In 1829, the synod of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) declared that it was theologically wrong that "people of colour" should be prevented from sharing in communion with whites, but in 1857, the synod lost its theological nerve, ruling that "as a result of the weakness of some" segregation should be permitted.

The DRC instituted racially separated churches for the converts produced by its missionary efforts, beginning in 1881 with the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC), for "coloured" South Africans, followed in the 20th century by the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA), for Africans, and the Reformed Church in Africa (RCA), for Indians.

In 1993, it was acknowledged that the reunification of the Dutch Reformed church family was the "acid test" of whether the churches had moved beyond the apartheid era. A first step was taken the following year, when the DRCA and the DRMC joined together to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA); some African congregations stayed out of the union and continued as the DRCA.

Further progress towards reunification stalled. This has been of great concern to the Alliance, which committed itself at the 23rd general council to working pastorally with the DRC and the other churches in South Africa in the process of unity and reconciliation.

A WARC team visited South Africa in October in the hope of helping the Dutch Reformed family to find ways forward. Through careful listening to the churches, common ground was found, stumbling blocks were identified, and ways of dealing with these were discussed.

The team consisted of the Alliance general secretary, Dr Setri Nyomi, executive committee members Dr Herbert Ehnes and Dr Bukelwa Hans, and Rev Majaha Nhliziyo, coordinator of the Southern Africa Alliance of Reformed Churches (SAARC).

Herbert Ehnes

In Pretoria, the team held a series of meetings with the Alliance's three member churches - the DRC, the RCA and URCSA - first meeting each church separately and then sitting down with all three churches together.

The team was encouraged to learn that, as the result of a series of conventions begun by the Dutch Reformed family of churches in two areas of South Africa, a way towards unification seemed to be emerging. The three member churches responded affirmatively to three key requirements for the unification process:

Acceptance of all churches in the process as Reformed churches
Acceptance of ministers or ordination from each of the three churches
Willingness to unite with all the others

This affirmative response offered hope for the way ahead.

In the joint meeting on Friday, October 11, the three churches met on their own for a good part of the time. They proposed a way to include the DRCA in the process on the basis of its acceptance of the three key criteria. They agreed that, on hearing from the DRCA, the joint discussion group would meet in April 2003 to chart the way forward. Other issues that came up included the Confession of Belhar and the question of language. All these could have an impact on the timetable of the talks, as well as the procedures to be followed for decisions taken to be ratified by the church synods with their different cycles.

The member churches pledged to keep the Alliance informed of further developments, while the WARC team reaffirmed the Alliance's commitment to accompanying them in the process. The visit closed with the scriptural reminder that "unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12.24). Individually and corporately, life involves "dying in order to live again".

During the visit, time was taken to focus on the preparations for the eighth SAARC conference in November (see p.x), and the 24th general council (Accra, 2004), and the role that the individual churches could play in these forthcoming Reformed gatherings. As the churches spoke about their mission challenges, it was possible to recognize some common features, such as the fight against HIV/Aids, poverty, and reconciliation in church and society. A further question was the role of women in their governing structures.

Following the team visit, Setri Nyomi and Majaha Nhliziyo attended part of the Dutch Reformed Church general synod. The synod discussed and reaffirmed its commitment to unification.