Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught most organisations, institutions and leaders off-guard, including church leaders. This was not any different in the congregations in the townships of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The article discusses the responses of the churches in the Mangaung district and poses the question pertinently, ‘How did (or not) the churches in the Mangaung district reimagine, restructure, and position themselves prophetically during the COVID-19 pandemic?’. This is done firstly by providing a background to the development of a missional ecclesiology in North America, United Kingdon, and South Africa. Secondly, a discussion will be focused on the characteristics of the congregations which are necessary for developing a missional ecclesiology, in terms of these phases, as argued by Baron and Maponya. However, in the final section it will bring the missional ecclesiological discourse in conversation with the shaping and developing (or not) of a missional ecclesiology in respect of congregations in the township of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The authors provide some contours for the missional role of the church in the current South African context and the formation of a missional ecclesiology.Contribution: This article contributes to the missional church discourse in missiology, that has been a conversation within Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. The authors have been conducting research within mostly Pentecostal church in the township of Mangaung. The article is an attempt to broaden the missional church discussion in terms of region and Pentecostal ecclesiology.
Highlights
The churches in South Africa were never fully prepared when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit the country
Several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
When asked about how the pandemic affected the social relationship amongst members of their congregations, the pastors responded that it created problems in worship service, in such a way that socialisation in the form of physical contact was kept to a minimum, for example, there was no longer hugging and laying of hands and the attendance of worship service has decreased because of fear of contracting the virus
Summary
The churches in South Africa were never fully prepared when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit the country. The discussion focuses on the prophetic role of the congregations in their community during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 in South Africa till the collection of the data from the church leaders.
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