Ubufundisi bonyana womgquba: In memoriam of Vuyani Shadrack Vellem

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Ubufundisi bonyana womgquba: In memoriam of Vuyani Shadrack Vellem
 
Creator Buqa, Wonke
 
Subject Faculty of Theology and Religion; Practical Theology and Mission Studies Theology; ministry; liberation; church; umgquba; umthonyama; spirituality; ubufundisi; unyana; Vuyani Vellem.
Description Vuyani Vellem was a distinguished scholar of black theology of liberation. A number of giants of black scholarship and theologians have written constructive tributes in recognition of his work, particularly in academia. He has rightly been lauded as an excellent academic, but very little has been said about his role as a churchman. Despite being an outstanding African theologian, Vellem’s ministerial formation was hewed in the context of the black-conscious minister from the African Christian missionary church enterprise. He was a trailblazer, a voice of the voiceless within the church, in South African black communities, in ecumenical relations and globally. This article reflects on the crucial role of yobufundisi bonyana womgquba or womthonyama [ministry of the son of the soil, land or earth], in which Vuyani Vellem relentlessly served the church until his untimely death at the age of 50 years on 04 December 2019. The article argues that Vellem unrelentingly loved and served the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) with distinction as its first black general secretary at a transitional epoch in the postapartheid era where the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa came into union with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in 1999 to form the current UPCSA.Contribution: The scholarly contribution of this article adds value and significant tribute to the ministry of Vellem, his quest for justice and unshackling of the church. It seeks to espouse ubufundisi bakhe [his ministry] within the UPCSA, his perpetual calling in serving the needy and downtrodden. Moreover, the article contributes a practica reflectere of his spirituality, black consciousness and life identity with underprivileged black churches and communities.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-12-21
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i1.7969
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 1 (2022); 7 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7969/23998 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7969/23999 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7969/24000 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7969/24001
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Wonke Buqa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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