Is the Methodist Church of Southern Africa an African Church or a Church in Africa? A Decoloniality Paradigm
Jacob Mokhutso 
Issue: Vol.10 No. 14 December 2024 Special Issue Article 4 pp.42 – 54
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410144 | Published online 14th February, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The study set out to explore whether the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) is an African Church or a British Church operating in Africa. This is a fundamental question because it affects the MCSA’s mission, doctrines, and relevance to its black African membership. The question is critical, given the MCSA’s vision of “a Christ-healed Africa for the healing of nations.” The study first reconnoitered the milestones achieved by the MCSA to position itself as well as respond to Southern African challenges after its independence from the British Methodist church. Thereafter, available and relevant literature was reviewed to argue that, since the MCSA’s autonomy from the British Methodist Church in 1927, there has been an imbalance between the British Methodist heritage and the African-ness of the MCSA in its theology and its practices. This study argued that it compromises its witness and relevance to its black African membership. A decoloniality paradigm is explored in this regard. The study concluded with recommendations for further research and conversation on how the MCSA could be a more African Church. The study contributes to the ongoing conversations and scholarship in the MCSA on contextual theology, African theology, and decolonisation of its theology and doctrines.
Keywords: MCSA, African Church, Decoloniality
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Dr. Jacob Mokhutso is a lecturer at the University of the Free State in South Africa. Dr. Mokhutso holds PhD specialising in Religion Studies from the University of the Free State. His research interests are in the intersection and complexities between African Traditional Religion (ATR) and Christianity, the African Philosophy of Ubuntu as applied in contemporary challenges, Christianity and Culture, the African Indigenous Knowledge System, especially within the Mainline Churches, Theology and practices within South African Mainline Churches, African rituals, Jonh Wesley’s Theology and Methodism in Southern Africa. He is a member of the following professional bodies: Theological Society of South Africa (TSSA), the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA), the Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies, the American Academy of Religion, and African Methodist Intercultural Dialogue Network. He is also an editorial board member of the following Journals: University of the Free State (UFS) Theological Explorations (2022 – present), Pharos Journal of Theology (2023 – present), Global Journal of Cultural Studies (2023 – present), Acta Theologica (2024 – present).
Mokhutso, Jacob. “Is the Methodist Church of Southern Africa an African Church or a Church in Africa? A Decoloniality Paradigm ,“ E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 10 no.14 (2024): 42 – 54. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410144
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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