Meeting the challenge of poverty and inequality? 'Hindrances and helps

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422 Page 1 of 6 Original Research Meeting the challenge of poverty and inequality? ‘Hindrances and helps’ with regard to congregational mobilisation in South Africa Author: Nadine F. Bowers du Toit1 Affiliation: 1 Practical Theology and Missiology, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Corresponding author: Nadine Bowers du Toit, Dates: Received: 12 Aug. 2016 Accepted: 10 Jan. 2017 Published: 22 Mar. 2017 How to cite this article: Bowers du Toit, N.F., 2017, ‘Meeting the challenge of poverty and inequality? ‘Hindrances and helps’ with regard to congregational mobilisation in South Africa’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 73(2), a3836. https://doi. org/10.4102/hts.v73i2.3836 Copyright: © 2017. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. The findings of an empirical study entitled ‘Meeting the challenge of poverty and inequality in the Cape Metropole: Factors impacting the mobilisation of congregations in their response to poverty and injustice’ reaffirm that the majority of congregations are still largely operating within a ‘relief and welfare’ paradigm with regard to poverty. In attempting to analyse the hindrances to churches’ mobilisation in addressing poverty from a holistic perspective, it became clear that, while there were common challenges (such as lack of capacity and feeling overwhelmed in view of the enormity of the task), several other intersectional issues (e.g. race, class and theological convictions) also play a role with regard to engagement. This article, therefore, analyses and discusses how these factors have an impact on the mobilisation of local congregations in their response to the twin challenge of poverty and inequality. Introduction Although congregations as local expressions of faith communities have, for the most part, delivered social services to local communities, they have not always been as well studied or recognised as the religious social service agencies/faith-based organisations (FBOs)1 that make development work their focus (Chaves & Tsitos 2001:664; Todd & Allen 2011:222).2 In recent years, however, the focus has shifted towards the local congregation particularly in relation to social and spiritual capital discourse. Such a discourse recognises the influence of religious motivation in sustaining involvement and financial contributions of the congregations. This recognition has seen congregations being increasingly acknowledged for their contribution to social services (Swart 2012:291). In ecumenical circles, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Busan Congress appeared to distinctly refocus its diaconal work more purposefully towards the local congregation as both ‘diaconal community’ and ‘subjects’ of development. Gill (2014:249) notes that, in the past, ecumenical diaconia had often treated local congregations as ‘objects to which diaconia resources were orientated and to which diaconia resources and expertise from outside were given’. Phiri and Dongsung (2014), however, find that a shift has clearly taken place: Therefore, it is important that the local congregations as well as the national institutional structures of the church ‘recognise diaconia as an essential expression’ of being church in the world today. The WCC, through its recognition and support, encouragement and accompaniment of the local expressions of transformative and prophetic diaconia can expand the network of pilgrims. Likewise by proactively expressing their vocation as diaconal communities, local congregations can become the subjects of the pilgrimage of justice and peace … (p. 260) Nevertheless, international studies maintain that many congregations continue to operate in what may be termed as ‘charity’ or ‘relief and welfare’ mode. These may include soup kitchens, volunteerism in homeless programmes as well as food banks and donations to charity (Chaves & Tsitos 2001:671). Additionally, Chaves and Tsitos (2001:672) note that projects or small-scale programmes that ‘are able to take advantage of congregation’s capacity to mobilise relatively small numbers of volunteers to carry out well-defined and bounded tasks’ are most common in congregational engagement. Such relief or charity engagement has often been critiqued by both local and international diaconia scholars as possessing the potential for harmful relationships of dependency – despite its necessity (Jeavons 2000; Todd & Allen 2011:222). It is interesting to note, therefore, that despite an upsurge in interest within WCC circles and elsewhere on the role of the local congregation, there remains a struggle to move beyond what David Korten calls ‘first and Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. 1.It is important to note that I do not include congregations here as part of a definition of faith-based organisations. 2.In South Africa, although local congregations have been the subject of study, local congregations as agents of social mobilisation with regard to poverty and inequality has not been as widely researched. Note: This article is published in the section Practical Theology of the Society for Practical Theology in South Africa. http://www.hts.org.za Open Access Page 2 of 6 second generation’ approaches (Bowers Du Toit & Nkomo 2014; cf. Swart & Venter 2001). This may well be grounded on Farnsley’s (2003:69) argument that the expectations regarding US congregations to deliver is unfounded as there is an ‘abundance of evidence’ that points to congregations ‘difficulty sustaining community development and delivering social welfare services’. Here, the South African church’s struggle to move beyond this paradigm results from both the lack of professionalised capacity as well as struggle to engage the roots of poverty and inequality, which are inherently tied to injustice (cf. Bowers du Toit & Nkomo 2014:8; Swart 2012:295). A study conducted by Chaves and Tsitos (2001:673) in the United States found that better resourced and larger congregations were able to do more social services and that ‘college educated people do more social services’. The study also noted that most congregational diaconia was done in collaboration with other organisations such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs),3 FBOs4 and government agencies. Perhaps most interesting for this study was the finding that ‘congregations are not equally likely to collaborate’ owing to theological differences and understandings around civic engagement (Chaves & Tsitos 2001:675, 676). Based on the findings of a qualitative study entitled: ‘Meeting the challenge of poverty and inequality in the Cape Town Metropolis: Factors impacting the mobilisation of congregations in their response to poverty and injustice’,5 conducted between 2014 and 2015, this article seeks to explore what I term ‘hindrances’6 and ‘helps’7 to cong (...truncated)