues. She maintains that motherhood and wifehood are the very issues that attracted women into church-

based groups, sewing circles and other self-help projects. Throughout the twentieth century, motherhood was not used as a force to bring about political change in society, despite activism that influenced the women‘s position in the family and the nature of women in politics. Writing in the early 1990s, Hassim (1991:76) claimed that political organisations have yet to confront the implications of a politics constructed around the family for political campaigns or for future policy. Walker (1995: 417-437) says that motherhood has been used in political organisation and campaigns as an expression, rather than addressing the day-to-day experiences of mothers. Walker argues:

…therefore theoretical debates are discussions of political campaigns or organisations: notably, the anti-pass campaigns of the early twentieth century and the 1950s, Afrikaner and African nationalism, women's trade union organisation, and contemporary political mobilisation, within the ANC and Inkatha in particular.

Akujobi (2011: 2) points out that in most texts written in Africa, both male and female writers refer to ―Mother Africa‖ in the African discourse. She says that love of mother and love of nation have been taken as one and the same. Akujobi believes that nationalists deploy the nation-as-mother symbolism to mobilise patriotic sentiments:

Love of mother and love of nation have been taken as one and the same. The symbolism of the enslaved and exploited motherland was at the heart of the anti-colonial nationalist struggles in Africa in the 1950s and early 1960s up to the point of independence. It was much more evidenced in South Africa especially after Mandela went to prison and in the 1980s and 1990s until the all-inclusive election that brought Nelson Mandela to power in 1994.

Motherhood was used as a defence of the ―family‖ due to the oppressive and violent nature of colonialism, followed by the apartheid government, resulting in twenty thousand women marching to Pretoria on the 9th of August 1956. This defiance by women, predominantly mothers, was again seen throughout the

1960‘s up until the political uprising of the 1980‘s. The activism of MU, and the victimisation of family members of the MU mothers, is well documented in the minutes of MU meetings. On the 21st of July 1985, the apartheid government called for a ―State of Emergency‖; this oppressive law lasted for a period of four years. Ngewu (2004: 200) says that the MU members ministered to the victims of the oppressive State of Emergency and some lost loved ones during this time. This is evidenced in a letter written by the MU provincial president, tabled at a provincial meeting in 1987. There were protests against the detention of children in prison and a report was received by the MU‘s Diocese of Johannesburg from the Committee of Concern for Children, noting that 13,556 of those arrested were under the age of 20 (Ngewu 2004:200). In an interview with Ngewu, Miss Sheila Maspero says that: ―If it had not been for the courageous stand and the unswerving zeal of the MU to minister to those families whose sons and daughters had become political refugees, Apartheid would have destroyed family life‖. I am of the opinion that research on motherhood as a practice and as a social identity have been neglected in this country. Ngewu (2004: 201) claims that the MU was fighting all forms of abuse, and members bore the brunt of the wide array of abuses. Yet, little acknowledgement and recognition is given to these noble endeavours.

Women’s Understandings of Womanhood and Motherhood Hassim (1991: 76) believes that women‘s social and personal identities are deeply embedded in their roles in the family. So when the institution of family is under threat their identities are under threat. Hassim also believes that the same concerns that influence women to form and join these organisations are what constrain them within these very organisations. Politically, women‘s legitimate concerns are identified as their sole concerns. There is a political and social notion that motherhood defines women‘s rightful role in society in which ―good‖ motherhood entails; ―good mothers have good children‖. In Africa, many studies on womanhood are linked with studies of motherhood as the concepts are so often held together because of the patriarchal nature of contemporary cultures in Africa (Walker 1995: 418). According to Masenya (1997), the colonial history, where African women in South Africa were defined by others, has resulted in a loss of their identity and their broader culture of motherhood and

mothering. Masenya (1997: 440) argues that it becomes necessary for Africans, particularly women, to re-define and rename themselves with their own voices. Despite the propagation of black theology, she feels that theologians have failed to take into account the situation of black women as people in their own right. Women constitute the vast majority of readers of the bible in South Africa, ―These women form the vast majority of church members, but they have had virtually no sisters to interpret the Bible for them‖ (cf Ackermann 1992:94; Kretzschmar 1992: 106-110).

In grappling with the issues of motherhood and womanhood from a South African, and an African perspective, nearly all participants I interviewed in this study thought that womanhood and motherhood were the same concept.

Mariam said that it was nice to be a woman and belong to a sisterhood. Shirley believed that womanhood was to respect one‘s failures and to be able to lift one‘s head up high; she believed that there was a certain pride associated with womanhood. Jackey said in her interview: ―I can‘t say I know all women. Others are like this, others are like me. You know to be a woman comes from inside your head: you not just a woman because you got breasts‖. Dianne believed that there was much pressure from society for women to be mothers, but that it was an individual choice.

Patsy said that she was trying to come to terms with womanhood, and being comfortable with her body in this time of femicide. She questioned how women are meant to affirm their own womanhood without addressing femicide. In our interview, she was critical of the Anglican Church for not giving much direction to Christians or the society at large, even though the province has developed much study material around the issues of gender. Reverend C felt that womanhood was natural to any women, whether they have children or not. Reverend M believed that with womanhood that there was a sense of motherhood and nurturing of the family. The interviews with these women all showed how women generally conflated womanhood and motherhood into one and the same thing.

Masenya (1997and 2004: 76) uses the term ―bosadi‖ (the spirit of womanhood) in her work in order to show that womanhood in Africa should not necessarily be linked to motherhood or limited to wifehood. Masenya uses bosadi to redefine and challenge disempowering notions of womanhood that are embedded within the current African cultures. Masenya‘s definition of bosadi is as follows:

A mosadi (woman) is an African female who though, conscious of the corporeal mentality of Africans and also respecting it, can stand on her own, affirming her full humanity as a being created in God's image. As an independent person, she may choose to be involved with a male partner in a marriage relationship though that does not entail that she loses her humanness and independence to her male partner. If she does not choose to be in a marriage relationship, she must be at liberty to remain single.

In trying to establish how the participants felt about women who are not mothers and whether society put undue pressure on how women should be or act, I found that most of the working class women interviewed were of the opinion that being an MU member gave them a prestige and a status that makes up for the fact that her children were often illegitimate – a major taboo in Christian and African circles. Mariam felt that she was not pressurised by society or the church to shape her sense of self through their lenses. She believed that being a mother was done with her whole heart and was voluntary. She felt that she was fully in control and in charge in her own home, despite having explained that she had a long and unhappy marriage. Shirley‘s opinion was that society did not put any pressure on how she should act or not act as a woman. She felt that because of her MU membership, society looked up to her and she felt that she was setting a good example. This was regardless of the fact that she had her children from a married man who was not her husband.

There was a clear difference of opinion between the various social stations of the women interviewed on how they viewed motherhood, and this could be distinguished by those who were economically more independent. Jackey, who is a retired businesswoman, felt strongly that women who were not mothers still

have an obligation to adopt the children in the community to fulfil the role of being mothers. Patsy, a middle class businesswoman, said that she was not being judgmental, but that it would be very hard talking about motherhood if one had never given birth to a child. She felt that in the absence of birthing, this would make motherhood difficult, including responding to the needs of community children. ―Ubuntu‖ was evident when interviewing the working class women. The working class women, like Mariam and Dianne, both perceived motherhood as a role bigger than that of a role played out in one‘s home as a biological or adoptive mother, but more as a community commitment to all the children in the community were they found the need.

Akujobi (2011: 2) and Wells (1991) argue that in Africa women are given social status as ―mothers‖ which they do not have as ―women‖. Walker (1995) highlights the point that within Southern Africa the pre-colonial mother was located in a society where the production of people instead of ―things‖ was central and that there was significance attached to women's fertility as a result. In pre-colonial society the practice of motherhood was significantly different as childcare was dispersed across a number of female kin, and motherhood carried considerable social status. Akujobi (2011) and Stinson and Myer (2011) argue that in the African context, motherhood is mystified, sacred, imbued with spiritual power and highly valued. African Motherhood as experienced and practiced is influenced by religious mythologies where there are examples of self-sacrifice/giving in the name of motherhood. The idea of self-sacrifice emphasises the centrality of motherhood in African society and therefore mothers are revered as creators, as providers, cradle rockers, nurturers, and goddesses, they also inspire awe because they are known to imbue incredible powers in their children's lives (Akujobi 2011: 2).

Iwelunmor, Zungu, Airhihenbuwa‘s (2010: 1395) study found that in the face of racial and socio-economic oppression, the notion of motherhood continues to be valued socially and to be central to the formation of a healthy society. Masenya (2004: 211) believes there is nothing wrong with childbearing and motherhood, but that there is something wrong in isolating the two. It is her belief that one has to understand the African emphasis of the role of women as

mothers, due to the cultural belief in North Sotho culture like many other Africans that one‘s ancestral line is kept through reincarnation. Masenya (2002: 212) uses womanist author Odeyoye‘s argument that for Africans every new- born baby is an ancestor returned, as one‘s forbears are reincarnated and this forms the underlying principle in the naming of new-borns. The naming in the North Sotho culture is mostly taken from the father‘s family. Masenya further looks at Mbiti (1989: 131), who observes that it is significant that there should be children in a marriage so that they remember their parents; thus, when the parents have joined the living dead, the belief is that if there are no children no one will remember them. In Masenya‘s argument she quotes Oduyoye (1995: 78) who writes that:

Westerners often see the African woman as a beast of burden walking behind her husband, carrying his children, one inside, one on her back, and many more following in a long procession of children whom she brings forth from puberty to menopause. She is clearly an inferior creature to the Western woman, a person at the bottom of the human pecking order.

So the Western perception, that African women are oppressed and at the bottom of the pecking order is unfounded when one understands the role of women in North Sotho culture as mothers and the belief in the necessity of naming and reincarnation to keep the family name alive.

Theology of Motherhood in the Anglican Church In trying to understand certain theologies that validate motherhood, I took cognisance of Masenya‘s (1997: 444) argument with regard to her ―bosadi‖ approach. She cites Bosch (1991: 442-443) and Ukopong (1995: 3-14), who write that the Bible for South African Christian women highlights the importance of the faith element in the life of an African woman. In their encounter with the Bible, Masenya argues that the women believe that the Word of God (biblical scripture) is capable of transforming their life situations, and that it is not merely a text that should receive scholarly critique. Ngewu (2004: 232) claims that the MU members are not theologians and that their theology finds expression in

how they ―feel‖, that their ―feeling‖ determines the kind of theology that they practice, which is expressed in their actions. He describes them as ―living theologians‖ whose theology is not always articulated. He further explains that their theology is that of laity, ―the whole people of God‖, which evolves from the margins of society and is based on human salvation found in the Blessed Virgin Mary, thus the veneration and formation of Mariology. Nortjé-Meyer (2009) in her study of the mother of Jesus, says that motherhood in John gospel can only be significant in the mother of Jesus identification with the world below and stays a female body. Nortjé-Meyer (2009:141), believes that the mother of Jesus can serve as an expression or goal of femaleness in communities where ‗motherhood‘ is highly valued and says:

―Although, for the contemporary female ‗motherhood‘ is not the only means of expressing femaleness. In an over populated world ‗motherhood‘ should be treated with responsibility. But in communities that still maintain the absolute authority and superiority of the male; she is overpowered by the supremacy of the male. ‗Motherhood‘ is then rather a motivation for the continuation of the oppression of the female; she can only give birth and not life.‖

For the women in the MU, living out their faith is very important as they believe that they are able to transform their life situations through faith. Every year on the 25th of March, the MU celebrate the ―Annunciation of Our Lord to the Virgin Mary‖, which they commonly refer to as ―Mary Day‖, or ―Lady Day‖, to use MU parlance. In my interviews with those participating in the study, it was clear that not everyone was equally active in the MU but all had been to the annual celebrations of ―Lady Day‖ held by the MU. In the participants understanding, there was no single understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary; their theology varied from interviewee to interviewee. In trying to clarify those interviewed as to their belief of whom, Mary the Mother of Jesus was, the conversations were rather mixed. Mariam said she had knowledge about Mary, but there were people sitting in church with more knowledge about who Mary was than her. Shirley had a mythological belief around Mary and who she represents.

Shirley‘s spirituality went as far as blessing her bathing water, with Mary being her prime focus. I believe that she felt that her salvation was dependant on the Mary whom she prays to, and whom she believes intercedes for her sins:

I pray for my water when I go wash – I pray when I eat – I pray for everything, Reverend and it‘s like… you see she conceived without any original sin, and then what is the other one – she‘s a special woman Mary is the safest, shortest, and most easiest way of reaching Jesus. When we pray must we start with Hail Mary Mother of God, blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus – and we say Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now or at the hour of death or whatever, pray for us, so there‘s one way that I know that – I don‘t know, I‘ve got this thing of when I wake up in the morning – I‘ll greet the Holy Spirit first. Good morning Holy Spirit.

Jackey said that it was difficult to be in the MU and adore ―Mary the Mother of Jesus, or the Holy Mother of Jesus. To be in the Mothers Union is difficult to be like Mary, but we are trying to be like Mary.‖ Reverend S believed that those who followed Mary the Mother of Jesus was an exclusive movement and that such movements were there to keep people out.

Ronny felt that Mary meant everything to her, but failed to expand on her feeling. She did, however, agree that in saying the creeds, most people had no idea about the meaning of the creed. Ronny was unsure which Mary was being venerated, and believed that it was Mary Sumner. Dianne subscribed to Mary as she was the Mother of Jesus. Patsy said that in the MU, everyone celebrated the day, and although not many understood the significance of the feast, she felt that the biology of birth and Mary should be linked, and education needed to be done. Although Reverend C had a MU branch in the parish that she serves in as a priest, she said that she had heard about the Lady Day celebration, but had no idea what it was about and had never attended any of the celebrations.

Reverend M was the only person that used the correct name of the celebration by which it is officially known: ―Lady Day‖ and not Mary Day. The status of the Virgin Mary as the ideal mother is deeply ingrained and seems to suggest that the theology of the MU may be centred on Mary. Ngewu (2004: 232-234) believes the MU places great emphasis on the role of the Virgin Mary as a means of salvation and that the mother‘s perceptions of the Virgin Mary become fundamental in the manner they assume their role to be in, both in their homes and in society, thus making motherhood and more so womanhood into a liberatory feeling. This liberatory feeling evangelises them and stimulates them to set others free.

The participants were asked as to which persona of Mary was most important or appealing to their spirituality or theology. Inman-Bamber (2012: 26-39) identifies four Marion dogmas that exist, which have both scriptural and traditional foundation. The first dogma Inman-Bamber identifies is that of the Theotokos, Mother of God. Mary, in her relation to Jesus, means that the divine motherhood has deep scriptural roots and Inman-Bamber believes that Mary and Jesus are inseparable. In this dogma, ―Mary did not create Jesus‘ divinity, but the homoousios nature of Christ ensures Mary‗s motherhood of his totality in the world‖ (Inman-Bamber 2012: 26). The second is that of Mary‘s virginity, which Inman-Bamber claims is to be seen in the context of salvation, and thus Mary‘s virginity represents her openness to grace and total dependence, which is coupled with her free response to God‘s call on her life. Inman-Bamber says that there are three aspects to Mary‘s virginity:

1) The Virginal Conception, which points to the messianic mission. She argues that it is Mary‘s surrender to God which renders Jesus‘ Kingship divine and not Jesus‘ Davidic ancestry. 2) She believes the Virginal Birth gives rise to the argument of Jesus‘ humanity and emphasises Jesus‘ full humanity which would suggest a natural delivery, while the gnostic notion of a miraculous birth would preserve both Mary and Jesus from contamination. 3) Mary‘s perpetual virginity, she says is ―More significant than the literal virginity is the significance of it‖. Inman-Bamber cites Karl Rahner who ―believes

that her vocation as the mother of God was so complete that apart from it she was nothing and remained still the same, total receptivity of the free gift of grace from on High‖.

The third dogma Inman–Bamber (2012: 35) identifies is Mary‘s Immaculate Conception, which has given rise to many misunderstandings – Mary‘s Immaculate Conception informs the faithful of Mary‘s holiness, proclaiming that she was born without original sin and remained sin free throughout her life. The most recent dogma Inman–Bamber (2012:39) identifies is Mary‘s Assumption into glory proclaimed by Pope Pius X11, in 1950 which he states that:

The immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven‗.…as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part and the final sign of this victory, in like manner the struggle which the Blessed Virgin endured in common with her Son was to end in the glorification of her virginal body.

