Congregations respond to divisive issues: Finding paths past polarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Marv Knox
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Pastoral Ministry ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Similar Process ◽  
Church Staff ◽  
Baptist Churches ◽  
The Church

What happens when pastors attempt to lead their congregations to conduct civil discussions about potentially polarizing issues? How can congregations engage difficult, controversial, or otherwise challenging issues without splintering, and perhaps even leverage those conversations to achieve charitable clarity and greater unity? Based on interviews with respected pastors, this article examines seven local Baptist churches that engaged in processes that propelled them to examine, discuss, and sometimes make decisions regarding topics that could have fractured their fellowship. Topics range from race, to baptism, to LGBTQ inclusion, to church staff and budgets, to other challenging subjects. In the case studies, each pastor discusses: (a) the issue or issues the church confronted; (b) how the church went about examining, discussing, and deciding on the issue or issues; (c) the results of those processes, or what happened when they talked; (d) what went right; (e) what went wrong; and (f) what the pastor would do differently the next time the congregation enters a similar process. The insights presented by these case studies offer guidance for pastors and church leaders whose congregations face polarizing experiences. In addition, they provide useful material for student discussions of pastoral ministry and ethics.

Living Testaments: How Catholic and Baptist Women in Ministry Both Judge and Renew the Church

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-198
Author(s):  
Eileen R. Campbell-Reed
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Southern Baptist ◽  
Pastoral Leadership ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Women In Ministry ◽  
Baptist Churches ◽  
Southern Baptist Churches ◽  
The Church

In 2014 women constituted 15.8% of u.s. clergy. They led 10% of u.s. congregations. While the numbers have increased dramatically in fifty years, this data invites a deeper question. What does women’s entry into ministry (lay and ordained) mean for ecclesiology, the life and doctrines of the church? Four case studies from two qualitative investigations of ministry illustrate women’s pastoral leadership from the margins of Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist churches, showing how women called to ministry are: living testaments to a renewed vision for church that embraces the fullness of humanity; living judgments on harms and shortcomings of the church; embodied revisions to ecclesial practices. Each case study bears witness to situated possibility of the Spirit’s work; exposes and challenges sins of sexism; shows every day dilemmas over resisting and subverting power; and reframes doctrine and practice from the margins, renewing ecclesial vision for the church.

scholarly journals Understanding the impact of COVID-19 in the spiritual life of the Church community

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thandiwe Nonkululeko Ngema ◽  
Zanele Gladness Buthelezi ◽  
Dumisani Wilfred Mncube
Keyword(s):  
Church Leadership ◽  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Pastoral Ministry ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Generation Process ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Church Members ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spiritual Impact ◽  
The Church

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in extra-ordinarily negative ways. Its impact has been felt in government circles, families, communities and churches globally. Spiritual leadership together with church members or congregants has also suffered a great deal. The pandemic has successfully disorganized societies and religious communities. Its spiritual impact has been felt by church leaders and congregants alike. This study investigated the spiritual impact COVID-19 has imposed on church leadership and congregants. It also explores how some church leaders performed their pastoral ministry under COVID-19 conditions. To achieve the set objective, a qualitative methodology and interpretive paradigm were adopted. In-depth individual interviews with church leaders and church members from Christian churches were used to inform the study. Ten churches that operate within the Esikhaleni raternity, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, under uMhlathuze municipality participated in the data generation process. The study comprised a sample size of four church leaders and eight church members from ten churches. A total number of 12 twelve heterogeneous individual participants were purposively selected. Findings revealed that the prevalence of COVID-19 led to lockdown restrictions and as such, church house closure impacted the church family positively as well as negatively. The study recommends that church leaders be proactive in accommodating change and equip their congregants accordingly. Secondly, churches should adapt to multi-staff ministry where lay people are actively involved in educating congregants about pandemics in general and how to cope spiritually. Third, it is argued church leadership should embrace virtual and internet ministry so as to continue to offer spiritual support to congregants.

Conflict and Financial Scandal on History, Culture, and Politic

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (03) ◽  
pp. 20628-20638
Author(s):  
Anik Yuesti ◽  
I Made Dwi Adnyana
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Spiritual World ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The World ◽  
Financial Scandals ◽  
Financial Transparency ◽  
The Church ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

One of the things that are often highlighted in the world of spirituality is a matter of sexual scandal. But lately, the focus of the spiritual world is financial transparency and accountability. Financial scandals began to arise in the Church, as was the case in the Protestant Christian Church of Bukti Doa Nusa Dua Congregation in Bali. The scandal involved clergy and even some church leaders. This study aims to describe how the conflict occurred because of financial scandals in the Church. The method used in this study is the Ontic dialectic. Based on this research, the conflict in the Bukit Doa Church is a conflict caused by an internal financial scandal. The scandal resulted in fairly widespread conflict in the various lines of the organization. It led to the issuance of the Dismissal Decrees of the church pastor and also one of the members of Financial Supervisory Council. This conflict has also resulted in the leadership of the church had violated human rights. Source of conflict is not resolved in a fair, but more concerned with political interests and groups. Thus, the source of the problem is still attached to its original place.

