This volume of essays forms part of a series on the interface between ecumenical theology and social ethics in the (South) African context. This contribution is the result of a public conference hosted at the University of the Western Cape in May 2013 under the same title. It explores the quest for identity in so-called mainline churches in South Africa, given the history of the establishment of various denominations of mainly European origin in Southern Africa, ecumenical efforts to find common ground between such churches and breakaway movements among independent and Pentecostal churches where this search for identity is evidently found wanting.