Abstract:
This article aims to participate in the current debate regarding the writing
of a new church order for the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van
Afrika, concentrating on Article III of the current church order. In a
previous article the understanding of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
as a 'peoples church'· ('volkskerk') by Professors J H J A Greyvenstein
and A S Geyser - both New Testament scholars in teaching positions at
the University of Pretoria between 1917 and 1961 - was traced. This
understanding is now critically evaluated by means of a social-scientific
analysis of meals as ceremonies in Mark's gospel. The conclusion
reached is that Mark proclaimed - as Greyvenstein and Geyser advocated
- the presence and availibility of God as aspects that should
ecclesiologically be open to all. Finally, a few remarks are made concerning
the continuation of the debate on the new church order for the
Nederduitsch Hervomde Kerk van Afrika.
