The Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and Its Reformed Influence on the Socio-Political and Economic Development of Zimbabwe (1890–1990)
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Article The Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and its Reformed Influence on the Socio-Political and Economic Development of Zimbabwe (1890–1990) David Mushayavanhu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3954-4630 University of Pretoria, South Africa [email protected] Jerry Pillay University of Pretoria, South Africa Faculty of Theology, Department of Church History and Church Polity [email protected] Abstract The second half of the 19th century was characterised by the spread of Christian ethos in Southern Africa. This state of affairs also permeated the Zimbabwean soil, and in the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in Zimbabwe (PCSA) missionaries disseminated Reformed teachings, among other things, to proclaim the gospel of Christ. This article argues that Presbyterian teachings influenced the socio-political and economic development of Zimbabwe. It is a historical analysis illustrating how Reformed theological perspectives influenced the socio-political and economic development of Zimbabwe through the work of the PCSA. It is not the intention of this article to get into theological debates but to show the impact of Reformed influences, mainly through John Calvin, on the expansion of Presbyterianism in Zimbabwe. Keywords: Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA); Reformed influence; socio- political and economic development; Zimbabwe Introduction This article attempts to show that Presbyterianism is linked to the socio-political and economic progress of Zimbabwe. It is an undertaking from a Reformed theological perspective with special emphasis on the PCSA in Zimbabwe’s missio-hominum. Reformed tradition has had a large impact on the world since the 16th century Reformation, and it has also had a bearing on the PCSA, which is part of the Reformed family. The PCSA is committed to the Christian faith Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/2905 https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/SHE/index ISSN 2412-4265 (Online) Volume 44 | Number 2 | 2018 | #2905 | 16 pages © The Author(s) Published by the Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) concerns and thus its role in politics and economics has no doubt had a huge bearing on its mission work in Zimbabwe. This study seeks to establish the possible connections between the long existence of the PCSA and the developments in Zimbabwe. The overarching question behind this study is: What impact did the mission work of the PCSA have on the socio-political and economic situation of Zimbabwe? This article attempts to answer this question. Methodology In order to adequately carry out a study of this nature, one has to make use of both archival and oral sources. Archives are good for dates and reconstruction, whereas interviews put into the public domain those aspects that written records failed to capture for one reason or another. Interviews become outlets for the dominated that did not have a platform to tell their experiences. The article surveys the intricate facets of politics of the nation, land issues, wars and racial issues with special attention to the contribution of the PCSA, and here it relies on oral sources mainly captured through personal interviews with key leaders in the PCSA. The article reflects on the Reformer’s (particularly Calvin’s) socio-political and economic teachings from a third-worldview perspective; using the living historical evidences and testimonies (oral history) to analytically evaluate how Reformed teachings impacted on the developments of Zimbabwe. It sets, discusses and infers such teachings on the socio-political and economic situation of Zimbabwe, using the data collected orally. A Brief History of the PCSA in Zimbabwe The Presbyterian family of churches, like all Christian churches, traces its roots back to the early church in Jerusalem, to Paul and the church fathers like St Augustine (Dalziel 1982). In 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This public challenge to the practices of the church of his time led to the formation of a new family of churches known as the Protestant churches. The two main branches of Protestant churches are the Reformed churches and the Lutheran churches (Pillay 2016). The Presbyterian Church is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism which traces its origins to the British Isles, particularly Scotland. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the Presbyterian form of church government, which is governed by representative assemblies of elders. A great number of Reformed churches are organised this way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalised, is often applied uniquely to churches that trace their roots to the Scottish and English Presbyterians, as well as several English dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War (Graham 1988). John Calvin, born in France in 1509, is the Father of Presbyterianism (Parker 1995). Presbyterian theology typically emphasises the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, and the necessity of grace through faith in Christ. Local congregations of churches which use Presbyterian polity are governed by sessions made up of representatives of the congregation (elders); a conciliar approach which is found at other levels of decision-making (presbytery, synod and general assembly). Calvin’s legacy is to be found in his teaching on the 2 sovereignty of God, the priesthood of all believers and the Presbyterian Church structure. His ideals of morality, ethics and democracy helped shaped Western thought and later influenced Zimbabwe. From Geneva, Presbyterianism spread to Scotland and Ireland mainly through John Knox, who studied under John Calvin, and to England, the Netherlands and America. Throughout the world today there are some 80 million men, women and children who belong to the Christian family that goes by the name of “Presbyterian” (Pillay 2016), that includes the PCSA. In Africa, organised Presbyterianism began in Natal on the evening of 28 October 1850 when a gathering of Presbyterians resolved to form themselves into a congregation with the name the Presbyterian Church of Natal. The Rev. William Campbell, from Scotland, accepted a call to the young congregation on 16 March 1851. The growth of the Presbyterian Church in other parts of South Africa followed in the wake of the Great Trek beginning in 1830 as well as the discovery of diamonds in the Northern Cape in 1870 and gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 (Rodger 1998). Following the Pioneer Column’s Great Trek from the Cape of Good Hope, the PCSA found itself in Zimbabwe north of the Limpopo River (Moyo, personal communication, 19 September 2015), and in about 1890 the British South African Company raised its Union Jack flag at Fort Salisbury (Masaka, personal communication, 18 January 2015). Mutual friendship developed and the PCSA, together with other denominations in the country, benefited from the British South Africa Company’s (BSAC) policy on land, displacing the natives of Zimbabwe. This explains why the PCSA formulated rules and regulations to be observed by the African converts on mission farms (Weller and Linden 1984). It further indicates why the church could not avoid partnering in the 1896/7 Shona-Ndebele uprising, in which it sided with the colonial government. The PCSA accepted and promoted the new order, as is evident in some of the resolutions made by the Presbytery (Masaka, personal communication, 18 January 2015) which can be observed in policies such as: The rules on mission farms (Assembly Paper 1922, 213– 14); the Maize Control Act (Assembly Paper 1931, 211); Native Production and Trade Commission (NPTR) and Native Land Husbandry Act of 1944 (Parade 1945, 11); and 1965 Land Tenure Act (Assembly Papers 1965, 424). What is clear is that the PCSA in Zimbabwe aligned itself with the settler’s government and hence played a significant role in the socio- political affairs and economics of the land; mainly the premiership of Mr Ian Douglas Smith and Mr Clifford Walter DuPont—both Presbyterians. Without such involvement the land history of Zimbabwe would have been different. In 1896 the first Presbyterian congregation in Zimbabwe was formed in Matabeleland around Bulawayo area, at Makokoba, then soon Main Street (now First Presbyterian Church), St Andrews and in the later years Njube, Ntabazinduna, Khayelitsha and Sigola. Further north of the country, in 1903, a congregation was founded at Harare (City Church), with its preaching station at Highlands, Trinity Greencroft and Hatfield. In 1910 evangelism was carried out to the domestic worker suburbs of Mbare, Highfields, Mabvuku and Chitungwiza (the dormitory city) (Chikomo, personal communication, 16 June 2014). These became the power houses for the development of the church into Mashonaland and Matabeleland Presbyteries in the later 3 years, in the 1950s when nearly all towns of Zimbabwe had a congregation or two. In 1980 it numbered around 9 400 members in more than 23 congregations (Assembly Paper 1989, 11), with its greatest strength in Harare and Bulawayo. It must be acknowledged that the PCSA did not work in isolation; it is part of the umbrella of bodies such as the Rhodesia Council of Churches—now Zimbabwe Council of Churches (Kambudzi 2000). The PCSA provided insights that helped the church to embark on a relentless mission on the ethics of the