From the start the AMEC had the idea of a self supporting church. Projects aimed at helping people develop their skills were pursued. There was an urgent need of empowering those people who were poor and disabled to develop their skills. It was hoped that it would boost their self-esteem for they were also created in the image of God. The leaders of the schism understood the importance of integrating some aspects of holistic salvation in their working with people. They did not only teach church discipline and catechism, but also how to read and write.
Although the AMEC church was based in South Namibia, the Bishop was residing in South Africa. Most of the AMEC Bishops were Black Americans. They seem to have come from middle to upper class backgrounds, and were sympathetic to the newly established AMEC in Namibia. The Bishops could only visit the region during the annual district meeting, when the Bishop was informed about the development of the entire church, by the presiding elder.
The focus at the meeting revolved around worship, prayer and Bible study. The participants at the annual general meeting experienced communion and their oneness in Jesus Christ.
They worshipped, shared meals and worked together, and interacted with one another at a personal level. At this meeting the church also looked for possible candidates for the ministry.
The last five decades formed a high point for the AMEC. They had become numerous enough to be self-sustaining and self-confident enough to move out from under missionary sponsorship and paternalism. Despite their progressiveness, the AMEC failed to produce an indigenous bishop after 54 years. P.A. Schmidt gained prominence in 1946, because he handed over the letter of secession from the RMS to Dr. H. Vedder. He thus became a pioneer in the AMEC, founding a stable and successful church that was able to win over the majority of Nama membership. Until his death in 1999, he served as the Presiding Elder of the Gibeon district. In his own lifetime he was also the principal of the AMEC School, and he also played a prominent role in politics. During his term in office, as Presiding Elder, he always encouraged members to be self supporting financially. This was due to the poor
fundraising style of the church on a local level. It was the dependency syndrome that Schmidt had to deal with during his years as Presiding Elder.
The AMEC in South Africa played a major role in supporting the AMEC in Namibia. Most of the staff of AMEC got further education in the Wilbeforce Institute run by the AMEC in Evaton, in the vicinity of Johannesburg. Their financial obligations were covered by the AMEC in South Africa?O Quite a few AMEC pastors from South Africa were also working on a voluntary basis in Namibia shortly after the schism.
There was a reluctance on the part of the AME churches in America to support the development of the AMEC in Namibia. They had not set up any funds for their African pastors to further their pastoral education abroad and elsewhere. In the existence of the 54 years of the AMEC in Namibia, no clergy in Namibia received training in America. There was no loyalty on the part of the AME Churches in America, towards their Namibian brothers and sisters. During the time of the schism, the leaders always remarked: "Wait Americans will come and then everything will be different.,,21 The Americans referred to by the leaders and the Nama people were the "black Americans" who were represented by the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
How should the contribution of AMEC in Southern Africa be evaluated? Without doubt they played a major and influential role with far reaching ideas about the rights of people, and also about their dignity. Another important aspect that should be taken into consideration is the fact that English as a medium of communication was not well developed during that time in Namibia. The AMEC in South Africa were prepared to overcome these obstacles. They committed themselves openly to work with their new sister church in Namibia.
5.S The AMEC and Resistance
Between the two world wars, the Christian churches became the main socializing factor for
20 Interview with Rev. Dr. N.C. Christiaans. AME Trinity Church, Keetmanshoop
Namibia. 01 July 2000. '
21 Archival material: Correspondence between Nama leaders and RMS. ELCRN archives, Windhoek, 1946.
the Namibian people. Gradually, Namibians gained positions of minor leadership, authority and expertise in Christian communities, always under the strict and unquestioned authority of the European missionary. The relegation of Namibian black workers to being nothing more executive than assistants to the white missionaries without the right to express their personal views, led to mistrust and hostility between Europeans and Africans in Namibia.
The mission churches also accepted the general structure of racial separation between black, Coloured and white congregations. Between these racially segregated communities there was no link whatsoever. The RMS's support for colonial rule was expressed in its policy of establishing separate ecclesiastical structures for black and white Christians. Long before the imposition of apartheid by the South African authorities, the RMS chose to establish distinct congregations on the basis of race and language. Unlike the Roman Catholics and Anglicans, the RMS also created totally separate administrative ministries for black and white at local, regional and national levels. In practice, the RMS saw the colonial system as a divinely created policy - the Kingdom of God would be effective within it and not in opposition to it.
It should be noted that in dealing with the Roman Catholic Church, racial lines were less emphasized. They were emphasized much more in the RMS. The Roman Catholic Church came to Namibia from Angola in 1878 and established itself at Omaruru. Important milestones were the founding of the Okavango mission in 1910 and the beginning of the missionary work in Ovamboland in 1925. Development was remarkably quick. For example, Roman Catholic Churches and schools sprung up throughout the country in the first half of the 20th century. This church gained a membership of 60 000, with 54 800 blacks, 2350 whites, and 2400 Coloureds in 24 congregations. In this short time, two schools for whites, three for Coloureds and 66 for blacks were established. In addition, a training college at Dobra for teachers was also established. In the Namibian context, during the German colonial period, the Roman Catholic Church played a neutral role and did not clearly express its true position with regard to racial issues.
