VIDEO: Support and Accompaniment to Congregations
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Our mission
1. To support and accompany presbyteries and congregations to:
- embody the vision of Witness Ministry: to serve and witness together, in and from Africa.
- place service and witness in the centre of the ministry of congregations. To serve and to witness together as URC and DRC congregations and with the local ecumenical church.
2. To accompany URCSA Cape congregations, especially those without pastors, in becoming missional congregations.
Our focus areas
To achieve our mission we focus on:
- the missional transformation of congregations – to support and accompany congregational leaders to foster a culture of being missional (outward looking) congregations.
- building congregational leadership capacity – to equip and empower congregational leaders to facilitate the missional transformation of their congregations and to be missional and transformational leaders.
- building healthy, strong, and informed presbyteries – to support and advise presbyteries with regards to synodical policies and mandates and to equip them to foster strong and healthy church affiliation among congregations.
- the mandate and tasks of Congregational Ministry – to support congregational ministries of URCSA in the execution of their main task and objectives:
– equipping believers (congregants) for service and witness
– assisting in the development of material to equip believers
- research and training – to empower leaders with capabilities, to lead their congregations to serve and witness in multi-cultural contexts, among others.
Our strategic partners
- Congregations and presbyteries;
- task teams at Witness Ministry;
- congregational ministries of URCSA Cape;
- congregational accompaniment (Communitas);
- Diaconia;
- affiliation ministries;
- Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Witness.
Assistants
To manage and facilitate this mammoth task the task team manager is assisted by a task team, trained congregational facilitators (URCSA Cape pastors and licensed candidates), and Leoné Prinsloo, Congregational Witness’s administrative coordinator.
Projects and programmes
The following projects and programmes are being managed, coordinated, and facilitated to strengthen our support and accompaniment service:
- Contextual Bible Study to help build congregational capacity and vitality and to address communal challenges and contribute to community development.
- A support programme for URCSA licensed candidates (proponents) while they are waiting to be called.
- Cultivating missional leadership, focussing on pastors of our Eastern Cape presbyteries.
- Boys2Men ministry to support congregations’ witness with regards to violence against women and children.
Contact
Rev. Stephen Pedro (Manager)
(+27) 21 957 7183
stephen@kaapkerk.co.za
Task Team Members
• Rev. André Botha (Chairperson)
• Rev. Zukile Bloro (Vice-chairperson)
• Eld. Lynette Roelfse (Scribe)
• Prof. Reggie Nel (Expert member)
• Rev. Aidan Windvogel (Additional member)
• Rev. Xolani Mhobo (Additional member)
• Rev. John Holtzhausen (DRC Representative: Witness Ministry)
• Rev. Randow Sabatha Jantjies (URC Representative: Witness Ministry)
• Rev. Gustav Meyer (Co-chairperson: NFCD – New Faith Community Development)
• Rev. Glenda Fredericks (Co-chairpersons NFCD – New Faith Community Development)
• Rev. Stephen Pedro (URC MSS: Congregational Accompaniment)
• Rev. André Agenbag (DRC MSS: Congregational Accompaniment)