Introduction

This is true of any Reformed church community, the subjects of mission and unity are integrally interrelated as seen from the Scottish mission to South Africa. Scottish Presbyterians were always prepared to work with others in pursuit of their mission all in the same of seeking the unity of Christ's church. The overlapping agenda of the Church in Scotland was easily transportable to South Africa. However, Africans were also confused by the different versions of Christianity they were presented with. In their traditional contexts they were not exposed to different versions of African traditional religion. In some ways these imported traditions actually militated against the ecumenical impulse.

Up until this point we have been looking mainly at external developments in the outreach of the RPCSA in relation to other South African denominations. However, there was also a considerable amount of effort being expended both in its internal missionary and evangelical outputs and in developing its own distinctive tradition.

The story of the first hundred years of the Scottish mission in South Africa has been discussed. This led to the formation of the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1923 (Duncan 2016b). In her study of the history of the Scottish mission in South Africa, Sheila Brock (1974: 60) contended that ‘ecclesiastical separate development in the political circumstances of South Africa since 1820 have not given much scope to the Bantu Presbyterian Church and it has not proved itself a particularly inspiring example to follow’. This chapter challenges Brock's assertion by examining the extent to which the BPCSA remained true to its Constitution ‘in the form of a self-governing Native Church’ (BPCSA 1958: 113) and ‘an autonomous branch of the Holy, Catholic Church’ (BPCSA 1958: 114) ‘labouring for the advancement of the Kingdom of God throughout the world’ (BPCSA 1958: 115) from its formation in 1923 until union with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA) in 1999.