Ekklesiologiese perspektiewe op die geskiedenis van die NGKA-Ring van Lesotho tot 1998

[摘要] English: Perspectives on the history of the Presbytery of the Dutch ReformedChurch in Africa in Lesotho does not only portray its story, but also placesit in a broad church historical frame of reference. The first chapter istherefore a synoptic exposition of the relationship between the ParisEvangelical Missionary Society (PEMS) and the Dutch Reformed Church ofthe Orange Free State (DRC OFS). In 1910 the Dutch Reformed MissionChurch (DRMC) of the OFS was instituted, which means that the PEMS hadto relate to the two neighbour churches. In this regard the DRC OFS shiftedto the background. Between 1947 and 1957 the three churches (the PEMS bynow became the Kereke ea Lesotho) were through their respective synodicalcommissions involved in bilateral discussions concerning the ministry to LECmembers in the Goldfields of the Free State. In the end it was decided that theLEC should take on the responsibility herself. At the very same time theDRMC OFS and the DRC OFS were collaborating in planning andimplementing a joint mission enterprise in Basotholand. During 1957 the firstmissionaries were called and ordained, in 1960 the first DRMC congregationwere instituted and in October 1963 the Presbytery of Basotholandconstituted for the first time. Thus a DRCA church was planted in Lesothothetraditional area where the Kereke ea Lesotho worked for more than 130years. The presbytery was lead by ecclesiastical structures (liaison committees)that took the initiative and made the decisions. Early in the seventh decadeexpansion into the mountains was made possible by the involvement of theDRC congregation of Bothaville. The emphasis was now on evangelizing anda building programme. However, in the eighties, the enterprise faced a crisis.There were shortages on the budget and the one disciplinary hearing after theother that hampered the spirirtual development of the Presbytery. Duringthese crisis years the ministers and evangelists realised that a thoroughtheological and ecclesiastical assessment should be made. During 1987 thisstarted and eventualy (after 1995) resulted in recocnizing that the Presbyteryhas come to age to take on ministerial responsabilities as the true expressionand embodyment of the mutual connectedness betweenthe (now) eightLesotho congregations.

[发布机构] University of the Free State