Mariam agreed that it was the same Mary, but that while the virgin aspect was important, she also chuckles that the virgin was able to have given birth. Shirley said that she believed in the entire persona of Mary the Virgin and Mary the Mother, and felt that the significance of Mary needed to be unpacked by the priest, the MU and the church. Shirley expressed sadness that most people did not understand the significance of certain days and times of prayer, particularly in relationship to Mary. She referred to the Angelus which is a prayer that was often said at noon. The prayer is said three times ‗Hail Mary full of grace…blessed art thou, and blessed are the fruits of thy labour―.

Jackey said that she could subscribe to the theology of Mary, but only to her persona of being the Mother of Jesus, and that she could not accept Mary as being the Blessed Virgin because she believes that:

Mary was once the virgin – before the mother, she was a virgin – but then she became the mother. We were once virgins, but we finally

became mothers. It cancels, you cannot become it again – it‘s impossible. So when you look at this mother of Jesus – you must try to become like her – even when you look at them – these naughty with nyaope and this...so we are busy praying for these children.

She maintained that it was impossible to be a Virgin Mary, as no one can be as pure as Mary.

Dianne said that she understood Mary as the Mother of God, and Mary the wife of Joseph, she was hesitant when Mary the Virgin was brought up, and did not quite agree with the whole package of Mary.

Lizzy found it a bit comical that Mary did not know that she was going to have a baby. Patsy felt that the ―Mary Day‖ could be celebrated by bringing in a better theological understanding of Mary, which could change the mind-set of the MU. Reverend C felt that the mother was a lot more important than the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she explains:

…you know Mothers Union expressing that motherly care that should be to society and things like that – of course that is what a mother will do – that motherly love – toward the next person and towards society – that‘s why I would say that‘s the important one.

Akujobi (2011: 4) writes that most of the theories that define women in terms of fertility are based in older female archetypes, such as the Virgin Mary, Venus, and Mother Earth, all of whom are tied to women's functions as mothers in society. In following Akujobi‘s argument about theories which define women in terms of fertility, one can understand the belief system of those interviewed in the study around the importance of Mary, a virgin, who is able to give birth to Jesus and mother him. Akujobi believes that myths about women have been in existence since primordial times and they authenticate the belief that motherhood is an essential part of being a woman, outside which the woman is empty. In Africa, for most women motherhood is used to define "real" women or responsible women, motherhood being a prerequisite for social acceptance.

Many non-mothering women experience feelings of rejection and low self- esteem. Ngewu believes there is a twofold interpretation of the Marian position. Because the missionaries have eroded the culture, so-much-so that many cultural practices were suppressed or observed undercover, alienating women, it was essential that women develop a unique mode of Christianity that would speak to their souls to translate their language and actions in accord with their sensibilities and culture. The image of the old Eve, which has been imposed on women, has led women to embrace images that are perceived to be possible channels of emancipation.

Within the Catholic context, Schussler-Fiorenza (1994), Warner (2000) and Boss (2000) show that Mary, the pure, self-sacrificing, humble handmaiden of the Lord and patient mother full of sorrows, is preached to women as the model that must be imitated, but can never be reached. The mainstream Mariology continues to inscribe the socio-cultural image of the feminine that sanctifies the marginalisation and exploitation of women. Due to the once strict principals of the sanctity of marriage, Rose (1996: 1-18) says that the power and status of the MU rested, as in the case of the Virgin Mary, on its immaculate motherhood.

Inman-Bamber (2012: 109) researching Anglican female priests and their relationship to the Virgin Mary, found that lay-people had little awareness of Mariology and that female priests found Mary troublesome, as she offers an unreal model for women. The Christian creeds, which are the statements of faith, within the Anglican Church all refer to the Virgin Mary, but are not expounded much in the Anglican literature. Inman-Bamber (2012: 71) claims that the Anglican position in Mariology is unstated in the Thirty-Nine Articles, and because of its exclusion it leads to uncertainty amongst Anglicans and their theology. As an ordained Anglican Priest, having studied at university as well as having spent a year at an Anglican Seminary, none of my training has given me an insight into the theology of Mariology. What knowledge and understanding of Mary I do have is based on dogma and schooling in a Catholic Convent as a child. I therefore feel that it becomes problematic when Lady Day is celebrated and clergy, who have no sound theology about Mary, are asked to preach, in particular male clergy. Invariably a patriarchal conservative theology of Mary‘s

pureness is preached, instead of a liberating theology of Mary, thus ensuring that the women in the MU are still subjected to an oppressive and stifling theology. Although Mary is venerated within the MU, no sound theology has been given, thus members blindly follow one dogma or another. There is certainly no clearly stated Mariology or theology of motherhood within the Anglican Church and more troublingly within the MU, whose members appear to find some resonance with her. Interestingly enough, one would have thought that female priests within the church would have led the charge in defining a sound theological approach to claiming Mariology as a liberatory ―force‖; yet to- date (meaning the past 25 years), very little has been contributed in order to rectify a skewered dogma that has essentially become an MU ―doctrine‖.

Another theology of motherhood that has burgeoned in popularity is from Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity, which uses biblical text to validate motherhood. Frahm-Arp (2014: 159), who researches Pentecostal theology in Africa, shows how PCE uses various biblical texts in constructing gender and motherhood. In 1 Timothy 2:14-15, for example, Adam was deceived by a women and therefore became a sinner; but the text goes further, claiming that women can be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love and holiness. Frahm-Arp says that the PCE believe that by marrying and having children, women are able to live out their primary vocation – being mothers. The PCE theology does not believe that this text is condemnatory of women but rather a validation of motherhood. Other texts include Genesis 2:22-3:20, where women are created to be helpers to men, and the text here is used to encourage women to support men in their role as head of the family. In Proverbs 31:10-31, the ―Women of Valour‖ is used to encourage women to go out and take control and compete with men for business and profit. In John 3:16, Jesus is understood as personal saviour – that emphasising the importance of the individual and enabling or legitimating individuals and nuclear families to break from their cultural and family responsibilities. The manifestation of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:17 makes ministry appealing to women, who can now take up lower level leadership positions in the PCE. Finally, certain texts can perpetuate patriarchy in the wider church by many male priests, such as Ephesians 5: 22-31, where women are called to submit to

their husbands, as the husband is the head of his wife, which is commonly used by PCE. Frahm-Arp argues that this theology upholds the Godhead as the perfect father and the problem does not lie in the male nature of God, but that this theology makes the male nature of God problematic by flawed earthly men.

The PCE theology is a populist theology in all the townships were I did my research. In the township of Toekomsrus there is a proliferation of Pentecostal churches, which operate from church buildings to shop fronts, and even in people‘s backyards. There is a women‘s ―versamelukke biduur‖ (prayer gathering) that meets once a month and a small percentage of the MU branch in Toekomsrus meet to pray with women who come from the Pentecostal churches, some of whom are pastors. The work of Frahm-Arp (2010 and 2014) argues that the PCE in South Africa has a clearly defined theology of mothering and has elevated it to a spiritual role for women. In my study of the MU, I found an ethos, though undocumented, of a theology of sorts of mothering or motherhood expressed by members of the organisation.

Conclusion It is clear how the aims and objectives of the original charter of the MU would have been an alien concept to the African women who were incorporated into the organisation. Ideas of mothering and motherhood, even what defines one‘s womanhood, were foreign concepts to the whole idea of Ubuntu when hundreds of black women joined the MU. From an indigenous perspective, child-rearing and mothering is a community concept, in which the ―whole‖ is responsible for raising the community. I found that motherhood in the MU is a social identity that shapes a certain self-image, derived from membership, which becomes intertwined with issues of a woman's identity, making the Western concept of motherhood and marriage almost alien.

I also found that for those interviewed, who had either been divorced, widowed or estranged, motherhood became almost a self-sacrificing duty. These women, as mothers, did backbreaking work to maintain and nurture their families for a better future. Walker (1995) points out that, ―motherhood‖ is multi–layered, suggesting that the ―work of mothering‖, that being, the practice of motherhood,

embraces the norms, values and ideas about ―the good mother‖. Many thousands of women still find themselves drawn into the MU organisation, hoping to redefine their social, economic status and to redefine themselves as mothers. However, the discourse in the organisation does not allow them the space to deal with the issues that impact them on a daily basis. Due to a culture of shame introduced in the early century around unmarried mothers by the aims and objectives of the MU and enforced by patriarchy in the wider church, these scars and deep wounds can only be corrected by a liberatory theology.

Many of the women I interviewed for this study stated that it was impossible to undo the fact that they were no longer virgins and they felt that it was difficult for them to attain the virtues of a Blessed Virgin Mary that are vociferously punted by the MU. With patriarchal theology still prevalent in the church and especially popularised by Pentecostal churches in tele-evangelism and other popular mediums, we as the Church, both female and male clergy, must re- contextualise and re-examine the ―right‖ doctrine around the theology of Mariology. Pato (1998: 57) writes that feminists, womanists and liberation theologians have exposed the restrictions of working within the confines of a fixed canon that fails to include their struggles and pain. He believes that so should African theologians re-discover the connections that can marry African and European traditions together with the Christian faith. African myths and tales should be used alongside bible stories to ground African theology in an African experience, because the use of one‘s own experiences to complement biblical narratives will indicate pride and respect as African Christians when placed alongside African stories, myths and legends, thus enabling the biblical narrative to come alive. For a liberatory theology to emerge for women and men in the church and the MU, to be a source of social change in society and the church, I believe that woman clergy alongside MU members need to spearhead and become more engaged in the discourse around motherhood, mothering and womanhood in the MU and the church at large.

Chapter 4

The Role of Women’s Groups

If women clergy and theologians were to work alongside women in the MU, then they could jointly open the discourse around motherhood, mothering and womanhood. The faith of women who are working out their lives can be discovered to realise the belief that their life situations can be transformed. LenkaBula (2007) believes that cultural hermeneutics makes theology more relevant and meaningful to African women and their communities, and has to be intentional and deliberate, she says it‘s what Oduyoye suggests as rooted in culture. LenkaBula (2007:8) says that.

It evaluates the sufferings, struggles, joys, hopes, aspirations and contributions of those who are on the receiving end of history, church hierarchies and social stratifications that perpetuate injustices. It concerns itself with the silent and silenced women and the perspectives and/or methodologies which are marginalised by mainstream and male- stream theologies. Its hermeneutical function is to unearth, liberate, affirm and overcome the violence against women which is manifest in the church and in society.

The MU organisation can make its members realise that they are able to redefine their social, economic status and to redefine themselves as mothers. With this in mind, I explore how the politically aware resolutions of the 2009 MU conference resonate with women at the grass roots level. Overall I find that the women I interviewed felt no connection to these resolutions. I believe these resolutions need to be linked to ideas of motherhood, and the day-to-day concerns of women. I believe that the aims and objectives of the MU in relation to other women‘s groups will empower women and equip them to challenge the political, economic, social or religious oppression they face.

In 2009, during the 46th session of the MU Provincial Council in SA, several resolutions were passed regarding the challenges facing society, which the members of the MU felt pointed to the moral degeneration of the country. Leaders resolved that in order to go forward, the MU needs to focus on and

actively address the five areas of social and moral concern which they had identified. These issues included: xenophobia, human trafficking, prostitution, male circumcision and environmental concerns.

In the preface of the Mothers Union Manual, revised and updated in 2007, Abigail Tukulu, a former provincial president of ACSA MU, writes that in the year 2000, the manual could not have been put together at a more crucial time in the history of the organisation because of the increasing rate and pace of crisis in all spheres of life. She went on to state that the MU had to equip its members and the society more generally to effectively face the social and political challenges of SA. The manual goes further to say that:

One of the challenges facing the MU is of making it relevant to the needs of our community (i.e. women, families and children) without changing the basic vision and Mission. Those MU members have to make a visible difference in the lives of people, ‗so that they may have life and have it in abundance‘ (John10:10). Factors which militate against our attainment of abundant life need be tackled head on. Amongst others, the following can be identified: poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, violence and abuse.

She ends with commending the manual in the hope that through the creative use of its contents, both leaders and probationers (those serving their trial period) in the MU, ―will experience God‘s will and presence and that it will help all to be good managers of God‘s different gifts, so that in the end praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power, forever and ever‖ (1 Peter 4:10-11).

In 2009, MU leaders identified five areas of social and moral concern to help them with their aim of actively being able to address the bigger societal ills not only as national concerns, but real grassroots problems that could assist in meeting local needs. The response from Shirley, who participated in the study, when asked if she knew of the five social areas that were of moral concern at the provincial level echoed what other participants also felt:

It is our responsibility to go out there and talk to people, it is our responsibility to teach our young girls about all those things, about prostitutes, about human trafficking, about lesbians, about xenophobia – it is our responsibility, Reverend, but like I said to someone in Bernard Mizeki, I said to her it‘s time that we combine with all the women of all the churches and the women that are sitting at home – that we must set a date and a place where we meet – that we must on a weekend, address issues. These issues of children using drugs, and young girls sleeping with older men. Young boys doing wrong things, breaking in – we must stop entertaining these when he comes with Reverend‘s phone and we buy from them for R100.00. We must address things like those – all those petty things I said– she said yes – I said you the leader – you must call us – you must tell us. Miena, I‘m not going to high-jack anybody‘s position. You are in position, you guys must say, on such a day we meeting in a certain place, especially there where you come in by the robots, or here by second stop, it‘s forever full there or here by the drug corner here. It‘s time that we do something – to show the community that we are against certain things here. She said ―ons sal praat – we shall speak. So it all depends from the leaders. They are the leaders; they must start saying let‘s do this. Reverend this day we‘ll be meeting on such a corner, we‘ll be doing this.‖

Jackey believed that the issues discussed at a provincial level were addressed because the participants were women and mothers. She was of the opinion that issues like human trafficking could be addressed by inviting God into the situation, by using prayer as a means to solve the problem. Reverend S iterated that if one attended the prayer meetings of the MU, the MU would share what is happening in the world today, particularly around issues like drugs and AIDS. He maintained that these issues should be discussed at the MU conferences, and then those who have been to the conference must return to their parishes and share the information with their parish MU group. He believed that the work done by the MU involved practical acts of compassion. Ronny believed strongly that the MU was now able to tackle the big issues immediately, as they have

started to train people to disseminate the information. The MU has started to train workers that educate children about issues such as teenage pregnancy and sexuality. Patsy believed that the ―big issues‖ could not be addressed, and for the MU to be saved, they needed to go back to the drawing board.

The ACSA has several recognised women‘s organisations in its province. In addition to the MU, the Anglicans Women‘s Fellowship (AWF) is also an influential group. The AWF started out as a more liberal, alternative organisation to the MU in the Anglican Church. In 1963, a resolution was sent to the CPSA asking the bishop to allow them to set up a separate organisation, that being the AWF. This strategy was mainly due to the particular rule of the MU relating to the exclusion of divorced women from the organisation as members. Ngewu (2004: 159) claims that the AWF started out as a protest organisation to the MU‘s exclusion of divorced women. In the formulation of the AWF‘s constitution in Johannesburg in 1966, it was defined as a ―comprehensive organisation for all women sharing in the Churches‘ worship‖. It was commonly felt that the MU was an organisation that was accountable to a class of elitist chaperons, I assume this would have been the Women of the Provincial Council of the MU, which had been set up by the wives of bishops who were diocesan presidents. However, with the influx of black women into the MU, white women started withdrawing from active involvement in the life of the organisation. Ngewu (2004: 163) says that although the AWF was started by white women, it had made no concerted attempt to recruit black women into its fold. Eventually, ―coloured‖ women were allowed to join, followed by African women. Today the AWF, however, does not pose a threat to the MU, despite it having started as a protest movement to the MU. As an inclusive organisation, it would have had a more robust position in the Anglican Church hierarchy today had it been more adept at garnering greater grass-roots support, as was the case with the MU.

Women clergy, women‘s groups and church groups, including MU, AWF and Manyono groups, are now at a crossroads where they are trying to determine how to build a more inclusive church in conjunction with the building of a better and a more just society. Even centuries after the loss of our rich indigenous identity, culture and spirituality, as a consequence of the colonial churches‘

―civilising mission‖, there is an emergence of guilds, such as the Bernard Mizeki and African Men‘s Fellowship, within our parishes, which seems to indicate that not all such traditions and practices are irretrievably lost. However, there is a definite threat to being able to build such an inclusive and just society if in the main we allow a Pentecostal theological outlook and articulation to ―shame us‖ for cleaving to African tradition.

