The church in mission in the wake of emerging indigenous religious trends in South Africa

English:South Africa is characterised by breath-taking developments in all its major spheres of life, social, political, economic, cultural and religious, etc. After some decades of colonial rule, inter-racial strife and polarisation between races, South Africa prides herself in a "peaceful transition" from colonial and Apartheid rule to constitutional democracy ushered in during 1994. The success of South Africans in handling their multi-cultural diversity has made South Africa the primary object of world attention, a microcosm and a mirror image of the world itself. South Africa has correctly been described as "a world in one country" and a "rainbow nation". However, recently, and just before and shortly after gaining freedom from its colonial and Apartheid past, indigenous religions in South Africa have re-emerged on the scene. They are highly critical of Christians in South Africa, and seem to delight in pointing out its failures during colonialism and the Apartheid era. They contest the Christian claim to uniqueness and final truth and also the right of Christians to convert others to their faith. They claim universal validity for themselves. They invite the Church to compromise and to cooperate. In spite of all the outer show of resurgence by the indigenous religions, there is evidence of a growing spiritual vacuum in certain areas of our country. This is evidenced by increasing moral decay in the society, which prompted the government to launch the Moral Regeneration Movement. This study examines the role of the Church in the wake of emerging indigenous religious trends in South Africa. It seeks to discover how the Church in Mission could, in the wake of emerging indigenous religious trends, order its life and practices in order to give positive witness to indigenous people in South Africa. It seeks to explore whether elements of emerging indigenous religious trends in South Africa afforded the Church an opportunity to recoil under the glaring failures of the past or an alternative opportunity of declaring its faith. It argues that the Church has a critical role to play in South Africa only if it would strongly renew itself and engage in mission. Practical means of social involvement are given prominence in this study.