Abstract:
The author provides a brief overview of the history of the Reformed Church in Africa
(RCA), a church that is rooted in the South African Indian community, from its birth
in 1968 till the present day. He then proceeds to discuss the content and the impact
of the Laudium Declaration, which was adopted at the synod of the RCA in 1990. The
declaration was widely welcomed in the RCA, defining the evangelical character of
the church. The reaction of other churches in the Dutch Reformed Church Family to
the Laudium Declaration is discussed, together with an appraisal of the role that the
declaration may play in the current unification process in the Dutch Reformed Family
in South Africa. The article ends with a heartfelt prayer that the declaration will be
accepted as a gift from God not only by the Reformed churches in South Africa, but
by the wider ecumenical community.
