Our Church is culturally diverse. There has been some definite thinking behind this -- some theology. With this in mind, during the past year, I have attended several DRC (NGK) and several URC (VGK) Churches. They have it on their hearts to unite. Yet there is no cultural diversity there at all -- at least not in worship. They are culturally separate. In Bredasdorp, for instance, there are DRC and URC Churches four blocks apart, yet there is zero cultural mixing. A member of the DRC in Bredasdorp told me: "We had a few URC members in Church, but one could see they were awkward. They didn't come back." And so the DRC and URC hold united cycle tours, united braais (barbecues), united markets, and so on. Their aspiration is genuinely touching -- but personally, I think it will not work. It is not "the unity of faith". Firstly, there has to be the faith. Then, one needs the old, the young, the women, the men, the farmers, the labourers, to testify to their faith in various ways (prayer, witness, song introductions, and so on -- it does not always need to be overt testimony). Testimony, not to their (diverse) lives, but to their faith. Unfortunately, this would seem to be a foreign notion to both the DRC and the URC, as it is typically only the dominee who, well, dominates in those Churches. The photo shows the DRC in Bredasdorp (click on it to enlarge to 260k). The foundation stone was laid in 1911. See Hope And Strength for a photo of the nearby URC.
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