International South African Speaker Here Feb.23, 24

Preaching and Speaking

I, the Pastor at Beth Shiloh, first met Maake Masango at Columbia Theological  Seminary in the fall of 1988 in one of the classes

for first year students.  The theme was the church

in the world.  Maake was a graduate student working

towards a PhD in pastoral counseling.  He was the

preceptor/ teacher for the class.  The issues

presented in the class were almost overwhelming. 

During that class Maake engaged in teaching us

about the issues bedeviling the world at that time.

Europe’s changing particularly in the Soviet bloc,

Nuclear power and proliferation of weapons,

hunger, abortion, racism, sexuality, ecclesiology

and so on were just some of the topics.  Maake was well suited for these issues, because he himself was a refuge from Apartheid South Africa.  A protégé of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he had come to the United States to further his education, which was not possible in South Africa.  Having completed a Christian Education degree at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia he traveled South to begin work at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia with the idea of returning to South Africa to aid in its healing when his counseling degree was completed.  He did return in 1994 after finishing his work and has been very active in the church and in the university, where he was drafted to aid in reclaiming the lost educational opportunities for Black South Africans. A member of the World Council of Churches the Very Reverend Professor Maake Masango served with Desmond Tutu on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was appointed by Nelson Mandela to investigate the atrocities committed during Apartheid.  Maake himself was arrested numerous times and beaten in jail by the police.  He has been the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in South Africa and is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria.  He was also kind enough to serve as my Doctorvater (literally translated as ‘Doctor-Father’—term for the doctoral supervisor) for my PhD.  He was patient and kind, always providing the right amount of feedback while I was working on my dissertation.  We are fortunate to have him preaching Sunday February 23 in worship and then will have an opportunity to hear him speak the next night, February 24, in the Family Life Center @6:30.  He has international stature and I hope you will make him feel welcome!