STEPS OF FAITH AT THE EVANGELICAL SEMINARY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Issue 2/2016
Steps of Faith
At the Evangelical
Seminary of
Southern Africa
May 2016
PAST
…
PRESENT
6 April saw our long awaited CHE (Council on
Higher Education) site visit. We believe that
the visit was successful and await a positive
outcome granting ESSA BTh accreditation
sometime in July.
There are two Biblical injunctions that come
to mind as we wait upon the news. The first is
the fruit of patience and the second is
trusting God to supply our every need in the
interim. In many ways the Seminary is in a
challenging space; since all the work of the
past few years is complete and now we
wait…
…
FUTURE
unfolds in the next few Months will reflect
the will of God for ESSA.
The business model we have proposed to the
DHET and which is already partially in place,
sees ESSA generating income from 4
revenue streams. The first is the stream that
currently covers 95% of our budget; the
letting of all of our properties along Pine
Street, which are superfluous to campus
requirement. Only the library and the
buildings we use for administration and
lecture rooms are not let out. In time we
envisage the second revenue stream as
ESSA’s present reality and proposed
Business Model
The waiting challenges our patience and the
temptation is to try and force God’s hand.
Try as we might, His hand will not be forced!
The long wait has placed us in the situation
of being approximately 5 Months behind
where we had hoped to be by now.
Taking into account CHE correspondence
relating to planned site visit very early in
2016 our internal planning assumed
reaccreditation by April / May of 2016 and
our first intake of students by the second
semester.
If we now assume reaccreditation in July /
August, we will be fortunate to host our first
block of students in the last quarter of 2016.
More likely we will see our first students at
the beginning of 2017.
All of these factors fall outside of the scope
of our management and control. They rest
with the CHE and the DHET (Department of
Higher Education and Training) and we
entrust them to God. ESSA has done
everything we have been called upon to do
and is better placed than many who are
accredited to offer a BTh. We trust that what
student generated income. Students should
contribute 10-20% toward budget. The
letting of property superfluous to campus
requirement however, is here to stay. With
the flow of money from the North to the
South having diminished considerably,
Seminaries, Bible Schools and Christian
Universities cannot be nearly as dependent
on outside funding as they once were.
A third revenue stream we envisage is the
opening of a coffee / book shop on campus,
which will be open to faculty, staff and
students, as well as to the passing public
trade. It is doubtful that such a space will
ever contribute more than 10-15% of
budget, but it is an important venue for
campus life and from a public awareness and
relationship perspective.
At the point where all three of these revenue
streams are functioning, we see the fourth
stream – fundraising endeavors - as project
based initiatives. Fundraising will ultimately
be geared toward specific projects, student
financial assistance, scholarships and grants.
(to be continued on p. 2)
IN THIS ISSUE
ESSA’s present reality and proposed
Business model (contd.)
Sometimes the first page simply isn’t
enough. Read more on p. 2
CHE Site visit Update
The Council for Higher Education has
completed its long awaited site visit. They
came, they saw, and they … wrote a report.
Read the full story on p. 2
Finances and other challenges
Delays by CHE and DHET are just another
lesson in patience. Or is there more? There
is a serious impact on how the Seminary is
affected by these delays. Find out what this
means and what YOU can do about it. p. 3
Get to know the staff:
Melt van der Spuy
ESSA does indeed have a new Principal. But
who is he? Where does he come from? And
what’s on his heart for ESSA?
Find out on p. 3
What are they doing NOW? Ambrose
Mambi
Many students have received training at the
Seminary. But what happened afterwards?
In the coming editions we would like to
spotlight a few of our graduates. In this
edition: Ambrose Mambi p 2
Values undergirding ESSA:
Tags and Labels part 1
In the addendum to this edition of Steps of
faith, we unpack what it means to us when
we identify ourselves as evangelical. p. 4
STEPS OF FAITH AT THE EVANGELICAL SEMINARY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
ESSA’s present
reality and proposed
Business Model (contd.)
Unfortunately at present only one of our four
streams- the letting of property- is flowing.
