ARTICLE

 

Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae: Eighteen Years of Editorship (2005-2022)

 

 

Christina Landman

University of South Africa christina.landman2@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8905-0738

 

 

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ABSTRACT

From 2005 to 2022, a period of 18 years, the author was editor-in-chief of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE), the subject journal of the Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA). The CHSSA has been in existence since 1970, and SHE has been published since 1973/5. During the time of the author's editorship, SHE was housed in the Research Institute for Theology and Religion at the University of South Africa, where the author taught and researched as a full professor. This article provides a statistical and content analysis of the 746 articles written by 862 authors which were published during these 18 years. Festschriften and special issues are pointed out, and themes are identified. Taking the insight "Interpretation is colonialisation" as methodological point of departure, the research findings are arranged under themes that emerge from the published articles during this period. All this is placed against a short interpretative historical background of the times during which the articles were published.

Keywords: Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE); Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA); Festschrift Simon Maimela; J. M. Vorster; Research Institute for Theology and Religion

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Introduction

The aim of the article is to give an overview of the 18 years during which the author was editor-in-chief of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, which from here on will be referred to as SHE. SHE is the subject journal of the Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA). The CHSSA was launched in 1970, and SHE published its first issue in 1973/5. Hence, in 2024, the 50th volume of SHE will be published.

The 18 years under review stretch from 2005 to 2022. The overview will contain statistical and thematic analyses, interpreted against the history of the CHSSA and the religious scenery of South Africa in general.

 

Methodology

The article gives a statistical and content analysis of the issues of SHE published in the 18 years under review. Demographic characteristics such as the race and gender of the publishing authors are emphasised. The universities and theological institutions to which the authors are affiliated are also focused on.

Taking the insight "Interpretation is colonialisation" as methodological point of departure, the article's findings will not be interpreted in terms of any model, but simply arranged under themes that emerge from the published articles themselves. These themes deal with the histories of the churches and institutions told, the biographies of church leaders and theologians presented, and the numerous topical issues addressed by the authors in their articles.

 

CHSSA Conferences as Preliminary Historical Background

SHE as journal was initially established by the CHSSA to publish the papers delivered at its annual conferences. This remains one of the CHSSA's aims, yet SHE has developed over the past 50 years as a journal that also attracts international and especially pan-African articles. It is accredited by the Department of Higher Education in South Africa, as well as by Scopus and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO).

Since SHE publishes the papers delivered at the previous conference of the CHSSA- after they have been subjected to a strict double-blind peer review-it is appropriate to list the 18 conference themes here as historical background for the period under discussion (2005-2022/3). From 2005 to 2008 the CHSSA conference was still held in January after which the papers were published later in the same year. From 2009 the conference moved to June/July and eventually to August, with the papers being considered for publication in December or during the following year. As far as the themes of the conferences are concerned, it can furthermore be noted that the CHSSA (then known under its Afrikaans name as the Kerkhistoriese Werkgemeenskap van Suider-Afrika) was constituted in 1970 with five working groups who each presented a theme for the conference when their turn came up. From memory, the author recalls that these working groups were: (1) Patristics, Medieval and Reformation Church History; (2) Modern and General Church History; (3) South African Church History; (4) Historiography and Methodology; and (5) Church Polity. This practice can be seen in the first few themes, after which the working groups slid into oblivion.

A further reason for presenting the list of CHSSA conferences here is because such a list is not available elsewhere and had to be constructed from several private sources.

 

Table 1

 

Literary Review as Historical Background

Before the author took over the editorship of SHE in 2005, the editor-in-chief was Prof. Koos (J. M.) Vorster from the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. He depicts his eight years of editorship from 1997 to 2004 as one of transition in an article entitled "A Time of Transition: Theological Trends in the Issues of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae from 1997-2004" (Vorster 2014). He argues that the transitions in articles published in SHE during this period encompass the following:

1. The themes of the articles reflect a trend in the CHSSA changing from an almost exclusively (White Afrikaans) Reformed society focusing on European influences in South Africa to an ecumenical society including a variety of denominations and races (Vorster 2014, 2).

2. Authors turned towards researching African experiences and history, including that of the African Independent Churches (Vorster 2014, 2-3).

3. Although there were almost no women authors, Vorster (2014, 4) points to several articles published in this time on the position of women in a variety of ecclesiastical traditions.

4. Historiographical methodologies have changed during this time of transition. Oral history methodologies were applied, and histories were written "from below" (Vorster 2014, 5-6). "Christian history" is redefined in terms of experience stories, moving away from church history as describing church meetings in chronological order.