In Frahm-Arp‘s (2014:1 52) argument, she believes that the inward focus of the PCE assists with the focus on personal salvation, meaning that people can now break from the religious beliefs of families and clans and legitimise their break from the demands of extended families. My observations give me the distinct impression that the popularism of this theology, which is purely inward focused and individualistic, is rapidly growing in the SA media. This theology may allow for a break from demands of extended family; however, women in seeking personal salvation may lose the need to be involved in family and issues impacting on the community where they find themselves. Ngewu (2004) quotes Reverend Raymond Browns, in his MU Chaplain‘s report from 1988, that:

Worship, prayer, and witness must always be worked out in the context of social concerns, ‗By their fruits ye shall know them‘ The Mothers Union will never let you down. That is something that warms human hearts continually.

Ngewu (2004: 194) believes that although the MU members may separate themselves from the broader society through their uniforms, they have an outstanding commitment to nation building. From the literature I researched, there is evidence to support Ngewu‘s opinion about the MU‘s commitment to nation building. The role and involvement in multiple mass programmes bears testimony to the historical part they played towards democracy and is an acknowledgment of their grass-roots work, however small, which contributes building the nation.

The South African chapter of MU says on its website that it is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. The MU‘s belief is that of a world where God‘s love is shown through loving and respectful relationships:

This is not a vague hope, but a goal we actively pursue through prayer, programmes, policy work and community relationships. By supporting marriage and family life, especially through times of adversity, we tackle the most urgent needs challenging relationships and communities.

MU provides a network through which members of the organisation can serve Christ in their own community through prayer, financial support and actively working at the grassroots level in programmes that meet local needs (http://MU SA Website).

As a women‘s movement, the MU has sometimes been studied with other church-based groups. There are a variety of views on the role that women‘s church groups have played in South Africa‘s recent history. Since its inception, the MU has met weekly for devotional meetings and tea, which were aimed at helping women sustain their loyalties to the church and to remain good and responsible mothers and wives. Today in South Africa, we have inherited this tradition and the MU in their various clusters meet every Thursday. The MU members either come together to celebrate the Eucharist, or go out into their respective communities to pray for those who are recently bereaved, the sick, and those in need. Weekly devotional meetings are held to assist women sustain their Christian loyalties and remain good wives and Gaitskell (2002:377) notes that these gatherings were initiated among African women in the MU by the missionaries and nuns in South Africa. These gatherings soon evolved to being led by black catechist and wives of the black clergy. The African group of the MU became a group with its own vocal style characterised as more typical of the Manyono groups in the Methodist Church than those with an Anglican identity. It was at this time perhaps that African MU members unconsciously came to share their zeal and marital respectability as women by wearing uniforms similar to groups such as the Manyano groups. I was witness to the

filial linkages that exist between the MU and Manyano groups. When I attended and experienced in the townships of and Toekomsrus memorial services of church women who had died belonging to Manyano groups, I found that these gatherings where attended by all the Manyano groups in the area, who all shared the platform to preach, whether Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, or Lutheran. I realised that the MU is more inclusive and supportive of the church women‘s groups than their denominational mother church was, which supports their third objective: to organise in every place a band of mothers who would unite in prayer and seek to maintain a worldwide fellowship in Christ.

The MU was one of the many women‘s organisations, like the ANC Women‘s league, the Black Sash, the Federation of South African Women, that agitated against compulsory pass laws that were put in place to control the movement of Africans. Gaitskell (2002: 383) says that in this act, churchwomen were putting themselves at the heart of a political campaign because the pass laws and migrant labour systems were destructive to black family life. This activism continued with many Anglican women seeing their activism as a direct response to their belief in and love of God. In the fight against apartheid, Hassim (1991: 65) argues that opposition politics during the 1980‘s was dominated by organisations whose major objective was to mobilise women in the national liberation struggle rather than mobilising them for women's liberation. The result of this, Hassim argues, is that women‘s movements reinforced rather than challenged patriarchal domination.

In April 1992, the Women‘s National Coalition was formed to ensure that women‘s needs were voiced. The coalition, an organisation that came into being by the melding of some seventy nine organisations, was involved in making constitutional and legal demands and changes. This coalition included church groups like the MWN, Methodist Manyano and Anglican Women‘s Fellowship. Gaitskell (2002: 383) notes that the MU, however, was not one of the organisations that formed part of the coalition. Hassim (1990: 78), in her study on the Inkatha Freedom Party, which used women to propagate their party position, believes that ―a politics constructed on the basis of women's role in the family can only be progressive for women if it seeks at the same time to

confront and transform the social and economic context in which families are located‖. Hassim‘s belief is that women can re-define their roles and create alternative social arrangements if they so wish.

Moyse (2009) believes that the indigenisation of the MU is undoubtedly a critical historical achievement, both within Anglicanism as well as within an increasingly shifting imperialist global environ. Gaitskell (2002 and 2012) and Walker (1995) both have highlighted the important role played by the MU in battling to overcome the historical racial divisions amongst women in South Africa. Particularly, where this racial divide amongst women within the church has in and of itself contributed towards the fracturing of a potential single voice of women within an organisation, and where men tend to dominate the discourse and marginalise women. Gaitskell (2002: 388) finds that feminists from diverse backgrounds and churchwomen came together to focus on the causes of violence against women. Her feeling is that sexual violence can mobilise women into a gender solidarity that overrides race and class. She goes further and states that:

The days of ‗devout domesticity‘ alone in women‘s church groups are gone – but in fact, that concern for family life found in both MU and Manyano as well as Women‘s Auxiliary and Anglican Women‘s Fellowship, always incorporated wider issues like temperance, female education and community welfare. International links today ensure a global context for these families concerns, and reinforce a sharper awareness of gender oppression (Gaitskell 2002: 388).

While researchers like Gaitskell (2002) and Moyse (2009) celebrate the moves of women‘s movements and Manyono groups to lobby for political and/or gender liberation, I have not seen much contemporary evidence of this in the Johannesburg region where this study was conducted. I question why the MU, which played an important part in shaping the political agenda of the country, did not put into action the big issues of xenophobia, human trafficking and such that they planned to deal with in their 2009 conference.

One then has to look at the arguments of others (Hassim 1991: 71 and Rose 1996: 1-18) who have argued that these groups have been, and continue to be, ―safe-spaces‖ which are non-political and provide a retreat from the oppressions faced by women in everyday life. In so doing, these groups do not empower women or equip them to challenge the political, economic, social, or religious oppression that they face. Hassim (1990: 78) believes that motherhood has different meanings for the various racial-cum-ethnic groups. In locating the concept of motherhood in an analysis of patriarchy, it forces the acknowledgement (and potentially the transcendence) of differences. In trying to understand why the 2009 resolutions where never tackled head on by the MU, one realises that concepts such as motherhood should not be excluded from the political discourse. I concur with Hassim‘s argument that women, in acknowledging their differences, can in fact strengthen rather than undermine women's organisations. In recognising their economic social, race, class and gender preferences, this can encourage women to confront contradictions in their own self-definition.

When asking the participants in this study if the MU addressed issues that impact them on a daily basis in their homes, church and community, the responses were vague. Mariam said that when things are not comfortable at her home, she found that everything would be fine when she met with her group, because she could sit and discuss, giving her a chance to socialise with people, especially women. Attending MU activities is a way for Mariam to escape her home situation. However, she told me that she often hides her pain from her MU members in her group, as with most of the MU members within the group pretend to one another that their homes are problem free. Maria was one of the few married people interviewed and she feels a need to portray to the group that her family life is stable and that her marriage is good. Jackey believed that they do address issues that impact the community, such as ―We go to the poor, the disabled then we pray for them and then we feed them. You can‘t just pray and say amen and go. This person needs something, is hungry‖. Dianne was of the opinion that the most important issues that the MU should be addressing are those social issues that impact the community. She believed that they talk a

lot in meetings about the young women of Mary Magdalene Guild, issues of poverty, orphans and unemployment and these were real. However, she also felt that these needs must be addressed in practical ways. Dianne said that issues that pertain to education should be addressed in the home and that one had to start with one‘s own children. Lizzy said that issues impacting MU families, like the scourge of drugs, were dealt with, as the members could pray when they are together. ―They pray and cry at the back, you don‘t worry.‖ I questioned her as to what would happen if something was not right in one‘s own home. Lizzy responded that, ―if you feel something is too much for you, you pray and you cry, and everybody feels how you feel.‖ Lizzy was concerned that if there is too much elaboration on one‘s own problem, those things could be spoken about outside the group.

Reverend C was of the opinion that the important issues that the MU addressed focused on the raising of money to build the church. Their biggest issue was fundraising; she explained how money was raised in a ―molokotwane‖, where each member was obliged to give a certain amount of money at a prayer service. She felt that the MU was not addressing issues that impacted the community, such as drugs, poverty and soup kitchens, and that there was no consciousness around the issues out there. Rather, their main concern is raising money. The MU website says that they support through prayer and financial support, and that they actively work at a grassroots level in programmes that meet local needs.

The zeal of the MU members in fundraising is referred to by both Gaitskell (1990) and Haddad (2016). They infer that some of the characteristics of the MU include extensive fundraising. Gaitskell believes that was much prized by their desire for financial and organisational autonomy. I however do not think that fundraising is unique to the black or South African component of the MU, as indicated by Patsy that the sophisticated marketing component of the MSH is very much part of the MU headquarters. Cognisance must be taken that the MU was imported to SA so to assist in raising funds for the pioneer missionaries.

Conclusion With all the MU‘s noble intentions to be able to address societal issues that are of significant concern to its members at a grassroots level, my findings showed that the resolutions and the urgency to change in the ever increasing rapid pace of life did not resonate with ordinary members. The provincial president of the MU identified as far back as 2000 that issues such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, violence and abuse needed to be addressed. However, these concerns have barely filtered down to grassroots members and unfortunately leadership has done little to remedy that. Ordinary members are painfully aware of their needs at home and in the community, but are not given adequate training and support on how to combat poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, violence and abuse. The resounding response from ordinary members was that things could be changed by prayer. From the responses of the MU members interviewed, they at heart do honestly believe in building healthy families within healthy communities. The actions of MU women can change or shift the status quo as is evidenced by their ability to inspire subtle protest; much like the 1930‘s, when they first wore their uniforms. Their political will forged throughout the 1950‘s until the negotiated settlement and new dispensation in 1994 does not mean that they have no understanding of, or no desire to become involved in, issues more secular than their prayerfulness.

The prayer and witness of MU members will never be able to resolve the social concerns of the communities in which they operate, if there is no concomitant mechanism with which to effectively deal with the contradictions that are so evident within our society. At present in the Anglican Church and our political parties more generally, one must assume that part of the failure in dealing with the issues and needs of women and issues around motherhood is primarily due to their exclusion from the central discourse. It is only when women challenge face to face these contradictions that they will empower and enable the organisation to be strengthened, thus enabling it to raise the consciousness of its grassroots membership and empowering it to properly confront the burning issues facing its members at a community level.

Although the MU is strong in numbers within the Anglican Church and its structures are well organised, they have not exercised their power or influence with the church or influenced the political paradigm within their communities. Pinto (2003: 59) cites Foucault, who argued that ―‗…that power is neither given, nor exchanged, nor recovered, but rather exercised, and that it only exists in action‘, i.e., ‗in the interplay of non-egalitarian and mobile relations‘ ‖. Pinto further says that:

Power is not primarily the maintenance and reproduction of economic relationships, but is above all relation force immanent to all sorts of relationships, in which it functions as the internal condition of their differentiation. Power comes from the bottom up, i.e. from the depth of the social body where it is employed and exercised through net like organisation.

Such intentional applications of technologies of power or discipline became the watch word for the nascent MU. So, whether from the margins or from below, as in the context of class struggle, the potential for substantive gains and foot-holds within and over the MU potentially allows its membership to penetrate the prevailing fog that continues to deny its presence, worth and value as moral agents. Members of the MU must of necessity begin to develop instruments and methodologies that will further enable them to bring to bear upon the church and society, or at the very least within their communities, a healing long overdue, and desperately needed.

I firmly believe that once the MU comes to the realisation of how well-organised it is within its structures and portfolios and how much power it possesses, this will help it to understand how to wield its strength to be a force for change in the church – thus shifting from ostensible, to very real authority. Then and only then will its forward looking resolutions be realised, acted upon and brought to fruition within the broader church and society.

Chapter 5

Piety and Power

The MU began as a movement to encourage and teach women to become faithful Christian mothers. In chapter three I showed how the movement took root in South Africa in the early twentieth century and then began to flourish after 1938 when black women were allowed to join the organisation. As the organisation has developed, so too it has had to grapple with shifting social and cultural ideas of motherhood, and I argue that one of the problems within the organisation is its weak theology of motherhood and understanding of Mary. The importance of developing a theology of motherhood is central to the South African context where colonial and apartheid forces have corroded the African family and African meaning of motherhood. As the MU, like so many other Christian groups, continues to attract more and more members, it has the potential to be an important space for a new decolonised understanding of Christian motherhood in the African context to be established.

From interviews, it became clear that for most women the MU is so important in their lives because it gives them a space in which they can pray for their own concerns. Most of the women in this study were working class or unemployed and they had limited material resources to help them cope with life. The MU gives them a space where they can feel safe and spiritually empowered to face their daily battles. It also provides them with membership to a group that is respected in the community and through which they are able to do works of charity for the most needy and bereaved in their community. This gives the women a sense of purpose, social status and meaning in their communities. While the 2009 resolutions laid out noble intentions, I show in the daily experiences of ordinary members in six different MU groups that these resolutions had no impact or real meaning. What did have an impact was the amount of money that an MU group is able to raise and this is one key dynamic in the power that they have within parishes and the Anglican Communion in Southern Africa as a whole. In this chapter, I ventilate some of the core issues relating to power and piety within the MU in larger detail.

Using Foucault‘s analysis of power and its technologies within the context of the MU, I show how the old adage that states ―being powerless within power‖ applies to the MU. As a woman, as a priest – someone in ―power‖ – I feel compelled to ask the question – ―How did such a powerful body become femasculated‖? Below, I outline the range and depth of the MU‘s powers, but first I need to explain the word femasculate. Given the paucity of adequate words in the English language, I have created the construct ―(f)emasculate‖ to speak of the calculated patriarchal control over an organisation such as the MU.

At every turn, women are moulded in the image of patriarchy. All dictionaries initiate their explanation of emasculate (ĭ-măsˈkyə-lātˌ) with the definition - v. ―To castrate‖, followed by - v. ―To deprive of strength or vigour; weaken‖, and finally - adj. ―Deprived of virility, strength, or vigour‖ – all of which is intended to describe a males‘ fall from grace, authority and power. There is, however, no single word that properly defines the removal of power and authority from women. Emasculate is the only word in the English language that has come to mean ―removal of a man from power‖ or ―a weak man‖. It is precisely for that reason that I have chosen to create the construct ―(f)emasculate‖ to speak into the calculated patriarchal control over an organisation such as the MU.

The answer requires a rigorous examination of the power dynamics at play here, both within the church and the MU organisation. In the post-apartheid era, the class composition of the MU seems to have morphed since 1994 and the organisation now constitutes women from varied social strata and economic classes. Although the members of the MU are all of the same racial group they have very different ideological/political agendas and economic realities. In exploring what tensions and what power dynamics exist within the organisation, I investigate the technologies of power used by women in the MU to control and regulate how the organisation functions and how they live out the ideals, visions, and theology of the organisation.

The MU is a well-structured and professionally run organisation that has its head-quarters at the MHS in England, which hosts the World Wide Council of Mothers Union. In understanding how much influence the British chapter or

MSH still has over the MU in SA, an understanding of its hierarchical structure is needed. In conducting my research, two participants who were previous office bearers in both the diocese and provincial structure of the MU were of the opinion that the MSH still holds ultimate power over its structures. Their opinions were important as both had visited the ―the house‖ in the UK and had both a South African and British experience of the MU. Patsy, who visited MSH before becoming a card carrying member of the MU, says of her experience:

For ‗them‘, Mary Sumner is almost like a heritage site. She as the founder of the Mothers Union worked from that building – her husband was also a priest at the time, and did some work from that building. They preserved that building and it became the head office of the Mothers Union world-wide. So it was interesting for me to get there and buy all these Mothers Union engraved things and just getting great ideas – pins, scarves, note pads, mugs, I took pictures. So it is a whole marketing thing. A whole marketing thing – a change from what we know – I managed to get a few items for my mum – gold earrings with Mothers Union emblems on them. I eventual used some of those items for myself years later when I joined Mothers Union.