The second stream – accreditation and
students – is delayed (there is a blockage
upstream, way beyond our control). The third
stream – on campus coffee and bookshop – is a
dream for the future and the fourth stream –
seeking funding – is an ongoing work severely
limited by the blockage upstream in stream
two!
Every parent relates to the long road trip in
which their small kids on the back seat ask:
‘Daddy, are we there yet?’
ESSA is not there yet, and in the short term we
face a deficit of R12 500 a month, which we are
asking our supporters to help alleviate until
stream two is unblocked and the four streams
merge into the river we envisage.
We are financially sound and stable and will be
for another few months hence before finance
becomes a real concern. We are appealing for
your help now to assist us in ‘buying back’ the
months that the locusts have eaten.
Come Lord Jesus, come Holy Spirit.
On behalf of the Seminary,
Melt van der Spuy, Principal
CHE site visit update
ESSA had the privilege of hosting a
delegation from CHE (Council on Higher
Education) for the required and highly
anticipated site visit on April 6 2016.
The delegation consisted of experienced
academics from one private as well as one
public institution, accompanied by a CHE
representative.
The delegation seemed impressed with the
infrastructure, the documentation that had
been provided as well as the level of
preparedness that was shown throughout
the site visit.
Of course the panel was very discreet about
the actual verdict and we will not receive the
internal report to CHE, for obvious reasons.
But we did have the impression that there
was no question whether or not ESSA was
sufficiently equipped to offer the Bachelor of
Theology. The campus, the library and all
facilities, the full and visiting staff did leave a
good impression.
However the question that seemed to be of
most concern to the panel was relating to the
block release model. Here the question
wasn’t whether ESSA can offer it but
whether it does make academic and
educational sense and/or whether that model
should more accurately be described as
Distance model rather than contact model.
There was no real opportunity to argue our
case and the panel was again tightlipped on
whether they had been convinced or not.
The site visit went well and was an amicable
one. The panel did mention a few items that
could stand improvement and we have
already implemented steps to improve those
that made sense.
The way forward is as follows:
The panel is required to write and submit a
report. That report will be considered by
CHE, together with the deferral (November
2014) and the initial application. CHE will
then grant provisional accreditation or reject
the application.
Provisional accreditation will be converted
into full accreditation after the first cohort (3
years) have passed through the programme
and the outcome is acceptable. It is also
possible that CHE decides that our block
release model is actually a distance mode of
education and we applied for the wrong
mode. In that case we will have to re-apply
for accreditation of a BTh programme as
distance education.
Please keep us in your prayers as
government departments can work
notoriously slow and then suddenly wake up
and get everything done within a week.
Finances and other
challenges
In 2012 ESSA resurrected the Steps of Faith
which had been lying dormant for 2 years.
One of the recurring items was an update on
debt reduction and the general financial
situation of the Seminary.
By mid-2013 debts of about R 630.000 were
cleared and we announced a stable financial
model. That model was calculated to keep
ESSA afloat AND to generate sufficient
reserves to buffer immanent changes.
The entire re-accreditation process required
the appointment of a principal and upgrades
in terms of IT and other equipment as well as
ongoing maintenance. We managed to
2/2016 2
secure an overseas grant for the IT project
and to allocate sufficient funds toward
maintenance out of the annual budget.
However, the principal’s salary was always
going to be a difficult item.
ESSA found itself in a catch-22 position. No
accreditation without a principal but no
principal salary without students (to pay
tuition fees).
Previous communication with CHE and DHET
indicated that it was highly likely that ESSA’s
accreditation would happen within the first
half of 2016. In that light we went ahead with
our plans
Our calculations assumed that reserves
would cover the expenses until accreditation
was granted. As it currently stands our
reserves will be depleted by August.
Some of you will remember that we launched
an appeal for student support in 2015. These
funds are still dedicated toward student use
and may not be allocated for any other
purpose. ESSA has strict financial policies in
place that prevent us from (ab)using these
funds for temporary setbacks such as this
one.
This raises the challenge of how to overcome
the financial problem of delayed
accreditation?
