The social and political development among countries has affected relationships and that has ushered a new era wherein others nations feel that they are better off than others. The mentality of betterment has resulted in
women were already in ministry in Old and New Testament times, though they were not officially recognised as ministers as they are today. This practice was adopted by the methodist Church of Southern Africa (mCSA). Despite the profound move of the mCSA to enable women to enter the ministry and serve as ministers in the mCSA, female clergy are still being ostracised. This was affirmed by the Bishop of the Cape of Good Hope District, reverend michel Hansrod, in an address to the synod. He conceded the following: "It is with great sadness that we recognise and confess our slowness in affording women the opportunities of leadership and poor stationing." This statement implies that clergywomen in the mCSA are still regarded as unsuited to be leaders. This article sets out to offer the mCSA insight into the best way to resolve the problem of ostracism and disempowerment of clergywomen in ministry in the mCSA. The article highlights the historical background of women in ministry and from that perspective, brings forth God's intention in creating humanity. Then it offers a discourse on how the mCSA neglects women in ministry, in contradiction to Scripture. finally, the article formulates a missional paradigm embedded in the missio Dei that could assist the mCSA in addressing the pleas of women in ministry.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government declared a National State of Disaster, and banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus on March 21, 2020. Less than a week after he banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus. Families were also encouraged to bury their deceased loved ones as soon as possible after they leave the mortuary. This left families with little to no time to grieve and execute certain expected customary rituals, some of which are performed on the deceased. Families were prohibited from handling the remains of their loved ones and assigned people by the government assumed that role. The bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients were carefully transported and covered in body bags, but in terms of custom, they should be wrapped in a cow skin or blanket according to customary rules. According to African customary law, close family members should be present in the same room as the deceased and perform rituals to ward off evil deeds performed by those who encounter the body. The worldviews of South African people towards conducting burials was thus disrupted by the COVID-19 regulations. Embalming was also discouraged to minimize interaction with the remains. This paper relied on secondary data from the relevant literature, such as official documentation, scholarly articles and news articles. The paper asserts that the COVID-19 regulations have altered the way people in South Africa perform their traditional funerals. It also describes the difficulties people faced while burying their loved ones according to the strict COVID-19 guidelines which compromised most of the traditional and customary practices. The paper further looks at the funeral processes post COVID-19 and emphasises that people have been led by the spirit of Ubuntu to continue with their traditional ways of conducting funerals that are centred in African spirituality.
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