HISTORY OF CBCO IN SOUTH AFRICA

The idea of bringing congregation centered organizing to South Africa began with an experience of this methodology by an Episcopal priest on the south side of Chicago who participated in one of the projects organized by the Gamaliel Foundation. Through that effort, he discovered tools to both build an effective parish and to respond to the myriad of social problems confronting the community surrounding his parish. This priest, Rev. Errol Narain, had formerly been a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Natal.

The then Bishop of Natal, Bishop Michael Nuttall (retired 1999) was taking a sabbatical in 1993 and spending part of it in Canada.  Rev. Narain took this opportunity to set up a meeting between the Bishop and Gregory Galluzzo, the director of the Gamaliel Foundation.

The Bishop indicated an interest in the methodology. In the following year he sent two of his priests to Chicago to participate in the National Training of the Gamaliel Foundation. These two priests attended the seven-day training and visited several of the Gamaliel projects throughout the USA. They returned to South Africa with a commitment to bring this methodology to their own country.

They and Bishop Michael organized clergy and lay people to participate in trainings and invited the Gamaliel Foundation to South Africa to run these trainings. They raised funds locally and applied for a grant from the Trinity Grants Program in New York. With support from Trinity, and other overseas and local support there began a series of exchanges between the Gamaliel Foundation and religious leaders from all the major denominations in KwaZulu-Natal.

A total of seven leaders from KwaZulu-Natal have visited the United States and participated in the various trainings offered by the Gamaliel Foundation. The Gamaliel Foundation has conducted six week-long trainings in South Africa for a total of 400 leaders. In the last two years, the Director for SA has also conducted these training seminars and two other staff are being trained to do the same. In addition CBCO has conducted several weekend trainings for over 500 leaders, utilizing mainly local trainers.

The organizer from South Africa was selected by a selection committee comprising some heads of churches and the CBCO Working Committee.  He was sent to the United States for a six-month internship with the Gamaliel Foundation from February to August 1997.  Since September 1997, the Organizer (now Director & Lead Organizer) has set in motion a pilot project in the Durban Metropolitan Area, in which over 20 congregations are participating.  He has also set-up, with local leaders, CBCO organizations in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Gauteng. There are 130 member congregations at present.