Project: Heita! South Africa - Realizing the Dream

Issue 16 | Spring 2009

In pursuit of the beloved community advocated by the life, love, and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Bethel University welcomed South African reconciliation leader Rev. Dr. Gerrie Lubbe from April 3-5. In addition to speaking at Bethel University, Lubbe spoke at a number of Twin Cities churches, including Calvary Baptist, Sanctuary Covenant, St. Paul Mosaic, and Church of All Nations.

Rev. Dr. Gerrie Lubbe is professor of religious studies emeritus at the University of South Africa. As an ordained minister of religion in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa for almost four decades, Lubbe has a keen interest in inter-religious dialogue.

According to the Clarion student newspaper, Lubbe said, “You must worship Christ as Lord of your life, and if somebody asks you about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain, but do this in a respectful way.” He urged his Bethel audience to respect people of different faiths represented in the United States. Lubbe was not advocating for religious relativism, said the Clarion analysis, but rather an open dialogue of respect and compassion between religions.

Lubbe and his wife Jeanetta, a teacher by profession, served in the ministry during the Apartheid regime and continue as faith and social justice activists in a democratic South Africa. A friend of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lubbe currently serves as director of the Desmond Tutu Diversity Trust.

Lubbe was welcomed to Bethel under the auspices of the Office of Reconciliation Studies and with the full support of newly inaugurated President Jay Barnes.