HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY OF FAITH

Community of Faith evolved out of the Concerned Alliance, a movement that developed in 1996 in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church due to the autocratic, tyrannical reign of the then bishop, McKinley Young.  During 1996 his tyrannical leadership with practices of victimization and unfair discrimination against ministers and lay persons who dared to question his autocratic rule, resulted in a revolt by the masses and ultimately a divided AME Church.

In early 1996, the AME Church was divided into 2 groups :

  • Concerned Alliance, consisting of ministers and their respective congregations, including St Matthew in Elsies River, Bethesda in Worcester, Metropolitan in Mitchells Plain and Sims Chapel in Stellenbosch, calling for talks and mediation; and
  • The Peace and Reconciliation group who wanted mediation who demanded compromise on the part of the Concerned Alliance to preserve the status quo.

On 14 February 1998, when all efforts at opportunities for mediation failed, the Concerned Alliance (members from St Matthew, Metropolitan, St Peter’s in Kylemore, Wilhelm Gordon in Tulbagh and Ebenezer in Retreat) decided that there was no future for us in the AME Church and made the bold decision to leave the AME Church.

On 05 April 1998, the founding service of Community of Faith was held at the “Spadereens” Church in Elsies River.  Rev. Vernon Rose was the preacher at this historic service.  

Community of Faith was not founded due to the idea of any one man or woman or minister, but originated out of a movement of persons of faith, a group of people who believed that God would lead us on our path to justice, democracy and the fulfillment of God’s Word. The church drew its members from many suburbs of Cape Town including Elsies River, Mithchels Plain, Belhar, Kensington and Retreat as well as the more distant towns of Kylemore and Tulbagh.

Community of Faith applauds its senior members who in 1996-98 were so principled in their belief for justice and democracy that in their twilight years they were compelled to turn their backs on the AME Church to join the movement that ultimately became Community of Faith.  Many come from multi-generations of AME Church members.

Given the undemocratic dispensation of our previous tradition, it became imperative that the following principles underpin our existence as a newly founded congregation:

  • As a  congregation we will always strive for spiritual fulfillment;

  • That decision making within our structure is democratic;

  • Follow the Methodist tradition in our theology and practice;

  • Share ecumenical relations with like-minded bodies in South Africa;

  • Develop a congregational structure that is ministry driven to meet the needs of our members and grow their faith and life skills.

  • Hold Annual General Meetings of the entire congregation to facilitate strategic visioning, policy formulation and constitutional structuring; and

  • Observe high governance standards in the affairs of the congregation.

In the early days, the church was managed by an Administrative Committee who had to ensure that services were organized, venues for services were found, and that structures were formalized so that we could operate as a congregation. We were without a physical place of worship and were compelled to move from venue to venue, from church halls to community halls. Yet, the people came. These were the days when we had no fixed abode.  There were many occasions when on a Saturday we had no venue for the next day’s worship service and would only gain access to a venue very late that evening or early Sunday morning.  Yet, the people came. An excellent networking system ensured that our members were kept informed of all activities.

Our first formal Men’s Forum congregated at the home of Bro & Sis Peter James , the Youth held their meetings at the home of Bro & Sis Valentine.

In 2003, due to the severe effects of a persistent undemocratic management structure in the AME Church, a group of men and women at Sims Chapel, Stellenbosch, formed the Concerned Group to address the needs of the congregants via various programmes of action, workshops and publications.  All efforts at addressing the conflict at the local church were unsuccessful. Feeling very despondent and homeless, the Concerned Group started visiting other congregations, also Community of Faith.  After many visits and deliberation with the leadership of Community of Faith in Elsies River, 110 members joined Community of Faith on 8 Nov 2003.

Within its first decade of existence Community of Faith’s report card reflects the following:

  •      God’s Kingdom has been extended with members coming from all areas of the Cape Peninsula;
     

  •       Cells exist in the towns of Tulbagh and Stellenbosch;
     

  •      Opportunities have been  created to consistently pursue our vision “to build a unique spiritual community, committed to the principles of the gospel, creating a democratic environment where God’s people experience a sense of purpose, fellowship  and quality of life;
     

  •      Opportunities have been created where we are able to live and display our mission “to transform this world into the Kingdom of God through actions that reflect the relevance of the Gospel of our time”. Examples of these are:

  •       Leadership Development programmes,
     

  •      The empowerment, capacity building programmes for the men, women and youth in the congregation;  
     

  •      Educational investment strategies for the young people in our congregation who  can embark on tertiary education programmes through a bursary fund in the congregation; and
     

  •    Promotion of spiritual fulfillment via a series of ministries that attends to congregants    needs, e.g. cells, adult, youth, teaching, fellowship, music.
     

  •     Acquisition of properties valued at more than R1m that are now debt free: a church building, an adjacent erf and a house in 17th Avenue, Elsies River and a church building in Tulbagh;

  •       Negotiating for property in Stellenbosch;

  •     Appointed a fulltime minister, Rev Anne-Marie Cloete- Damons in 2003 who provides leadership to the church and pastoral care to the members;

  •       Have a fully equipped church office;

  •      Statistically, we have approximately 300 members; we celebrate an average of 2 marriage ceremonies and baptize 5 babies per annum.

God has blessed Community of Faith abundantly. We experienced God’s guiding hand over us since 1996, and more especially since our establishment in 1998.  God has led us out of the wilderness of tyranny and autocratic leadership to a place of worship and democratic participative management. God has been true to His promise to us.   He has held us safe in the palm of His hand.  With His help we have weathered the storms, breathed the rain and the sunshine, we have been able to enjoy all of God’s seasons.