Congregational Witness has been actively facilitating workshops to help churches rediscover their missional calling. Over the past month, ministers, church councils and youth leaders have engaged in training sessions designed to equip them for missional transformation.

Rev. Stephen Pedro kicked of the year by starting the MTC process with URC George from 24-26 January 2025. URC George, where Rev. Myrtle Neewat-Joubert currently serves as a minister, decided to resume and restart the conversation about being a missional congregation, seeing that they have already taken a few steps the past year or two in this direction. “The readjusted and refined process for the Missional Transformation of Congregations (MTC) has been introduced to the leaders of the congregation with a special focus on the Missional Conversation Board (MCB) as a way and tool to continue the conversation about the congregation’s ministry, and especially its missional calling”, says Rev. Pedro. After the workshop, Rev. Neewat-Joubert said there is excitement about the potential process, and they are contemplating having a weekend breakaway to do Part 2 of the MCB. “We are not only looking forward to how this process will unfold but has also pledged our support and assistance to Rev. Neewat-Joubert and her church council,” says Rev. Pedro.

Another important workshop took place from 5-6 February when Rev. Pedro had a follow-up MTC Workshop with the ministers of Cluster 5 (Presbyteries of Carnarvon and Colesberg). This was the first follow-up MTC Workshop with ministers since Rev. Pedro has started with these workshops with the Ministers. What made it extra special was that they were joined by their colleagues from one of the DRC congregations on the second day of this workshop. The focus of the workshop was about how to start the missional conversation with their leadership and congregation with the MCB, as well as how to utilise and facilitate CBS as part of the broader missional transformation process of your congregation.

One of the outcomes of our engagement is that local URC and DRC congregations will explore the possibility to be introduced to CBS together, to tackle an identified communal challenge together by doing a CBS about that challenge at a later stage. Furthermore, they will be working on an action plan or process together to become active disciples of transformation, advocating for deep and radical change that will lead to love, peace, and flourishment within their communities. Like one of the ministers said, “…although we should not be too hard on ourselves, and we need to centre our own needs and those of our families, we cannot neglect our responsibility as a faith community to step up and make the impact the church is called to do.”

From 7-9 February 2025, another important workshop took place with the Christian Youth Ministry (CYM) Leaders of the Presbytery of Stellenbosch at Disakloof Camping Site in Betty’s Bay. This workshop was facilitated by two CBS facilitators, Rev. Ronald Noemdoe and Rev. Willa McKay. The purpose of this workshop was to introduce CBS to these youth leaders, not only to help build leadership capacity, but also as a ministry tool they can use to build up their respective congregational branches. “We are so excited to put this ministry tool in the hands of our presbyteries’ youth leaders to help them develop leadership capabilities and capacity among the youth of the church and pray that more youth ministries of presbyteries will do the same,” says Rev. Pedro.

From 11-13 February 2025, a longstanding goal of Rev. Pedro became a reality when he facilitated a workshop with a group of eight emeriti ministers from the Eastern and Northern Cape Presbyteries. Rev. Pedro is building capacity to assist him with the introduction of the MTC process to the ministers. They will help empower the ministers to start and facilitate the missional transformation of their congregations, and to help with the equipment of elders and deacons on presbyterial level. The emeriti ministers were grateful for the gesture that the church has not forgotten about them and expressed their excitement for the opportunity to still be of service to the church, especially to assist and help with the equipment of elders and deacons.

Finally, during the past month, Rev. Pedro also facilitated workshops with three church councils. On 8 February 2025 at URC Goudini, where Rev. Pieter Windvogel is the newly appointed minister, the focus was on the equipment of the elders and deacons for their respective tasks, as well as the understanding and application of the Integrated Ministry Model (IMM), especially the core ministries of the church.

On 21 February 2025 at URC Vredendal, where Rev. Pedro Oktober is the practicing minister, he kicked off the MTC accompaniment process with a workshop about CBS. The next workshop will take place from 11-12 April 2025 to continue with the Assessment Phase of the congregation’s MTC journey. What makes this process especially exciting is that this congregation, who is working with a congregational vision for a very long time, believes they are at a point where they need to ask anew, “Are they still focusing on the things that really matter according to Philippians 1:9, and on what God wants them to be busy with?”

From 24-25 February 2025, at the workshop with URC Riebeek West, Rev. Francis Samson and his church council, also decided to embark on a process of discernment and empowerment regarding the road ahead for this congregation. They have decided to start the missional conversation with the MCB. Over these two nights we have focused on the question, “What is the congregation currently focused on, and whether this is an indication that the activities of their ministry are outward-looking or inward-looking?” This will be followed by the SEE Part of CBS during which he and his church council will identify the pressing challenges in the community, after which they will also be doing a Congregation and Community Needs Analysis, to identify the pressing needs in and around their congregation. This will enable us to have an informative Part 2 of the MCB, where we will ask them the following question, “What does the congregation, as part of their missional calling, wants to focus on in the coming years?”