Reverend M had also been to Mary Sumner House on official Provincial business representing Southern Africa and was aware that all major decisions came from MSH in England. ―It is very unusual when you look at it‖, she remarked. She said that any decisions, whether at a diocesan level or provincial level, still had to be reported to the MU at MSH. The MU of Southern Africa forms part of the larger world-wide organisation and reports to MSH, which houses the Trustees, World Wide Council and world president, who governs the Anglican Communions Mothers Union.

As per the organogram in the MU‘s manual, the inner circle – the First Tier – is MSH. The Second Tier are the provincial presidents, provincial executives, provincial councils that represent the different provinces of the Anglican Communion. This council represents the MU members in any particular province. The MU PC is the decision-making body of the organisation and any

decisions must be ratified by all the diocesan presidents, elected delegates from dioceses, the liaison bishop (chaplain), the MU organisers and elected executive members. The Mothers Union Diocesan Council represents all members from the diocesan. Representatives at MU Diocesan Council, the decision making body that monitors the work of the MU in the parishes, empowers the members of the diocese, gives support to the MU organiser and facilitates the employment of the MU organiser.

The MU Diocesan Council identifies the needs of the community and plans intervention to alleviate problem situations. The next tiers are the diocesan presidents, the diocesan executives and diocesan councils that make up the dioceses in each province. These are followed by the next tiers made up of the presiding members, executives, deaneries and representatives. Next comes the MU parish leader and parishes, followed by the branch leader and branches. The MU parish leader is the liaison between the incumbent – that is the rector or priest in charge, the parish council, the diocesan president, the MU organiser, the presiding member and the members of the MU in the parish. The MU Parish Executive is elected triennially at the AGM with an executive comprised of the parish leader and vice, secretary and treasurer, all branch leaders and two additional members. The last tiers are the branch leaders and branches with their different sub-units, for example the Saturday worship group, the Thursday group, sewing groups, etc.

The vision and mission of the MU in its information manual and on its internet website states is as follows:

Our vision is of a world where God‘s love is shown through loving, respectful, and nourishing relationships...We will show our Christian faith by the transformation of communities worldwide. We will promote stable marriage, family life and the protection of children.

The MU and the Worldwide Council Structures and How it is Governed The worldwide president presides over the Worldwide Council meetings. The minutes and notices are sent to all provincial and diocesan presidents, who are

voting members of the world wide MU. Every ten years, all the provincial and diocesan presidents of the MU meet for a Worldwide Council. The President has the right to attend any other Worldwide Council meeting not less than twice a year. While each diocese has their own rules and regulations, these cannot be in conflict with the primary constitution of the MU. Every parish or branch of the MU is required to have copies of the constitution, rules and regulations as a prescribed guide as to: 1) who may be elected when and how; 2) the period that office bearers should serve; 3) who may or may not vote; 4) how often meetings must be held; 5) how many members make a quorum that can make binding decisions; 6) who can chairs meetings; 7) the roles and responsibilities, duties and functions; 8) what reports are to be given and when; and 9) the decision- making process and who is authorised to make decisions. The Mother‘s Union Manual (2013), states that the election of the council and executive members and the appointment of the liaison bishop and the MU chaplain are prescribed in the Provincial Constitution of the MU organisation.

If one scrutinises the chart below, the strength of the MU organisation can be observed in its totality, and its sophistication becomes clear. The hierarchical structure starts from the inner circle, which is the Mary Sumner head office, and its power is expanded and distributed to its structures on the outer circle. In the Anglican Church of Southern Africa the Provincial Standing Committee (PSC) is the highest deliberative body of the province, which meets annually between provincial synods. In the Constitution and Canon of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, canon 43(3) (a) (iii) states that:

The Mothers Union and the Anglican Women’s Fellowship shall each be entitled to send one representative to Provincial Standing Committee. Each such representative shall be a confirmed communicant over the age of 18 years and an office-bearer of the provincial executive in the organisation concerned and must ordinarily reside in one of the dioceses of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. Each such representative shall have all the rights and privileges of elected representatives, including the right to speak but not to vote.

Patsy, who had visited the MSH head office in England, said that in the MU manual, there are five committee heads and unit committees, which are then married or paired to the five objectives of the organisation. She believed these objectives are marketing, human resource development, prayer and spirituality, outreach and social finance. She was of the understanding that the MU is extremely organised and its marketing drive spanned the global networks of the Anglican Communion.

Interestingly, in her study of Manyano groups, Holness (1997) recognises that the women have an extraordinary capacity to raise money. The power to raise money confers a particular status on the women – something that they usually do not experience elsewhere. Holness‘s opinion in this context is that money and power and empowerment belong together. I have attended a molokotwane/nkunuthela (collecting of money) by the MU at a regional level and am aware of the collection of money by branches. This form of collecting money is common in townships parishes and is not unique to the MU. However, it has been difficult for me to ascertain from MU members at a parish level if their respective guilds have private bank accounts at a parish level. The Diocese of Johannesburg requires that sub-groups (e.g. MU, AWF, Bernard Mizeki, Zones etc.) within the parishes have finances that are reflected in the financial statements of their respective parishes, as the guilds are not independent organisations. The diocese is aware that there is still secrecy within these groups, which often have an aversion to disclose group monies, and is willing to help parishes resolve these conflicts. The MU branches are not immune to this kind of conflict at the parish level. However, the MU at a Diocese and regional level do have audited financials.

Patsy was concerned that none of its local branch members really understand the influence the organisation has or how to utilise the power that it could wield. Her opinion was that the local organisations have not realised how to use their power. Because of the MU‘s potential voice or the influence that it could exercise, she believed that its silence around certain issues was deafening.

Organisational Structure of Mothers Union

Class Tensions Prior to 1994, the MU constituted a reasonably uniform group of women from the same racial and class background with similar theological/political agendas. However, the class composition of the groups seems to have changed post- apartheid. Although all women wear the same uniform to meetings, their shoes tell a different story. The MU now attracts a range of black women from unemployed and working class woman through to those who are captains of industry. The organisation currently constitutes women from varied social strata and economic classes who, although still of the same racial group, have very different political agendas. What impact does this have on the agenda and practices of the organisation? What tensions and power dynamics does this lead to? No doubt women in South Africa still wage a struggle for economic freedom, social freedom as well as spiritual certitude in an environment where problematic dogmas surface and mould patriarchal dominance.

I would argue that black women have been femasculated by colonial intrusion and apartheid suppression; they have been and still are the most exploited group in this society. Further, with the dispensation of 1994, only a small minority of black women were able to change their social and economic status. Where black women were previously united and worked towards a common paradigm – that being the removal of apartheid - they have now found themselves further divided by class. Consequently, black working class women find themselves further removed from the prospect of real power and authority.

The work of Gaitskell (2002), Hassim (1991), and Walker (1995) have problematised the racial and class composition of MU members under apartheid, showing that it was an organisation where these differences were minimised by the larger uniform anti-apartheid protest of the group. Hassim (1991: 78) asks these questions:

Does the fact that all women do not suffer the same kinds of oppression and that not all women are equally exploited preclude common struggle against patriarchy? If only black women can represent their experiences, should struggles on the basis of those experiences exclude white

women? Do black middle class women have more in common with white women of the same class? Or does racial identity always override class identity?

Hassim claims that if you take the argument to its logical extreme, it would seem that there are only limited possibilities for joint equal action between black and white women.

Walker (1995: 417-437) turns to Lewis, who has delineated an equally stark contrast between ―western‖ and ―black‖ concepts of maternity and motherhood. Lewis‘ argument is that:

Black motherhood has been constrained and shaped by patriarchy, but at the same time she insists that women's own understanding of motherhood (as a source of power as women, but also as blacks fighting against colonial and racial oppression) must be treated with respect.

Walker says that the concept of motherism has been used as a tool for what she perceives as the need for women to assist men in male-centred race and class battles with critics condemning the evasion of gender debates on power and struggle in the national liberatory rhetoric. Walker believes that those critics of the supportive roles that black women play are Eurocentric by setting goals and strategies that are inappropriate, and that there is no or very little attempt to acknowledge that black women are not simply pawns of patriarchal ideology.

Walker (1995) argues that the discourse of motherhood in many black, working- class communities may not emphasise women's involvement in the day-to-day care of their children, as much as their responsibilities for financial support and discipline. Hassim (1991: 76) believes that these groups were held together by the ―female solidarity which enabled women to make sense of a rapidly changing urban society‖ and that many joined organisations within which they fought to preserve their households and families. Gaitskell (2002: 388) is of the opinion that issues like sexual violence can mobilise women into a gender

solidarity that overrides race and class. She believes that the days of ‗devout domesticity‘ alone in women‘s church groups are gone.

I agree with Gaitskell that issues like sexual violence can mobilise women into gender solidarity, overriding race and class. One, however, needs also to take cognisance that women who live in economically deprived societies are femasculated and face the reality of oppression twofold, one by being victims of gender violence and two by poverty, making it difficult for them to organise and mobilise. Taking part in marches against abuse does not address the dangers and violence perpetrated against these women on a daily basis. One must however recognise that women in South Africa have been divided by many contradictions and LenkaBula (2007:14) believes that it is important to note that,‖ white or black women cannot always be homogenised and presented as though they are all victims of exclusion and marginalisation in life. Sometimes they inhabit different spaces and locations and therefore act to undo injustices, ignore injustices or are numbed by them.‖

It was clear from the five interviewees who were from working class, economically struggling backgrounds, that their involvement in the MU was viewed by them as a means of levelling of their social circumstances, i.e. giving them equal social status to women of a better economic class. They all expressed in some way that the organisation gave them a degree of respect within their homes, church structure and community. They felt that their involvement as MU members at a branch level addresses their day-to-day mothering needs. Two of the women, who were middle class and had business backgrounds, held vastly different views on the issues that the MU needed to address when compared to the majority of the members who were working class or unemployed. I acknowledge that they were both from previously disadvantage backgrounds, but their new-found economic independence gave them the freedom to focus more on outreach and issues of national importance. Their views on wearing the MU uniform were also in opposition to the rigorous commitment expressed by other working class members who expected everyone to show equal devotion and commitment to wearing the uniform. The

three priest‘s views were around outreach, and an outward view of the MU, which would address issues that impact women on a day-to-day basis.

Power, Uniformity and Personal Piety Within the Anglican Church, the MU is a highly visible group, particularly as most members wear a common uniform to meetings and to church services. Collectively, they appear to present a uniform front in dress, thinking and behaviour. Does this uniformity speak to a genuine equality or is there a particular power hierarchy within the group? Or is the uniformity in dress a tool that simply signifies that the wearers adhere to a particular standard of ideal Christian woman‘s/mother‘s behaviour?

Foucault, in his analysis of different forms and technologies of power, argued that within ecclesiastical institutions ―pastorate power‖, as characterised by confession, direction, obedience and sacrifice, modelled on the shepherd-flock relationship is particularly powerful (Chrulew 2014: 56 and Peterson 2012: 92). Foucault‘s analysis of power can be used to interrogate the technologies of power within the MU. Does the uniformity of the MU not also subject women to a form of panoptic power such that members are continually under one another‘s gaze (Mungwini, 2012: 343-344)? In Gaitskell‘s (1990: 261) research, she found that by the first/second decade the Methodist Manyano groups were evolving their own uniforms and by the late 1920‘s their standardised uniforms where adopted. The inspiration for the uniforms was copied from the British redcoats. Gaitskell says that by the late 1920‘s, the Anglican women in the Transvaal were bound to a uniform of black skirt and headscarves, with white jackets which was probably influenced by the nuns. Historically, people have been controlled and uniformly regulated by institutions. It is Ngewu‘s (2004: 241) view that women have been conditioned into wearing uniforms at school, work, and elsewhere, and may find it strange that there should be uniforms worn in church. The strangeness lies in the fact that women in the church would want to self-regulate and condition themselves by restricting their behaviour and movement. During my study, one of the priests, who in spite of having worked tirelessly in the MU, said that it was due to the uniform that she never wanted to become a member of the MU, although she wears the pin. There is a minority

group, predominantly those from the middle class and in the leadership, who are not in agreement with wearing the uniform and prefer to wear only the MU pin as their allegiance to the organisation. However, I would say that the priest interviewed is still conditioned and controlled by the wearing of her clerical clothes.

Only two other members interviewed had a problem with the uniform, both of whom had held influential positions within the MU and were middle class. One of the members believed that the uniform was an African ―thing‖. In the British chapter of the MU white people do not just wear uniforms. She said:

That‘s why the discussion around Mothers Union and their uniforms being ―black and white‖ or are you. If the Mothers Union is in your heart, that‘s a personal thing and a mind-set. I feel like a whole committed, affiliated a member in good standing – even when I am just wearing a dress like now.

When I asked how other members felt about her not wearing the uniform, she felt that it was backward, as it was the emblem of the MU that made you belong. She felt that when one wore the uniform, it was as if one was not allowed to have your own mind. ―If one did not wear a uniform the other members made you feel as if you were only half in, if you were not in the black and white uniform.‖ She felt that it was ancient and it was one of the obstacles that prevented young people from wanting to join the MU. From the interviews I can only concur with Ngewu (2004: 241) that there appears to be disagreement between those who are in authority and the ordinary MU members around the importance and place of uniforms. All those whom I interviewed who did not see the need to wear the uniform, or were against it, held some sort of office in the MU. Ngewu (2004: 241) explains that it is in meetings of diocesan councils as well as provincial councils that play the role of gatekeepers; those who serve on the councils understand and are capable of interpreting the constitution. Those who are in leadership would be fully aware that it is not a constitutional expectation to wear the uniform. Some members who perceive themselves as westernised or upper class, eschew the uniform on the grounds that they need

to be seen to stand apart from those who govern. The decision to go against the trend, Ngewu says, may be one of the manifestations of ―protest‖ which the organisation has to live with. He says that some MU members detest the wearing of uniforms and would prefer an organisation where there was no expectation on its members to wear uniforms.

Nowhere in any of the literature that I researched was a uniform compulsory in the MU. In the MU in ACSA, the wearing of uniform can change from diocese to diocese, according style and colour, and there are certain days that the uniform must or should be worn. Ngewu (2004: 175) says that the uniform is not a constitutional requirement, even though he found that some members in the MU cannot imagine the organisation without the uniform. In my research, it seemed unclear, even within the branches that I researched, to reach consensus as to which days of the week a member ought to wear the uniform. Shirley said that some said the uniform must be worn on the first week and last week of the month to church and other church meetings. All the MU members interviewed, who wore the uniform agreed on one thing: that wearing uniforms to the Thursday meetings was of central importance to them. Ngewu (2004: 175) says that there is nothing that illustrates the ―rainbow facet‖ of the MU more than the wide assortment of uniforms worn by the MU members. He says that all the dioceses in ACSA have had their fair share of problems with regard to the uniform.

The male priest that I interviewed gave his perspective on how the uniform came into being:

There was the whole question of uniform – in the Dioceses of Johannesburg, we had white members, but they did not use the uniform, while black congregations have always used the uniform. Now that amplified the division of the church between Black and White. Don‘t think that apartheid came with the Afrikaner, it has always been there. Black congregations were viewed differently from White congregations by the dioceses. They used to be called Native Mission Districts and Whites were Parishes. They‘ve changed in my time as a priest...You see you

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have evolved with the evolution of the church and the Mothers Union! We have, we have – we were part of the people that pushed the church into evolution. We were called names, but we were determined that you cannot sing one church, one faith, one lord when you have got differences. So, then the Black congregations insisted on uniform – the White congregations were saying no – Mary Sumner did not use a uniform – and they started dwindling away, the White members, but even in Black congregations – now my mother used to wear her uniform every Sunday. And then, my late wife used to use her uniform every Sunday – and then it evolved – now look we are an organisation for spiritual growth – not particularly for uniform.

Gaitskell (1990: 261) notes that in the (SWM Journal, April 1936:8), a comment is made which was uppermost in white minds of domesticity: ―Considering the multiplicity of uniforms of the Mothers Union, it would be well advised to make their homes distinctive, and keep their clothes common place.‖ Gaitskell is of the opinion that Western dress had lost its spiritual significance, and there were periodic worries of the sanctimonious nature of the prayer union. It was felt that there was now a sense of superiority over women who could lead them to be stricter on one another than that of the church disciplinary machinery.

I asked the priest if some of the meetings were very heated and he responded:

Yes, very heated. And then as time went on, they said yes you have, but don‘t enforce it to be used on every Sunday – then it evolved that way. And then Mothers Union was only on Thursdays, because women were not working and I believe it is not only in South Africa – but in England the women were not working. In Israel, the duties of the mother were the upbringing of the children‖.

