Christina Cauterucci on the Diversity of Christianity in Cape Town
February 19, 2009
On my first day of orientation for international students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), I arrived on campus with a nervous crowd of Americans, ready to meet some local students and integrate myself into the campus community.
I was mildly taken aback when a young man with a thick South African accent approached me and asked for my name almost immediately upon setting my first foot on the campus green. "People here are so welcoming!" I thought, "I must be giving off the right vibe. I'm going to make a ton of new friends right away!" After making small talk with the guy about our respective hometowns for a few minutes, I was pretty sure that we had bonded sufficiently and were set to be friends for life, or at least the next four and a half months. Then he popped the question. "Do you believe in Jesus?" My eyes got a bit wider. "Um, excuse me?" I asked, sure that I had misheard him. "I'm here to bring you a special message from God. Jesus wants you to love him like he loves you." Thats when I noticed his black leather binder emblazoned with the logo of a local church. Apparently my new friend was less interested in stories of small-town New Hampshire and more concerned with saving my soul.
Christianity shows up in countless different ways here in Cape Town. Forceful and/or cunning evangelizers, like the fellow who lured me into a conversation on campus, are sent out by local churches and roam the area around the university unassumingly. At first I thought that the extra attention was brought to campus because some consider UCT to be a liberal (and thus less religious) stronghold in this already progressive city. Then, I received a list of all 100 or so student organizations. Fully one-third of all student-run clubs and societies are devoted to a specific Christian denomination or Christian faith in general, such as the His People Society and Campus Crusade for Christ. Coming from a Catholic university with only a few Catholic student organizations, I was astounded to discover that my new non-religiously-affiliated school harbored such active student spiritual activity.
The fact that so many student groups can exist separately yet share a seemingly similar purpose speaks to the diversity of Christian religions here in South Africa. Although roughly three-quarters of South African citizens follow some type of Christian faith, numerous denominations are imbued with elements of traditional indigenous religions that are specific to each language group, tribe, and region. Music plays an enormous role in the practice of Christianity here, which is unsurprising considering that the streets of Cape Town are always full of music, singing, and dancing. I've heard everything from a preacher's wife singing a gospel interpretation of Carole King's "Youve Got a Friend [In Jesus]" at a pool party, to a taxi driver belting out Christian rock while my friend and I sat quietly in the backseat, unsure of whether we were being serenaded or just witnessing a private moment of rapture. Music is a common and accepted way for people to broadcast their faith and join with others to worship as a community.
Many groups of students attend local churches together on Sundays, and I get the feeling that religion here is a truly communal and almost familial experience, like most important aspects of life in South Africa. For example, in Xhosa, the language spoken by most black Africans in this region, every woman my age calls me her sister or sisi, every woman old enough to be my mother is my mama, and so forth. Similarly, my friend Gina's South African flatmate, Pako, has referred to her as his sister in Christ, explaining that he must treat her like his own family because they are both children of God. Although Gina (an atheist) complains about the gospel-readings-on-tape that blare from his room until the wee hours of each morning, she happily tells us that she appreciates Pako's extremely inclusive interpretation of Christianity that is seemingly shared by the a lot of the religious students that we have met here.
My own flatmate, Gary from Zimbabwe, never discussed his faith with me until I mentioned that I was writing this essay. "You should have told me!" he said, "You can come to church with me one Sunday and see what it's like." Looks like I have a topic for letter number two...
Christianity shows up in countless different ways here in Cape Town. Forceful and/or cunning evangelizers, like the fellow who lured me into a conversation on campus, are sent out by local churches and roam the area around the university unassumingly. At first I thought that the extra attention was brought to campus because some consider UCT to be a liberal (and thus less religious) stronghold in this already progressive city. Then, I received a list of all 100 or so student organizations. Fully one-third of all student-run clubs and societies are devoted to a specific Christian denomination or Christian faith in general, such as the His People Society and Campus Crusade for Christ. Coming from a Catholic university with only a few Catholic student organizations, I was astounded to discover that my new non-religiously-affiliated school harbored such active student spiritual activity.
The fact that so many student groups can exist separately yet share a seemingly similar purpose speaks to the diversity of Christian religions here in South Africa. Although roughly three-quarters of South African citizens follow some type of Christian faith, numerous denominations are imbued with elements of traditional indigenous religions that are specific to each language group, tribe, and region. Music plays an enormous role in the practice of Christianity here, which is unsurprising considering that the streets of Cape Town are always full of music, singing, and dancing. I've heard everything from a preacher's wife singing a gospel interpretation of Carole King's "Youve Got a Friend [In Jesus]" at a pool party, to a taxi driver belting out Christian rock while my friend and I sat quietly in the backseat, unsure of whether we were being serenaded or just witnessing a private moment of rapture. Music is a common and accepted way for people to broadcast their faith and join with others to worship as a community.
Many groups of students attend local churches together on Sundays, and I get the feeling that religion here is a truly communal and almost familial experience, like most important aspects of life in South Africa. For example, in Xhosa, the language spoken by most black Africans in this region, every woman my age calls me her sister or sisi, every woman old enough to be my mother is my mama, and so forth. Similarly, my friend Gina's South African flatmate, Pako, has referred to her as his sister in Christ, explaining that he must treat her like his own family because they are both children of God. Although Gina (an atheist) complains about the gospel-readings-on-tape that blare from his room until the wee hours of each morning, she happily tells us that she appreciates Pako's extremely inclusive interpretation of Christianity that is seemingly shared by the a lot of the religious students that we have met here.
My own flatmate, Gary from Zimbabwe, never discussed his faith with me until I mentioned that I was writing this essay. "You should have told me!" he said, "You can come to church with me one Sunday and see what it's like." Looks like I have a topic for letter number two...
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