Vorster summarises his findings as follows:

SHE grew from a journal with an initially limited ecclesiological tradition to a journal that stimulates ecumenical research and that grapples with the way in which churches in South Africa can effectively address the problems of a post-1994 society. The entrance of several dynamic young Black academics strengthened this trend. Today SHE is a model of vigorous ecumenical discourse and a rich source of information from the African ecumenical world. (Vorster 2014, 6-7)

Hoffie Hofmeyr, a founding member of the CHSSA and professor in church history at the University of South Africa (Unisa) and, later, at the University of Pretoria, wrote two articles in which he evaluated the contribution of the CHSSA and SHE to local scholarship:

• In 2010 Hofmeyr looked at the 15 years between 1991 and 2005 in an article entitled "The Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA) Attempting to Come of Age: The Story of the CHSSA between 1991 and 2005" (Hofmeyr 2010).

• In 2014 Hofmeyr referred to the 40 years' existence of SHE in an article "Celebrating 40 Years of the Church History Society of Southern Africa in 2010, and 40 Years of the Journal Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae in 2014" (Hofmeyr 2014).

In these two articles Hofmeyr (2010, 5-6; 2014, 5-6) added information about SHE which may be useful to record here:

•Up to 1989 (Vol. 15), one issue of SHE was published annually, containing the papers of the previous conference, the quality of which varied. From 1990 two issues were published every year, the papers still not being reviewed.

• When Christina Landman took over as editor of SHE in 2005, she was not only the first woman to be editor, but she also had to steer SHE through an accreditation process which was successful. The Department of Higher Education has since 2005 accredited academic journals and paid a subsidy for every article published in an accredited journal after having undergone a rigorous peer-review process. Since 2005, manuscripts submitted to SHE have been subjected to a double-blind peer-reviewed process before being accepted for publication. In 2012 SHE was re-evaluated by the Academy of Sciences for South Africa (ASSAF) and its accreditation continued.

In the editorial to the fortieth volume (SHE 2014 Supplement), Christina Landman (2014, XV) shared the following information on the early years of the CHSSA and SHE:

• At the CHSSA Conference of 29/30 January 1980, when the CHSSA was 10 years old, three new members were accepted into the society, for which at least a relevant master's degree was required. They were Koos Vorster of the then Potchefstroom University, David Whitelaw of Unisa, and Christina Landman, also from Unisa. This was a breakthrough in membership. Since its launch at Unisa in 1970, the CHSSA had consisted of Afrikaans-speaking males, the only exception being Margaret Donaldson of Rhodes University who, because of distance, did not attend the meetings.

• Female membership was strengthened in 1981 when Mandy Goedhals, later professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), joined.

• The first Black scholars accepted as members of the society were Radikobo Ntsimane (UKZN) and Lizo Jafta (Unisa) who joined in 1987.

• The theme of the conference was published in English for the first time in 1991, and the minutes of the AGM have been written in English since 1992.

• In 1997, Prof. Koos Vorster became the editor of SHE and for the next eight years prepared the journal to become ecumenical and inclusive of race and gender.

To this the author can add the following information. From 2005, under Landman's editorship, SHE was published by the CHSSA itself, with hard copies being professionally prepared and sent to members by Nonnie Fouché until her retirement in 2015. From 2015 SHE went online with open access and has ever since been published by Unisa Press. Hard copies were no longer printed. Jonathan Womack assisted the editor-in-chief in the handling of the on-line publication of SHE from 2016 to 2018. Tanya Pieterse has fulfilled this role since 2019.

 

Analysis of the Research Data

The research data for this article are the 52 issues of SHE published between 2005 and 2022, that is, in the 18 volumes running from Volume 31 (2005) to Volume 48 (in 2022).

 

Table 2

 

Quantity: Number of Issues, Articles, Book Reviews, and Authors

Issues

In the 18 years between 2005 and 2022, 52 issues of SHE were published. Three issues were regularly published every year, with the exception of volume 31 (2005) and volume 33 (2007). The CHSSA's Constitution¹ (2010) article 7.1 stipulates that "The Society shall publish a journal on a bi-annual basis with the possibility of adding a supplementary issue according to the need thereof." Despite the mandate to publish two issues per year, a supplementary issue was added every year, except as said in the first year, 2005, and in 2007.

Articles

During this period 746 articles were published, with an average of 14 articles per issue and 43 annually. For church history as the less popular stepsister of theological disciplines, this is a fair average.

