Church history, nuances

The memorial service held two days short of Christmas was akin to a live exhibition on the culture and history of this denomination in Botswana. Attended by hundreds of mourners, the memorial service was a packed congregation that took advantage of the COVID-19 regulations that had just been relaxed. Amongst the celebrants were Kgosikgolo Kgari III and both Members of Parliament for Molepolole, one of whom is Kabo Morwaeng, a minister in the Office of the President.

Fortunately, the moderator periodically intervened to reference a bereavement. Otherwise the event would have been mistaken for a church jubilation conference complete with song and dance, full band and instrumentals, laughter, fired up exhortations and a journey down memory lane. Even though there was a good array of Setswana hymnals and choruses, the Botswana evangelical church culture of preaching and singing in the language of the missionaries has long earned this group the derision ‘Dikereke tsa Sekgoa’.