As the Seminary has reached a hard limit of
reducing cost or increasing rental income, we
are in the uncomfortable position asking you,
our supporters, to consider the following:
Would you consider assisting in this time of
need with either a once-off donation or an
ongoing support “pledge”?
A pledge of regular support, even if it’s only
R 100 per month, will allow our Financial
Director to calculate and budget accordingly
and to exercise responsible stewardship until
accreditation allows us to accept students for
the BTh programme.
Once-off donations will allow us to fill gaps
and shortfalls where and as they arise.
Please seek the Lord’s guidance on whether
you are able to contribute in this way.
If you are able to support, please reference
your donations as ‘monthly pledge’ or ‘once
off gift’ for our budgeting purposes. Our
banking details appear on the next page.
Overseas donors (US) are encouraged to use
the Free Methodist Foundation which is
eligible to issue tax receipts in the US. The
website is set up for electronic giving
(http://fmfoundation.org/egiving/ ) and ESSA
is a linked recipient.
STEPS OF FAITH AT THE EVANGELICAL SEMINARY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Get to know the staff: Melt van der Spuy
Melt accepted the post of principal at the end
of 2015 and picked up the reins as principal of
ESSA at the beginning of 2016.
conversion experience has shaped the
practice of his faith forever.
Although he has a heart for the local church
and is very involved in a particular local
church, and although he has spent much of
the past 15 years pastoring local
congregations, he refers to himself as ‘not at
all a churchy Christian.’
‘My heart for the lost and the watching and
waiting world, is probably bigger than my
heart for the church.’ John 3:16 ‘For God so
loved the WORLD that he gave His one and
only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish but have eternal life.’
He is married to Anida, who is a very gifted
food product developer, food stylist and
Large Scale Catering lecturer. Together they
have three daughters, Marie (26), Simone
(24) and Emma (16). Marie graduates as a
foundation phase teacher at the end of 2016,
Simone is an award winning graphic designer
working in Europe at present, and Emma is a
grade 11 school student and budding theatre
actress (Lord have mercy ).
Melt currently commutes between
Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town and hopes
that Anida will be able to join him in PMB one
week in each of July, August and September,
in order to introduce her to ESSA, PMB and
KZN.
As a young man Melt was an avid sportsman
and played first class Rugby for many years –
from which he says he now has various pains
and creaky joints. His present physical
pursuits are less ambitious and limited to
Mountain Biking, Golf and Gym, with
occasional hiking thrown into the mix.
Melt’s background sees leadership
experience in Commerce, NGO’s, the Church
and the Seminary. He speaks of having come
to a ‘political awakening before being
wakened spiritually by Jesus.’ During the
protracted border war into Angola where
Melt was an 18 year old National Serviceman,
he was confronted with the evils of a system
he could not come to terms with.
Conversion to Christ only followed some 9
years later when Melt came to faith at 27
years of age in the City centre of Cape Town
outside of the influence of a local church! His
David Bosch’s famous theological framing of
the Missio Dei (Mission of God) applies to
how Melt understands Mission and the
Church’s role in it: ‘Just as God the Father
sent Jesus the Son into the world, so the
Father and the Son send the Spirit into the
Church, and the Spirit sends the Church into
the World…’
Melt says: ‘Christians gather…that is a nonnegotiable throughout the NT. There is no
excuse for the foresaking of Christian
fellowship we currently see from so many
Christians. We come together as believers in
Jesus Christ to Worship God. In the process
we are strengthened and encouraged
through the very act of Worship and the
preaching of the Word, in order that we GO,
and as we go into all of the world, we are salt
and light in every place that we set our feet.’
(See Acts 2:42-47)
Melt is passionate about seeing people
become all that God has for them to become.
In light of that passion, theological formation
of women and men who sense a call of God
into Mission and Ministry is paramount in his
thinking. He dreams of the day that ESSA is
2/2016 3
not only functional as a seminary, but has
grown to the place where it is able to serve
various ‘streams’ of the whole Church by
being a high quality, modern (although
historic) seminary, offering theological
partnership with Africa.
