Six Seventh-day Adventist congregations have returned to the Trans-Orange Conference (TOC) after more than a decade of separation, in welcoming services marked by reconciliation and, from the Conference president, an apology to a generation that grew up divided.

Tsakane and Springs East Adventist churches were received at Kwa-Thema Seventh-day Adventist Church. Tower of Hope, Sharpeville, Stretford, and Everton Adventist churches were welcomed at Sicelo Community Hall in Meyerton.

Trans-Orange Conference welcome service

Kwa-Thema adventinst church worship team.

Orange Vaal District worship team.

Orange Vaal District Adventist members singing in church.

Kwa-Thema Adventist church members during worship.

The separation dated to 2013, when disagreements over property and leadership appointments contributed to a split within the Conference. The dispute eventually reached the courts, and in March 2018 the South Gauteng High Court set aside the disputed executive resolutions and ordered a fresh proportional election. The Conference subsequently convened a session, which delegates from the breakaway group did not attend.

More than a decade later, the focus of the celebrations was not on revisiting the dispute. The message throughout was simple: welcome home, no questions asked.

TOC President Dr. Phaswana Makuwa formally welcomed the returning congregations with full rights and privileges, and offered an apology to young people who had lived through the consequences of the separation.

"Dear youth, we are sorry for this impasse," Makuwa said, acknowledging that an entire generation had missed opportunities to participate fully in the programmes, fellowship, and wider life of the organised Church.

District Pastor Petros Mahlangu reinforced the tone. "Welcome home. You belong. You are our brothers and sisters," he said.

At the Meyerton gathering, Pastor Lefika Lebepe of the Orange Vaal District welcomed the four returning congregations, acknowledging that churches can experience disagreement and conflict but that Christians must continually seek avenues for reconciliation. Southern Africa Union Conference Executive Secretary Pastor Mandla Luphondwana, speaking on forgiveness, encouraged members to leave the painful past behind and embrace one another in the spirit of Christian unity.

Church elder and TOC Executive Committee member Methuselah Mjoli said the Kwa-Thema congregation was pleased to host the occasion. The venue was selected for its central location, capacity, and historical connection to some of the returning congregations.

The testimonies of returning members made clear that the separation was never merely administrative. Thembi Sikwane reflected on the years since 2013.

"It was painful. It divided families," Sikwane said. "We came back because we were lonely. The thing that took us out does not hold water anymore."

One of the most affecting testimonies came from a young woman from Stretford Adventist Church, who was five years old when the separation occurred. She explained that as a child she had not understood the issues surrounding the split, but as she grew older she increasingly felt that returning to the Seventh-day Adventist Church was the right thing to do — a reminder that church conflicts can outlive those who begin them and become burdens carried by a generation with no part in creating them.

Elder Levy Longwe recalled the intensity of the conflict and the road back. "The fights were bad," he said. After members approached TOC officers, he said they were received warmly, and his church board eventually voted to return despite internal opposition. "We faced opposition in coming back, but the truth set us free."

For Elder Vusi Mashinini of Springs East, the day was about more than rejoining a structure.

"Today was about unity and reconciliation. We must not just speak about it; we must practice it," Mashinini said. He appealed directly to congregations that remain separated: "The issues that separated us have lived their life and should be buried. My message to the churches that have not come back is: come back. It is time. Separation is a deterrent to mission."

Elder Minti Khumalo of Orlando West Adventist Church compared the welcome to the father's response in the parable of the prodigal son. "I was impressed by the way our brothers and sisters were received," Khumalo said. "It reminds us of how the Father will welcome us home."

The six congregations now rejoin the wider Trans-Orange Conference family with an opportunity to build a new chapter of cooperation, discipleship, and mission across their communities.