A Christian movement that fizzled out

When I got to Durban in the mid-1990s, I became passionately convinced about the need to promote true and authentic Christian practice. I also saw a close and strong link between Christian practice and the ecumenical movement. I earnestly believed that most Christians, regardless of denomination, had become very poor witnesses of Christ, especially when compared to the early Christians.

A sculpture at the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi commemorates Pope John Paul II’s inter-denominational day of prayer in peace in 1988. An ecumenical movement in Durban in the 1990s started off brightly but later fizzled out.

In our modern world, one could no longer make a distinction between the followers of Christ and everybody else. Instead of being “the light of the world”, Christians were busy following “the ways of the world”.

Denominational divisions were one of the ways in which Christians departed from the teachings of Christ, especially if one took into account Jesus’ prayer to his Father that they may be one (Jn 17:20-24).

I developed a concept of Christian practice in the family, in the workplace, in the community of believers (the Church) and in the broader community. I also published booklets on the subject.

However, to promote Christian practice it was not enough to write books about it. With the support of my wife and the backing of the late Archbishop Denis Hurley, I got together a multiracial and interdenominational group consisting of Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists and one Baptist (who eventually became a Methodist).

The group initially met in our house in the suburb of Westville and interrogated and debated the idea of forming an association called the Christian Practice Movement.

This was a group of lay people who believed that Christians had to put their faith into practice, and that if the spirit of ecumenism was to take root, lay Christians should be actively involved in promoting Christian unity. I felt we were making headway when the Methodist church in Westville gave us a room where we could hold our meetings and plan our activities.

Among the achievements of the Christian Practice Movement were the following:

l We staged a fundraising “Walk for Christ” which seemed to mobilise much of the Westville suburb, with the old and the young, the fit and disabled attempting the 5km walk for Christ.

l We organised a very successful retreat for the members conducted by an Anglican priest in the chapel of the Catholic monastery of Mariannhill.

l We organised a successful and inspiring conference-cum-retreat which was supported by Archbishop Hurley (he did not attend in person), addressed by at least two Anglican bishops, and addressed by the priest/minister who headed each of the following churches in Westville: Anglican, Baptist, Catholic and Methodist.

l Jointly with the Diakonia Council of Churches, we organised one of the annual  Christian Unity Prayer activities for the Durban area.

For a while I really believed that God had called me to play a role in the reformation and renewal of the Church. It was truly amazing to see how members of different churches happily followed the leadership of a Catholic; how I had become an honorary member of the Methodist church in Westville; and how denominational prejudices seemed to melt away as we treated each other as Christian brothers and sisters, poking fun at each other’s religious practices in a spirit of Christian love.

The movement inspired me and my wife Teboho  to go on a pilgrimage to the headquarters of each of the three main churches represented in the movement: Rome, Canterbury cathedral and Wesley chapel in London. To this day I still wear a cross I received from the Methodist church after going through the Emmaus Walk experience.

But, alas! The Christian Practice Movement, like some others of what I like to think of as Emmanuel Ngara’s “brilliant initiatives”, is now a thing of the past.

The movement did not spread beyond Durban, and after a few years we had to dissolve the organisation.

So, has God called me to be an example of a failed reformer?