A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa

The AFM started as an interracial mission with a strong emphasis on the “anointing of the Holy Spirit” and the ministry of each member of the assembly. Leadership was developed through the local church as the body of Christ and there were no distinctions between clergy and laity. All who were saved...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: M. Nel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2014-06-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2597
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823858772236304384
author M. Nel
author_facet M. Nel
author_sort M. Nel
collection DOAJ
description The AFM started as an interracial mission with a strong emphasis on the “anointing of the Holy Spirit” and the ministry of each member of the assembly. Leadership was developed through the local church as the body of Christ and there were no distinctions between clergy and laity. All who were saved were expected (and trained) to witness; no theological training was required for the different levels of ministry, not even for preachers. There was a hierarchy starting with church members being witnesses, but with the opportunity to develop into a deacon, elder, local preacher, and finally an overseer. In this article the development of training for the ministry along separate lines for different racial groups in accordance with the ruling Apartheid policy of the Nationalist government is discussed. After a hundred years the AFM has one training structure with a new centralized seminary and one curriculum for all.
format Article
id doaj-art-63d319fb806049709e9a12e97d91b1d4
institution Kabale University
issn 1015-8758
2309-9089
language English
publishDate 2014-06-01
publisher University of the Free State
record_format Article
series Acta Theologica
spelling doaj-art-63d319fb806049709e9a12e97d91b1d42025-02-11T09:57:08ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892014-06-0134110.38140/at.v34i1.2597A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South AfricaM. Nel0North-West University, South Africa The AFM started as an interracial mission with a strong emphasis on the “anointing of the Holy Spirit” and the ministry of each member of the assembly. Leadership was developed through the local church as the body of Christ and there were no distinctions between clergy and laity. All who were saved were expected (and trained) to witness; no theological training was required for the different levels of ministry, not even for preachers. There was a hierarchy starting with church members being witnesses, but with the opportunity to develop into a deacon, elder, local preacher, and finally an overseer. In this article the development of training for the ministry along separate lines for different racial groups in accordance with the ruling Apartheid policy of the Nationalist government is discussed. After a hundred years the AFM has one training structure with a new centralized seminary and one curriculum for all. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2597
spellingShingle M. Nel
A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
Acta Theologica
title A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
title_full A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
title_fullStr A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
title_full_unstemmed A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
title_short A hundred years of theological training in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa
title_sort hundred years of theological training in the apostolic faith mission of south africa
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2597
work_keys_str_mv AT mnel ahundredyearsoftheologicaltrainingintheapostolicfaithmissionofsouthafrica
AT mnel hundredyearsoftheologicaltrainingintheapostolicfaithmissionofsouthafrica