EDITORIAL

Editorial

In line with Missional's thematic focus, this issue contributed towards condensed and profound Missiological reflections on challenging matters pertaining to the self-propagating (i.e. doing mission and becoming missional) endeavours of the church and its members in the African continent.

Contributors to this issue reflect missiologically on the challenges of witchcraft in relation to Pentecostalism in Africa, fatherhood and its missional implications in society, the importance of theological library and archives for the mission of the church in Africa, the issue related to the church of Scotland about the presumption that the new church in South Africa would conform to the standards and values of the mother' church in Scotland, the influence of the Keswick teachings in the current church practices in East African Countries and on the need for African theologians to continue to contribute towards an authentic decolonising impetus which should go as far as unravelling the continuity of coloniality in theological content.

In relation to the challenges of witchcraft, Baloyi in his contribution seeks to check if it can be theologically justifiable to use witchcraft to make people come to church. He acknowledges that witchcraft is regarded as one of the most dangerous enemies of human beings, particularly black people who are engulfed in fear about this. Further, he highlights that some Pentecostals make use of this fear as a driving force to lure people into their churches and he points out that this has negative implications for the Gospel. Because, he contends, the truth of the Gospel which invites people to Jesus Christ in love is compromised since people are forced to run to the church - even if they are not convinced about the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ - because all they want is security from evil forces.

In the face of the disintegration of families associated with fatherhood inconsistencies and crises in contemporary Africa and the world over, Freeks in his contribution offers a missional perspective which starts by affirming that fathers should know that fatherhood is a God-given calling. They have to be models that embody the quantities and missional purpose of Christ and therefore should prepare their children to contribute to society.

The importance of theological library and archives for the mission of the church as focussed on theological education in Africa is another concern that Garaba highlights in her contribution to the issue. Based on the sad story of the closure of the Lutheran Theological Institute Library and its archives in KwaZulu Natal, she shares two important lessons. Firstly, faith-based collections (religious archives) need to be legislated like their counterparts' - public archives. Secondly, sister institutions need to ensure that both records and archives management functions are harmonised to minimise over-reliance on donors for material in the archives.

Duncan, in his contribution revisits an old missiology topical issue relative to presumptions and expectations of missionary churches pertaining daughter churches planted in Africa. In regard to Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA), a daughter church of the Scottish Presbyterian missionary enterprise, he points out that the general missionary presumption was that the new church would conform to the standards and values of the 'mother'church in Scotland. Unfortunately, his research also points out that due to insufficient thought and action in the process leading to the formation of BPCSA, a number of potential problems arose and hampered the mission endeavour of the daughter church.

Knoetze and Mwangi, in their research establish that there are outstanding consistencies between Keswick teachings and East African Revival Movement (EARM) beliefs and practices of walking in the light which epitomise Keswick heritage albeit clothed in African attire.

Lastly, Sakupapa in his contribution explored the decolonising content in the writings of four African theologians and argued that while the writings of these theologians indeed have decolonising impetus, they do not go far enough to unravel the continuity of coloniality. Therefore, he argued for a view of decoloniality as methodological necessity in contemporary African context.

In closure, a word of thanks from the editorial team is addressed to all contributors and colleagues who peer-reviewed all the articles contained in this issue. Our gratitude is also expressed to the book review editor and other colleagues who have assisted in different ways so as to have this issue ready for publication.

By L Mangayi and CJP Niemandt