H-SAfrica Venter on de Gruchy, 'The Church Struggle in South Africa' Review published on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 John W. de Gruchy with Steve de Gruchy. The Church Struggle in South Africa. 25th Anniversary Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005. xxx + 286 pp. $16.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8006-3755-2. Reviewed by Dawid Venter (Independent Scholar) Published on H-SAfrica (May, 2007) Aluta Continua for South African Churches John de Gruchy's The Church Struggle in South Africa first appeared in 1979--a year after P. W. Botha's ascension to power, two years after Steve Biko's death, and three years after the Soweto uprising. Still to come were Botha's two states of emergency (1985, 1986-1990), arrests of thousands, death squads, and assassinations of activists (such as Matthew Goniwe, died 1985), torture of clergy (like Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, 1986), destabilization of frontline states, surveillance through the multilevel Joint Management Centres, detentions without trial, and endless rounds of forced removals.[1] Throughout the Botha era (1978-1989) The Church Struggle was widely read in South Africa and abroad. The University of Stellenbosch has prescribed it since 1987, for example (http://tinyurl.com/38etzw). The first edition dealt with events up to 1977. True to John de Gruchy's provenance as the Robert Selby Taylor Professor of Christian Studies (1973-2003), the book served to challenge white readers with theological reflection on the social history of denominational and ecumenical pronouncements and organization against apartheid (p. xxiii). The publication of the second edition (1986) coincided with the second state of emergency. The only change was an addendum discussing major criticisms (p. xi). The 25th anniversary edition with its handsome cover updates Church Struggle to 2004 (p. 243). De Gruchy's description of the ecumenical struggle for justice--ironically--highlights the degree to which denominations, local congregations, and individual affiliates failed to do so. The title inevitably raises questions about what "the church" and "struggle" may mean. For John de Gruchy "the church" is a theological term encompassing all Christian denominations (see p. 3). Not all denominations were involved in "struggle," nor does De Gruchy deal with all who were (p. 86). Instead, he concentrates on "English-speaking churches" of British origin (p. 18) that opposed apartheid policies and participated in the South African Council of Churches (p. 84). The resultant list comprises Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists (in which John de Gruchy is ordained). The four denominations are conflated with major ecumenical organizations to connote the "ecumenical church" (p. 201), which by implication also incorporates "the mission church" and "the black church." The object of "church struggle" varies with particular periods for De Gruchy. During the colonial era the "struggle" was "to make the churches of British origin relevant to South Africa" (p. 18). Black Christians during the Union period struggled for "justice, rights, and land," and related racism to "educational, economic, and political issues" (pp. 13, 48). Relevance during the apartheid era meant opposing "racism and injustice" (pp. 13,63). The book traces the attempts by the "ecumenical church" Citation: H-Net Reviews. Venter on de Gruchy, 'The Church Struggle in South Africa'. H-SAfrica. 02-18-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/10670/reviews/11126/venter-de-gruchy-church-struggle-south-africa Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-SAfrica to eliminate racial injustice by confronting the apartheid state through public statements. Less attention falls to public disobedience, organizing opposition, and supporting detainees and their families. The "struggle" included but extends beyond "the black political struggle" (p. 32) to the present. Chapter 1 offers a broad account of relations between South African Christians and colonized indigenes between 1652 and about 1946. The discussion is organized around distinctions between mission and settler churches, Afrikaner and English churches,[2] and white and black churches. Meticulous footnotes provide a treasure of earlier sources (some from theJournal of Theology for Southern Africa, founded by De Gruchy in 1972). While De Gruchy duly attends to the role of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (p. 32), he also points to the breakaway Gereformeerde Kerk as the theological vanguard for Afrikaner nationalism (pp. 6, 31). Chapter 2 applies the dichotomies to the different formal responses between 1942 and 1977 of denominations to racial discrimination. The Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) delegation's recantation of the 1960 Cottesloe resolutions, under pressure from Prime Minister H. F. Verwoerd, marked the final crossroad (pp. 60-67). The subsequent emergence of united ecumenical opposition to the state from 1962 to 1977 is sketched in chapter 3. The Christian Institute of Southern Africa (1963-1977) unsuccessfully attempted to establish a Confessing movement based on the German war-time model (pp. 104-105,110).