What are they doing
NOW ? Ambrose Mambi
Rev Ambrose
Mambi is an early
graduate of the
then EBSemSA,
having been
called into
ministry from
work in the
insurance
business. He has
been in ministry in the Pietermaritzburg area
since 1986 and is currently chairman of his
denomination. He has served on the ESSA
council in the past. Ambrose is also a part
time lecturer in the Union Bible Institute. In
2006 he completed a B Th (hons) degree
through ESSA. He is married to Clare and
they have five adult children
EVANGELICAL SEMINARY
OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Banking details:
Account name: ESSA
First National Bank
Boom St Branch
(Branch/Sort Code: 221 325) Account No.
5093 1189 217 Swift Code: FIRNZAJJA767
Tel: +27 (0)33
3941679
PHYSICAL
ADDRESS
189 Pine Street
Pietermaritzburg
POSTAL ADDRESS
P O Box 2400
Pietermaritzburg
3200
South Africa
STEPS OF FAITH AT THE EVANGELICAL SEMINARY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
2/2016 4
Tags or Labels – Part 1
In the previous edition of Steps of Faith we
began a journey of re-visiting our values and
re-establishing our identity as ESSA. I
identified 4 ‘tags or labels’ in our vision
statement. In the addendum to this edition of
Steps of faith, I unpack what it means to us
when we identify ourselves as evangelical.
what we mean and what we don’t mean
when we use the label.
intellectual commitment, scholarly integrity,
confessional trust, and communal hope.
So for example the term ‘evangelical’ in the
USA is often lumped along with
‘fundamentalist.’ Whilst we in South Africa
do not necessarily carry the same baggage as
the USA, we do tend (sadly) to adopt most of
the trends coming out of the USA.
The essential understanding of ‘evangelical’,
as described above, does not always sit easily
among some of our Christian brothers and
sisters who also identify themselves by the
same label. Others who use the name
‘evangelical’ might include a further and far
narrower set of definitions and commitments
related, for example, to the nature of the
atonement, to the mechanics of the
inspiration and authority of Scripture, the
baptism in the Holy Spirit, the exact
unfolding of the eschatological hope of the
Kingdom amongst other possible criteria
depending on the grouping. For evangelicals
of a narrower persuasion, it was an unpopular
decision ESSA took when we committed to
doing contextual theology in 1986.
In ESSA’s vision statement there are four
terms, which could be deemed as ‘labels’ and
are in need of considerable unpacking. I plan
to unpack each of the four terms in four short
papers as we continue to re-establish our
identity.
When our vision statement says that we are
‘evangelical’, ‘for the church-in-mission’,
‘holistic’ and ‘contextual’; in what way are
these key labels informing the identity and
mission of ESSA? Let’s start the discussion
with the first label in question – ‘evangelical.’
THEOLOGICALLY
LABELS AND TAGS 1
In the postmodern and post-Christian world,
many people find identifying labels offensive.
However, labels are necessary even although
they are always inadequate as describers. (I
have used two labels in my opening sentence
alone!)
When we use labels, our minds easily wander
into the territory of stereotyping and
reductionism. Labels such as;
‘fundamentalist’, ‘liberal’, ‘charismatic’,
‘evangelical’, ‘Apostolic’, ‘Anglo-Catholic’,
and others like them, are just some of the
tags identifying various Christian groups, but
which can also carry negative connotations.
For purposes of identification, it is very
difficult to give up on our labels. Since we
can’t give up on them completely, it is
important that we examine them regularly
and ensure that as far possible, we convey
When we confess our identity as being
‘evangelical’ we are affirming the centrality
of the Gospel: the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ by whose saving life, death, and
resurrection we are reconciled to God,
adopted into His family, given His Spirit, and
called upon to live together as citizens of the
Kingdom of God. This is the Good News to
which the Scriptures consistently point. At
ESSA we believe that the Scriptures point to
this Good News with supreme authority and
faithfulness. When ESSA affirms that we are
‘evangelical,’ this is what we are confessing.
