Strengthening Multiethnic Fellowship at Christ Baptist Church in Polokwane, South Africa

Abstract

This project set out to strengthen multiethnic fellowship at Christ Baptist Church in Polokwane, South Africa. The project was undertaken because of the past and current waves of racial tension in South Africa, which have proven to affect the unity of a multiethnic church. Chapter 1 highlights the historical and current context of the project, the external and internal threats of multiethnic fellowship, and goes further to establish the goals and methodology for the project. Chapter 2 provides the biblical and theological basis for strengthening multiethnic fellowship, specifically underpinned by missiological, ecclesiological, soteriological and doxological theses. Chapter 3 chronicles the history of the church in South Africa with a special focus on two denominations—the Dutch Reformed Church and the Baptist Union of Southern Africa. The history highlights the impact of succumbing to political ideology clothed with misinterpreted Bible passages and the resulting cost of segregation in the church. The chapter goes on to debunk the apartheid worldview the two denominations embraced and the barriers it created. Several areas are highlighted, which, if addressed, will strengthen multiethnic fellowship in the church. The chapter closes with CBC’s journey toward multiethnic fellowship and the need and ways to strength that fellowship. Chapter 4 describes the stages followed to implement the project, each goal at a time. Chapter 5 gives an overall evaluation of the project, acknowledging the need to improve.