Abstract:
From the time of the arrival of the first missionaries in
South Africa, there was a need to prepare local agents to
pursue the work of mission. Each of the English speaking
churches formed and pursued its own stream. Throughout
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these
streams at times followed their own course and sometimes
converged, only to diverge again. It was a combination of
political circumstances and ecumenical vision that caused
these churches to establish the Federal Theological Seminary
of Southern Africa in 1963. This article traces the flow
of the Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist and Anglican
streams towards this ecumenical experiment in convergence.
More detailed attention is given to the Lovedale
Missionary Institution because of its strong ecumenical
approach, its pre-eminence as an educational centre and
because issues were raised there which were later faced
by other theological colleges.