Authors

The 746 articles were written by 862 authors, since articles were often co-authored. Some universities (such as Unisa) have a requirement that a candidate for a master's or doctoral degree must publish an article in an accredited journal with the supervisor as co-author before the degree is bestowed.

Book Reviews

A total of 427 book reviews were published, which is an average of eight per issue. Publishing book reviews was an initiative of the editorship commencing in 2005. Nonnie Fouché managed the reviews until her retirement in 2015. In 2016, Prof. MaryAnne Plaatjies-Van Huffel was appointed as book review editor, a position which became vacant with her untimely death in 2020. After 2020 no more books were received from publishers because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because of the collapse of the South African Post Office. Sending books electronically for review seems to be considered by publishers as too risky.

However, since the second issue of 2005 (vol. 31) SHE has published reviews of books received for review from renowned publishers such as Princeton University Press, Oxford University Press, Eerdmans, John Wiley, Peeters, Mohr Siebeck, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, University of Chicago Press, Cambridge University Press, CH Beck Publishers, and Brill Publishers, to mention but a few. Local books for review were received from Cluster Publications, Lux Verbi (Academic), and Griffel.

Race and Gender

Race

In 1997, Philippe Denis claimed that, despite the foundation of the CHSSA and SHE in the 1970s, "Church History maintained its ecclesiocentric, Afrikaner and Dutch Reformed character ... [until] none-White [sic] academics from South Africa and the neighbouring countries began to join the society in the early 1990s" (Denis 1997, 1-2). Both Hofmeyr (2010, 2-3; 2014, 2-3) and Vorster (2010, 23), as indicated in the literary review above, emphasised that the CHSSA during the 1970s and 1980s consisted almost exclusively of White and Reformed members, indicating that this changed only during the 1990s (actually in 1987; Landman 2014, XV) with Black academics joining the CHSSA.

During the period under discussion (2005-2022), this situation changed considerably, albeit not dramatically. Of the 862 authors who published in SHE during this period, 460 were Black. In full agreement with those who claim that "Brown and Coloured" should not be a classification apart from "Black," it may be of academic interest that 60 of the authors were "Brown and Coloured." There were also seven contributions by Indian (and other Asian) authors, which are rightfully incorporated under "Black authors" (to note that Prof. Jerry Pillay was the chair of the CHSSA for two terms). Thus, there were 453 (53%) "Black" authors publishing in SHE during this period of 18 years, while 60 (7%) "Brown and Coloured" authors published, which gives a total of 60%.

One must, of course, take into account that those who published in SHE were not necessarily members of the CHSSA. Especially since 2005, when SHE became an accredited journal, manuscripts were submitted by scholars from all over the world, and especially from the rest of Africa. An audit of the changing membership of the CHSSA, and the conflict which often occurred because of this with White members leaving the society, is not part of this study.

Gender

The CHSSA-since its inception and even today-has very few female members. In fact, only Christina Landman and Mary-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel regularly published in SHE. In 2008 an effort was made to attract women's voices by dedicating the supplement of volume 34 to "Histories of Women of Faith in Africa." Twelve of the 17 authors who published in this volume were women. Yet, in toto only 126 women published in SHE between 2005 and 2022 despite the editor-in-chief being a woman.

Thus, women authors only constitute 15% of those who published in SHE during the said 18 years.

Universities and Theological Seminaries

To prevent accredited journals from becoming or remaining in-house journals, the Department of Higher Education placed restrictions on the number of authors from one institution publishing in a specific volume. At first it was determined that only 50%, and then 25%, may come from the same institution. SciELO, where SHE is accredited, has set the restriction at 35%.

The institution that published the most in SHE between 2005 and 2022 is Unisa, where SHE was housed and published during this period. Unisa-affiliated authors (incidentally) comprise 35% of the authorship of SHE between 2005 and 2022, although the restrictions on 35% authorship only came later.

The University of Pretoria, Stellenbosch University, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal each account for 10% of the authorship, while the North-West University and the University of the Free State each account for 5%.

Almost absent from the list is the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Johannesburg (formerly Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit) which rarely, if at all, published in SHE.

It is difficult to determine just how involved universities (and theological seminaries) outside South Africa were, since authors who were registered as academic associates at South African universities usually published under the name of the South African university and not also under the name of the university at which they were teaching at the time of publication.

Table 3 gives the names of the universities and theological seminaries under which the authors published:

Festschriften and Other Special Issues

As was said earlier, the Constitution of the CHSSA (2010, article 7.1) expects the editor of SHE to publish two issues annually. However, except for 2005 and 2007, SHE has published three issues every year, calling the third issue a "Supplement." After 2015, and going online, this supplement was simply numbered as one of the issues.

