Belhar Confession

The Belhar Confession is a Christian statement of belief originally written in Afrikaans in 1982. It was adopted (after a slight adjustment) as a confession of faith by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) in South Africa in 1986.

The DRMC Synod 1982 appointed a committee , consisting of two ministers delegated to the Synod i.e. dr. AA Boesak, and rev. I Mentor, and three lectures also from UWC namely, proff. D Smith, J Durand, G Bam, to draft a concept confession of faith, known today as the Confession of Belhar. The name Belhar in the Confession refers to the Suburb of Belhar (in the Cape) where the Synod met. Within days the committee presented the synod with the draft. Prof D Smith played a pivotal role in the drafting of the Belhar Confession. The confession was originally written by Professor Dirkie Smit of the Theological Faculty of the University of the Western Cape, with inputs from Professor Jaap Durand of the same faculty, Rev Gustav Bam of the DRMC and Doctor Allan Boesak, who was president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at that time. The confession was named after Belhar, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, where a general synod of the DRMC was held in 1982. The synod accepted the draft Confession of Belhar. The word accepted used for the reception of report of the commission does not imply adoption. A long process of discernment by the local congregations which took four years followed. The Confession of Belhar was a response of the church in faith at a time of tremendous challenge and adversity.

The DRMC rejected the claims of an unjust or oppressive government and denounce Christians who back theological justification of the system of apartheid. The DRMC committed themselves to a common witness to injustice and equality in society and to unity at the table of the Lord. It was a moment of kairos for the church to obedience. On the 26th September 1986, after four years of discernment of the local congregation on the inclusion of the Belhar Confession in the standard of faith, the DRMC formally adopted the Belhar Confession as the fourth confession of the church. Prof. Gustav Bam recited the proposals of the ad hoc commission on the Belhar Confession. He said retention of the confession will not hinder or accelerate the unification process between the DRC and the DRMC. “A confession lives in the heart of a church. We cannot for the sake of unity hold it back. If we do, these words are like fire that burns in our hearts. `` What is at stake is the reality of different religious understanding between us and the DRC. ``These differences will not disappear if we redeem the confession.”( Die Burger 29 September 1986), Under silence on Friday, 26 September 1986 in the synod hall in Belhar 399 of the 470 delegates of the Church's 267 churches solemnly rose to express their endorsement of the Belhar Confession. Altogether 71 delegates voted against the adoption of the Belhar Confession, including rev. Isak Mentor, Assessor of the Synod, and ironically one of the co-drafters of the Belhar Confession. Rev Isak Mentor's proposal on the synod that the Belhar Confession should not be accepted, but should rather be referred for the greatest possible unity to all other DR churches in order to reach consensus with the other Reformed churches was rejected with an overwhelming majority. The acceptance of the Belhar Confession held profound judicial implications for all clergy of the DRMC. Eventually it was expected of all ministers to sign the Belhar confession. The Synod, however decided to accompany with pastoral sensitivity those who were not ready to accept the Belhar Confession in order not to lose them in the process.

Dutch Reformed Church in Africa

The confession was a catalyst in the formation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in 1994, which was formed by the union of the DRMC (the DRCSA's division for coloured people) and the DRCA (Dutch Reformed Church in Africa, the DRCSA division for black people). On the 14th April 1994 the DRMC and the DRCA unified in order to constitute the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). During the past decade the DRCA claimed that they never made a formal evaluation of the Belhar Confession or decided to accept the Confession of Belhar to be part of the united church . (History shows in an opposite direction. The sixth General Synod of the DRCA constitute in Barkly West in 1983. At the said Synod a study document of the DRMC on the Church and Apartheid was tabled. It was a petition of the DRMC to the DRCA to assist the DRMC in the status confesionnis and to subscribe to the draft confession of Belhar . The Synod of the DRCA were not willing to take this step, but took note of the petition of the DRMC and referred it with his existing decisions about church unity to a commission for further study .The DRCA Synod 1987 referred the Confession of Belhar NGSK to the Commission for Scripture and Confession in order to detest to investigate the desirability of the acceptance of the confession by DRCA, to what extent the acceptance thereof by the DRCA may promote or delay the unification of the DRC family. The commission was tasked to tabled their findings during the recess to the Federal Council of the Reformed Churches in South Africa and to serve the next synod of the DRCA with proposals in this regard . On 1st October 1990 the extraordinary session of the General Synod of the DRCA constituted in Cape Town with representatives from the six regional synods i.e. Orange Free State, Phororo, Southern Transvaal, Northern Transvaal, Cape Province, Natal . adopted the Belhar confession . On the Synod the DRCA 1991 article 36.1 of the church order of the DRCA was amended in order to make the Confession of Belhar part of the confessional basis a the DRCA. this decision was ruled by the Supreme Court 1998 as ultra vires. According to appeal judge Harmse the confession of faith of the DRCA could only be amended in compliance with the three formal requirements in article 36.1 of the church order of the DRCA, namely (i) consultation of all churches of the DRC family, (II) a two-thirds majority vote in favor of the change by each Regional Synod separately and only then (iii) a two-thirds majority vote of the General Synod . The involvement of the regional synods in this regard means in effect that two thirds of all congregations should vote in advance in favor of the proposed amendment. The DRCA repeated claimed especially after 1998 that they cannot accept Belhar Confession as part of the confessional basis of the united church.

