Ekhaya means home

A home is a place where you find family. The church is the one place where people from different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities can become family.

Home is a spiritual condition we experience when we encounter the loving grace of Jesus as he transforms us through His Spirit.

Home is a place where hospitality is practiced and gives expression to God’s radically inclusive Kingdom.

Home is a place where you can be yourself and relax in the knowledge that you are loved and accepted.

Our Approach

We believe that our faith should not only transform us spiritually but holistically.

This means that God is concerned with our wellbeing, our communities and relationships.

Everything we are busy with flows from these four core values of our ministry.

An inclusive and loving community where we experience and give love and acceptance.

Community is a central focus of our ministry that is why we often eat together and share life together. We believe that shared experiences are what forms a community.

We do our best to be as open and accepting as we can be. In this we follow the example of Jesus who broke social boundaries in order to include people and love people.

We furthermore believe that diversity was a key marker of the early church – that unity and diversity is possible in the Kingdom of God.

In our community with Christ and with each other we are transformed into the likeness of Christ. We believe that becoming is an ongoing process as we grow in our relationship with God and with each other.

The purpose of spiritual formation is not for my own vanity but will always lead to engaging with the world around us, bringing the hope of God to the world.

We believe that Church should empower people to discover their callings in life and provide a platform to living it out. We aim to provide tools and opportunities for leaders to develop their skills and actively participate in the church.

Empowering also involves assisting to overcome social and economic challenges that may prevent our students from reaching their potential as leaders in God’s Kingdom. We offer workshops and opportunities to get equipped for life as a disciple of Christ.

We are not an inward focused community but actively and selflessly engage with the world around us. We exist to participate in God’s mission for the world. Reaching out to our community and including people in God’s inclusive community is part of our calling. Part of the ministry of Jesus and the calling of the church is to break down man made boundaries and reach out to people with God’s love.

Our Denomination

Melville Ekhaya is a ministry of Melville Kruisgemeente in partnership with the Highveld Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.

There is a saying “the church reformed, always reforming”. The reformed movement comes from a dark time in church history where the church needed to reform in order to return to some of the core values of the Kingdom of God. We believe that we need to always reflect and be ready to reform in order to remain faithful to God’s mission.

The church structures provide accountability and support to local congregations. The head of the church is Jesus Christ who we believe is actively governing his church through Word and Spirit.

The Dutch reformed church is part of the South African Council of Churches as well as the World council of Churches.