The special issues of SHE between 2005 and 2022 include the following:

Festschriften and Dedications

In the said period, five Festchriften of prominent South African scholars were published, namely Profs Simon Maimela, Philippe Denis, Cornel du Toit, Takatso Mofokeng, and Mary-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel. It is a pity that this practice of publishing Festschriften has vanished from the SHE agenda since this made an important contribution to the history of Christianity in South Africa.

The following Festschriften and Dedications were published between 2005 and 2022 in chronological order:

• Dedication to Prof. David Bosch on what would have been his 75th birthday, and Prof. Adrio König on his 70th birthday (SHE 2005, vol. 31, no. 2)

• Dedication to Prof. J. N. K. (Jesse) Mugambi on his 60th birthday (SHE 2007, vol. 33, no. 2)

• Festschrift for Prof. Simon Maimela (1944- ), leading Black theologian from Unisa (SHE 2010, vol 37 Supplement). This was presented to him at a function on 13 August 2010, sponsored by Unisa.

• Dedication to a century of ecumenical history since the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910; and half a century after the Cottesloe Consultation in 1960 (SHE 2011, vol. 37, no. 1)

• Festschrift for Prof. Philippe Denis, church historian from the University of KwaZulu-Natal on his 60th birthday (SHE 2012, vol. 38, no. 1)

• Festschrift for Prof. Cornel du Toit, professor and head of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion at Unisa on his 60th birthday (SHE 2013, vol. 39 Supplement)

• Dedication to the fortieth volume of SHE, celebrated during a gala dinner in August 2014 at the CHSSA's 2014 conference at Unisa (SHE 2014 Supplement)

• Festschrift for Takatso Mofokeng, theologian from Unisa of Black Consciousness and Black theology (SHE 2014 Supplement)

• Dedication to the 500 years' commemoration of the Protestant Reformation which is popularly connected to the "publication" of Martin Luther's 95 statements on 31 October 1517 in Wittenberg, Germany (SHE 2017, vol. 43, no. 3)

• Festschrift for Prof. Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel, first and only woman moderator of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, and professor in church polity at Stellenbosch University, commemorating her life and work after her untimely death on 19 May 2020 at the age of 60 (SHE 2021, vol. 47, no. 2)

Conference Papers

As indicated above, the papers delivered at CHSSA conferences were published (after the required peer-reviewing) either later in the same year or early in the next year. This was meticulously done with 2020 being the only exception when the COVID-19 outbreak prevented the CHSSA from having a conference.

Apart from the CHSSA, papers from other conferences were also published, such as "European Missions in Zululand" (2009/2011), "Empire and Anti-Empire" (2009/2011), and "Voice and Voicelessness" (2011).

The conference papers of the CHSSA and other conferences as mentioned were published as follows in the specified issues of SHE:

• 2005 CHSSA conference papers: "The Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century and its Implications for (South) Africa Today" (SHE 2005, vol. 31, no. 1)

• 2006 CHSSA conference papers: "Children and the Church" (SHE 2006, vol. 32, no. 1)

• 2007 CHSSA conference papers: "The Methodology of Church History" (SHE 2007, vol. 33, no. 1)

• 2008 CHSSA conference papers: "Religious Freedom and Church History" (SHE 2008 vol. 34, no. 1)

• 2009 Joint Conference of Academic Societies in the Fields of Religion and Theology, CHSSA conference papers: "The History of Theological Education in Africa" (SHE 2009 vol. 35 Supplement)

• Project: Norwegian Mission and Cultural Interaction in Zululand and Madagascar, 1880-1960, conference papers: "European Missions in Zululand." This was a conference held on 5 and 6 November 2009 in Pietermaritzburg in collaboration between the University of Stavanger, the Lutheran Theological Institute in Pietermaritzburg, the School of Religion and Theology of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Department of History at the University of Tulear in Madagascar (SHE 2010, vol. 36, no. 1).

• 2010 CHSSA conference papers: "Ecumenism: An Historical Perspective" (SHE 2011, vol. 37, no. 1)

• 2011 CHSSA conference papers: "Histories of Church and Money" (SHE 2011, vol. 37, no. 2)

• Project: "Empire and Anti-Empire: Histories and Futures." Articles published for this project which was launched in 2009 by the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology (SHE 2011, vol. 37 Supplement).

