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“It’s Only the Glass Door, Which Breaks Every Day.” Layered Politics of (Dis)Order at the Central Methodist Mission

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Routes and Rites to the City

Part of the book series: Global Diversities ((GLODIV))

Abstract

Thousands of people found shelter at the Central Methodist Mission (CMM) in inner-city Johannesburg between the early 2000s and the end of 2014. The consequent spatial transformation of the church building challenged the status quo inside and around it. Material dirt brought about by this ministry and the mere presence of homeless people tangibly impacted on order inside the church and simultaneously interfered with Johannesburg’s aspirations to rank as a world-class African city. By looking at place -making from the perspective of classifications of dirt and order, this chapter exposes Central as a layered place, or as multiple places in one space : the liberationist order of Central’s leader clashed with the city’s order of regeneration , while within the church different communities constructed fields of care that also disturbed one another. Thus, the leader’s order openly contested the city’s order, and the fields of care inside the church contested the common notions of places like Central as loci of mere survival. Despite the frames set by hegemonic orders (in the city, that of regeneration , and in the church, that represented by the leader), people constructed their own places that could not be contained by these orders. As a layered place, Central was perhaps a characteristic rather than unique space in the city of Johannesburg.

This chapter owes to and further builds on my book Ubuntu, Migration and Ministry: Being Human in a Johannesburg Church that is based on my doctoral research and published in 2014 by Brill (Boston/Leiden) in the Series in Systematic Theology (http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/9789004274136).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A funding report to UMCOR (August 2009) mentioned that “as of August 2009, close to 3000 people were being accommodated in the Church” following the arrest of the people sleeping on the streets around Central and their consequent vacation of the street space at night. During 2009, the media often referenced the figure at 3000 (or “over 3000”).

  2. 2.

    Transcript of interview with Rev. Hogana, 7.4.2009. The names of interviewees, apart from that of Paul Verryn , have been anonymised.

  3. 3.

    The 2013 figures are based on the headcounts done by volunteers who worked on a database of the people in the building.

  4. 4.

    Transcript of interview with Thobeka, 3.6.2009.

  5. 5.

    The interest is on the building and the street space at the corner of Smal and Pritchard Streets, while I acknowledge the influence that Central and its leader had on the place -making in various other locations in Johannesburg and beyond.

  6. 6.

    This very phrase was used in a headline in the Sowetan in July 2009 (http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sowetan/archive/2009/07/16/church-now-a-haven-for-criminals , viewed 4.2.2015).

  7. 7.

    Xhosa for “we extol/praise/glorify you.” In Buhle’s words, “Siyakudumisa is a prayer that each and every Methodist would like to sing because it really brings you closer to God.” Interview 19.11.2009.

  8. 8.

    Xhosa is the most common language spoken in the Eastern Cape .

  9. 9.

    A language widely spoken in Zimbabwe . In 2009 (and likely also in 2013), the majority of the dwellers at the Central were Shona-speaking.

  10. 10.

    The racial shift at Central, from white to mixed race to predominantly black, both reflects the transition of the inner city at large and resembles the trajectory of other inner-city mainline churches that, in the 1990s, faced the options of closure, relocation or transformation as the city around them shifted (see Taylor 2008).

  11. 11.

    See “SA slams arrest of homeless Zim” in iol news 4.7.2009, viewed 11.5.2012, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090704185320106C509851

  12. 12.

    Transcript of interview with Verryn , 9.4.2009.

  13. 13.

    One could also examine Verryn ’s theology in relation to his denominational location within Methodism , which has in different times and places been affiliated with social action and characterised by synergy between spiritual and material matters and above all its teaching of universal grace available to all (see Cracknell and White 2005).

  14. 14.

    Personal email from Peter Storey, 9.7.2012.

  15. 15.

    Transcript of sermon, 9.2.2014.

  16. 16.

    Transcript of interview with Verryn , 2.12.2009.

  17. 17.

    Transcript of sermon, 16.2.2014.

  18. 18.

    For instance, the following headings featured in the media in 2009 and 2010 when Central was more often in the news than today: “Church now a haven for criminals ” (Sowetan 16.7.2009); “Joburg church rocked by claims of abuse & child criminals ” (Eyewitness News 14.9.2009); “Children moved from church after sex-abuse claims” (Mail and Guardian 15.9.2009); “Analysis: Bishop Paul Verryn and the dangers of speaking truth to power ” (Daily Maverick 26.1.2010).

  19. 19.

    Transcript of interview with Verryn , 2.12.2009.

  20. 20.

    A derogatory term used to refer to African migrants in South Africa.

  21. 21.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 3.12.2013.

  22. 22.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009.

  23. 23.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009.

  24. 24.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 3.12.2013.

  25. 25.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009.

  26. 26.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 3.12.2013.

  27. 27.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009.

  28. 28.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 3.12.2013.

  29. 29.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009.

  30. 30.

    Transcript of interview with Mark, 10.12.2009 and 3.12.2013.

  31. 31.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 20.12.2013.

  32. 32.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 7.9.2009.

  33. 33.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 20.12.2013.

  34. 34.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 7.9.2009.

  35. 35.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 20.12.2013.

  36. 36.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 7.9.2009.

  37. 37.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 20.12.2013.

  38. 38.

    Transcript of interview with Mary, 20.12.2013.

  39. 39.

    Transcript of interview with Buhle, 19.12.2013.

  40. 40.

    Transcript of interview with Buhle, 19.12.2013.

  41. 41.

    Transcript of interview with Buhle, 19.12.2013.

  42. 42.

    Transcript of interview with Buhle, 19.12.2013.

  43. 43.

    Transcript of interview with Buhle, 19.12.2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Practical Theology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Elina Hankela

  2. Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Elina Hankela

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  1. Elina Hankela
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon

  2. Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Lorena Núñez

  3. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany

    Peter Kankonde Bukasa

  4. Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Bettina Malcomess

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Hankela, E. (2016). “It’s Only the Glass Door, Which Breaks Every Day.” Layered Politics of (Dis)Order at the Central Methodist Mission. In: Wilhelm-Solomon, M., Núñez, L., Kankonde Bukasa, P., Malcomess, B. (eds) Routes and Rites to the City. Global Diversities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58890-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58890-6_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58890-6

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