Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa

The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) was formed in 1999 through the union of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA) and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA).

Both churches shared a common origin dating back to the 19th century, when Britain took control of the Cape Colony. The Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa was established among soldiers and settlers who arrived in the Cape in 1820, later expanding northwards into present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Reformed Presbyterian Church, on the other hand, emerged from Scottish missionary efforts aimed at indigenous Africans and began at Lovedale Mission in Alice. It became an autonomous church in 1923.

The first Presbyterian congregation in Rhodesia was founded in 1896 in Bulawayo, followed by another in Salisbury (now Harare) in 1903. Today, the UPCSA has more than 40 congregations and between 100,000 and 300,000 members.

The church’s motto, Nec tamen consumebatur, is adapted from the Latin translation of Exodus 3:2: "...The Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet it was not consumed."