Themes in the Belhar Confession

According to the Belhar Confession, unity is both a gift and an obligation for the church. This unity originally referred to non-segregation between Christians of different races, but after the formation of the URCSA in 1994, the word "unity" came to refer to administrative unity within the managerial structures of the URCSA.

Another key theme of the Belhar Confession is the dichotomy of reconciliation and the justice of God. According to the confession, God is the God of the destitute, the poor, and the wronged, and for this reason the church should stand by people in any form of suffering. It claims that individual, racial and social segregation is sin, and that all forms of segregation always lead to enmity and hatred.

Adoption by the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa

The URCSA has given the Belhar Confession as a gift to the worldwide Reformed community and requested Reformed churches around the world to consider adopting the Belhar Confession so as to make it a part of the global Reformed confessional basis. Churches on the continent as well as abroad embarked with the reception process and ultimately adoption of the Belhar Confession.

The URCSA (United Reformed Church in Southern Africa) has made it a prerequisite for the previously whites-only DRCSA (Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa) to join the united denomination that all of its members adopt the Belhar Confession. Although the DRCSA is eager to join the new denomination, it has decided not to compel existing members to submit to the confession. The DRCSA had offered to compel only new members of the DRCSA to submit to the confession, and to request existing members to submit to it voluntarily, but this offer was rejected by the URCSA. The URCSA's position was that all members of the DRCSA should be required to swear that the Belhar Confession is true, or face expulsion from the denomination.

The DRCSA's opinion of the Belhar Confession had varied over the years. Initially, the DRCSA rejected the confession as being a political document or as a statement of Liberation Theology. Some time later the DRCSA acknowledged that the document's contents were true, with the proviso that references in the Belhar Confession to "the poor" not be regarded as an implicit reference to non-whites. At the 2011 meating of the General Assembly of the DRCSA, it was decided that processes to make the Belhar Confession part of the confessional base of the DRCSA should be initiated by its leadership.

Adoption by non-South African churches

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Africa in Namibia (ERCA) adopted the Belhar Confession in 1997 and in so doing became the first non-South African Church which adopted the Belhar Confession. Apart from the URCSA, the Belhar Confession was also adopted by the United Protestant Church in Belgium in 1998.

The Reformed Church in America (RCA) adopted the Belhar Confession as a fourth doctrinal standard (or confession; alongside the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort) at its 2010 meeting of the General Synod, having adopted it provisionally in 2007.

The 2009 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) proposed to the 2012 Synod that the Belhar Confession be adopted as their fourth confession of faith. The Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRC) took in 1990 official action on the request of the REC Interim Committee on the Belhar Confession. At the said synod, the CRC declared "that the Belhar Confession is in harmony with 'the Reformed faith as a body of truth' articulated in the historic Reformed confessions and is in basic agreement with the REC and the CRC decisions on race made over the past decades; and, therefore...that it has no objection to its inclusion in the list of Reformed confessions in Article II of the REC Constitution". The Synod decided that the Belhar Confession is in basic agreement with the REC and the CRC decisions on race made over the past decades. The synod therefore declares that it has no objection to its inclusion in the list of Reformed confessions in Article II of the REC constitution. The CRC Synod 2007 encourages the ongoing work of the Interchurch Relations Committee to inform and engage the churches concerning the Belhar Confession and the issues raised by it through: (1) a greater dissemination of the Belhar Confession to the congregations in order to familiarize the denomination with it and the issues raised by it, and (2) regional level dialogues to be initiated by the Interchurch Relations Committee as part of their process of expediting a recommendation to Synod 2009”. The CRC Synod 2007 mandated the Interchurch Relations Committee (IRC) to study and assess the Belhar Confession and to present recommendations concerning it to Synod 2009. The IRC offered a copy of the Belhar Confession study guide, Unity, Reconciliation, and Justice, to every congregation in the CRC. This study guide was produced by the RCA which granted the CRC were permission to promote its use in the CRC. Several hundred requests for copies were fulfilled. The IRC also initiated a series of focus group discussions about the Belhar Confession. The IRC General Synod will final vote for the amendment of the confessional basis of the CRC in 2012. The confession was also instrumental in the RCA's efforts to found the Reformed Church in the Dominican Republic.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) considered adopting the Belhar Confession. In 2008 a Committee from the 218th General Assembly requested that a committee begin the formal process of including the Belhar in its Book of Confessions. That committee recommended adoption of the Belhar Confession to the 219th General Assembly in 2010. The General Assembly approved the recommendation and referred adoption to a vote of the Presbyteries. The Belhar Confession fell 8 votes short of the 116 necessary for adoption.

External links

• One English translation of the Belhar Confession
• Original Afrikaans text of the confession
• Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa
• Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa