Preliminary Conclusions from Interviews and Fieldwork

2018 ◽  
pp. 16-58
Author(s):  
Donald Westbrook
Keyword(s):  
Lower Half ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Total Freedom ◽  
The Church

This chapter offers eight conclusions about Scientology, Scientologists, and the Church of Scientology that emerged in the course of the author’s interviews and fieldwork. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Scientology is not merely a religion of belief or faith—but self-knowledge; (2) L. Ron Hubbard is not God to Scientologists—but he is the model OT (Operating Thetan); (3) the path to Clear and OT is codified in the “Bridge to Total Freedom;” (4) materials from the OT Levels are confidential and copyrighted; (5) most Scientologists are on the lower half of the Bridge to Total Freedom; (6) movement up the Bridge usually costs money and always costs time; (7) the church is theoretically all-denominational but functionally sectarian—at least most of the time; and (8) most Scientologists are ordinary people seeking extraordinary potential for themselves and others—not staff members and certainly not Hollywood celebrities.

Money, Death, and Agency in Catholic Ireland, 1850–1921

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Doyle ◽  
Sarah Roddy
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Great Famine ◽  
Lay People ◽  
The People ◽  
Material Religion ◽  
Financial Relationship ◽  
Financial Transactions ◽  
The Church

Abstract Between the end of the Great Famine and the end of the union with Britain, the Irish Catholic Church was almost exclusively funded by ordinary lay people. This article examines the financial relationship between clergy and laity, focusing on payments related to death. In doing so, it argues three main points. First, it suggests that previous conceptions of lay people coerced into giving their money to the church are too simplistic and deny the complex agency of the people of many social classes who gave the money. Second, it argues that using the financial transactions of ordinary people gives historians a much-needed methodology for recovering lives about which the archives are otherwise silent. Third, it posits that the mediation of faith through money, specifically, must be added to the growing body of work on “material religion.”

The “Patriot” Curés of 1789 and the “Constitutional” Curés of 1791: A Comparison

1985 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Allen
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Church ◽  
The French Revolution ◽  
The Revolution

Most historians of the French Revolution accept the now familiar contention that village curés and vicaires sided with the Third Estate in 1789, presumably out of class solidarity born of common origins and personal contact with the sad lot of ordinary people. Historians also agree that most of these “patriot” curiés (as those who supported reforms and the Third Estate in 1789 called themselves) later deserted the Revolution once it became clear that what the Third had in mind included sweeping restraints on the once vaunted power and property of the church and on the spiritual autonomy and authority of the French clergy.

scholarly journals The Role of the Church in Curbing Drug Addiction Problems: A Case Study of Nairobi Chapel

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
Joseph K. Kosgei ◽  
Henry Mutua ◽  
Gyang David Pam
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Drug Addicts ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Financial Allocation ◽  
The Church

Drug and substance abuse is considered a worldwide menace. Kenya being part of the globe experiences its effects. The Church, being a tool that helps society live godly lives, should take part in the fight against drug and substance abuse. This study sought to identify the role of the Church in curbing drug addiction problems. A descriptive case study and qualitative research approach were employed. 50 churches under the Nairobi Chapel umbrella of Churches were targeted. Questionnaires were employed to collect data from lead pastors in charge of drug addicts’ recovery programs within Nairobi Chapel. Data was analyzed and presented using tables and charts. From the study majority of the churches that took part in the research, only 40% had ministries to help in combating drug abuse, none of the churches had financial allocation for the same, on the human resource set aside; lead pastors comprised 85%, staff members 9%, while drug and substance rehabilitation pastors were 6%, on involvement in advocacy only 20% of the churches were participating, on the other hand, 61% of the churches took part in partnerships with drug addiction and rehabilitation and prevention programs.

This is what a minister looks like: The expanding Baptist definition of minister

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-525
Author(s):  
Pamela R. Durso
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Music Programs ◽  
Senior Adults ◽  
Recreational Activities ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Baptist Churches ◽  
Traditional Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
American Churches ◽  
The Church

In 1956, H. Richard Niebuhr and Daniel D. Williams asserted that to the traditional definition of minister as pastor-preacher must be added teacher, chaplain, missionary, evangelist, counselor, and countless others. What Niebuhr and Williams observed as happening within American churches in general was also true within Baptist churches. Beginning sometime around mid-century, Baptist churches hired staff members to lead and plan their music programs; to work with preschoolers, children, teenagers, college students, and senior adults; and to oversee administration, education, and recreational activities. Around the 1970s, some Baptist churches recognized and publicly identified these staff members as ministers and began ordaining them. Women were among these newly ordained ministers. By the 1980s and 1990s, the number of ordained Baptist women had increased significantly, and the number of recognized ministry positions both inside and outside the church also increased significantly. Women were obviously beneficiaries of the trend of ordaining as ministers those serving in positions other than pastor-preacher, or perhaps women were leading the way and were trendsetters for Baptists. Either way, Baptist women were in the mix in this move toward the broader definition of minister.

New species and subspecies of Streptognathodus (Conodonta) from the Virgilian (Late Carboniferous) of Kansas

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 870-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Ritter
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Lower Half ◽  
Late Carboniferous ◽  
New Subspecies ◽  
Three New Species ◽  
The Church

Three new species and one new subspecies of Streptognathodus were discovered during systematic stratigraphic study of conodonts from Virgilian cyclothems of Kansas. Streptognathodus bitteri n. sp. characterizes faunas from the middle of the Plattsmouth Limestone but ranges into the upper Wabaunsee Group. Streptognathodus brownvillensis n. sp. is restricted to the Brownville Limestone. Streptognathodus holtensis n. sp. occurs in the Holt Shale, as well as the Church, Burlingame, Wakarusa, and Elmont Limestones. A new subspecies of S. pawhuskaensis (S. pawhuskaensis deflectus) was recovered from the lower half of the Shawnee Group.

The Levellers and Natural Law: The Putney Debates of 1647

1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Gleissner
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
English Civil War ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Church

Natural law is one of the oldest concepts in Western philosophy. When the Psalmist asked Yahweh, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him,” he was struggling with the same problem that occupied thoughtful men in Greece: the need to understand man as he is and in his potentiality. Unlike the unknown Biblical poet, however, Plato and Aristotle found an answer with the aid of reason rather than revelation. For them, man is an entity in process of becoming, possessing an essential, cognizable nature that gives rise to certain inclinations he must fulfill. Until the Enlightenment, the idea of man's nature and his need to realize it served as the focus of much of secular thought, out of which developed principles of government and a distinctive ethic. But ordinary people were touched only by the practical consequences of such things. The great law codes and the teachings of the church combined with philosophy to work out the individual's relationship to others according to a teleological conception of law rooted in the very nature of things. Understandably, the ontological theses and conclusions drawn from the theory of natural law remained irrelevant and unknown to common folk.In the midst of the English Civil War, the concept appeared in the welter of disputes and conflicting plans for the revitalization of all aspects of English life, invoked by ordinary men who were neither philosophers nor theologians, neither jurists nor statesmen. This paper considers the use of natural law by one group, the Levellers, at a dramatic moment in the turbulent period following the king's imprisonment.

The Politics of Education in Kenyan Universities: A Call for a Paradigm Shift

2009 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mwangi Chege
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Politics Of Education ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Political Survival ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
University System ◽  
The Status ◽  
Critical Pedagogies ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Church

Abstract:The winds of political change have been sweeping across Kenya for the last two decades. However, as many sections of society—the media, the church, civil society, and even ordinary people—take advantage of the unprecedented democratic space in which to engage the political establishment, the country's intelligentsia has remained aloof. The aim of this article is to interrogate discourse patterns in the Kenyan university system. Adopting a historical lens, it argues that the curtailment of intellectual freedom in the postcolonial Kenyan university is a reproduction of the colonial suppression of discourses whose objective was to ensure the political survival of the ruling class. It also argues for the adoption of critical pedagogies that challenge the status quo.

scholarly journals Scrum Methodology in Higher Education: Innovation in Teaching, Learning and Assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Jurado-Navas ◽  
Rosa Munoz-Luna
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Portfolio ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
English Studies ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Similar Activity ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Education Innovation ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Teaching Learning