[3] The Institute was radicalized through its work among black Christians such as Steve Biko, and provided institutional support for African independent churches. The state countered the political work of the Institute by cutting off overseas funding and banning its leaders, including C. F. Beyers Naude, Brian Brown, Cedric Mayson, and Peter Randall (p. 109). The South African Council of Churches (SACC) followed a similar trajectory to the Christian Institute according to De Gruchy. Under Archbishop Bill Burnett the SACC incurred the state's wrath by publishing the Message to the People of South Africa in 1968. Burnett in the 1970s became a figurehead for the charismatic renewal. The World Council of Churches' decision to support liberation organizations through the Program to Combat Racism (1970) prompted the ecumenical movement to debate violence. Critics argued that the Program justified guerilla warfare, ignoring the institutional violence of the apartheid regime (pp. 126, 137). The SACC called for a complete rejection of all forms of violence (p. 127). In 1974 the SACC's annual conference produced a Statement on Conscientious Objection, which asked churches to consider whether this option was not demanded by Christian discipleship in South Africa. Paradoxically, member churches were simultaneously urged to supply chaplains to the liberation movements, as they were already doing for the South African Defence Force (pp. 137, 142). Conscientious objection was not then legally an option within the system of compulsory military conscription--unlike non-combatant status, which incurred extensive penalties. The state made calling for conscientious objection a crime punishable by fine and imprisonment (pp. 134-142). The election of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1978 to its leadership helped the SACC to become even more involved with the black struggle (p. 188). In response, the state engaged in financial harassment and legal repression, as it had done with the Christian Institute.[4] While overt black resistance was dampened between the Sharpeville and Soweto uprisings, black consciousness and black theology emerged during this time from within the churches. Blackness was defined as including black Africans, coloureds, and Indians (p. 152), while black theology also addressed whites (p. 180). De Gruchy highlights the distinctiveness of black theology in South Africa Citation: H-Net Reviews. Venter on de Gruchy, 'The Church Struggle in South Africa'. H-SAfrica. 02-18-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/10670/reviews/11126/venter-de-gruchy-church-struggle-south-africa Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-SAfrica compared to other varieties, particularly that espoused by James Cone (pp. 150, 162). Black theology arose from a broad theological spectrum, including the University Christian Movement, Lutherans (Manas Buthelezi), Reformeds (Allan Boesak), Congregationalists (Bonganjalo Goba), Methodists (Khosa Mgojo), and Anglicans (Desmond Tutu) (pp. 147-154, 187. Ironically, black consciousness and black theology fueled renewed protests against white rule just as some black youth were abandoning churches for being irrelevant (p. 175). Chapter 5 replaces the theological conclusions of the first two editions, and adds descriptions of Christian initiatives from 1976 to 2002. Examples include the National Initiative for Reconciliation (1985), The Belhar Confession (1982), The Kairos Document (1985), The Harare Declaration (1986), and the SACC's Standing for the Truth Campaign (1988). Prior to the 1994 election, ecumenical leaders helped to establish nationwide peace monitoring structures, both local and international (pp. 217, 222). Brigalia Bam, former general secretary of the SACC, joined the leadership of the Independent Electoral Commission. In chapter 6 John de Gruchy's son, Steve, concludes that the ecumenical movement faces multiple issues today without the unified focus forged during the apartheid era (p. 223). The collapse of foreign funding and the diversity of difficulties were contributing factors (p. 255). Confronted by a newly secular state (p. 244), denominations turned their collective attention inward while Christian public theology adjusted to a plurality of belief systems. Chapter 6 urges churches to grapple instead with poverty (including land redistribution,