Editorial

Prof Christina Landman

This year Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae celebrates its 40th year of existence. The second issue of SHE for 2014 will commemorate these four decades with articles overviewing the themes and developments of the journal since 1974. This celebratory issue will be presented at a special gala dinner at the annual conference of the Church History Society of Southern Africa that owns the journal. The conference will be held at the University of South Africa from 14 to 16 August 2014. It is hosted by the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology. For further information the secretary of the CHSSA, Prof Erna Oliver, can be contacted at olivee@unisa.ac.za.

Let us return to the issue at hand, the first issue of SHE for 2014. In South Africa exciting church history is being made every day. However, church historiography has not always reflected these exciting times. For decades church historiography has centred around the churches and their confessions, eventually with a focus on the churches' political role in apartheid South Africa.

The articles published in this issue of SHE are delightfully different. They show a curiosity in unknown voices. Alternatively they approach voices that are well-known from perspectives that surprise. Amongst the unknown voices that are explored in this issue, are those of Franz Pfanner (Denis), Lucky Dube (Mtshiselwa), uNtsikana Ka Gaba (Kumalo), Milkah Muthoni and the Barokologadi. The well-known voices that are surprisingly reinterpreted, are those of Robert Moffat (Dube), Rudolf Bultmann (Van Aarde), Darwinism (Hale), local female pietists (Raath), Black-Calvinist perspective (Senekoane) and Blood River (Van der Merwe).

The articles in this issue do not only reflect a wide variety of topics, but also cover a range of countries: apart from South Africa, African countries explored are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria. Beyond Africa, Germany and Bulgaria come into play.

Only three of the articles are written by women, the underrepresenta-tion of women in church historiography thus being perpetuated. Slightly more than half, that is nine out of seventeen, of the articles are written by blacks.

SHE provides in the academic needs of the Church History Society of South Africa, but also in the needs of the broader society for information on its religious past. After forty years SHE remains a leader in the field of church history, both nationally and internationally.

May you enjoy a fruitful and exciting research year.

Kind regards

Editor