May you "earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3)

The Gospel Defence League (GDL) is an Association of Christians of all denominations and population groups. Its two-fold aim is:

• To proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as that Gospel is set forth in Holy Scripture and generally affirmed in the historic creeds of Christendom, and
• To oppose any attempts to secularise the Gospel, deny its supernatural elements, or question the full substantial deity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Background of the Gospel Defence League

Having witnessed first hand the effects of the Moratorium on Missions as promoted by the World Council of Churches in the early seventies, Charles and Dorothea Scarborough became alarmed at the spread of revolutionary humanism by the Ecumenical Movement through its Liberation Theology.

In 1974 they joined the Christian League of Southern Africa founded by the Methodist Minister, Rev Fred Shaw. In 1980, after the demise of the CLSA, they established the Gospel Defence League in Cape Town. Rev Charles Scarborough was elected Chairman (serving for 11 years) and Dorothea Scarborough became its Secretary. Through contact with theologians in Germany the League was able to draw on the knowledge and experience of leading missiologists and experts on the Ecumenical Movement.

The League furthered its work through meetings and conferences, a Newsletter and various Study Papers, which examined ecumenical concepts (such as Reconciliation, Justice, Oppression, Democracy, Human Rights etc) in the light of the Bible. - As the Ecumenical Movement moved ever further away from the Biblical Gospel, the GDL published the series 'Law and Liberation', a series of papers which affirmed the Ten Commandments in South Africa's revolutionary situation. The quarterly 'Vox Africana', served to inform the German Churches that their generous donations to the World Council of Churches (44% of its total budget) were promoting insurrection and violence in South Africa.

In the 'New South Africa' the GDL has limited its German writings to the UCANEWS published on behalf of United Christian Action.

In the new Millennium the Gospel Defence League continues to warn against Humanism, be it secular, revolutionary, or cosmic. It affirms the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and 'contends for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.'

Dorothea Scarborough

Born Olivet, 14.2.1936 in Stettin, Germany.

Born and educated in Germany, Dorothea married Rev Charles Scarborough in 1958, when he was minister of Sheffield Congregational Church, England. From 1964-1968 they served with the London Missionary Society in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati). In 1969 (until 1994) they ministered at Sea Point Congregational Church, Cape Town.

In 1980 Mrs Scarborough became Secretary of the Gospel Defence League and has edited the GDL Newsletter. From 1978-1991 she also authored the quarterly German language paper 'Vox Africana' and since 1992 the German language Newsletter of United Christian Action.

From 1982-2003 she was also Honorary Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, and from 1986-2004 a member of the national Programme Committee of the Women's World Day of Prayer.

In 2003 Mrs Scarborough was elected Chairman of United Christian Action, Cape Town (now Christian Action Network) and Chairman-elect of the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches. She is also an executive member of the International Christian Network, Germany, to which GDL/UCA are affiliated.

In 2006 Mrs Scarborough was elected President of The Reformation Society