After 1946, the self-awareness of the Namibian people increased rapidly, but the European- controlled churches, influenced by the high tide of anti-communism and the cold war saw in the movement for African liberation the work of world communism. The fight for the rights
of Namibians waged by priests like Anglican Michael Scott were the heroic efforts of individuals who were frequently shunned by their own churches.
But, independen~ly from world politics, the Indigenization process of churches was pushed forward. Seminaries for Namibian pastors were established and more responsible positions were filled with Namibian personnel. In 1957, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South West Africa, serving central and South Namibia, became the first Lutheran Church In
Namibia to be independent from its mother church, the Rhenish Mission Society.
5.5.1 Early Ecumenical Actions in Namibia
In 1963, the church leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Evangelical Lutheran Okavango Church took an early ecumenical initiative in deciding to use the Otjimbingwe pastoral centre for the training of Lutheran pastors from both churches. This act of unity between two different Lutheran traditions, working in different parts of the country, was an important step in building awareness within the churches of "One Namibia, One Nation". 22
In May 1964, the leaders of the two Lutheran churches signed the first joint memorandum to the South African government. They denounced the hardships that would result from the Bantustan programme envisaged by the Odendaal Commission, which involved huge population movements and forced resettlements. In 1967 the two Lutheran Churches sent a further memorandum to the South African government protesting the population removals, rent rises, the denial of freedom of movement. In the face of a country tom apart by the racially-oriented colonial policy of South Africa and its international supporters, the welfare of the country at large became the pivotal point of the churches' ministry. The unity of the church became more and more an expression of the unity of the Namibian people.
During this time, the German Roman Catholic Church, influenced by the second Vatican Council and the ecumenical example set by Pope John XXIII, established a closer relationship with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church which had been formed in 1960 to keep its own white German identity and views separate from the black Namibians. The
22 Interview with Rev. Prof. P.I. Isaak. Windhoek, Namibia. 07 July 2000.
Roman Catholic and Gennan Lutheran leadership claimed they were looking for a spiritual, non-political ecumenism and accused the Namibian Lutheran Churches of mingling politics with faith and worship. Since their political views were basically identical with those of the white administration, they presumed they were not involved in politics and interpreted any opposition to the status quo as opposition to the mission of the church.23
The AMEC was deeply touched by the political situation in Namibia. A politically awakened Namibian clergy in the South of Namibia, H. Witbooi, started to protest against Bantu Education and mobilized the teachers in 1976. Education in Namibia was based on racial and ethnic classifications. The African learners followed the syllabus of the Department of National Education, which was, in essence, the old Bantu Education system. 24
5.5.2 The Open Letter to the South African Government
The one single ecumenical action that has had the most lasting effect in Namibia was the open letter written in 1971 to Prime Minister Vorster by the leaders of the two black Lutheran Churches, Bishop Leonard Auala and Pastor Paulus Gowaseb (letter attached in the Appendix). It was written following the decision of the International Court of Justice to support the United Nations' tennination of the mandatory right of South Africa to administer Namibia. South Africa was declared an illegal occupier of the country and asked to leave.
Governments were requested not to deal with South Africa in affairs that would imply its authority in the territory. The Namibian popUlation was overjoyed and church bells were rung throughout the country. 25
In their open letter, the church leaders identified with the verdict of the International Court, denounced the system of apartheid and Bantustan system forced upon Namibia by South Africa as violating the fundamental human rights of the people, and offered their mediation to negotiate a dismantling of the apartheid policies. The open letter was the first act of what has proven to be a new ecumenical era in Namibia.
23 Olga Levinson. 1976. p. 79.
24 H. Hunke. The Church in Namibia (Unpublished notes). Geneva. LWF. 1986.
25 Olga Levinson. 1976 p. 91 and P.J. Isaak. Religion and Society: A Namibian perspective. Windhoek: Out of Africa Publishers. p. 37.
The white minority and its government had to recognise a growing political awareness and consensus among the black population, the myths of the "apolitical native" and the "outside instigator" had suffered a severe blow. The black majority in Namibia, heard for the first time their basic concerns voiced in clear, unequivocal terms by recognised leaders who could not easily be labelled 'communist' or opportunistic politicians. Black Namibia had gained a strong representative voice.
The churches became recognised by the South African government as a force to be reckoned with and were invited for a discussion with Prime Minister Vorster. Even though the resulting meetings ended in failure, the church leaders were able to give detailed reports of the systematic violations of human rights and to report back to the people the government's refusal to give serious consideration to compliance with international standards of law and justice.
This new form of Namibian ecumenism had started to take the whole of Namibia and its people seriously as an integral part of the church's mission for salvation, not only for individual souls, but for the oppressed, exploited, alienated, and deprived people of Namibia.
This new ecumenism also brought with it reprisals from the South African government.
Following publication of the open letter "Several Finnish missionaries working among Ovambos were expelled from Namibia. On numerous occasions the AMEC bishops have been refused visas to visit Namibia".26
The open letter was warmly welcomed by the Roman Catholic Church and fully endorsed by the Anglican Church. At the same time the German Evangelical Lutheran Church openly disassociated itself from the letter and one Dutch Reformed Afrikaner declared that it was evil. 27