The male priest further articulated that ―So, they said okay, the MU held meetings on a Thursday. It was important for the church to reconnect to come into pray together.‖ In Haddard‘s (2016) research of the Thursday meetings held by the women she says that, ―Thursday was and remains Manyano day, when

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women meet usually in the homes of one of the members‖. She is of the belief that the Thursday tradition developed from the practice of launder-women fetching the washing on Monday from their employers, washing on a Tuesday, and ironing and returning the washing on a Wednesday. Haddad says that in Gaitskell studies of the women she found that ―as women moved into full-time domestic service, Thursdays became recognized as the designated ‗day off‘ for African women.

Reverend S then discussed how he believes the MU came to wear the uniform:

So, these mothers decide to come on Thursdays and had to use particular kind of uniform of identifying themselves as the mothers of prayer. As it is called in our language ―Ke bo mathipelo‖ the Mothers of Prayer. So, it evolves to the extent that parishes had to decide on when the uniform was going to be used. Some said twice a month, some said once a month, some said every Sunday. It comes from you – if you want to use it – use it. So that‘s how the uniform in part developed.

Gaitskell (2002: 379) showed that the Methodist Manyano, which the black MU members copied when they styled their black skirts and white jackets, adopted a particularly striking uniform, with Christian blood-atonement symbolism attributed to its colour combination of red blouses, black skirts with white collars and hats. The strictness of the rule and the pride in their uniforms were a distinct heritage that the Manyano women have clung to (Gaitskell 2002: 385). Camaroff (1985: 205), in her research on uniforms of the ZCC and the Full Witness church, said that like many religious movements in South Africa, great emphasis is placed on the wearing of uniforms:

Such uniforms are held to be infused with power, to, encase the body of the wearer like a shield; indeed, in the densely populated ‗stad‘, the apparel of the various denominations, and the distinctions they signify, appear to be an important dimension of personal identity.

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Haddad (2016) cites Gaitskell, who argues that Western clothing was a sign of the first converts‘ commitment to new religious beliefs:

Western clothing lacked ‗symbolic particularity‘ with little distinction between young and old, married or unmarried, widow or mother. The church uniform worn by Manyano women could thus be interpreted as a reassertion of a distinctive Christian dress that proclaimed spiritual allegiance, advertised marital respectability, and was recognized as a reward for upright living. For Manyano women the church uniform replaced Western clothing as the mark of Christian commitment. It also replaced the MU badge as a distinctive marking which was considered adequate corporate identification by white leaders, but was not sufficient for Manyano members.

In the Diocese of Johannesburg, the MU members wear the black and white uniform; however, in my observations of the uniform in the MU, I found that there was not one branch that had the same uniform policy as another. One of the participants said that in Southern Africa there was no consistency in the design and colour of the uniforms. She said that:

There is a variation of uniforms, there is a blue uniform that you are allowed to make up yourself, but the material already has the MU insignia on it. If one went to the Eastern Cape the uniform was purple and black, in Lesotho the colour was almost turquoise. The uniform of the MU is not as uniformly displayed like the Methodist when they wear theirs. In the diocese of Johannesburg the official uniform worn by the MU is a black skirt with a white blouse and girdle, there is a special button or pin which is a reminder of ones vows made when you become a member. They also wear a hat which has significance in the six candles on the altar.

Mariam said that when going to some functions of the MU, there was a black and orange outfit that was for cluster meetings, and that sometimes at conferences they would get a white ―T-shirt‖ skipper, and at conferences they would also receive bags with the MU emblem on them. Haddad (2016) refers to

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Brandel-Syrier‘s experience, who found that as more members of the MU become middle class in an urban setting, other forms of ‗uniform‘ are adopted for regular worship. She also found that there is a growing practice to design more modern clothing from material that has been printed with the MU logo, which is then worn to an ordinary worship service.

In May and June of 2017, I accompanied and worshipped with two of the groups of the MU in their Thursday morning worship. On the first occasion, I donned my clerical shirt with its collar, and wore pants; however the reception from the members I met with was not very welcoming, and I felt like an observer. After the third Thursday, I decided to wear a similar outfit of white shirt and black skirt with black stockings, with black pumps – this immediately opened doors and I was invited to go into the community on their walkabouts. We entered many homes where there was illness or bereavement and I was allowed to be part of their ritual of prayers and in singing for those whom we were ministering to. All the homes that we entered for the next five Thursday‘s were welcoming, and we were even invited to share in cups of tea in the homes we entered after our testimonies. Unlike a priest having to make an appointment to visit a home, these women are given easy access without an appointment and their visiting of the bereaved, whether Anglican or not, is one that is expected in the communities in which they reside and function.

Ngewu (2004: 175) found that there are two groups in the MU to be considered when researching the wearing of uniform. He says that there are those who wear the uniform with such regularity that it borders on obsession, with the belief that there could be no MU without the uniform. Then there are those who have a strong belief that the uniform should not be made obligatory for the MU members. In my interviews with the participants who embraced the wearing of the MU uniform, the majority felt a certain obligation in the way they comported themselves when dressed in their regalia. Mariam felt that even though more women did not want to join the MU because of the uniform, women outside the organisation respected her. When she wore her uniform she felt extremely proud and stressed just how proud she was. Shirley said that she would wear her uniform every week, as she wanted to set a good example. Ronny believes

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that it was their priest who insisted that they wear the black and white uniform every Sunday, so that they could go with him to give communion to the sick in the community after their Sunday service. She said that she wears a uniform, but believed that there needed to be a conversation around it as she believed that this was the reason why young people were not joining the organisation – because they did not want to wear the uniform. She explained the symbolism of the uniform, but I found that each interviewee had a varying version of what the symbolism of the garments meant.

In a presentation given at a leadership workshop for the MU parish leaders in the Diocese of Johannesburg on the 16 of April 2016, the uniform of the MU was explained as such:

The meaning of the word uniform: uni =one, form=type or image. Uniform also means: similar, same kind, identical. When people are dressed in identical clothes the person looking at them can safely assume that they belong to one organisation. From the biblical point of view, it means that all the members of the Mothers Union are one and equal in the eyes of God. We are one body; we compassionately care about one another and those around us. We represent the image of Christ, which is humility, compassion, mercy, caring and love. No member of the MU is different from the other or dressed in glaring glamour or more expensive clothes than the other.

At the 1954 Provincial Council of the MU, the wives of the CPSA Bishops presented the principle of ―uniformity‖ as a goal towards which the MU should strive. The black members of the MU were particularly committed to upholding the principle of invariability at all possible costs (Ngewu 2004: 176). According to Ngewu (2004), the MU is not characterised by the coherence of its parts, but by sameness, which finds its best expression in the attire worn by the MU.

The symbolism of the MU uniform was explained and presented at the Parish Leaders meeting on the 16 April 2016 workshop with the theme ―Black Hat and earrings‖, which elaborated:

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The six panels represent the six candles on the altar which indicate the light that Christ brought into the world. These also represent the seven words of Christ, with the Cross, if one counts the brim. Earrings if worn should be small not big as a symbol of respectable and humble mother/wife/Christian women. The wearing of neck-pieces or necklaces: In order to look simple, the recommended necklace should be, one with a pendant that bears the MU logo, a rosary, a cross. The white blouse – white represents, purity and reverence/respect because it represents the cloth that was used to cover Jesus Christ‘s body at His grave. Therefore you as a mother must bear Christ-like purity. The five buttons represent the five objectives meaning mothers will work tirelessly to live out the objectives so that people understand and appreciate what the organisation stands for. The button holes represent Christ‘s wounds meaning members must be prepared to withstand suffering, thus remaining prayerful to win the battle against all forms of evil. Long sleeves show a respectable and well behaved mother. The MU pin represents the Alpha and Omega. It is to be worn on the left side of the top, close to the heart. When wearing the pin, mothers are embracing Christ‘s value such as, warmth, love, compassion, help and support for everyone. The MU sign/logo on the pin resembles Alpha and Omega i.e. Christ is our faith, the beginning and the end, blue symbolises heavenly obedience as Christians. Skirts, stockings and shoes should ideally be: Skirts - plain black in colour in straight or semi-flare with one box pleat that does not show the skin above the knee. Long enough to cover knees when standing and seated to avoid exposure of a mother‘s body that may not detract a preacher. The stocking should be plain black without decorations or motifs. Shoes should be plain black, comfortably high for walking distances while practising the MU objectives such as pastoral care etc. The skirt stocking and shoes represent Christ‘s tomb and misery/suffering during his crucifixion that guaranteed us abundant life. The MU girdle is tied three times to represent the trinity i.e. in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The girdle must hang on the left hand side of the skirt to symbolise the water and blood which flowed

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out of Christ‘s body when he was stabbed on the Cross, just before taking His last breath to succumb to death. Christ‘s death means when we join the MU, our old or normal worldly self, dies and gives way to our new born spiritual people. A mother can only be obedient and effective when serving if they are spiritually grounded. The MU mother/member should remain a well-behaved woman of God with or without the uniform. The uniform is only an outward image so behaviour should speak volumes of the Christ, God we serve and our Patron Saint, Mary the Mother of our Lord. At all times, we should remain prayerful, compassionate, humble leaders who display respect and dignity. We are to also remain calm even in the face of provocative members or situations. No mother can do or handle all these alone without God‘s help; the Almighty should and must remain at the centre of our lives.

Dianne wore a uniform and stressed that every Thursday the uniform must be worn. She said that when one wears the uniform one had to behave well, and she felt that young and old respected her more when she was robed in her uniform. Ngewu (2004: 177) writes that for some of the members, the uniform is like a rallying point that holds and embodies the uniformity and coherence of the organisation.

To date, there has not been adequate research done on the ―power dynamics‖ within any of the MU groups worldwide and one wonders whether Foucault‘s idea of panopticism, which has become an influential idea in conceptualising issues and principles of social control and deviance, helps to explain the behaviour and control of the MU members. Mungwini (2012) looks at Foucault‘s idea of the panopticon, which argues that:

This ideal prison utilises the principle of the gaze and the surveillance metaphor of ‗seeing without being seen‘ to control, dominate, and normalize behaviour. The principle being that the prisoners should never be able to tell whether they are being watched or not is thus central to the Panopticon design (Mungwini 2012: 344).

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Mungwini adds that the major advantage of the panopticon is its ability,

To induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power…a power relation independent of the person who exercises it;…the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers (Ibid).

Foucault‘s idea of the panopticism as a symbol of social dynamics in society more generally can be operationally seen in the theology and understanding of the Marionology in the eleventh and twelfth century. Boss (2000: 1), in trying to understand the influence of Marionology on European culture, looks back to the Middle Ages when Mary was seen as the undisputed ―mistress of the world‖. In studying the statue of the Virgin enthroned, Boss believes that as one gazes on the image of the Virgin it may give the impression that she is looking into you and through you so that the tokens of lordship, such as the throne, are undergirded by the impression of a power that is greater than the political, but less easily defined. She suggests that as the viewer of such an image, one might feel oneself to be an object of the statue‘s gaze and to become subjected to its uncanny authority. She quotes Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet, who says: ―‗The image, fixes its black eyes upon us and with the aura of mystery which surrounds it commands of us with a tantalising stare.‘ ‖ This seems to validate Mungwini‘s (2012: 344) explanation of Foucault‘s idea, that further from the conscious presence of the eyes of the supervisor, the inmates develop a psychological state of controlling their behaviour all the time. In other words, they appear to become their own masters through a process of self-regulating behaviour. The constant threat of the invisible supervisor creates an atmosphere in which prisoners behave appropriately, even without being supervised. Mariam wore a uniform, but felt that it did not alter her personality; although she did claim that she was fully aware that when she had the uniform on, she had to conduct herself in a certain way. ―I must behave‖ she said.

Based on the opinions and responses, and my interaction with MU members, I observed and recorded much of the class tensions that were evident and are

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constantly alive, albeit under the surface. There is a determination to meld personal piety within the MU in order to create a sense of uniformity and equality. In the interviews, one senses how ever since African women entered the MU its early years, the uniform has always been a contentious issue, with some members feeling that there was a unwritten ethical code imposed on them, while others believing that it was an equaliser. This is also evident in the literature, as Haddad says that in 1958 there was unhappiness in Natal about the wearing of MU uniforms, and the matter was discussed with MSH. There is a letter to the MU president in London by a Mrs Lorato requesting that the MU continue wearing uniforms, saying: ―We Africans are not all alike. Some are very poor. And the question of uniform helped to let us all look the same. In one way or the other, it is something that helps us in our Christian life‖ (Haddad 2016: 161). The futile attempt by the church hierarchy to stop the wearing of the uniform failed, where-upon it was handed back to the CPSA provincial council in order to find an alternate solution, which they never did.

When asking participants about how they acted or felt when wearing the MU uniform, whether there existed an unwritten code of ethics that they imposed on themselves. Mariam said that she felt privileged to wear her uniform, and when it came to going to parties, she would never consider taking a glass of wine. She felt that whether one lived in a Zozo (type of shack) or in a house, one was made equal by wearing the uniform.

Shirley said that when she came back from church on a Sunday, the first thing she would do was to take her uniform off, and she would never touch a bottle of beer until she had put other clothes on. She explained that although her daughter thought that she looked comical in her uniform, she looks like everyone else in their uniforms – beautiful. She further said that everyone looks the same and that there is no status – “we are one”. She had an experience at the MU centenary in Bloemfontein, where ―there were women from England, Lesotho, Mozambique, when one looked down the isle of the church one could just see black and white. There was not even an issue of what language one spoke, we were united‖. This, however, is a bit incongruous, as it is known that the women from England do not subscribe to the wearing of uniform.

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Ronny believed that when women wear the uniform, people see them differently. She felt that by wearing the uniform, people saw your deeds as an MU member, and one should not be caught, even when one is not in uniform, behaving badly, or even swearing, because people would remember that you were a MU member.

Dianne said ―that some members wore the uniform as if they were in some kind of competition, and they would go to church feeling that they don‘t even have to sing and pray‖ – implying that some members used the uniform to disguise their lack of spirituality. ―When one wore the uniform one needed to open one‘s heart. One must remember that God is the guide, one must be in control.‖ Patsy believed that she was a lone voice in the diocese by not wearing the uniform. However, she was of the opinion that many women felt like her. Patsy was of the opinion that these women within the MU have been socialised into not asking questions and have learnt to accept the status quo. Jackey, although herself not subscribing to wearing the uniform, said that there is something about the uniforms: ―it is like the touch of God to be in the MU, you don‘t have to see it, but you are with your God‖.

In trying to understand why MU members behaved or disguised their behaviour, one needs to understand Foucault‘s idea of panopticism. Foucault developed the idea of panopticism to conceptualise social control and deviance. Foucault‘s panopticism is extrapolated from the ―ideal-prison‖ developed by Bentham in the 18th century, which was designed for a cost-effective and efficient method of monitoring prisoners around the clock under the pretext of an omnipresent observer. In using Mungwini‘s (2012: 344) citation of Foucault‘s ideal prison justifies my argument that MU members subject themselves to a situation where their behaviour could be curtailed or places them under such ―gaze‖ that would influence how they ―properly‖ function or ―exercise‖ power. Haddad (2016: 165) argues that women opt for the wearing of uniform because:

The church uniform offered autonomy and dignity to African women, particularly to those living under the colonialism of the early 1900s and

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the apartheid system introduced in 1948 when the South African Nationalist government came to power. The racial discrimination endured by African women through these decades was compounded by the cultural oppression they faced as a result of a deeply entrenched African patriarchal society. So women wore their uniform because it created space for them to operate in the church in ways that were not normally open to them.

In my understanding of Haddad‘s argument, the wearing of uniforms and the singing of songs in the MU was/is a ―covert‖ act of defiance of the Colonial Church that we have inherited. There is a sense of defiance in these actions, where I am of the opinion that the MU is making their theology relevant to their need of an African Spirituality that they can identify with. During the anti- apartheid years, the MU implemented various strategies of power such that its ―theology‖ and practices continue to remain somewhat hidden from public view. In public arenas, like church services, they used singing and prayer as a way to deflect any engagement with difficult theological issues, particularly where they might deviate from the reactionary clerical position of the day. In this way, they carved autonomy for themselves to follow their own hidden agendas while simultaneously obfuscating their theology from the clergy. Song as a form of protest and expression of theology is examined by Gunner (2005) in reference to the Shembe church; however, no one has examined the role and theology of songs in the MU. One of the favourite songs that I‘ve heard being sung by MU members is ―Nge Ngo Maria‖, where MU sing that they are like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. Women sing to the Holy Spirit to come and empower them and one often hears them breaking out in chorus as they sing “tlo moya o halalelang‖, translated as ‗Father send Thy Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love‘. I hope that in the future I will have built enough of a relationship of trust with the MU and its members that I might be able to report authoritatively on these ―hidden forms of protest songs‖. It emerged that the songs and the unpacking of their theology was more complex than I had thought, and for the purposes of this study, I can only give a brief overview of my initial findings.