The present paper aims to detail the experience developed in a classroom of English Studies from the Spanish University of Málaga, where an alternative project-based learning methodology has been implemented. Such methodology is inspired by scrum sessions widely extended in technological companies where staff members work in teams and are assigned tasks within long-termed projects. Students were initially reluctant and afraid to work in teams but, as the experience advanced, their point of view was changing. Thus they positively stated that this methodology encouraged themselves to participate and to change ideas, with a deeper feeling of empathy, self-organisation and self-knowledge. At the end, most of the students declared they would participate again in a similar activity. Hence, considering the opinions from the students (and also from the teachers), and after observing the whole experience and analyzing the documents generated in an electronic portfolio, we think this method can be considered as a good proposal to accomplish a teaching-learning process of high quality at universities for three main reasons: first, it improves the capacity of using the knowledge in a disciplined, critical and creative way; second, it promotes the coexistence in heterogeneous human groups; and third, it develops the capacity of thinking, living and acting with complete autonomy.

scholarly journals Omvendelse og forbøn

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune Wadskjær Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Treatment ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Religious Healing ◽  
Free Church ◽  
Sick People ◽  
The People ◽  
Born Again ◽  
The Church ◽  
Specific Illness

This article deals with the charismatic Protestant Free Church in Denmark, "Kristent Centrum". It describes the organization of "Kristent Centrum" and the importance of healing within the Free Church, and it compares "Kristent Centrum" with the healing groups in Meredith B. McGuire's study Ritual Healing in Suburban Africa.The main goal of the Free Church is to convert ordinary people and mainstream Christians into born-again Christians. Mopst of the Church meetings are "revivalist meetings", where leader Hans Berntsen tries to convince people to open up their hearts to Jesus. At the end of each session, Hans Berntsen prays for the people who have different kinds of problems and healing takes place. The church, which has approximately 2,000 members, has meetings all over Denmark. Besides activities which are directed towards conversion, only little goes on within "Kristent Centrum". The members go to meetings to experience an atmosphere of closeness to God, which Hans Berntsen and other leaders try to create. The healing and the singing at meetings contribute to this atmosphere and are appreciated by many participants. As shown in McGuire's study, few people go to the meetings for the sole purpose of being healed. In this respect religious healing seems to differ from other forms of alternative treatment, which are normally used in response to a specific illness. It is my belief that healing within "Kristent Centrum" is supposed to build up faith among the members. Healing seems to work differently within "Kristent Centrum" than among healing groups om McGuire's study, where healing restores order and meaning for the sick person by constructing illness etiologies based on the sick person's illness episodes. Furthermore, the healing gives the person a feeling of personale empowerment. Due to their belief in the greatness and the immediacy of God's power and the complete powerlessness of the human being, the participants in the meetings of "Kristent Centrum" do not feel empowered. Because of the lack of contact between Free Church leaders and people seeking healing at the meetings, no illness etiologies for sick people are constructed.

scholarly journals From victimhood to hubs of (trans)formation and local agency: Re-imagining poor urban communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasebwe T.L. Kabongo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
The Body ◽  
Good News ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Black African ◽  
Biblical Principles ◽  
The Church

This article was written from the perspective of a black African who has been unfairly subjected to colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism. This African is learning to simultaneously blame others for mistakes committed against him and interrogate his own agency in being an answer to his own prayers. He has observed that communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence of this, most of its residents prefer to move away, if they have the option of doing so. This article explored the concept of thin places as a vehicle to nurture agency amongst people living in communities of poverty such as Soshanguve. It uses the narrative approach of storytelling to recount particular past events and present ones as a tool to cultivate a ‘can-do attitude’ in ordinary people. The goal is to raise agents of hope who will bring good news to their neighbours and anybody else, using biblical principles as a critical tool in their toolkit. Communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence, most of its residents prefer to move out, if they have the choice to do so. This article reflects on the efforts of a missional team, InnerCHANGE, to help residents of the township of Soshanguve migrate from a victim mentality to become agents of their own hope. It uses a theology of place that alludes to concepts of thin places which challenges ordinary people to become participants in the flourishing of lives around them. A reflection on agency influenced by the Black Consciousness Movement and other African scholars gave context, meaning and relevance to such a theology of place. Stories of agency from Africa are remembered and retold to inspire ordinary people. Some of the latter have taken to heart these inspirational stories and have been transformed into agents. This article calls such people transformation agents. A conclusion was made that the Church needs to continue playing its prophetic role in society. Such a role could entail reminding people of existing assets they may have such as stories told around them of people who defied the normal victim mentality seen in poor communities and actively built thin places around them.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article was based on the field of missiology. It engaged historical facts (history) in a way that could nurture and develop agency in ordinary people. It challenges a general apathy towards community involvement found within the body of Christ located in South African communities of poverty.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document