Anglican Church of Southern Africa: Safe and Inclusive Church Commission

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Rosalie Manning

Abstract The process of creating a Safe and Inclusive Church (SIC) Commission within the Anglican Church of the Province of SouthernAfrica (ACSA) is not unique in the Communion. This article seeks to explore ACSA’s specific journey to date, with a view to engaging the Communion in a learning partnership. While some of the process of establishing this ministry may be unique, there are places of commonality as we jointly grapple with the call of our Lord Jesus to continue to build the Kingdom of God in contemporary times. Most specifically, this process has highlighted a need for renewal of the Church in both our theological understanding and how we organize to best serve our call to preach the Good News. These theological and structural dimensions of ‘doing church’ speak deeply into our ‘being church’ and are at the heart of why dialogue is needed as a Communion. We offer this article as an invitation to continue discerning together how best to follow and serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by being His Body to a broken and wounded world.

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Dariusz Kasprzak

Neither the Apostles nor any Christian minister is admitted to use the priest’s title in the text of the New Testament. Nevertheless, in the New Testament we can perceive the development of the doctrine of the priest ministry in the early Church. Albert Vanhoye maintains that the lack of the term “priest” in the New Testament suggests the way of understanding of the Christian ministry, different from this in the Old Testament. It can’t be considered as a continuation of Jewish priesthood, which was concentrated mainly on ritual action and ceremonies. In the first century the Church developed the Christology of priesthood (Hbr) and ecclesiology of priesthood (1 P). Early Christians focused first on the redemptive event of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and Jesus as the mediator of a new covenant. Only then the religious communities adopted the priest’s title for their ministry.In the early years of the Church, all the ministries were regarded as a charismatic service among the Christian communities. In their services the early Christians followed Jesus Christ sent by God to serve. The Holy Spirit sent by God in the name of Jesus bestowed the spiritual gifts upon the Church (1 Kor 12–13). Consequently the disciples of Jesus and their successors could continue his mission. The Twelve Apostles’ ministry was the very first and most important Christian ministry. It was closely connected to the service of Jesus Christ himself. The Apostles were sent by the authority of Jesus Christ to continue his mission upon earth and they preached the Good News of the risen Christ. The Apostolicity was the fundamental base for every Church ministry established in different Christian communities. Successive ministries were established in order to transmit the teaching of Jesus Christ and to lead the community. For the early Christians the priesthood was not an individual privilege. It had rather the community character.


Author(s):  
I Putu Ayub Darmawan

Make Disciples: The Duty of Church Discipleship According to Matthew 28: 18-20. This article discusses the task of church discipleship according to Matthew 28: 18-20. The author conducted a literature study to understand the intent of Matthew 28: 18-20 and to carry out the construction of the task of discipleship in the church. The task of discipleship, Jesus addressed his disciples, then proceeded to their successors who lived in a community of faith to carry out the task of discipleship. In the task of discipleship, the community of faith in a church as an institution takes action to proclaim the good news so that every nation can be part of a community of faith in Jesus Christ. In discipleship, everyone who enters the community of faith in Christ is accepted without distinction, because this task is a multicultural task. Teaching is an important part of the discipleship task. Teaching is done in order to strengthen new believers or new students enter the community of faith in Jesus, then they become disciples of the Lord Jesus who can be sent to disciple others. Jadikanlah Murid: Tugas Pemuridan Gereja Menurut Matius 28:18-20. Artikel ini membahas tentang tugas pemuridan gereja menurut Matius 28:18-20. Penulis melakukan studi pustaka untuk memahami maksud Matius 28:18-20 dan melakukan konstruksi tugas pemuridan gereja. Tugas pemuridan, Yesus tujukan kepada para murid-murid-Nya, kemudian dilanjutkan oleh pada penerus mereka yang hidup dalam sebuah komunitas iman untuk menjalankan tugas pemuridan tersebut. Dalam tugas pemuridan, komunitas iman dalam sebuah gereja sebagai suatu institusi melakukan tindakan pergi untuk mewartakan kabar baik sehingga setiap bangsa dapat menjadi bagian dari komunitas iman pada Yesus Kristus. Dalam pemuridan, setiap orang yang masuk dalam komunitas iman pada Kristus, diterima dengan tanpa membedakan mereka, sebab tugas ini adalah tugas yang multikultural. Pengajaran merupakan bagian penting dalam tugas pemuridan. Pengajaran dilakukan agar dapat memantapkan orang-orang yang baru percaya atau murid-murid baru masuk ke dalam komunitas iman pada Yesus, kemudian mereka menjadi murid Tuhan Yesus yang dapat diutus untuk memuridkan orang lain.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Carleton Houston ◽  
Andrew Kruger

The prayer book of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is currently being revised. The slogan ‘Under Southern Skies - In An African voice’ is the rallying cry of this liturgical consultative process.  It captures one of the core purposes of the revision project, namely, to root Anglican liturgy in the context of Southern Africa.  But this is not a new impetus. The previous revision of the prayer book, 1989 Anglican Prayer Book, sought a similar objective and hoped for the continuing development of indigenous liturgy.  This hope has a long history. The Anglican church, formed in England in the midst of the Reformation, engaged significantly with the vernacular moment, crafting liturgy in English rather than Latin. The church also sought to hold together a diversity of theological voices in order to create a via media or middle road.  This paper explores the liturgical turning point of the Reformation and the later expansion of colonial and theological tensions that have shaped and been expressed through the history of the Anglican prayer book in Southern Africa.  The authors conclude that giving substance to indigenous voices and finding theological middle ground remains important to the revision process to this day.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Jody B. Fleming

