Financially resourcing the ministry in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in the 21st century

Abstract

From 1994 the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa has increasingly encountered tremendous challenges in financing its ministry on a just and equitable basis across all communities. This issue peaked when the Presbyterian Church of South Africa and the Reformed Presbyterian Church united to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in 1999. The union produced tensions concerning the financial support of the ministry. These centred on as yet unresolved proposals for the centralisation and equalisation of ministerial stipends, which have been discussed at every biennial General Assembly of the UPCSA from 2006. This article has briefly analysed the theological, ecclesiological, missional, economic, sociological and practical administrative issues that it believes should inform the final decision and may help to establish a new ministerial, missional and congregational support paradigm for many other churches in the new South Africa.