• 2011 conference papers delivered at "Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Voice and Voicelessness in the New Millennium" conference hosted by Unisa on 4 to 6 October 2011. Published as a supplement in SHE as "Contra-Culturing Voicelessness: Histories and Futures" (SHE 2012, vol. 38 Supplement).

• 2012 Joint Conference of Academic Societies in the Fields of Religion and Theology, CHSSA conference papers: "Knowing, Believing, Living in Africa: An Historical Perspective" (SHE 2012, vol. 38, no. 2)

• 2013 CHSSA conference papers: "The African Christian Churches and the Environment in an Historical Perspective" (SHE 2013, Vol 39, no. 2)

• 2014 CHSSA conference papers: "Church, War and Peace" (SHE 2014, vol. 40, no. 2)

• 2015 CHSSA conference papers: "The History of Commemorations, Celebrations and Anniversaries, Including Architecture" (SHE 2015, vol. 41.3)

• 2016 CHSSA conference papers: "Popular Faith and Canonical Faith of the Church in Southern African Christianity" (SHE 2016, vol. 42, no. 3)

• 2017 CHSSA conference papers: "Turning Points in the History of Christianity" (SHE 2017, vol. 43, no. 3)

• 2018 CHSSA conference papers: "Church and Empire" (SHE 2019 vol. 45, no. 2)

• 2019 CHSSA conference papers: "Church and Land in Historical Perspective" (SHE 2020, vol. 46, no. 2)

• 2021 CHSSA conference papers: "The History of Contextual Theology in South Africa and Beyond: An Investigation in Historical Theology" (SHE 2022 vol. 48, no. 2)

Issues on Special Topics

Articles on special topics were also published in the following issues:

•"Christinah Nku, Founder of the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission" (SHE 2006, vol. 32, Supplement)

• "Histories of Women of Faith in Africa" (SHE 2008, vol. 34 Supplement)

• "The Public Face of Female Genital Mutilation: A Short Historical Overview" (SHE 2009, vol. 35, no. 1)

• "Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, Born 500 Years Ago" (SHE 2009, vol. 35, no. 2)

• "25 Years' History of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (19942019)" (SHE 2019 vol. 45, no. 3)

Thematisation of Articles

The themes of articles published between 2005 and 2022 are related to the CHSSA conference held during the same period. However, these conference papers account for only one issue of SHE annually. The other articles deal with a wide range of topics. The SHE website (https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/SHE/about) describes the scope of the journal as follows: "Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae publishes articles in the discipline of Church History/History of Christianity. Articles with an African/South African historical perspective receive priority." However, the published articles trace the church's history from many parts of the world, although most are from Africa. Also, many articles explore themes and topics which may have a pronouncedly current face. However, the editor at the time regarded everything that happened yesterday, or were in the thoughts of people, as history.

Here an overview of themes will be provided only for the last 25 issues since Vorster (2014) and Hofmeyr (2014) have dealt with the themes in SHE until its fortieth volume in 2014. The themes of the 318 articles in these 25 issues are arranged under the following four headings: "Churches, etc." (when an article deals with the history of a specific church); "Church leaders etc."; "Topics"; and "Institutions, etc." The topic of the article which falls under a specific theme is given in brackets.

Churches and Theological Institutions

Of the 31 churches and theological institutions mentioned here, the following four churches received the most attention: the Methodist Church in South Africa, the Roman Catholic Church, the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. Only two articles dealt with the church outside of Africa. Here follows the churches in alphabetical order:

• African Independent Churches (AICs) (naming; cultural naming; Coptic Christianity and contemporary AICs; character of the AICs in the twentieth century)

• Anglican Church (valid marriage; Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Zambia; roots of ritualism in South Africa; St James Kajire Anglican Parish, Kenya; inculturation of eucharistic symbols in Kenya; St Paul's Anglican Theological College, South Africa; African Anglican liturgy)

• Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (gender discrimination in church leadership; moratorium to preserve culture)

• Apostolic Faith Mission in Southern Africa (structural unity; evangelisation of Black Pentecostalism 1940-1975; reasons for schisms)

• Arthur Shearly Cripp's Mission (at Maronda Mashanu 1901-1952)

• Assemblies of God (theological education, Nigeria)

• Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (ecumenism)

• Baptist Church (coming out of the Reformation)

• Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (denominational pluralism; (non) power of General Assembly)

• Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (four-self-leadership formula)

• Digo Mission (birth in East Africa)

• Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) (Angolana; Pniel land dispute; mission enthusiasts; bells of Stellenbosch Moederkerk (mother church); mission in Mashonaland nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Geloftedag (the Day of the Vow) and 1938 Eeufees (centenary festival); 1917 Reformation celebration; DRC mission churches as powerless partners; DRC as agent for peace 1990-1994; race and war [two articles])

• Dutch Reformed Mission Church (colour issue)

• Free Pentecostal Fellowship (in Kenya 1955-2018)

• Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (Reformed churches in South Africa) (vroue in die amp [women in ministry]; 1973-1988)

• Johane Masowe Chishanu yeNyenyedzi (JMCN) Church (spirituality; religious artifacts and symbols; missiological thrust in the diaspora; Easter celebrations)

• Light of Life Christian Group (ecumenism in Zimbabwe)

• Lutheran Church (theological education; personal reflections of a bishop)

• Methodist Church of Southern Africa (baptism of still-born babies; Wesley's dream for women ministers; Clergy Labour Union; Africanisation of ordination; 1958 "One and Undivided" Mission Policy; chronicle of the ordination of women; ordination of women as turning point [two articles]); 200 years of South African Methodism 1816-2016; implications of ordaining women; relationship with presbyters; history in Zimbabwe; experiences of 13 women ministers of the MCSA; women ministers in mission)

• Pentecostal churches (discrimination in Zimbabwe; Bosadi-hood; women in Thohoyandou; twentieth century American Pentecostal Movement; men of God, Zambia; Jansenism in Nigeria; lay and full-time ministers in Ghana; women in ministry; theological training in Malawi; healing in Zambian Pentecostal churches; Afro-Pentecostalism)

• Reformed Church in Zambia (Christianisation of Cinamwali as Cilangizo; African Pentecostalism)

• Reformed Presbyterian Church (in a Cape Town township)

• Roman Catholic Church (indissoluble marriage; women in church councils; integration of first Black Dominican sisters in Natal; church land reform Diocese of Mariannhill 1999 onwards; reformations of Catholic women; Cape Pietism seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; Roman Catholic Church reformation sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Jesuit Mission to Ethiopia 1557-1635; Afro-Catholicism in Ghana)

• Seventh-Day Adventist Church (development in Zimbabwe; Sabbath doctrine)

• St Joseph's Scholasticate, Cedara (beginnings)

• Swedish Free Mission (in Kenya between 1960 and 1984)

• Swiss Mission (decoloniality in South Africa)

• Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) (renaming colonial congregations and Columba Mission Chetane; New Brighten Mission Church; struggle for unity; church polity in Zimbabwe; renewed mission practice; ministerial formation praxis; Reformed influence in Zimbabwe)

• Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (diversity and unity; church media and reconciliation; sexual ethics; land and property rights; Landman's 25-year journey; gender insensitivity; Christian women's ministry; Christian youth ministry; prophetic theology; impossible community; greater unification with DRC; church unity between DRCA and DRMC; URCSA and democracy; ministers of the Word and party politics)

• United Church of Zambia Theological College (Goodhall-Nielsen Report)

• Zionist churches (roots in Apostolic Faith Misson (AFM); Zionist Christian Church and healing)

Church Leaders, Individuals, and Theologians

Of the 54 leaders mentioned here, eight were not from Africa. The other articles presented novel research on a host of African Christian leaders and thinkers. They now follow in alphabetical order:

• Albert Geyser (as told in the media)

• Allan Aubrey Boesak (organic intellectual; struggle against apartheid; livid narrative; liberation of women of faith in South Africa; unity of Reformed churches)

• Alpheus Zulu (on racism)

• Anselm Prior (Lumko model for the Roman Catholic Church)

• Bernard Mzeki (Anglican Church in Zimbabwe 1890-2013)

• Bernard Opoku Nsiah (prophet, Ghana)

• Christina Nku (founder St John's Apostolic Faith Mission)

• Dawid P. Botha (Cape Coloured question)

• Elias Letwaba (AFM, spreading the gospel in South Africa)

• Eramus (as Reformer)

• Frank Chicane (servant leadership)

• Francis Akanu Ibiam (Kenyan leader 1906-1995)

• Fredrik Franson (1852-1908 promotor of mission)

• Gabriel Molehe Setiloane (ecclesiology)

• Gunther Wittenberg (theology of hope)

• Ismael Mwai Mabiu (Afro-Pentecostalism in Kenya)

• James Anta (Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe)

• James Buys (Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

• James Spaita (Catholic Church in Zambia 1960-2014)

• Jean-Francois Bill (pastor and activist 1934-2005)

