Abstract:
Much study regarding the Belhar Confession has been conducted already such as: The
Belhar Confession in its historical context Plaatjies-van Huffel (2014), Chronicle of
Conference Barman/ Belhar Consultation 18 and 19 October 2004 Hansen (2005), A
gift from heaven-the receptions in the Belhar Confession in the period 1982-2000 and
its ecumenical significance today Naudè (2003) and On violence, the Belhar Confession
and human dignity Koopman (2008) to mention but a few. From preliminary
observations and some initial research, it seems that there is still a need to do an indepth
study on the liturgical function of the Belhar Confession in Music. The working
hypothesis of this study is if the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa URCSA
uses Belhar more in the liturgy, especially in singing it will have an impact on the
congregations and members. In other words the working hypothesis is that there is a
link between liturgy, here specifically hymn singing, and the formation of worshippers. If
URCSA is expecting others to adopt this confession it is its responsibility to embrace it
during worship in church and to the rest of the society outside church vicinities. The
literature survey that will be carried out later in this study confirms this state of affairs
and that there is thus indeed a huge research gap in this regard. The researcher did a
literature study, conducted semi-structured group interviews, as well as the some
empirical research in order to explore the basic research question.
