Abstract
This article is a preliminary descriptive exploration of the celebration of the Lord’ s Supper in selected Reformed churches in South Africa over a period of 54 years. Methodologically, it employs a broad anthropological approach towards liturgy, thereby trying to reconstruct parts of the enacted ritual of the Lord’ s Supper from its historical debris. By making use of the comparative method, significant differences have been highlighted and interpreted. Throughout the article it becomes apparent how this Christian ritual was used to serve various political agendas, how cult and culture influence(d) one another . Finally, some tendencies have been extracted to be used in developing a criterion for the liturgical inculturation of the Lord’ s Supper as a ritual of reconciliation within the South African context.
Highlights
AND PREAMBLEThe sacrament of Lord’s Supper was one of the most important stimuli for the founding of separate Reformed Churches for Coloureds and Blacks, alongside the White DRC in South Africa
It is remarkable that objections to this did not come from the churches, but from the Kommisaris Politiek (Commissioner of Politics), and as follows: no discrimination or appearance of a person may be acknowledged at the serving and receiving of the Sacrament of Lord’s Supper[5]
It is important to note that this commission made it clear from the start that they regarded the Scriptures as their point of departure and source, and that the central emphasis of the entire worship service should be the proclamation of the Word
Summary
The sacrament of Lord’s Supper was one of the most important stimuli for the founding of separate Reformed Churches for Coloureds and Blacks, alongside the White DRC in South Africa. It is important to note that this commission made it clear from the start that they regarded the Scriptures as their point of departure and source, and that the central emphasis of the entire worship service should be the proclamation of the Word Most of their proposals, and the particular way in which the Lord’s Supper attained and kept its form in the ensuing years, must be understood from this point of departure (cf Handelinge, Raad van die Kerke 1959:63-106). The particular way in which the Lord’s Supper attained and kept its form in the ensuing years, must be understood from this point of departure (cf Handelinge, Raad van die Kerke 1959:63-106) With regard to this greater liturgical consciousness in the DRC, Burger (2001:5) says, “In many ways it is ironic that this greater awareness of the liturgy happened during the same period when the DRC hardened its position on apartheid and the schism between the White and the Black and Coloured divisions of the DRC. With the preceding points of departure and perspective in mind, a number of aspects of the celebration of the Lord's Supper in the past and the present will be described
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