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As an individual who witnessed first-hand the struggles and the protests of our people, I have seen how the use of song has always had within it the power to voice the unspoken actions of protest and resistance, thus one can also argue that song could be used to challenge the overt femasculation by the colonial church. One must agree with Ngewu‘s (2004: 239) study, which found that women who have no voice find a way to express their theology in music. It is in singing that women, who do not preach or lead services in any way, are able to both make their connection with God and embed into the choruses a subtle ―protest‖ against the patriarchal view that only men hear and respond to God‘s call. The music is an expression of theology, as well as an expression of how they feel. Through singing their songs and wearing their uniform, this is both a source of their protest and power and of surveillance, as members continually ―observe‖ each other. Within the group there is a lot of self-discipline, as women continually feel that they must behave in a particular way. Through policing their uniform, a sense of shame-culture is forced upon the person who does not behave or exercise the norms of the group. In the MU, both the songs and the uniform form a barrier between the outsiders and the insiders. The uniform makes the MU appear as one group all dressed the same, and this masks their diversity and differences. The songs are a collective way in which they ―protest‖ and express their own theology as well as the injustices of the world.

I asked those in my study: Who qualifies to be a member of the MU? Everyone was aware that the qualification for membership of the MU had changed, but there is still a stigma attached to the member‘s personal life. One of the long standing members of the MU shared with me her memories of what it was to be an unmarried or divorced woman in the diocese in the early years:

No (divorced women could not be members) – that time they were very strict if you were divorced they put you on the sticks…No (unmarried women) that time it was very strict. At that time young women who were not married could not be in the Mothers Union.

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Shirley said that membership was not dependant on a person being a mother; she just needed to have a willingness to want to work for God. ―We don‘t judge, we are not there to break you down‖. She felt that people put themselves down:

…the more I tell them that God used ‗sinners‘ to do his work. That God has come for righteous people that God has come for the sick, He came to the world to heal the sick, God used Moses, David and Solomon, everyone has faults, God used them to do his will, they don‘t see it that way.

I then asked if she believed in marriage and the sanctity of marriage, and she said that marriage was a good thing and that she believed in it – ―even though it does not work for us‖. The participant said that when she was married she did not want to join the MU because the marriage was not what she thought it would be. The participant found less pressure in joining the MU as a divorced person. Jackey believed that if one joined the MU, then you must be a loyal member, especially in marriage, and she went on to explain that when you came across people who were married, the first thing was to bath them in prayer.

Chrulew (2013: 19-20) explores the Foucauldian notion of pastorate, which is modelled on the biblical theme of the shepherd-flock relationship where the beneficent power is organised around care for life, and the principal force and medium is that of sacrificial love. From the moment the culture of the self was taken up by Christianity, it focused on the care of the self and the care of others, which over time developed into the pastor‘s job. Foucault saw in Christianity the ―development of power techniques oriented towards individuals and it was intended to rule them in a continuous and permanent way – thus linking total obedience, knowledge of oneself and confession to someone else‖ (Chrulew 2013: 20). This resulted in a tight bond of mutual expectation, fortifying the flock and binding the pastor and his sheep together in complex and subtle relationships of responsibility. This would explain the close bond that the MU members have with one another when robed in their uniformity on a Thursday, and also with their leaders. At these meetings they pray together and confess in

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total obedience to one another and are able to go out and perform their pastoral work within the communities in which they live.

One can clearly see the complex relation between the male priest interviewed and his confessors. Reverend S‘s ultimate belief was that male clergy were the liberators of the unmarried mothers and therein lay the problem of the ―culture of honour and shame‖. The relationship between the priest and the person confessing her ―sin‖, the unmarried mother who feels an overwhelming need to confess her weaknesses and profess new-found acceptance of faith in the hope of avoiding being ostracised, or the unmarried mother who is truly penitent and is sorrowful on account of her ―transgressions‖. In Chrulew‘s (2013: 22) opinion, Foucault relates ―a zealous and benevolent love that brings the confessor near the penitent‖ suggesting that power relations in which one person‘s conduct is judged by another is an institutionalised form of Christian love which serves to tighten the bonds between both believers and believers and their leader. It obligates the penitent to their priestly superior, who is seen to be given God‘s right to forgive them, and which fosters the pastor‘s position of authority through surveillance while bringing the sheep closer within the fold.

Chrulew believes that this type of love becomes a suffocating force that intensifies the power relationship of the leader or priest over the members, saturating the lives of the community and bringing the subjects ever closer, and thus strengthening the bonds of attachments and obligations to authority, reducing any resistance. Chrulew (2013: 23) says ―The spread of Christian love, on this view, goes hand in hand with the spread of forms of surveillance, of direction, of obedience, of morality, of incitement and expectation‖.

The male priest, Reverend S explained why divorced women were initially not allowed in the MU, because at the time the church did not allow divorce. He then articulated that there were the young women who wanted to join the MU, but who were not allowed to because they were unmarried. They had ―fallen‖ sometime before marriage and they were discriminated against because they were unmarried. His memory of how the MU started accepting unmarried

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mothers was that it was a persuasion from the priests who had a theological reason for wanting the status quo to change. He said that:

But then of course it evolved – is it what God wants. Are we keeping a ruling that is made by man which is not in accordance with the will of God, who is all loving and all forgiving? Since forgiven I never remembered so we are we told as priests – if you are going to remember the sins of the women who have come to confession and you discriminate against them – they were never forgiven theologically. So, the clergy began to push the Mothers Union to accept unmarried women and divorced women.

If one explores the culture of shame, one can see its negative influence over young women or unwed mothers in the church. Ngewu (2004: 80) highlights the fact that in 1912, the exclusion clause was introduced in the MU constitution by way of a footnote that read: ―NB. Divorce must be regarded as a disqualification for membership‖. Ngewu is of the opinion that:

This plunged the African membership into a predicament, for unlike divorce amongst white women, divorce among African women was too a peripheral issue. What African women were confronted with were problems with polygamy, unmarried women and customary marriages and customary union. Women were made first class members if they were married under Christian-rites and supposedly in stable monogamous marriages. Women who were not married by Christian rites were third class and divorced women were excluded. In order to be part of the MU it was deemed necessary for one to work on one‘s salvation until holiness was attained by some obtuse measure (Ngewu 2004: 80).

It was then suggested in the Diocese of Johannesburg that young unmarried women be allowed to join the organisation of Saint Mary Magdalene to enable them to work out their salvation or holiness. However, in the Diocese of Pretoria the Saint Mary Magdalene guild was considered to be a guild for unmarried mothers, ―fallen girls‖. Ngewu (2004: 167) claims that the same guild intended

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for unmarried mothers in Pretoria became a guild for unmarried women in Johannesburg and the Fellowship of Marriage (FoM) was established. The FoM, however, did not take off within the black parishes. The custom of ―Ukulonipha/he hlonepha‖ means to keep at a distance through reverence and to shun approach. In some customs and communities, daughters-in-law are expected to keep their mothers-in–law at a distance through reverence. Ngewu (2004: 167) argues that in some rural communities the custom of ―ukuhlonipha/ho hlonepha‖ is still strongly adhered to. In many rural parishes, mothers-in-law were expected to give verbal testimonials on the conduct of their daughters-in-law making it difficult for young mothers to be enrolled in the MU. I believe that the young mothers would need to be quite subservient to gain their mother-in-law‘s approval and the power games within the family and church structure are at play. Ngewu (2004: 169) adds that the Saint Mary Magdalene guild assumed a new thrust by becoming an organisation for both married and unmarried mothers, as well as an organisation for divorced women.

Young women have always gone through a testing or trial period before they can join the MU. This process is similar to one where some recently married African women were given what is known as ―ukuhostisa‖. Women who are wanting to join the MU still go through a trial period today, which lasts for a period of nine months, and after completing the trial period they are introduced to the parish priest who then ―robes‖ and admits them into the MU organisation. The ―robing‖ ceremony is a simple ritual in which the priest blesses the new members‘ uniform during a Sunday service. Ngewu (2004: 168) observed that in MU parish branches one women was normally designated as the leader of the young women‘s league (Saint Mary Magdalene guild) with the understanding that when these young women reached the age of 40 they would join the MU. Many women have chosen not to join the MU when they are 40 years old and have opted to stay in the guild, primarily because they were not keen to go through the nine month trial period required before a woman can join the MU. Saint Mary Magdalene has therefore became a guild for unmarried mothers as well as divorced women – with many of the younger members having no intention of joining the MU.

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My interview with Dianne was interesting as it did not validate the claims by Ngewu about the independence of the Saint Mary Magdalene guild. She admitted that she was a coordinator, by her own choice, for the Saint Agnes and Saint Mary Magdalene guilds. The Saint Agnes girls join from the age of six and then go on to the Saint Mary Magdalene guild. This guild holds the belief that it is independent of the MU. However the MU still exercises considerable influence over the guild‘s membership, in spite of it being a recognised guild in its own right. Dianne said that the MU was busy looking at amending some of the rules of the Saint Agnes and Saint Mary Magdalene guilds.

The Relationship between Lay Women, Female Priest and Power In 1992, the CPSA agreed to ordain women into the priesthood. It would be erroneous to assume or believe that ministry for women only started in 1992, as nuns, missionaries and leaders within women‘s groups such as the MU long existed. The MU was in different ways influential and supportive of the ordination of women into the priesthood. In the minutes of the 27th Provincial Synod of the CPSA held in Swaziland from 11 until 20 August 1992, more than a two thirds majority agreed to the ―controversial‖ motion of the inclusion of women as priests in the CPSA. The minutes of the Provincial Synod held in Swaziland (page 29:36.6) show the support by the MU for the motion:

The Provincial President of the Mothers' Union, on behalf of the Mothers' Union Executive which had met in Tembisa, brought greetings and prayers and informed Synod that they would be fasting on Friday 14th during the debate on the Ordination of Women.

Although women were only officially ordained as clergy from 1992, women have been always integral in the missionary work of the church. In Gaitskell‘s (2012:12) research on female mission leadership during the previous half century, she shows what a significant role female missionaries and women in organisations like the MU played in the work of the mainline churches.

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In Southern Africa, the ministry of deaconesses can be traced back to the First World War period. Gaitskell (2012: 10) found that in the Diocese of George, the Bishop summoned the Deaconess Florence to attend Synod according recognition to the Order of Deaconesses. She took her seat in a Synod for the first time in October 1921. Gaitskell (2012: 3) says that from 1913, there were between one and two hundred women missionaries at any time in Southern Africa serving amongst the black population. She notes that these missionaries were often lifelong church employees and that there were a few deaconesses who were the first women to be allowed to participate in Synods as lay representatives. Gaitskell (2012: 3) says that Swart-Russell and Draper, in their ―A Brief History of the Movement for the Ordination of Women in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa made an attempt...to provide a meaningful place for women within the structured ministry of the Church of England‖, note that ―returning women missionaries, who had made a vital contribution to the church‘s ministry abroad, sought a meaningful role at home also‖. Getman (2014: 10) also says:

Locally, in South Africa the story of women in ecclesiological leadership within ACSA began with the movement for inclusion. There was a long and painful journey undertaken by faithful Anglican women who challenged the church to recognise the legitimacy of ministry by female bodies. This is well documented in the classic collection of essays arguing for the ordination of women called Women Hold up Half the Sky.

Spiritual fervour was institutionally channelled and marginalised into gender and racial separation of female church groups in the early days of the CPSA, and Getman (2014) postulates that this could be one of the things that influenced women‘s groups and leadership contributing to women‘s ordination. Today, female church groups still wrestle with historic divisions that are not simply racially-based. Gaitskell (2002) writes that by the mid twentieth century, the black ―periphery‖ was clearly numerically, if not always organisationally, dominant while its spiritual style constituted the heartland of ―South African mission‖ Christianity. Accordingly, as much as society was divided along racial lines, so too was the church. In both, the Methodists and Anglicans, who both

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portrayed themselves as inclusive churches, operated in a segregated fashion at the local parish level for most of the twentieth century, with only the clergy having interracial interactions.

In the Diocese of Johannesburg, the conferences hosted by the African MU in the early years had been used as a medium through which women could express their spirituality. Ngewu (2004: 142) claims that one such sphere was that of preaching – and from time to time measures had to be taken to restrain the women from preaching. He argues that the apparent zeal for preaching was a ―subtle protest‖ against a church that would not allow women to preach or even pray as they felt the spirit was leading them. Ngewu quotes a president of the MU in Johannesburg, found in an Annual Report (Wits University, file AB1018B), saying that: ―Since the freedom to choose a particular vocation is denied to large numbers of our African people, the African Conference will deal with the subject on the more realistic plan of ‗Our Calling as Christians‖.

In researching the Journals of the SWM, Gaitskell (2012: 20-22) has examined much of the history of women in SA through the SWM missionary women and the members of MU, as well as ordinary women who carved out, sustained and expanded the space for female input into the Anglican missionary thinking and practice during the early days pre-ordination. She questions if there was a possible precursor to female ordination lurking in the background that had gone unnoticed. She believes that Africans, from the beginning of evangelism, experienced and approved the ministry of women.

As a result of her research, Gaitskell believes that this might have come from the wives of priests, missionaries, female teachers, nurses and notably from the MU and religious sisters, or from the women missionaries that were teaching the Christian faith in preparation for baptism and confirmation. She claims that this shared work with missionary men was set back by a male church hierarchy and this needs to be factored into both the Anglican women‘s broader ecclesiastical recognition and female ordination in South Africa.

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Gaitskell (2012: 17-18) found that in 1938, the PMC and SWM presented a resolution on the needs for training ―Bantu women‖ as evangelists. The then Bishop of Zululand was supportive but sounded a note of caution – he urged them to ―go on quietly training their leaders and to be careful and in so doing not to infringe on native custom, more especially in the training of girls and young wives, who are expected to stay at home‖. Gaitskell says that two members from the Society of the Sacred Mission and the Bishop of George wanted coloured women included and so they were. Gaitskell (Ibid: 17) cites from the SWM Journal of April 1939 this comment by a Miss J. Batcham:

Some of the ‗natives‘ present, especially the priests would speak for or against the resolution, as ‗we really wanted to hear their point of view‘. The priests from the former Transvaal province thereafter, said they would welcome the help of the black women in assisting them in working with young girls and MU.

It seems apparent from Gaitskell‘s research that this training was given under the auspices of the MU, which was acceptable to most ―native‖ priests. In the 1943 Provincial Missionary Conference (PMC), Africans asked two questions. Firstly, could wives of South African black priests be SWM associates in the same way as the wives of European missionaries? And secondly, if anything was being done to train African women as full-time evangelists? HG Masson wrote in 1948 that the ―mighty power‖ of the women was ―running to waste at the present time‖. In 1949, much was said at the PMC about the need for some kind of short course for wives of African clergy – perhaps along the lines of intensive one to two-week vacation courses. Although there were various local attempts at the short-term religious training of black Anglican women over the years, systematic documentation or evaluation of such work seems to be lacking. Gaitskell (2012: 3) finds that there is a certain amnesia between the winding down of SWM missionary influence from the late 1950s and beginning of the 1960s, and the growth among locally born Anglicans, both white and black, supporting a movement calling for the ordination of women. Studies barely reflect on earlier patterns of female leadership in the church of SA, or the degree of authority and recognition accorded to British missionaries before

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1960. The contribution of individual African leaders, who were often clergy wives, within the collective black female response to Christianity is hardly recognised. Gaitskell (1990) says that mission supervisors could not attend the weekly MU meeting, so in most cases this was left to the women to run themselves under the leadership of the wives of the African clergy. In the 1930‘s, in both Sophiatown and Orlando, the white single women concentrated on children, mainly because the African clergy wives did not consider the missionaries as having any authority in a family-focussed spiritual movement and Gaitskell believes that this reinforced African women‘s authority.