Priesthood Ordination

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Stapley
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Temple ◽  
The Church ◽  
Power And Authority

Early Mormons used the Book of Mormon as the basis for their ecclesiology and understanding of the open heaven. Church leaders edited, harmonized, and published Joseph Smith’s revelation texts, expanding understandings of ecclesiastical priesthood office. Joseph Smith then revealed the Nauvoo Temple liturgy, with its cosmology that equated heaven, kinship, and priesthood. This cosmological priesthood was materialized through sealings at the temple altar and was the context for expansive teachings incorporating women into priesthood. This cosmology was also the basis for polygamy, temple adoption, and restrictions on the participation of black men and women in the church. This framework gave way at the end of the nineteenth century to a new priesthood cosmology introduced by Joseph F. Smith based on male ecclesiastical office. As church leaders expanded the meaning of priesthood to comprise the entire power and authority of God, they struggled to integrate women into church cosmology.

An Extraordinary Confession

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Nazi Regime ◽  
Jewish Ancestry ◽  
The Church

If the church decides to seize the wheel, to speak the directly political word, Bonhoeffer writes, then the church will find itself in statu confessionis. This chapter examines the phrase status confessionis to shed further light on Bonhoeffer’s idea of the church’s directly political word (the concern of Chapter 7). The phrase originates in a sixteenth-century episode where the emperor, with help from accommodating religious leaders, forced changes in order and rites on the Lutheran churches. The phrase status confessionis came to be seen as the battle cry of those who resisted these changes, the gnesio-Lutherans. In adopting this language, Bonhoeffer identifies a parallel between the sixteenth century and 1933, when Hitler and the Nazi regime threatened to force changes in church order (especially concerning church members of Jewish ancestry) on the church with accommodation from church leaders.

scholarly journals Motivational factors for a sports ministry: A case study of churches in Pretoria

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Tucker ◽  
Noel Woodbridge
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Great Commission ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Sports Ministry ◽  
Teaching Life ◽  
The Church

The purpose of this study was to investigate church leaders’ perceptions of motivational factors for a sports ministry in churches in Pretoria. A survey questionnaire was developed by the researchers to investigate the above perceptions. The survey consisted of demographic questions and perception questions using a structured and a semi-structured questionnaire. The results of the survey were assessed by calculating the significance of each motivational factor for a sports ministry in the church, as perceived by the respondents. Participants were recruited from 32 church leaders from a wide variety of denominational and cultural backgrounds in Pretoria. Results showed that a sports ministry could assist the church in evangelism and fulfilling the Great Commission. Over 95% of all respondents agreed that a sports ministry would have a positive impact on evangelism. The results of the survey showed that the participants from the churches in Pretoria are supportive of a sports ministry as a general strategy to help churches to promote evangelism and outreach, to cross cultural barriers, to keep in touch with society and to provide a place for teaching life skills and develop leaders.

Die koninkryk van God in die Ou Testament: ’n Kort oorsig

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel F. O'Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Real Difference ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
The Past ◽  
To Come ◽  
Psalm 22 ◽  
The Church ◽  
Technical Terms

The kingdom of God in the Old Testament: A brief survey. The kingdom of God is a central concept in the teaching of Jesus, but the question posed by this article is the following: What does the Old Testament say about the kingdom of God? Several Old Testament terms convey the concept of kingdom, kingship and rule of God. This article focuses on the Hebrew and Aramaic ‘technical’ terms for kingdom: mamlākâ, malkût, mělûkâ and malkû. One finds only a few Old Testament references where these terms are directly connected to God, most of them in the post-exilic literature: 1 Chronicles 17:14; 28:5; 29:11; 2 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 22:29; 103:19; 145:11–13; Daniel 2:44; 3:33 (4:3); 4:31 (4:34); 6:27; 7:14, 18, 27; Obadiah 21. A brief study of these specific references leads to a few preliminary conclusions: The kingdom of God refers to a realm and the reign of God, the God of the kingdom is depicted in different ways, God’s kingdom is eternal and incomparable with earthly kingdoms, the scope of the kingdom is particularistic and universalistic, the Old Testament testifies about a kingdom that is and one that is yet to come, et cetera. It seems that there is no real difference when comparing the ‘kingdom of God’ with the ‘God is King’ passages. One cannot unequivocally declare that ‘kingdom of God’ is the central concept in the Old Testament. However, we must acknowledge that Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God did not evolve in a vacuum. His followers probably knew about the Old Testament perspective on the kingdom of God.Contribution: The concept ‘kingdom of God’ is relevant for the church in South Africa, especially congregations who strive to be missional. Unfortunately, the Old Testament perspective was neglected in the past. The purpose of this brief survey is to stimulate academics and church leaders in their further reflection on the kingdom of God.

Old Pastor and Local Bureaucrats: Recasting Church-State Relations in Contemporary China

Modern China ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 564-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jifeng Liu ◽  
Chris White
Keyword(s):  
Church Leaders ◽  
The State ◽  
Local State ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
Church Structure ◽  
Church State Relations ◽  
State Relations ◽  
The Church ◽  
Local Levels

In examining the relationships between a state-recognized Protestant pastor and local bureaucrats, this article argues that church leaders in contemporary China are strategic in enhancing interactions with the local state as a way to produce greater space for religious activities. In contrast to the idea that the Three-Self church structure simply functions as a state-governing apparatus, this study suggests that closer connection to the state can, at times, result in less official oversight. State approval of Three-Self churches offers legitimacy to registered congregations and their leaders, but equally important is that by endorsing such groups, the state is encouraging dialogue, even negotiations between authorities and the church at local levels.

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