Examination of the theological education of Africans in the Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational and Anglican churches in South Africa from 1860 to 1960

• Main Author: Gqubule, T Simon N
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Rhodes University 1977
• Subjects: Theological > Study and teaching; Theological seminaries > South Africa; Theology > Study and teaching > Protestant churches
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012082

This is in many ways a limited study. The first limitation is that only four denominations, the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, are considered and nothing is said about the work of the Moravians, Lutherans, Roman Catholics and the Dutch Reformed Churches in the field of theological education. The second limitation is that it is a study of theological education as distinct from general, industrial and other forms of education. All the forms of theological education considered here were run at missionary institutions that offered other forms of education and prepared their students for public government examinations with certain government conditions to be met. Moreover, a certain standard of general education was required before candidates were admitted to the theological course. Therefore, theological education was constantly dependent upon and was influenced by secular education and government regulations concerning secular education. For that reason the first chapter is a very brief survey of White Education in the Cape and African education in all four provinces from the beginning to 1915, the year before Fort Hare opened its doors to students seeking 'higher' education. The second chapter discusses the educational programme of Lovedale because Lovedale generally determined the whole of African education in the Cape. When Lovedale and the Methodists transferred their training to the South African Native College at Fort Hare, theological students had to abide by educational and other regulations of the university College. Chapters III and IV deal with the Methodist theological schools and the courses followed at Fort Hare. The third limitation of this study is that it is a study of the theological education of Africans, which category includes Coloureds and Indians because in the four churches under review they were trained together with Africans. In all churches under review here the theological education of whites was done in an unsatisfactory and ad hoc way. Many men were ordained without a satisfactory theological education. They were given some training by their superintendents, bishops or other men appointed to do the job in addition to their own normal duties. A few were sent overseas and many went through some arrangement within this country. St Paul's Theological College for Anglicans was opened in 1902. A start was made with the training of white Methodist Candidates for the ministry in the buildings of the Wesleyan High School for Girls in Grahamstown, in July 1928, under the Rev. James Pendlebury, B.A. (a supernumerary). Dr. William Flint who started the Methodist College as Principal, at Bollihope, Cape Town, in 1929, was seventy-five years of age when he opened the new Sbllege. From 1948 white theological students of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches have been trained at Livingstone House, Rhodes University, Grahamstown. .The final limitation is that this study ends at the close of 1960 and thus omits some of the exciting developments in theological education that have taken place since then. These limitations and demarcations were, however, necessary in order to focus attention on a small area where the main problems could be seen clearly, unencumbered by lesser issues. Where the training was run on denominational lines, it seemed necessary wherever possible to give a chapter to each denomination, and to attempt to pull the threads together in a concluding chapter.