Calvyn Protestant Church celebrates 70 years

THE Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa this week celebrates 70 years of existence.

A legacy of testimony, prophetic witness and a continuing cry for justice and equality. The Belhar confession to which the church subscribes echoes a daily call to stand with the poor, to be alongside the brokenhearted, to journey with those whose being wronged in our society.

Seventy years ago Dr Isaac Dawid Morkel fearlessly stood up for justice against the tyranny of apartheid and led a community of people towards freedom and liberty. The Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa broke away from a forced segregated worship context under the auspices of the Dutch Reform Church family.

Many members of the church lost their jobs and livelihoods were threatened because of their association with the Calvyn Protestant Church.

The leadership lived under constant scrutiny and attack and many said this new movement for freedom and justice would not last.

The church though was grounded in scripture, prayer and faith.

The Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa embraced the fight for equality so seriously that it saw it as a biblical injunction.

So much so still today the church’s constitution calls its membership to have an evangelical witness, to stand firm in prayer, to educate and empower the youth, to have an abiding presence of uplifting communities and to continue to protest against that which is wrong.

Now, 70 years later, the Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa stands in gratitude to Almighty God for all that He has done. Today, the Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa still fights for justice not just for some but for all.

The church continues to call on the South African government to heed the plight of the poor and to urgently address the scourge of gangsterism and crime befalling our communities.

The Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa this week gives thanks for courageous leadership who stood alongside and with the marginalised against the evil powers of the state.

As we celebrate in this time we pause to remember the many in South Africa and across the world affected by the devastation of Covid19. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are suffering.

In the song To God be the Glory, the hymn writer teaches: “Great things he has taught us, great things he has done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; but purer and higher and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.” | Calvyn