Rev Nkosinathi Myaka, who was elected bishop of the ELCSA South-Eastern diocese in August 2000
and presiding bishop of ELCSA in April 2022, saw as one of his priorities the resumption of unity talks
with NELCSA (formerly ELCSA-NT) and ELCSA (Cape Church), the reinforcement of cooperation
between the churches and the search for a mutually-acceptable form institutional unity. His
colleagues, Bishop Theodor Jäckel (NELCSA) and Bishop Gilbert Filter (ELCSA Cape Church), share the
same vision. Over time the unity process may also involve other Lutheran churches such as the
Moravian Church, the Free Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA), the Bapedi Lutheran Church,
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana (ELCB) and the Liberating Evangelical Lutheran Church
in South Africa (LELCSA).
Numerous joint projects have existed and still exist on the ground. The goal of reaching structural
unity, however, has remained elusive since the beginning of unity talks in the 1960s. Formerly white
and formally black Lutheran churches are still separate today. Given the long history of unsuccessful
attempts to reach structural unity, history has an important role to play in this endeavour, both to
avoid the mistakes of the past and to build on what had been successfully carried out.
Since 2022, the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council facilitates, at least in their initial phase, the unity
talks and carries out a research on race relations and the search for unity in the history of the
Lutheran churches of South Africa. Four joint bishops’ meetings have taken place so far. At each of
them, documentation was provided to the participants on the history of the church and a discussion
took place, cautiously at first, then with great openness, on the issues dividing the churches. Similar
meetings are planned for pastors, men’s and women’s leagues and youth organisations of the
formerly black and white churches.
The legacy of colonialism and apartheid in the church, the white churches’ unreadiness to join ELCSA
in 1975, the suspension of two white churches from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in
Budapest in 1984 and ELCSA’s subsequent withdrawal from the Federation of Lutheran Churches of
Southern Africa (FELCSA), the decision to close Lutheran Theological College in Umphumulo in 2003,
the closure of LTI and the loss of 40 million in 2015 are among the issues that could be on the
agenda of a Lutheran unity forum.