• Jean-Marc Èla (theology in Africa)

• Johannes du Plessis (legacy)

• John de Gruchy (understanding of kingdom of God)

• John Lake (legacy; con-man [two articles])

• John Mbiti (ubuntu theology)

• John Owen (Trinitarian theology)

• John William Colenso (psalms and hymns)

• John Wesley (slavery; Christian perfection; reading Psalm 23:6)

• Joseph Devasayagen Royeppen (Anglican activist 1871 -1960)

• Karl Barth (Letter to the Romans; significance for the Belhar Confession)

• Kgasane (dreams)

• Lesseyton (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society)

• Linda Mandindi (quest for Black Methodist Consultation)

• Manas Buthelezi (South African church leader and activist)

• Manche Masemola (oral history; mythmaking)

• Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel (pioneering gendered African theology; first voice on gender equity; systemic gender injustice; justice through virtuous leadership; writing of church history; Reformed world; Confession of Belhar (two articles); public theologian; greater freedom for all; blackness; dealing with hostility; grass-roots prophetess)

• Mary Daly (Mariology)

• Matthew Jacha Rusike (dehumanised children in Zimbabwe 1950-1978)

• Mvumelvano Dandala (pastor and politician)

• Nahashon Ngare Rukenya (Mau-Mau war reconstruction 1959-1970)

• Nokuthela Linderely Dube (singing memory)

• Nolbert Kunonga (bishop Anglican Province of Zimbabwe)

• Pius XII (war, peace, and the Jewish question)

• Purity Malinga (rise to presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of South Africa; from Constance Oosthuizen to Purity Malinga)

• Ramsden Balmforth (South African perspective; future of religion in the 1920s)

• Richard Moko (Seventh-Day Adventist)

• Richard Ngidi (Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa, 1921-1985)

• Rowan Williams (Four Quartets Lecture 1974-1975)

• Simon Sekone Maimela (as student political activist)

• Susanna Smit (diaries; Rutger Schutte 1708-1784)

• Thomas Kalume (Kenya, 1925-1975)

• Walter Magaya (prophetic healer in Zimbabwe)

• Willem Saayman (mission history of the DRC)

Topics

A total of 54 topics have been identified which do not fall under "Churches, etc." or "Church leader, etc." Those that received the most attention are the Belhar Confession, Black theology, identity, land issues, and methodology. Here the topics are given in alphabetic order:

• Abuse of Christian women (Kenya)

• Academic theology (and the local church)

• Anti-colonialism (nineteenth century Borneo)

• Belhar Confession (history of acceptance; barrier to church reunification; reading the URCSA Church Order; liturgy; Dordt to Belhar; (non)acceptance by the DRC (two articles); unification between the DRC and URCSA)

• Bible interpretation (African perspective)

• Bible translation (Chiyawo; Moffat's desecration of Setwana 1857 Bible; Moffat's gendered God)

• Blackness (Black self; Jesus is Black; the Black Body in the USA)

• Black theology (contemporary Black church in the United States; Mazamisa, Mofokeng, and Ntoane)

• Church and profit (not-for-profit)

• Church and state (elections in Nigeria [two articles]; the Nigerian experience)

• Church and transformation (socio-economic transformation)

• Church planting (in Africa)

• Church unity (Zambia)

• Clergy resistance (Venda homeland)

• Confession of guilt (Germany, South Africa, Rwanda)

• Contextualisation (in Southern Africa)

• COVID-19 (ecclesiological meaning-giving)

• Corruption (pre-colonial Africa)

• Development and the church (African ecumenical discourse; sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa)

• Early Christianity (North Africa; ecclesiology; Gnosticism in Gospel of Judas)

• Eastern Europe (late twentieth century)

• Ecumenism (ecumenical movements in South Africa since 1966)

• Ethiopianism (Pan-African perspective)

• Food insecurity (theological response)

• Great Zimbabwe National Monument (identity reconstruction)

• Gukurahundi massacre, Zimbabwe (challenge of reconciliation)

• Health institutions (Mission and state in Zimbabwe 1980-1999)

• Identity (Khoisan; politics of similarity; Africanising the Catholic mass celebration in Ghana; Christian identity and environment)

• Imago Dei (history from Philo to the present; violence against women)

• Indigenous knowledge systems (targeted killings in the Hebrew Bible)

