Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa


The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa was formed and constituted in 1999 as the outcome of the union between the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.
These two churches shared the same origin dating back to the 19th century when Britain took over the Cape Colony. Their distinctive characters were that the Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa was constituted among soldiers and settlers who arrived in the Cape in 1820, spreading North into Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Reformed Presbyterian Church on the other hand was a product of Scottish missions intended for the indigenous Africans, which started at Lovedale Mission in Alice. It became autonomous in 1923.
In 1896 the first Presbyterian congregation was founded in Rhodesia at Bulawayo, and later in 1903 in Salisbury. Now there are 2 Presbyteries in Matabeland and Mashonaland. Currently there are 10 congregations and 5,000-10,000 members.
The motto Nec tamen consumebatur is adapted from the Latin translation of Exodus 3:2 "...The Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet it was not consumed"
In 2004 the UPCSA celebrated its fifth anniversary after having spent much of that time in forging structures of union.
In 2015, a church court decided that "the Presbyterian church allows gay marriage" and that each minister may act according to his or her conscience.

Presbyteries

The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa has over 450 congregations and 800,000 members and is divided into the following Presbyteries :

South Africa

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The Basis of Union is a contract that was signed in September 1999 entered into between the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in South Africa. Under this contract, the two churches would join and become one: the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Article 13 of the basis of union states that, as a condition of the union, both churches are to bring 4 associations each and the 8 associations would unite to form only 4 associations.