From those who took part in this study, there is a subtle unhappiness about clergy wives who are still holding power within the MU. This unhappiness is even more intense than the MU member‘s feelings around woman priests. From the inception of the MU, circa the Victorian era, clergy wives were the leaders within the MU in the parishes where their husbands held office. This is a tradition that is still strongly upheld by many of the branches of the MU. Patsy informed me that when she enquired from her UK counterparts about how and why the MU was started, the explanation given to her was that the organisation was formed by clergy wives. Patsy believed that because we have inherited the MU from the Victorian Mary Sumner, this explains why most male priests still have their wives as chapter leaders. She believed and said that:

It undermines the power of the other MU women members. It is ancient; it degrades the potential that could be put into other women. They never recognise the potential in others, being a priest‘s wife is enough to put you in charge.

She added that male priests continue to control the MU, not just because their wives are generally the parish branch leaders, but because the priests are also the ones who hear confession and go into people‘s homes for pastoral visits. In the Foucaultian terms of the power of the pastorate, we see how the priest has an intimate knowledge of his parishioners and therefore also has control or power over them. Both Patsy and Lizzy felt that as a woman, one was at risk and vulnerable when one went to the priest for confession. Patsy believed that it

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was also the priest, who had this intimate knowledge about his parishioners, who would take the recommendation of the parish MU leader, his wife. This could influence him when he interviewed the prospective new members at the end of their trial period, to ascertain if they were ready to join the MU. The priest and his wife, who is the leader of the MU guild in the parish, therefore have ongoing power over the women in the MU. Reverend M felt that it was difficult and uncomfortable to be interviewed by a male clergy for women who were undergoing their probationary period, prior to full acceptance into the MU.

The women who are being prepared to join the MU and who are in their trial period are subjected to a panoptic power for nine months and are continually under the gaze and supervision of the MU leaders. I therefore agree with Chrulew‘s (2013: 22) argument that the pastoral power held by the priest becomes a suffocating force which intensifies the power relations, allowing for the strengthening of attachments and obligation, and reducing any resistance.

All the participants in the study knew who the chaplain of the MU was in the diocese; however there was some indication from two participants who believed that the chaplain‘s wife was either too young or too inexperienced to be the MU leader. The chaplain‘s position is not chosen by the MU organisation, as the bishop has the authority over who will lead the organisation. Shirley felt that although the chaplain was doing a good job, the organisation would be better served if there was a woman chaplain. She felt that there were enough women priests in the diocese, and that maybe the MU should have both a female and male chaplain. She was, however, unsure of who appointed the chaplain. Dianne recognised the difference of a woman chaplain, as a woman was instituted as chaplain of the Saint Agnes and Mary Magdalene guilds in her parish. She said that it was a blessing, especially to the mothers, to know that there was a women priest amongst them. One of the women priests interviewed took exception to the way the chaplain conducted himself in visiting her parish and felt undermined in front of her congregation.

In conversing with the participants, irrespective of their economic or social status, all agreed that there was no problem with having women as priests.

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However, I got the sense from the less economically independent participants of the study that when they referred to male priests there was a certain reverence in talking about them. In the case where the clergy wives were or had been parish leaders in the MU, there was more reverence directed towards the male clergy. Mariam said that she was very proud that there where now women priests and bishops as opposed to previous years. When asked if women priests could make a change, her response was only ‗yes‘. Shirley felt that in the past years women in the lay ministry were controlling everything and kept other women from being part of the ministry in the church. She felt that now that they had a woman priest, an avenue of ministry for other women in the church was being opened up. Shirley felt that there were women and men who could bring about change in the church, despite her never having experienced a male priest changing the status quo. Jackey felt that the calling to the priesthood was nothing to do with being a woman or a man. She believes that she sees more male clergy than female clergy at MU functions and believed that women priests may feel threatened in attending. In asking Reverend S about why women priests were not visible in MU‘s activities, he believed that there was no reason for why women priests should not become members of the MU. He felt that the priest, whether woman or man, is an ex-officio member of the MU and had the final authority over the MU branch. This, however, has not been my experience as a priest in charge with an MU branch in the parish were I serve. Ronny believed that there was no difference between female or male clergy, but then immediately said that both should behave themselves, because she believed that the priesthood was between the person and God. Ronny commented that when they had male priests at the parish, they were never accompanied to any functions of the MU by him, that he preferred to patronise the Bernard Mizeki organisation which is a men‘s guild. The men‘s guild has as its patron Bernard Mizeki who was an African Anglican martyr killed in 1896 for his faith in Christianity. The St Bernard Mizeki Men‘s Guild does, however, accommodate women in its organisation, but they are given the status of associate members.

Getman (2014: 51) believes that ―through the celebrating of the Eucharist we recall Jesus‘ and our own natality. Human life here on earth not only as it is in heaven is an expression of divine and beloved natality‖. In my interview with

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Dianne, she felt very proud that they had a woman on the altar, and that even the mothers of the diocese must be pleased in most of the churches where there are many women who are priests. She said that this was encouraging, especially in the MU. Getman (Ibid: 33) says that the increasing acceptance of women as clergy and even the acceptance of women as bishops does indicate that the Anglican Church no longer works with a theology of shaming and blaming women and their bodies or sin. In other words, she believes that women are no longer seen as bringing sin into the world because they are the descendants of Eve and led men astray. She is of the opinion that birthing and childbearing can provide a context which is important to identifying the creative and nurturing power of the Creator.

I must however, make note that when speaking to Dianne, she referred to the woman priest as being a Mother; I am not sure if this was in the context of being ―Mother‖ as leader or mother in a biological context. Getman (2014: 48) argues that in using the term motherism in the African context, we must move the term beyond the biological as this can be unhelpful. In the chapter on the theology of motherhood and mothering, I showed that in the African context a mother is understood as any grown woman who takes care of others. Getman cites Lewis, who argues that the discourse perpetuates oppressive gender stereotypes. Obianuju Acholonu‘s work argues that ―Africa's alternative to feminism is Motherism and motherism denotes motherhood, nature and nurture‖ (Ibid). Thus, she says that motherism can be useful for understanding clergywomen‘s ministry. However, for motherism to be understood as such, it must describe mothering as an experience instead of motherhood being a patriarchal institution.

When conversing with Lizzy about women priests and how the MU felt about women priests, she said that she was very glad to see me as a priest, but had great difficulty in addressing me as a priest: ―how do I put it, Father Gabi or Mother Gabi, Oh yes the Reverend‖. She said that she could not remember the Bishop that first allowed the ordination of women, but that it was a good thing, a very good thing. Patsy, on addressing the issue of women priests, emphasised that there needed to be space to take the discussion to the next level. She felt

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that the Diocese of Johannesburg does not engage seriously with the issues impacting women priests, and there needs to be more general conversations about the needs of women in the church. Reverend C‘s experience as a woman priest in a parish with an MU branch was one where she felt that she was well accepted, as the MU members accepted that she had a motherly instinct. She said that as a woman and a priest, there was still a journey that needed to be travelled by other women priests before people started accepting women. She believed that at an Arch-deaconry level the male priests did not treat women priests as equals. Reverend M felt that there still needs to be much education around women priests.

Women in the church are victims of femasculation as they still face the issue of tradition and sexism in relation to Africanism. Pato (1998: 56) believes that the church‘s institutional structure is as much a site of struggle as it is in society, due to issues relating to traditions and culture. Pato says that the issue of sexism in the church is a human rights issue and that the process to indigenise the church must not be allowed to be hijacked by those who violate human rights by discriminating against people based on their gender. Although there have been attempts to take such factors into consideration, on the whole, men continue to try and maintain control and power in the church. He believes that the church of Africa should strive to be less sexist, and instead take the lead in being a liberating space for women. In Getmans‘ (2014: 139) study of the challenges facing women in the ministry, she says that one case study of parishioners‘ attitudes towards clergy found that although attitudes towards clergy women seemed to have improved, there was still discrimination towards them. Jonck, le Roux and Hoffman (2012: 92-108) state that ―Churches in South Africa have a history of gender injustice that has not taken into account the needs of women.‖ They are of the opinion that male Christian theology is characterised by a patriarchal paradigm which elevates the males‘ experience, thoughts and values to the detriment of women. They further found that women clergy face a vertical discrimination which forced them into the bottom end of the church hierarchies.

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Getman (2014) researched the reciprocal relationship between priesthood and motherhood so that a new and more holistic insight into the praxis of priesthood can emerge for both women and men in the church. She believes that there is a relationship between the dual vocations of motherhood and the ministry, demonstrating that much of the work that both women and men priests do is analogous with mothering. Getman (Ibid: 25) believes that ―the presence of women priests provides the possibility of reconceptualising and theologising notions and practices of priesthood within ACSA‖. She cites Emma Percy (2014), who writes that nothing articulates the ways in which the activity and relationships of mothering can be compared to the work that priests do. Percy believes that more imaginative languages and metaphors for ministering must be found that can provide clergy with models of working that relate better to their day-to-day experience. Getman says that: ―Recognising that both mothering and priesting are engaged in relationships and activity. Both motherhood and priesthood are about being and doing. Both require creativity and imagination for job satisfaction and recognition‖ (Ibid: 15). The recent research of both Getman and Inman-Bamber (2012) explored the relationship between female clergy and motherhood in the Anglican Church in SA, but did not address the relationship between female clergy and the MU.

At the Diocese of Johannesburg‘s 65th session of Synod held on 09 September 2017, the following resolutions where tabled and passed: 1) To develop and provide guidelines for the ministry to parishioners who are LGBTI and set up a task team; 2) To immediately appoint a task team to establish a gender ministry – I believe that both proposers were MU members; and 3) To set up a commission to investigate the impact of African Indigenous Spirituality. I believe that theology is an important factor in the decisions that people make on how they choose to live their lives, and that the ACSA needs to eradicate the influences of a Victorian, patriarchal, vision of Christ.

In celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ordination of women as Anglican Priests, in Boksburg from 25 to 27th September 2017 – the conference pointed out challenges facing the church which were:

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“Through prayer, critical reflection and dialogue the following challenges were identified:

 As a church, in all our organisations, policies, structures, and hierarchy, we continue to normalise, regularise and perpetuate exclusion.  In the continuous striving for equality, we do not deliberately put in place processes to achieve equity.  Within the province there are no universally set minimum basic standards and criteria for levels of education and skills required for deacons, priests and bishops.  Academically appropriate theological education as well as ministerial formation must be given greater priority.  All theological education and ministerial formation should be ongoing and structured mentoring programmes be developed for deacons, priests and bishops in our church.  The use of language, when teaching about God and human beings, including our worship, must be critically assessed as to how it continues to marginalise and exclude women”. (Published by Bishops Court Media)

I believe that women clergy, the MU and other groups that represent the interests of gender equality need to come together and claim the power given to us by virtue of our baptism, and work jointly within the church for any substance to be life-giving to those we serve. Importantly, the tabled resolutions by the women priests at the 25th Anniversary Conference, resolved that:

“We hereby commit to the following resolutions, which will be tabled at the Provincial Standing Committee meeting from the 27-29 September 2017 for adoption immediately,

 We respectfully request the metropolitan to enforce previous Provincial Synod Resolutions related to the adequate representation of women at all decision-making bodies of the church and at all Parish, Diocesan and Provincial structures.

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 We respectfully appeal for a transformation of representation within our church that will reflect a 50/50 representation of men and women in leadership and decision making in ACSA.  We respectfully request a campaign within ACSA, that advocates for the election and appointment of women as Bishops in all new elective processes, including the appointments made by the Synod of Bishops.  We respectfully propose that theological education becomes a priority in ACSA, and that an ACSA universally accepted basic minimum standards of education and vocational training is set for all priests and bishops.  We urge all Bishops to send at least 2 ordinands to be sent to the College of The Transfiguration annually.  We call for the immediate use of liturgy that does not perpetuate patriarchal leadership and authority but instead uses inclusive, affirming and life-giving language for all of God’s creation.  We call on ACSA to allocate adequate resources for the leadership, development and mentorship of women more especially young women in ACSA.” (Published by Bishops Court Media)

These positions/resolutions arguably can build a powerful voice and programmatic effector within the body politic of the Anglican Church, a process which the MU must opportunely slip-stream into in order to raise the overall impact, while not confining its inevitable outcomes to only the clergy.

Getman (2014: 40) believes that clergy have made a clear and public decision about the direction in which faith and vocational identity lead them. However, clergy have had the monopoly on theology, and Getman believes that anyone who attempts to define or point to God is a theologian. God is experienced through each person‘s own context, so it is through storytelling and reflection that people interpret how God works into their lives and that in this way they are doing theology. I believe that the Church needs to recognise the power that is vested in the MU. Green (cited in Getman 2014: 163) draws attention to the

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idea of what power in the Christian context means. According to her, it does not have to be conceived of as domineering; it can be nurturing, serving, cooperative, partnering and empowering. Green says that there are also other ways women can be powerful and quotes from the Women‘s health manual:

Personal power means different things to different people; Self-esteem, sense of identity (group and/or individual), positive body image, self- confidence, enjoyment in what one does, a sense of contributing to the community, financial stability/earning power, self-reliance, ability to communicate… the list goes on. For many of us, finding personal power means finding inner strength—a sense of ourselves and who we are, what we need and what we want.

At a special meeting between the MU executive and the clergy in 2000, with the intention of planning a Lady Day Service for that year, it was said that it was ―too English orientated, Preaching/Hymns, Choruses included. As Africans we believe in Body Movement‖ (Ngewu, 2002: 143). As clergy, Getman says that our theology and spirituality cannot be divorced from our bodies, thinking, speaking and acting. Female clergy and women in the MU could come together more to help to shape a spirituality, style of worship and theology that resonates with ordinary women and is expressed not only in thoughts but also in actions, body movement, songs and other creative forms.

Conclusion The technologies of power that are used by women in the MU to control and regulate how the organisation functions and how they live out the ideals, visions, and theology of the organisation is hidden and not spoken about. By using Foucaultian ideas of surveillance and the pastorate, I have shown how this power dynamic is lived out in six MU parishes in Johannesburg. The MU is a sophisticated organisational entity, which could become a dynamic force for change within the Anglican Mission.

In 2017, the organisation now constitutes only black women from varied social strata and economic classes, who although they are all of the same racial group

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have very different political agendas and economic realities. Even though the MU is decades removed from the influence of Mary Sumner and many thousands of kilometres away from ―Mother England‖, the impacts of its colonial reach are still very much at play. MSH in the UK is still the central power, with influence brokered over the many hundreds of thousands of women who subscribe to the MU. Presidents and provincial leaders are normally well educated and set themselves apart from the working class or local grassroots members, who are ordinary mothers in their parishes and communities. My study finds that those members who exercised authority and influence in the organisation were either party political leaders, clergy wives, business/professional women or economically much better off than the ‖ordinary‖ other members. The majority of MU parish leaders in the region are wives of clergy, who vicariously represent the male parish priest. Interestingly, where there was a woman priest in a parish, not only was there an absence of an active role for ―Mum Fundisi‖ (Mother Priest) – a common way of addressing the male priest‘s wife – but it equally created some consternation as to how to adequately fill the role of the MU parish leader. Noticeably the ordinary parish leader would have to be quite influential at a regional or diocesan level once interacting with other parish leaders who are wives of the parish priests within the branches they represent.

Although black women may historically have used the uniform as a mode of defiance in the church, and as a form of social protest, the uniform has come to be both a unifying symbol and a great divider of those at various social and economic levels. Although all look the same in the uniform, my findings showed that the members who were not entirely happy about wearing the uniform were from a higher social status, and not working class women. Those who held positions of influence in the organisation were not always eager to wear the uniform. Three of those interviewed felt that younger women were dissuaded from joining the MU because they did not want to wear the uniform. Despite these findings – my personal experience of donning my black and white clothes, gave me an insight into the power dynamics of wearing the uniform, especially when interacting with people and parishioners who are not members of the organisation. The uniform has the disadvantage of constraining one‘s

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movement and behaviour. While the women wear the uniform, they are always under the gaze of other members, as well as the larger community. This sense of surveillance forces women to control and regulate their behaviour, thoughts and words so that they conform to the accepted norms of the organisation. The passion that many of the members have for the organisation is best summed up by one participant, who felt that being in the MU was ―like the touch of God, you do not have to see it, but you know you are one with your God‖.