• Land issues (Barokologadi Community vs Hermannsburg Missionaries; Settler-

• missionary alliance in colonial Kenya; Paris Evangelical Mission in Basutoland; church and environmental conservation in Kenya 1963-2019; empty land myth; women's access to land ownership in Gwanda District, Zimbabwe; missionaries facilitating land ownership by Africans; conquering Africans through land dispossession; failed land reform in Bethany; church and mines in Dullstroom-Emnotweni)

• Marriage (African cultural hermeneutics; Shona and Israelite marriages)

• Mau-Mau war, Kenya (women rebels in Kirinyaga County)

• Messianic characterisation (Mugabe)

• Methodology (transdisciplinary meta-methodology; Psalms as vehicle for historiography; oral history of religious healing in Nkhoma, Malawi; voices from the margin; family history; memory in African Christianity)

• Mission councils in South Africa (1923-1971)

• Music (religious values in South Africa; Thabanta ho/Gerlachshoop of the Bakopa of Kgoa hi Boleu; the African xylophone)

• Neo-Pentecostalism (African vs. American; modelling the Jewish Tzedakah; Charismatic Pentecostalism in Africa; HIV/AIDS policy in Botswana; speaking in tongues and Botswana)

• Performing arts (Woza Albert!)

• Pilgrimage (Christian formation in South Africa)

• Poverty (Basarwa in Botswana; colonial institutionalisation in South Africa)

• Priesthood (in the New Testament)

• Queering (Methodist Church)

• Religious wars (Muslim and Christians in Northern Mozambique; from war to peace)

• Sankofa (Africa and South Africa today)

• Secularising in Christianity (an inherent tendency)

• Slavery (Trans-Atlantic slave trade)

• South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms (Ordinance no 7 of 1843)

• Subjugation of women (in Shona communities in Zimbabwe)

• Te Deum Laudamus (relevant singing)

• Trinity Health Services (inner city, Catholic)

• Witchcraft (patriarchy as seed-bed for witch hunts)

• Women (mother of the seven in 4 Maccabees; German women in South Africa)

• Zimbabwe Catholic Charismatic renewal ("Back-to-Sender")

Institutions, Societies, and Conferences

• All African Council of Churches (1963-2000; development and post-apartheid South Africa)

• Christian Council of Mozambique (role in war)

• Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (contextuality; African feminism)

• Edinburgh 1910 (Malawian perspective)

• Lumko Music Department (cultural heritage)

• Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) (evangelisation in Southern Africa)

• South African Council of Churches (critical analysis; ecumenism since 1994)

• Southern Rhodesia Missionary Conference (1903-1945)

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (narratives; APLA [Azanian People's Liberation Army] and the TRC; stripped of validity)

• University of Venda (contextual theology during apartheid)

• YCW (Soweto)

• Zimbabwe Council of Churches (morality) Conclusion

The author was the editor-in-chief of SHE from 2005 to 2022. Without assistance, she has compiled an overview of the vital statistics of the 746 articles published in 52 issues during this period, of which the following are the most significant:

• Of the 862 authors who published in these 52 issues 53% were Black; however, only 15% were women.

• Of the (at least) 77 universities and theological seminaries that were represented by the authors, 95% were from Africa.

• Five issues were published as Festschriften for prominent South African theologians.

• Papers of all the CHSSA annual conferences which were submitted for publication and were successfully peer-reviewed, were published.

• Original research was published on a wide variety of churches, theological institutions, church leaders, and theologians in Africa which would have not been available if SHE had not published them on an academic level acceptable for accreditation.

 

References

Church History Society of Southern Africa. 2010. Constitution. CHSSA.         [ Links ]

Denis, Philippe. 1997. "From Church History to Religious History: Strengths and Weaknesses of South African Religious Historiography." Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, no. 99, 84-93.         [ Links ]

Hofmeyr, J. W. 2010. "The Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA) Attempting to Come of Age: The Story of the CHSSA between 1991 and 2005." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 30 (1): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.4314/actat.v30i1.67253        [ Links ]

Hofmeyr, J. W. 2014. "Celebrating 40 Years of the Church History Society of Southern Africa in 2010, and 40 Years of the Journal Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae in 2014." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 40 (supplement): 17-30.         [ Links ]

Landman, Christina. 2014. "Editorial: Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae is 40 Years Old!" Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 40 (supplement): XV-XVII.         [ Links ]

Vorster, J. M. 2014. "A Time of Transition: Theological Trends in the Issues of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae from 1997-2004." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 40 (supplement): 1 -9.         [ Links ]

 

 

1 As revised at the annual general meeting held on 17 August 2010 in Potchefstroom. Obtainable from the secretary of the CHSSA.