We confess this with earnest faith,
Using ‘evangelical’ as a label to describe our
theological beliefs keeps us rooted in
orthodoxy and in the historical creeds of the
church. We believe that Christian orthodoxy
is an environment in which personal and
communal faith can flourish for us as
disciples and witnesses who profess and
demonstrate the incarnational,
transformative love, righteousness, and
justice of God in Jesus Christ. All that we do
as an institution is done in the context of this
undergirding theological understanding and
framework.
When the label ‘evangelical’ refers to a
community of Christian believers, it is
typically an adjective that describes the core
of their theological commitments, not a
STEPS OF FAITH AT THE EVANGELICAL SEMINARY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
description of their denominational
affiliation or ecclesial structures. Evangelical
congregations are found across the
denominational spectrum, from nondenominational independents to Baptist to
Dutch Reformed to Presbyterian to Anglican
to Lutheran to NCMI to New Frontiers to
Vineyard and so many more.
As an interdenominational seminary ESSA
draws people from many Christian
denominations into one faculty and into one
student body. ‘Evangelical’ is a term of
welcome to people who come from a very
wide spectrum of ecclesial and
congregational practices, but find their unity
in the centrality of the Gospel.
In this sense, ‘evangelical’ is a valuable term
that highlights and names what we believe is
the heartlands of the Christian faith, the very
centre from which our biblical, theological,
historical, cultural, psychological, and
vocational formation and reflections unfold.
It names what we mean when we say that we
are an institution with deep roots in
orthodoxy, the roots which explain the
source of life that is in the church.
A BRIEF GLIMPSE INTO HISTORICAL
EVANGELICALISM AS A MOVEMENT
Historically ‘evangelicalism’ has its roots in
movements pre-dating the Reformation.
However, the Reformation itself is regarded
as the wellspring of the major tenets of the
movement. Luther, particularly, is generally
seen as the father of evangelicalism.
Subsequent to the Reformation
evangelicalism grew from two main streams
being the puritanical movement during the
reign of Elizabeth I in England, and German
pietism as seen in the early Moravian Church.
Many influences shaped it thereafter, such as
the Great Awakenings in the USA and their
resultant revivalism, along with the Modern
Mission movement and the Keswick
Convention to name but some; but the
puritans and pietism are where the streams
began to flow strongly towards what has
become the modern movement of
evangelicalism.
Names such as the Wesley’s, Count
Zinzendorf, William Wilberforce and George
Whitfield are strongly associated with these
roots.
As the movement developed it reacted to the
radical school of rationalistic liberalism and
higher criticism which had emerged during
the late 18th and 19th centuries on the
European continent.
Movements very seldom end up as what they
‘set out to be’, and so it is with
evangelicalism when viewed as a movement.
The one central tenet upon which all who use
the label would agree is likely the content of
my opening paragraph under the heading
THEOLOGICALLY in this article. Although
some, as mentioned, might add further
requirements to that paragraph.
It was always going to be thus that some who
use the label ‘evangelical’ would move closer
to the liberal edge of the evangelical
envelope (so to speak) and others toward the
fundamentalist edge. As a movement, from
close to the outset, evangelicalism was
intended to be broad specifically in order
that various Christian denominations could
at least cooperate (rather than compete) on
the mission field! The narrowing of ‘the
acceptable parameters of evangelicalism’ by
some is a far more recent development and
contrary to the spirit of the historical
evangelical conferences, the Lausanne
movement and the original intent of the
movement.
2/2016 5
The Bible’s authority and its interpretation
are not always synonymous, nor necessarily
always transparent. Faithful listening and
reflection under the authority of Scripture,
by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in
response to the Lordship of Jesus Christ does
not mean unanimity or easy unity. The same
is true for the whole church including those
who call themselves evangelical.
ESSA is an evangelical institution that
benefits from the central theological
affirmation of the Gospel. We must continue
always to wrestle with the complexity of the
ever-changing contextual landscape in which
we speak and live such a certain hope - a
sacred hope for the sake of the church and
the world for which she exists. (Rom 5:1-5)
Next time out I will deal with the tag
‘contextual.’
Come Lord Jesus, come Holy Spirit.
Melt van der Spuy, Principal – May 2016
The ESSA Mission Statement