The sending of the church to spread the good news of the gospel often crosses cultural and social boundaries. This means that Christians must be sensitive to the needs of others and provide a level of hospitality to others as a means of offering respect and humbly entering their world. Hospitality is grounded in generously giving to others and receiving the blessings they offer in return. This article discusses the connection between spiritual generosity that is experienced through the work of the Holy Spirit and an example of biblical hospitality shown in the story of Lydia found in Acts 16. The context of the exchange between Lydia, a well-to-do business woman and her friends and the Pharisee-turned-follower of Christ, Paul and his missionary companions provides a biblical example of the work of the Holy Spirit in both parties. Spiritual generosity comes from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that indwells all believers, allowing the crossing of cultural boundaries to provide hospitality as a means of sharing the love of God through Christ. Hospitality is connected to spiritual generosity that assists Christians in accomplishing the missio Dei, the mission of God as a means of experiencing the kingdom of God on earth through the church. The Lydia–Paul story provides an example of how the generosity shown to humanity through the sacrifice of Christ and given to us through the Holy Spirit is directly connected to the need to extend hospitality to others as a means of accomplishing the missio Dei.


2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-441
Author(s):  
D J Dreyer

In the first of these two articles  we focused on  the Biblical perspective of the missionary church. The focus in the second article is on the ecclesiology. It is essential to remember that the church is rooted in the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ himself and his ministry was the beginning of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). The church exists not  for her own sake, but  for the world for whom Jesus was crucified. This is the vantage point  for a missionary church at the end of the Christendom paradigm. The missionary character of the church (the church as an apostolic church) and eschatology were not always in die focus of the theology of the reformed churches in the Western world. Of the four notes or marks of the church as one, holy, catholic and  apostolic, apostolic is  the norm for the other three. Apostolicity is a precondition and a result for the church as a missionary church. The message of a missionary church  is the only real answer in the search for meaning in this world.


Author(s):  
Stephen Pickard

The character and identity of the Anglican Church in Australasia arises by virtue of its establishment as a colonial church over 20,000 kilometres from England. This chapter first offers a brief overview of some of the founding impulses of colonial Anglicanism and their trajectories into contemporary Anglicanism in Australasia. Given the availability recent historical introductions to Anglicanism in the region, the chapter focuses on those particular aspects of the development of Anglicanism that serve the more theological intent of the second part of the chapter. In this second section the theme of place as a formative factor in ecclesiology is examined. The chapter provides a basis for further exploration of a contextual ecclesiology for Anglicanism from a southern hemisphere perspective. It highlights the importance of a sense of place as a powerful though often unrecognized shaper of the identity and mission of the Church of Jesus Christ.


ANVIL ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Abstract This paper considers hope and environment from a majority world perspective. It begins by surveying moves within the Anglican Church to become more environmentally aware, and to integrate environmental concerns into theology and practice. This process began at the Lambeth Conference in 1968 and eventually led to the inclusion of an environmental strand within the Anglican Communion’s ‘Five Marks of Mission’. The fifth Mark is ‘To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.’ In the 2008 Lambeth Conference a whole section was devoted to the environment. There follow accounts of environmental work in the Province of Southern Africa. In Niassa Diocese, in northern Mozambique, the mission department has been using Umoja (from the Swahili word for having a common mind) in congregational and community development. It demonstrates holistic mission by deepening faith, building community, and helping with practical challenges. Now the bigger question facing Southern Africa and the majority world is climate change. In South Africa apartheid used to dominate everything and this led to unity in the Church, but after apartheid the country is not faced by one overarching problem, but many. The theology of Charles Mathewes is explored in an attempt to find an adequate Christian response and bring hope to this new context. This then leads on to action in both small practical ways, and in bringing about more fundamental change. Finally, we are reminded that we should not always speak about problems, but also to present a positive vision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-171
Author(s):  
Aris Elisa Tembay

Salah satu tugas gereja dan orang percaya adalah pekerjaan misi. Misi adalah semua kegiatan yang bertujuan untuk mengabarkan kematian dan kebangkitan Yesus Kristus sebagai pengorbanan untuk penebusan dosa manusia serta jaminan hidup yang kekal dalam nama-Nya. Jadi pekerjaan misi adalah Pengabaran Injil/penginjilan.Selanjutnya gereja bukan hanya mempunyai misi, tetapi seluruh kehidupan gereja itu adalah misi. Tugas memberitakan Injil adalah tugas setiap orang percaya. Gereja yang kuat dan bersinar adalah gereja yang bersedia pergi memberitakan kasih Allah kepada dunia, sehingga dunia mengalami kasih Allah. Sehingga masa depan dunia ada ditangan gereja. Gereja haruslah memiliki hati Allah. Tugas gereja memuridkan dan mengutus para murid untuk melaksanakan Mandat Agung Kristus. Maka, memberitakan kabar baik segala perbuatan dan karya Allah adalah tugas semua orang yang telah menerima anugerah keselamatan. Benih Injil haruslah terpancar dari semua aspek kehidupan orang percaya. Gereja yang kuat dan bertumbuh adalah gereja yang terlibat dalam pelaksanaan misi Allah bagi dunia. One of the tasks of the church and believers is missionary work. Mission is all activities aimed at proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for the atonement of human sins and the guarantee of eternal life in His name. So missionary work is evangelism / evangelism. Furthermore, the church does not only have a mission, but the whole life of the church is a mission. The task of preaching the gospel is the duty of every believer. A strong and shining church is a church that is willing to go to preach God's love to the world, so that the world experiences God's love. So that the future of the world is in the hands of the church. The church must have the heart of God. The task of the church is to make disciples and send disciples to carry out the Great Mandate of Christ. So, to preach the good news of all the deeds and works of God is the duty of all those who have received the gift of salvation. The seeds of the gospel must be emanated from all aspects of a believer's life. A strong and growing church is a church that is involved in carrying out God's mission for the world.


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