Stabanising the eucharist: theological implications of the eucharist in the UCCSA for reimagining an inclusive and embodied community of faith.

Abstract

Every person has a sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIE-SC). It’s an inclusive term that applies to every individual human being, irrespective of how they self-identify. Every person has a human right to sexual self-identity, whether as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer, asexual, two-spirit, heterosexual or cisgender (identifying with the same gender that one was assigned at birth). A contextual equivalent of the reclaimed word “Queer” in South Africa is Izitabane, a plural. It is an isiZulu expression that literally means, “here come the gays”. In this dissertation, I argue for the contextual use of this term. Izitabane members of the Church are still most often marginalised and rejected. It is appropriate to reclaim such terminology in our African context as a self-identity. The author is an active and committed member of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). The UCCSA identifies itself as “a justice Church”. This Church ordains women, “welcomes all”, and affirms that prejudice based on sexual orientation (“homophobia”) is a sin. Yet, despite declaring itself a justice Church, its clergy are prohibited from conducting, concluding or blessing same-sex marriages, even though samesex marriage is constitutionally legal in South Africa. There appears to be a disconnect between the Church’s claim to be a justice Church that “welcomes all” and the full inclusion and acceptance (open and affirming stance) of Izitabane members. This dissertation explores the current SOGIE-SC landscape within the UCCSA based upon the ostensibly competing resolutions of its highest court, the General Assembly, and asks whether the theological distinctives in its understanding of Covenant and Eucharist can bridge that disconnect, since this is a matter of justice. It is especially pertinent since Izitabane persons suffer violence, harm, bigoted discrimination, ostracism and rejection for no other reason than innate sexual orientation and desired identity. Queering, or stabanising, refers to the intentional process of decolonising theological heteronormative patriarchy in faith and praxis. In this paper, through the lens of Systematic Theology, I discuss Queer theory, Eucharist and its Covenantal implications in the UCCSA, explore what it might mean to re-imagine the Eucharist and to stabanise Eucharistic liturgy. The research concludes with a working example of a reimagined, more inclusive, and stabanised Eucharist as an expression of our embodied Covenant.