PARTNERS

Professor Steve de Gruchy

BA (UCT), MA (UCT), STM (Union Seminary, NYC), DTh (UWC)

Director : Theology and Development Programme, UKZN
Editor: Journal of Theology for Southern Africa

School of Religion and Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3201 South Africa.
Tel: +27 (0) 33 260 6273; Fax: +27 (0) 33 260 5858
degruchys@ukzn.ac.za

Professor Steve de Gruchy is an ordained minister in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), and served as a chaplain at Groote Schuur hospital and minister of Gleemoor Congregational Church in Athlone, Cape Town, (1987- 94) before moving to be the Director of the Moffat Mission Trust in Kuruman, in the Northern Cape province (1994-2000). His period at this historic mission station where Robert Moffat and David Livingstone were based, and where the first Bible was printed in Africa, drew him into rural development issues. He was appointed the first full-time Director of the Theology and Development Programme at UKZN in July 2000. Since that period he has overseen the growth of the programme so that it now has over 70 post graduate students.

Prof de Gruchy has always had a lively academic and practical interest in the interface between the Christian faith and social ethics. During his student years at the University of Cape Town he served on the Student Representative Council, was active in the student anti-apartheid movement, a signatory to the Kairos Document, and was a Conscientious Objector to military service. His work in the under-resourced rural area of Kuruman continued this focus where he helped establish NGOs working in the field of land rights, small business development, early childhood development, and leadership training. His academic work has all drawn from that praxis, and continues to be constantly informed by ongoing engagement with people working at community level, especially his students from throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

He has served the UCCSA in a number of capacities, including being editor of the Congregational Chronicle, a member of the Kairos Task Force on Transformation, a member of the Theological Commission and the Training for Ministry Committee. He is also ecumenically involved, being involved in various ways with the World Council of Churches’ Justice, Peace and Creation team, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Council for World Mission, the International Congregational Fellowship, and the Church Unity Commission in South Africa.

In terms of research and writing, Prof de Gruchy has three major areas of focus.

1. Social history of Christianity in South Africa. Here he has worked on the history and heritage of the London Missionary Society (now the UCCSA) and the engagement of the church in the struggle against apartheid. His publications include:

Changing Frontiers: The Mission Story of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa.Ed. (Gaborone: Pula Press, 1999.)
With John W. de Gruchy (London: SCM, 2004. Rev. 3^rd Ed.)
Undaunted Spirit: The Life and Legacy of Joseph Wing. Joint Editor with Desmond van der Water (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2005)
“Religion and racism: Struggles around segregation, ‘Jim Crow’ and apartheid” in Hugh McLeod (ed) The Cambridge History of Christianity Vol. 9: World Christianities c. 1914-2000. (Cambridge: University Press, 2006), 385-400
“A Symphony in Stone: Leadership, Vocation and the State’s Attack on Tiger Kloof School” in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, Vol 118, March 2004 pp 100-113
“Dissenting Calvinism: Reflections on the Congregational Witness in South Africa as part of the wider Reformed Tradition” Theologia Viatorum, 2004

2. Theology and development, Here he has published on a range of issues including:

“Like Moses, we always perish outside the promised land: Reinhold Niebuhr and the contribution of Theology to Development” in Lyn Holness and Ralf Wustenberg (eds) Theology in Dailogue: The Impact of the Arts, Humanities, and Science on Contemporary Religious Thought. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). Pp 133-148
“The Contribution of Universities to Sustainable Development” in Robert Fincham, Susse Georg and Eskild Holm Nielsen (eds) Sustainable Development and the University: New Strategies for Research, Teaching and Practice. (Pietermaritzburg: Brevitas, 2005) pp 53-74
“Introducing the Millennium Declaration” in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa. 110, July 2001. pp.57-76
“Life, Livelihoods and God: Why Genetically Modified Organisms oppose Caring for Life” in The Ecumenical Review, July 2002. (Geneva: World Council of Churches).
“Of agency, assets and appreciation: Seeking some commonalities between theology and development” in the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, Vol 117, (November 2003). pp 20 - 39.
“Theological education and social development: Politics, preferences and praxis in curriculum design” in Missionalia, Vol 31 No. 3, (November 2003) pp 451-466
“Integrating Mission and Development: Ten Theological Theses” in The International Congregational Journal Vol 5.1., Fall 2005. pp 27-36.

3. Religion and Public Health. His current research focus is in the interface between Religion and Public Health, reflecting on the role of religious bodies, and especially the Christian Church, in responding to the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa. He is involved with the African Religious Health Assets Programme (ARHAP) as a senior researcher, and his focus has been in Zambia where he has led the research team on a World Health Organisation sponsored project.

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