The women of the MU in this study felt that the MU was enormously important in their lives and gave them spiritual comfort and status in the community. My research, however, shows that this was not a free space in which women could express themselves and behave as they wanted to. Rather it was a space in which the culture of honour and shame has not been eradicated. Due to the ever constant panoptic gaze, women themselves may femasculate themselves and one another, as women continuously survey one another‘s behaviour, ensuring that women obey values and norms that are not customary to African culture or church culture. There, however, is also an enormous energy and power, when MU members are dressed in their uniform and break out in worship, prayer and singing. As remarked by many of those who observe, there is a certain freedom and hidden spirituality that is at play in their gatherings. The MU‘s power and influence can be enhanced in the Diocese of Johannesburg if a more visible support is shown by the MU for young women. Teenaged girls are confronted with the many social ills in the community and are looking for mentors. Young female adults who have a thirst to find a spirituality which embraces this can be spiritually partnered with the MU. This partnership could be encouraged by the embracing of the Saint Agnes and Saint Mary Magdalene guilds, guilds that historically once offered a place of refuge for young girls who were shamed in the church.

In the Anglican Prayer Book (1989: 114), one of the prayers, known as Prayer C, contains three particular versus that resonate with division and our vocation in the church: ―Lord, Jesus you called your disciples to take up the cross: deepen in each of us a sense of vocation…‖ again we pray ―You prayed for your Church to be one: unite all Christians that the world may believe‖ and most

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importantly we pray ―You broke down the walls that divide us: bring the people of this world to live in peace and concord‖. The church still wrestles with subtle racial and gender divisions, where female church groups, lay women and female clergy still struggle with patriarchy. This struggle for transformation is unfortunately waged in silence, as guilds like the MU and female clergy who are not powerless grapple with how to ―break down walls that divide us‖. Until such time that the Diocese of Johannesburg seriously engages in the conversation about the gendered and racial contradictions and imbalances in society, and also in the church, we will miss the opportunity to embrace the richness of indigenisation into the Anglican Communion which will transform the church.

The diversity of the church needs to be celebrated in a holistic way and not in disparate pockets inherited from its parishes and guilds. The work of evangelism is a shared work, as the Diocese of Johannesburg continuously reminds its members – one of its main aims is to create a church that is ―a ministry of all believers‖. This in turn means that due credit and encouragement needs to be given the MU for addressing issues that impact society, such as motherhood and mothering. The MU needs to ensure that it addresses the grass roots concerns of people and moral regeneration resolutions so that they become known for their ministry in society and not as an organisation that is there to take care of the needs of male clergy. Both the Diocese and the MU need to seriously engage in conversation around gender equality. Additionally, the silence with regard to the inclusion of LGBT people and the denial around same sex unions must be discussed if we are to keep up with the broader community‘s views on the subject. However painful it is for the church, this is a mandate that must be addressed by all stake-holders in the church.

Women clergy cannot be let off the hook and expect the status quo to change without any active involvement – the struggle for ordination was a long and painful one for many, however the call to be a disciple of Jesus is a life-long journey and does not end in ordination. Our theology and the study of womanhood, motherhood and gender both need to continue and have to be strengthened and popularised. Chrulew (2013: 25) is of the belief that in Foucault‘s last works, which were surprisingly made in a Christian tone,

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Foucault justifies the necessity of suspicion, saying that ―Liberation paves the way for new power relationships, which must be controlled by practiced freedom‖. Chrulew says:

I don‘t think that to be suspicious means that you don‘t have any hope… And if you are suspicious, it is because, you have certain hope. The problem is to know which kind of hope you have and which kind of hope is reasonable to have in order to avoid what I call not the pessimistic circle you speak of, but the political circle which introduces your hopes, and through your hopes, the things you want to avoid by these hopes.

As Chrulew‘s argues, suspicion brings a certain hope, but members of the MU may use the argument of suspicion to guard against colonialism, apartheid and class struggle in a way that has kept them femasculated, both within the church and in the secular world, reinforcing the walls that divide them. I believe that the struggle for justice in the Anglican Church and in our communities is one of hope and is ―Our Collective Struggle‖; it is one where we need to constantly remind ourselves that Jesus opens the doors that none can shut.

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Chapter 6

Conclusion and Recommendations

The findings of the internal dynamics of the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg

It is necessary to disencumber the ‗theology of motherhood‘ in order for me to gain an in-depth understanding of motherhood as promoted by the MU in Johannesburg and how the historical influences, aims and objectives of the MU‘S from Victorian England used to guide my investigation regarding motherhood, mothering, womanhood and family. I found that the subject of motherhood and womanhood is a discourse that is potentially fraught with multiple strands of contending thought and diverse lines of argument. However, for my purposes, by constraining my thought and research within a particular organisation – the Mothers Union – it allowed me to better understand how the gradual shift away from the ―cult of domesticity‖ (as conceptualised by Sumner) occurred and how this has shaped and influenced the current MU in Africa. These shifts and changes were not overnight; they were long and patient struggles that in truth lasted an entire lifetime for some. If one is able to deepen one‘s understanding of what precisely drove the MU and that a decolonisation conversation still needs to be had in the church., we can begin to understand what is required to build a ―profound theology of motherhood‖ as women still find themselves femasculated, trapped between two worlds: Western and African, Victorian and modern, the gender dualism, patriarchy and femininity within the church. In unravelling the MU‘s theologies of motherhood and attempting to create an understanding of motherhood as promoted by the MU; the social structures of the organisation were examined with a particular focus on the power dynamics and leadership within the organisation. I have argued that the MU in Johannesburg is an organisation still trapped between two worlds – Western and African, Victorian and Modern. There was a struggle between economically independent women, working class women and importantly, women who fall victim to the social scourge of unemployment and poverty. In South Africa, there exists a chasm between those who cleave to ―first world‖

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consumerist/materialist conditions and the vast majority who are forced by circumstance to subsist under ―third world‖ or ―developing world‖ conditions, leaving many MU members caught up in this duality. It is evident in the Diocese of Johannesburg the Mother‘s Union is still dualistic at large, between, gender (male and female), patriarchy and feminism/womanism.

The inherent challenges in the Diocese of Johannesburg range from poverty, teenage pregnancy, gender violence, drug abuse, family violence, mental disability and a plethora of other social and moral ills that prevail. Currently, the MU as a critical arm of the Anglican Mission makes up most of its grassroots pastoral work, which goes largely unacknowledged in its parishes and dioceses. Churches as a rule tend to mirror society in slow motion, where society experiences a lengthy static era and then suddenly surges forward in astonishing leaps. The Anglican Church is never synchronous in such forward leaps, but always after the fact – perhaps a hundred years after the fact. One could say that faith in the church is measured in centuries, thus the recent celebration of the past 25 years of the ordination of female clergy in ACSA is literally a ―baby shower‖. In disencumbering and interrogating the theologies of motherhood being promoted by the MU, we anticipate the frustration on the part of women, the majority of mothers who vary from captains of industry to professional women, such as nurses, priests and teachers, to workers in industry to the unemployed, as we come up against patriarchal ambivalence within the church hierarchy. We hear the growing chorus of voices within the MU by women who can articulate their concerns regarding the tensions that have long been at the heart of the Anglican experience.

During a press conference on his flight from Rio de Janeiro to Rome in 2013, Pope Francis told reporters, ―That door is closed,‖ when asked about women‘s ordination. He was echoing a statement made by Pope John Paul II in 1994. For many, the prohibition on discussing women‘s ordination is troubling. But to my mind, within the Anglican Church, at least in terms of advancing the conversation and the theology of motherhood and womanhood in the church,

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the same door that Pope Francis is keeping closed to Catholic women for us as Anglicans is opened; but how wide is yet to be seen.

There are undoubtedly many challenges that face women priests and the MU as we enter that partially ―open door‖, in particular defining the theology of Mariology. In the last half-century, we have witnessed black mothers grow the membership of the MU, we have witnessed the same mothers play a significant role in the struggle for liberation, we have witnessed some of those mothers become ordained priests, building on that history of participation and transformation. However, there also seems to be a sense of lethargy that pervades both the Anglican Church and the MU. It seems to me that the time has come to launch a sustained conversation about women and the church. In parishes and in dioceses, discussions about women in the life of the church either stumble over the obstacles of patriarchal indifference or wither in the face of criticism or disapproval.

Interestingly, we often hear the Anglican Church celebrating the role of women. More often than not, what I hear from the pulpit about motherhood can be more accurately characterised as ―glorification‖ rather than ―affirmation‖. Such ―glorification‖ is tantamount to deliberate sublimation of the character, energy and power of motherhood and womanhood, effectively femasculating any progress and advancement of women. Undoubtedly, there is a need to develop a theological framework that would recognise and reward women, on this earth, for the often invisible and or under-compensated labour that has long sustained the church and will do so long into the future. This would almost certainly lead to a less adversarial relationship between the hierarchy and conscious women priests, whose communities have served for decades as an ecclesiastical workforce in this country and who continue to do much of Christ‘s grittiest work in the world.

The process of building a theology of motherhood and womanhood must be led by the legions of women who pick-up the slack on most of the pastoral work at the grass roots level which coupled with ideas of motherhood and constitute the

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driving force within the parishes and the dioceses. the mothering nature of women priests and women presiding over the Eucharist has been highlighted, showing that there is a clear overlap between women priests and the MU. I am strongly of the opinion that the sacraments of the Anglican Church can unify and bring into common communion, the Church, its clergy, the MU leadership, and its MU members, and the community in which they find themselves. The church will have to eventually accede to the creative visioning by the women clergy and the leadership within the MU. By appointing women to visible positions of power at every level, in parishes, in dioceses and even in the province, we will begin to evidence an emergent consciousness that guides the church into the future.

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Recommendations To advance the programme of the MU in the Diocese of Johannesburg, I would recommend that MU must of necessity begin to develop instruments and methodologies that under-pin and uphold their definitions and beliefs of motherhood and womanhood. The resolutions taken at the 65th session of the Synod of the Diocese of Johannesburg, in September 2017, should further enable the MU together with the clergy of the Anglican Church to bring to bear upon the mother church and society, or at the very least within their communities, a healing long overdue. The MU should aim: 1) To develop and provide guidelines for ministry to parishioners who are LGBTI and enable the setting up of a task team; 2) To immediately appoint a task team to establish a gender ministry; and 3) To investigate the impact of African/Indigenous Spirituality as women still grapple after so many years with foreign aims and objectives that it has become locked into – their daily struggles as African Women must of necessity take priority. That the ―living theology‖ of preaching, dancing, singing and narratives of the members of the MU needs to be duly recognised, defended and evangelised for the broader church, which can but only enrich the broader community/church by its vibrancy and revival.

However its members need to be given the right tools to be able to engage with the larger theological discourse, not only around motherhood and womanhood, but social justice as well. As many women still look to the church to allow them the space where they can redefine themselves as mothers and engage in dialogue with their social, economic status, it is recommended that the MU, in partnership with its parishes, clergy and members, create this space for not only its members, but the many other thousands who beg to be heard in the church. I believe that the MU is a cause for social change in society, as it‘s ―disciples‖ are more on the ground than many other organisations within the Anglican Church. It is recommended that the MU engage more with women theologians, as a much needed discourse around motherhood, mothering and womanhood is needed to move both the organisation and the broader church forward. Together, both female and male clergy in the Anglican Church have the ability to re-contextualise and re-examine ―right doctrine‖, especially around the popular Mariology that the MU fondly expounds.

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For patriarchy to be challenged, the MU needs to be proactive in challenging the status quo with regard to how scripture is interpreted and contextualised. I believe that the untapped power that the MU has must be used to control and regulate how the organisation functions and how its members live out these ideals, visions, and the theology of the organisation. The MU needs the voices of its members to be heard, not only in their uniformity but also in their diversity. The MU must be recognised in its own right as a leader in the church. Many of organisation‘s resolutions are forward thinking and do identify societal problems. For the MU to implement these ideas, it must recognise the sophistication and the power it has to be able to implement the changes it seeks to impact society. A serious effort needs to be made by the MU to challenge the many contradictions of patriarchy that are pandered to, that will enable it to empower and strengthen its members, raising the consciousness of its members to be truly the ―hands and feet of Jesus‖ to confront the burning issues facing its members as a church but equally as a community.

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Appendix

Subject No Age How Long Carrier Marital Number of Position and in MU /Work Stature Children Portfolio in Trajectory MU

Subject 1 69 years 22 years Factory Married 4 children, of Member’ Mariam Worker for whom 1 Previously Seamstress 50 years. murdered. parish treasurer 1son,2 Shared daughters Responsibility Subject 2 61 Years Since Retired Divorced 2children Not sure of Shirley old 2003 Receiving 1 position in controller in son,1daughter parish, Spiritual Wholesaler leader in Region Subject 3 67 years 12 years Retired Second 3 children Parish Leader Jackey old Started Business marriage. new MU Women Married branch in parish. Subject 4 81 years Previously Priest. LOP Married Ex MU Reverend S old MU Chaplain Chaplain

Subject 5 60 years 1999 Pensioner Widow 4 children Parish Leader Ronny old Bank employee

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Subject No Age How Long Carrier Marital Number of Position and n MU /Work Stature Children Portfolio in Trajectory MU Subject 6 50 years 17 years Self- Married Children Parish Dianne old member employed 23 years Secretary Auto Lift Transporters For school Children Subject 7 85 years Can’t Factory Widowed 2 children Ordinary Lizzy olds remember worker Member how long textiles in MU. Subject 8 47years 2000 Business Recently 3 daughters Enrolling Patsy old person. Freed Member Marketing Parish Leader Secretary Provincial Council Subject 9 64years No, Has Woman Married 1 Son Priest with MU Reverend C old taken MU Priest 1 Daughter in Parish members through trial period. Subject 10 69 years Worked Women Married 2 daughters Chaplain Reverend M old for MU Priest MU Province

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Questionnaire

Question that were asked to ascertain the results for my study.

• Introduction ―The Mothers Union- a historical overview of the MU‖. Question: Do you know how the MU started? Do you know what the aims and objectives are of the organization? Do you know who qualifies to be a member of the MU? What do you believe about marriage? Do you believe in the sanctity of marriage? Do you believe a mother has a bigger responsibility in bringing up girl and boy children?

• Mothering and Motherhood. Investigating theologies of motherhood and womanhood that are promoted by this organisation? How does this theology shape understandings of the social roles of motherhood and womanhood held by members of the organisation? Question: How do you understand what mothering is? How do you understand what motherhood is? How do you understand womanhood? How do you feel about women who are not mothers? Do you believe that society adds any pressure on you as to how they perceive you should be and act?

The Role of Women‘s Groups. Investigating if the politically aware resolutions of 2009 resonate with women at the grass roots level and tie-up with ideas of motherhood. Question: What do you think are the most important issues the MU should be addressing?

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Do you believe issues of xenophobia, human trafficking, prostitution, male circumcision and environmental concerns need to be discussed in the organization.

Do you believe issues of motherhood and mothering are important and relevant? Does the MU address issues that impact you daily, in church, at work, at home or in your community?

• Class tensions Power, uniformity and personal piety. Investigating technologies of power that are used by women to control and regulate how the organisation functions and how they live out the ideals/visions/theology of the organisation. Question: Do you wear a uniform to all church services, or only to special MU functions? How do you feel about wearing a uniform? Why do you wear the MU uniform?

Do you believe that everyone looks the same in their uniforms? Do you believe that the MU uniform gives you special privileges and freedoms or does it restrict you and why?

• Theology of motherhood in the Anglican Church. Investigating how power dynamics, both within the organisation and between clergy has changed, since the ordination of women in the Anglican Church. Question: What do you believe about Mary the Mother of Jesus? Do you believe that it is more important that she was the Virgin Mother, or the Mother of Jesus? How do you feel about Women Priests? Do you know who your chaplain is, do you feel that the gender of the chaplain is important in the MU.

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26 Tafelberg Avenue Bosmont – 2093 Gauteng 0114747704 0827247101

Standard Letter

Re: Formal request for participation into doctoral research “Power Dynamics within the Anglican Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg” Dear The purpose of this letter is to introduce myself and to ask you to please consider the possibility of allowing me to collect research data within the Mothers Union.

I am an ordained Priest, licensed in the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg and I am doing research on power dynamics in the Mothers Union, as part of my dissertation at the University of Johannesburg.

The information provided by you in the interviews will be used for research purposes and will not be used in any manner which would allow identification of your individual responses.

I assure you that I respect the Mothers Union and its members, thus, to mitigate any statements or commentary of a sensitive nature that may impact on the organisation, all individuals who participate in this study will remain anonymous. Consequently, the complete research will be published at the University of Johannesburg in its journal.

My supervisor at the University of Johannesburg is Dr. Maria Frahm-Arp.

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this survey.

Yours,

Reverend Gabrielle Helene Tucker Department of Religion Studies University of Johannesburg Student Number: 201338461