By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Mourners gathered at the Rhema Bible Church in Randburg, Johannesburg on Saturday to pay their last respects to founder and church leader Pastor Ray McCauley.
The 75-year-old founder of the Rhema Bible Church died peacefully at his house on Tuesday, 8 October, surrounded by his loved ones.
Family, friends, and congregants celebrated the life of popular pastor, through a touching memorial service held in Randburg on Thursday, 17 October.
The service was one of celebration of the life that was lived by Pastor Ray, a very respected leader, mentor, and man of faith.
The church was filled with mourners, including prominent figures like Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Tokyo Sexwale, and Basetsana Kumalo, amongst others, who paid their respects.
Messages of remembrance streamed in from pastors worldwide, reflecting on what Pastor Ray leaves behind.
His son, Pastor Joshua McCauley, expressed deep admiration, saying, “My father always reminded me that Rhema Bible Church is his church. He truly touched millions of lives around the world.”
He was remembered for his religious and humanitarian work, as well as his preaching of racial integration during the height of Apartheid.
A message from McCauley’s wife, Zelda, was read at his funeral. In it, she described praying while he took his last breath.
“Ray, it is so surreal that you have gone home to be with the Lord. The house feels empty without you. You took your last breath while I was praying for you. I thought you went to sleep.”
“I already miss you. Thank you for loving me.”
His daughter Hailey said her father “bridged gaps”.
“Leaders who were enemies would leave his presence agreeing to be at peace.”
She added that he “loved people”.
“He always said people are valuable and precious. He thoughtfully asked after my friends. He would pray for us. It did not matter who was sitting at the table, heads of government or dignitaries, he would always greet and introduce us. We always had a space at the table.”
Media personality and businesswoman Kumalo said McCauley’s “love was consistent”.
“We do not cry because we fear death. We cry because we know how much we were loved and recognise the void left by that love. Endings are by divine design of life’s wonderful gift.”
Musician and pastor Kabelo Mabalane described McCauley as a “titan who died with his boots on”.
He said the last two years had not been easy for the pastor.
“I did not consider him according to the flesh. I did not see someone frail and ailing. I saw a giant. Until the end, he was a giant.
“Many people were concerned, and rightfully so, but he did not see me [in my time of need] according to the flesh and I did not see him according to the flesh. Everything that I am today is because of that man [McCauley].”
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared McCauley’s funeral a Special Provincial Official Funeral Category 2.
Special provincial funerals are divided into two categories and can be provided to an outstanding or distinguished person on request to the president by the premier of the province.
McCauley founded Rhema Bible Church in SA in 1979, emerging as one of the country’s most important white neo-Pentecostal leaders and becoming president in 1985 of the International Fellowship of Christian Churches, SA’s largest association of charismatic and neo-Pentecostal churches.
He was a man of many faces — a prominent religious leader as senior pastor of Rhema Bible Church in the country and co-chair of the National Interfaith Council of SA, an author and former champion bodybuilder.
Born in Johannesburg on October 1 1949, he took a keen interest in bodybuilding during his youth. He walked away with the Mr SA title and took part in the Mr Universe bodybuilding championships in London in 1974, where he finished in third place. He also worked as a nightclub bouncer for a while.
McCauley attributed another life-altering experience while he was ministering to recovering drug addicts in Johannesburg to what compelled him to start the Rhema Church. He attended bible college with his first wife Lyndie at Rhema Bible Training Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1978 and 1979. On his return to SA, he and his wife started Rhema Bible Church under Rhema Ministries SA in the home of his parents, Jimmy and Doreen. His first congregation was just 13 people.
McCauley leaves his wife Zelda, and his son by Lyndie, Joshua McCauley, who is senior pastor of Redemption Church SA, and three grandchildren.