Reconciliation Initiative in Gauteng[2004 July 30]
Earlier this year, one hundred and fifty church leaders from throughout the province of Gauteng met to discuss the topic of reconciliation and how they could develop an initiative to carry it forward. This conference was intended to pave the way for this initiative by calling upon church leaders to take up the mandate given the South African Council of Churches by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to carry forward the effort of reconciliation through out the country. It was also the official public launch of an on-going partnership between the Gauteng Council of Churches and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa), designed to support the initiative. The GCC and Idasa will work together to build the capacity of church leaders to promote dialogue on difficult issues using a process called Sustained Dialogue, and additionally, facilitate the roll out of the initiative throughout the province. As a starting poi nt for greater and on-going efforts, this had two core objectives:
• To build consensus among church leaders on a working definition of the concept of reconciliation that they can using in carrying forward their work
• To develop a plan of action for the reconciliation initiative that church leaders will act upon in the coming year
The program began with devotions by Father Patrick Noonan, who began his speech with an analogy between the current context in South Africa and the biblical story of St. Peter. Two keynote speakers then addressed the Convocation. The first speaker was Paul Graham, Executive Director of Idasa. His speech focused on democracy as comprised of two components: power and people. Graham emphasized the need for South Africa, which for the past ten years has emphasized power, to now move toward a focus on its people and especially acceptance and inclusion. He was followed by Rev. Dr. Molefe Tsele, whose speech focused on the longstanding connection between the concept of reconciliation and the church. In particular, Tsele emphasized the need for the church to take a lead role in working toward reconciliation at all levels, creating a shared space for dialogue in South African society.
Following the keynote addresses, participants began working on understanding and defining reconciliation. An initial introductory exercise was followed by a group exercise in which partners developed a set of common principles/key points to help take forward the work of reconciliation. The entire conference then came together to compile key elements discussed and nominate a task team to develop a working definition of reconciliation for the on-going initiative.
Rev. Gift Moerane, Organizing Secretary for the Gauteng Council of Churches, then spoke to the conference about the Church and the role of dialogue. He emphasized that the church is a unique movement with the mandate to initiate processes addressing issues of diversity and differences, work which must include both reconciliation within the church as well as in the broader South African Community. Moerane also emphasized the need to provide clergy with necessary skills to deal with these issues, as well as the responsibility of individual churches to develop initiatives in their own communities.
After a group exercise conceptualizing “dialogue,” Teddy Nemeroff, Idasa’s Project Coordinator for Sustained Dialogue, provided an explanation of the Sustained Dialogue process, as a potential tool for helping the church carry forward the work of reconciliation.
The following day, the conference first met to present and discuss the core elements of a working definition of reconciliation that task teams had been charged with developing the evening before. Following a brief discussion of each element, participants broke into small groups to begin formulating plans of action for carrying forward the GCC’s reconciliation initiative. Each group then presented their plans to the full session, and a task team was formed, charged with overseeing the roll out of these plans.
The conference then adjourned and travelled by bus to a closing ceremony at two venues. First, the group visited Freedom Park, where they were given an explanation of the venue by representatives of the Freedom Park Trust. Following closing words by Rev. Gift Moerane, church leaders representing the GCC, TEASA, and the African Instituted Churches signed a pledge to carry forward the work of reconciliation. The conference participants then travelled to the Voortrekker Monument, where they received a welcome from the monument’s director, General Gert Opperman and finished with refreshments.
As a first step in the process of building a larger on-going in initiative, the Convocation had several key outcomes. These include:
• The development of a new working definition of reconciliation to be used by church leaders to carry the initiative forward
• An initial set of plans for carrying forward the initiative in Gauteng
• The formation of 8 Task teams to further develop and help roll out the plan
• The creation of a coordinating team to lead on-going efforts
• A signed pledge capturing the commitment of participant churches to carry forward the initiative
Reconciliation Initiative in Gauteng 2004
We are very happy to provide you with a report on the Gauteng Council of Churches’ Reconciliation Initiative Convocation that was held from the May 27-28, 2004 at the Skuilkrans Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria. This event was the launch of an ongoing initiative to promote reconciliation by the Gauteng Council of Churches (GCC) in partnership with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa). For two days, church leaders and laity from throughout the province came together to deliberate, ponder, and plan a coordinated effort to bring the project of reconciliation to the communities of Gauteng.
Reconciliation Initiative in Gauteng 2004.pdf
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