Film première of In Gods Naam

Posted on October 03, 2020

The short documentary film In Gods Naam premièred on 27 September 2020. The 26-minute documentary, directed by Dr Siona O’Connell, takes a closer look at the role that the Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) played in endorsing the apartheid policy of the National Party. The film also investigates the establishment of the Uniting Reformed Churches in South Africa (URCSA) after policy changes in the NGK.

The film highlights the critical role of churches during apartheid by either endorsing it or by providing safe havens for protestors. Until 1857, the NGK allowed people of all races to participate in services and to attend church together. After 1857, the church began to hold separate services for ‘brown people’, and soon, separate churches were established. Sections of the bible were used to justify the separation, and then to justify apartheid. The URCSA took issue with the NGK and its stance on apartheid and started protesting for unity and equality. With the end of apartheid, the URCSA were convinced that a confession was necessary on the part of those who had supported apartheid, and the Belhar Confession was issued. In this confession, the church declared that reconciliation and unity were essential to delivering the message of God. As a church that believed in one God, it had the responsibility to share this message with anyone who wanted to hear it, regardless of race.

The film also highlights the aftermath of the Belhar Confession and the relationship that formed between the NGK and the URCSA.

Dr Siona O’Connell is a professor in the School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria and is founding member of the Critical African Studies project at UP (CAST UP). She has spent her career focusing on racial oppression and inequality in South Africa. Some of her other publications and films include An Impossible Return and Uitgesmyt, as well as a film on the African National Congress, Promises and Lies:  Fault Lines of the ANC.

In Gods Naam premièred at the URCSA Gestig which is celebrating its 220th anniversary. Jolina Zimiri, one of the participants in the discussion, is the chairperson of the Festival Committee #SAGestig220. The discussion was hosted by Prof Norman Duncan, Vice-Principal: Academic, at the University of Pretoria. The other participants were Rev Dr Llewellyn MacMaster who is the minister of URCSA Gestig (Belhar Congregation) and moderator of the Cape Regional Synod, Prof Hennie Stander from the University of Pretoria and an emeritus minister of the NGK, Rev Riaan de Villiers from the NGK Groote Kerk in Cape Town, and Dr Siona O’Connell.

The debate included some hard-hitting questions such as what impact the failure to unify the two churches has had on the URCSA, and whether the two churches were any closer to uniting after 25 years of democracy. Dr MacMaster answered this question, stating that he believed the church had missed an opportunity ‘to be a powerful witness in this country, to be a testimony to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a witness that oneness in Christ is more powerful than separateness under apartheid.

Some of the other speakers commented on what could be done to promote unification, while others spoke to the history of the church.

Religion remains more closely linked to politics than most people would like to admit. In South Africa, the relationship between racism, power and religion is evident when looking at the NGK’s role during apartheid. Factions still exist, and moving forward seems almost impossible.  As viewers are reminded in this gripping film, “anything is possible in the name of Christ”.

You can watch the premiere on YouTube via the link: https://youtu.be/NCWCcGnvk5Y.

 

- Author Andrea du Toit and Palesa Mbonde

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