[3086] Jerry Pillay – a South African church leader with a sense of global mission

Jerry Pillay – a South African church leader with a sense of global mission

Written by Kristine Greenaway

(This article was published in anticipation of WCRC’s visit to PCT 56th General Assembly Annual Meeting. Reprinted with permission from WCRC.)

The president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, embarked on the road to a career of service in the church at a very young age. It was as a 10-year old boy that he felt the call of God to ordained ministry.

As soon as he completed his secondary school education, he enrolled in theological studies at the University of Durban-Westville in preparation for ministry in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA). He later completed a Ph.D. in missiology and New Testament studies at the University of Cape Town.

Dr. Pillay says, “My biblical conviction and theological training directed me to the need to be involved in global issues. Particularly, my experience in South Africa under apartheid alerted me to the necessity to be connected with other churches and faiths in addressing the evils and oppression of a political system which dehumanized the majority of black people in our country.”

From the time he was a university student, Dr. Pillay has been involved with ecumenical organizations. He has formed and led ecumenical groups wherever he has served in congregations and has represented his denomination in ecumenical bodies both inside and outside of South Africa. He is Trustee for the Council for World Mission and serves on the Executive of the South African Council of Churches and the National Religious Leaders Forum in South Africa. Currently, Dr. Pillay is leading unity talks within the Dutch Reformed family in South Africa.

This is Dr. Pillay’s first trip to Taiwan. He is looking forward to meeting with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) at the General Assembly in April. There he will share information about the newly-formed World Communion of Reformed Churches.

The goal of his visit he says is to learn more about the life, work and mission of the PCT and discuss connections and linkages. “We would like to hear about the challenges facing the PCT and find ways in which the WCRC can assist and journey with them.”

Dr. Pillay looks forward to the opportunity of exploring global ecumenical matters and how WCRC and PCT could work together on these.

He notes: “We would like to share the new Vision and Mission Statements of the WCRC and establish ways in which the PCT can get more involved in global ministry.”

It is clear that Dr. Pillay believes in youth leadership in the church and in the ecumenical world. In a message about youth, he notes that with the rise of modern technology, young people have the potential to achieve so much more today. They are more connected with the world of information, knowledge and news at the press of a button through Facebook, and the internet, he says.

Dr. Pillay writes that he has a message for young people in the PCT: “I would like to encourage them to be involved in their local church and arouse their interest and involvement in the ecumenical movement. Above all, I would like to encourage their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and their faith, and to walk with the Lord.

“I would like to encourage vision, persistence, faith, and humble service. I would like to direct them to biblical values that are exemplified in the life and ministry of Jesus and use this as a basis to challenge the world’s focus on accumulated materialism, consumerism and secularization. Our life, as Christians, ought to be a life in Jesus.

“I would like to say to them: Love and serve God in obedience and trust, serve others and the world with the love of God, know that God has a purpose for your life, find it out and fulfill it joyfully.”

 Dr. Pillay is married to Sandra and they are blessed with three children.