The Transformation of the Lutheran Church in Namibia Under Apartheid

    Thanksgiving break was absolutely wonderful… I didn’t let myself work on the thesis at all for a couple of days. However, now that I’m back at William and Mary, I’ve been working on it nonstop.

The only thing I did do over break was interview two Namibian Lutheran pastors. It was great to hear about their experiences: one was from the ELCIN synod in northern Namibia, and another was from the ELCRN synod. However, I’m facing a bit of a problem in regards to the use of the interviews. In order to get approval from the ethics committee, I had to commit to changing the pastors’ names for publication. I informed both men that their names would be changed, and they were glad to hear it. Both of them had been active in resistance organizations, and one had been jailed for his involvement with SWAPO. I got the feeling that they would have been more cautious in revealing information if their names were going to be published.

However, when I looked up the proper way to cite an anonymous interview, the “Manual for Writers” said that I couldn’t use an anonymous source in a scholarly paper. Since there’s no way I can publish their names, I’ve got to have a chat with my advisor to see if he thinks that I can still use the interviews.  If not, at least I had two very interesting conversations!

Other than that, I am about half way through my chapter on the Africanization of the Lutheran churches between 1923-1971.

Right now, I’m pretty stressed with all of the writing and the deadlines. However, I’m also feeling more confident that I can actually complete the entire monster of a paper. I can’t imagine how relieved I’m going to be when I send my chapter off on Friday.

Tags: Research

The title says it all. I can’t flippin wait for Thanksgiving. I’m going to put aside my thesis for a few days and concentrate on eating as much as is humanly possible.

I’ve written the main part of my introduction, so as to have a structure on which to base the rest of my paper. I’m currently writing the second chapter, which looks at differences between the Rhenish Mission and Finnish Mission congregations. The Rhenish Mission had thousands of members secede before they finally allowed for the establishment of an independent African congregation. In contrast, the Finns worked towards establishing a Folkchurch since they began work in Namibia.

I’ve made some good progress on my thesis chapter… I’ve written enough so that I’m no longer flipping out too much. However, I’m still feeling extremely anxious about being able to finish the 30-page chapter in the next two weeks.

Tags: Research

I took a sabbatical this weekend, and went to a cabin in the mountains to research and begin writing. I cannot take myself seriously after just writing, “I took a sabbatical… and went to a cabin.” Anyways, I have finally begun to write! Now, I only have the first two paragraphs of my introduction. However, for me, those first two paragraphs will help me organize my thoughts, my writing, and my structure.

My week progressed as follows (the correct addition of ‘as follows’ before the colon is thanks to this week’s reading):

On Thursday I received the documents from the LWF archives, which included minutes of assemblies and executive board meetings dealing with the ‘Namibia question.’ By Saturday I had finished with them: they were extremely useful in crafting my argument. As a result of reading these documents, I have begun to see how the indigenous Lutheran leaders catalyzed the church’s reaction to apartheid in the 1960s and 1970s. All of Saturday I continued to research with a focus on my additional primary sources. I wrote the first part of my introduction that afternoon. As for the next few weeks, I will just continue to write!

Tags: Research

This week I’ve been trying to finish up my research in preparation for writing. It’s a little daunting to think that we’re supposed to know absolutely everything there is about our topic. Although literature on the Church in Namibia is in very short supply, new sources seem to magically crop up every time I think I’m done identifying them. Is it bad to write and continue researching simultaneously?

I just found out about some additional documents in the Lutheran World Federation archives (located in Geneva). The clerk there has been extremely helpful and has airmailed copies of these documents to me. I’m afraid they may not arrive in time to be included in my chapter draft, but if they arrive this week I will be able to comb through and identify any pertinent information.

Tags: Research

Now that I have some semblance of structure to my thesis and an overarching outline, I have a number of additional primary sources to look at. I recently gained access, after much difficulty, to the Aluka database through a friend at Northwestern. Aluka has recently published primary source material from microfilms, etc. about the Council of Churches in Namibia. While this is awesome news because it will enhance my research tremendously, it also means that I have a ton of new sources to go through. However, I’m finally excited about my thesis again, so the extra reading really doesn’t matter.

Here are two random facts to make this post more interesting and give you all a little background on what I’ve been researching:

• A major split within the Lutheran church in Namibia occurred after a Lutheran church leader, Dr. H. Vedder, was appointed to the South African Senate in 1950 and spoke on behalf of the apartheid government. It became clear that segments of the Lutheran church were not only silent on apartheid, but also endorsed it.

• By the mid-1970s, most Lutheran church bodies in Namibia had publicly denounced apartheid. However, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia remained silent on the apartheid issue and retained racial hierarchies. As a result, it was suspended from an international Lutheran body (the Lutheran World Federation) in 1984. Take THAT!

Tags: Research

Big news… my interviews got approved by the ethics board the day after my advisor’s co-approval went through. Thank goodness! Apparently there is some expedited review process which I qualified for. That was not nearly as difficult as I was afraid it would be.

I have gotten a good amount of work done on my thesis this week, and I’m feeling much less stressed. I’m currently reading Buy’s History of the church in Namibia, 1805-1990 (the title is pretty self-explanatory). I wrote up a very rough outline of my thesis and had it approved by my advisor; that step alone made me feel like this whole project is doable. I also printed out a new class schedule with an hour of thesis time blocked off each day… it sounds silly, but that is probably the most effective way for me to improve my work habits.

Tags: Research

I didn’t get quite as much work done on my thesis as I would have liked this week; I’ve had several midterms and papers that I needed to work on. However, I was able to work on my book review of Church and Liberation in Namibia by the leading Namibian historian, Peter Katjavivi. One of the things I’m looking at is the role of the Lutheran church in apartheid Namibia, and Katjavivi’s book has been key to my understanding of that topic. It is estimated that 90% of Namibians are active churchgoers, and the church leadership played a key role in both resisting and reinforcing apartheid in the country.

I dreamt about my thesis the other day, and that worries me. I woke up feeling anxious and had a hard time shaking the feeling. I will be so, so glad to have the first chapter done in December!

Tags: Research

Well, this post is a couple days late, but here’s what I’ve been up to the past week and over fall break… Mostly I’ve been finishing up my secondary sources and working on gaining access to the Aluka database. Everything has been extremely busy recently and I’m feeling the pressure of deadlines. Sometimes I feel like this thesis is a never-ending process that is weighing everything down. However, dinner at the Green Leafe with the Research Methods class made me feel much better about my progress and improved my general attitude about the thesis. Hearing that 3 other people feel exactly the same way I do makes me a little less stressed.

Tags: Research

So far, this week has been wonderfully productive. I sat down with my advisor and we drew up a concrete timeline which put into perspective how close all the deadlines really are. I’ve gotten in some great resources from ILL… especially useful are the documents on Namibian ethnic populations and the percentages of those populations living in their designated homelands during the 1970s. I also have found some secondary source material that has been helpful: right now I’m looking at Wade Pendleton’s Katutura: a place where we do not stay and William Pomeroy’s Apartheid, imperialism, and African freedom. Wade Pendleton’s book is especially useful: he visited the Namibian township of Katutura in 1974 and wrote about the effects of apartheid policy. What makes the source even more intriguing is that he recently went back to Katutura to document post-apartheid life there (in a second edition). I’m finding that my secondary sources often blend history with anthropology, a fact which speaks to the increasing interdisciplinary focus in history that we’ve talked about in class.

I also finished the ethics board submission for my interviews so I should be hearing back from them soon.

Tags: Research

In light of my decision to pursue a new direction, I checked out a slew of books at Swem and ordered some documents from interlibrary loan. I accosted my advisor after class and told him what I’ve been thinking. Luckily, he believes this new focus is viable and has given me some names to research. On Friday we’ll meet to talk more in-depth and set up my timeline.

I found some good primary source material from UNESCO on WorldCat, and lucky for me it was viewable in PDF format. It includes data tables on the Bantustans and various ethnic group populations. In addition, the document includes excerpts of speeches from several native men and other leads which I can use to guide my research.

Shoutout to Liz for helping me with ethics board procedures in the Charles Center… I’m working on getting my interviews approved for Thanksgiving break. Way to much paperwork, but I know it’s necessary.

I’m more excited now about my project than ever!