Gabrielle Thomas, For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology and Women

Theology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 124 (6) ◽  
pp. 439-440
Author(s):  
Ann Loades
Keyword(s):  
Church Unity ◽  
The Church

Tracing the Theological Development of the South African Baptismal Rites: The Journey to An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 and Beyond

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Andrew-John Bethke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
The South ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This essay analyzes the theological changes which are reflected in successive revisions of Southern Africa's Anglican liturgy from 1900 to 1989. The following liturgies are examined: A Book of Common Prayer—South Africa (1954); Proposals for the Revision of the Rites of Baptism and Confirmation (1967); the Church Unity Commission's ecumenical liturgies in the 1970s; Birth and Growth in Christ (1984); and An Anglican Prayer Book 1989. The article also includes valuable source material which influenced the revised liturgies, including two official reports on the theology of baptism and confirmation. The author finds that theological uncertainty surrounding the underpinning of current rites brings into question whether full church membership is actually granted during baptism.

Cyprian and Church Unity

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Andrew Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Complex Figure ◽  
Public Expression ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The Church

Cyprian of Carthage is often mentioned in discussions of church unity and at times the impression is that he simply counsels both the avoidance of formal schism and passive obedience to the local bishop. Yet he is a more complex figure than this. His life and writing suggest that when we reflect on the unity of the church we should ask first in quite concrete terms what is demanded by the following of Jesus Christ and the living of the Gospel. When we have identified the contemporary shape of living the Gospel, we need then to ask how we might express it in a harmonious way. Unity with the bishop will be one part of this public expression of a demanding discipleship. The article considers what might be some other parts of this public expression in the Australian situation.

scholarly journals 'n Nuwe ekumeniese geloofsbelydenis?

1987 ◽  
Vol 43 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
B. J. Engelbrecht
Keyword(s):  
Church Leaders ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Reformed Church In America ◽  
The World ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Church

A new ecumenical confession of faithRecently theologians, church leaders and even churches from all over the world expressed the desirability of a new confession of faith, preferably an ecumenical confession. The Reformed Church in America proposed a new confession with their Song of Hope. They still maintain large parts of their 16th century reformed confessions but the following motives played a role in their desire for a new confession:• The necessity to correct the existing, 'old' confessions in the light of modem scientific Bible-research, e g on the doctrine of predestination.• The need for additional confession-pronouncements on modern-day issues and experiences, unknown to the church in the 16th century.• The desirability of a new form (language) to communicate with modem man.• The sensitivity of the churches of today towards church-unity and the trends living in the oikouménè, e g their social awareness.We then proceed to treat the motives why a reformed Church überhaupt needs and forms a confession. In the light of these motives the question arises whether our Church really needs a new confession today; is the exposition of the existing confessions in theology, catechesis, preaching and modem church-hymns not enough to translate and communicate the existing confessions to modem man and to address modern-day issues?

scholarly journals Does John 17:11b, 21−23 refer to church unity?

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert J. Malan
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Separate Entity ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
Jesus Prayer ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Johannine Community ◽  
The Church

In ecumenical circles, John 17:11b, 21–23 has been understood as Jesus’ prayer for church unity, be it confessional or structural. This article questioned such readings and conclusions from historical, literary and sosio-cultural viewpoints. The Fourth Gospel’s language is identified as ’antilanguage’ typical of an ’antisociety’, like that of the Hermetic, Mandean and Qumran sects. Such a society is a separate entity within society at large, but opposes it. Read as a text of an antisociety, John 17:11b, 21–23 legitimises the unity of the separatist Johannine community, which could have comprised several such communities. This community opposed the Judean religion, Gnosticism, the followers of John the Baptist and three major groups in early Christianity. As text from the canon, this Johannine text legitimates tolerance of diversity rather than the confessional or structural unity of the church.

scholarly journals Ecclesiological Renewal for a Relevant Ministry and Church Polity, with reference to UCCSA and UPCSA in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xolani Maseko ◽  
Wim A. Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Emerging Church ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Church Ministry ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Church Polity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Strategic Perspective ◽  
The Church

This article is a critique of Reformed Ecclesiology, particularly as regarding ministry and church polity. It is argued herein that a static ecclesiology results in church ministry that is seemingly deficient in responding to the context. This is seen in the current church polities and ways in which different denominations explain and carry out their ministry in the face of the new religious environment of the 21st century. This critique demands imperatives from the church, especially now in the advent of the emerging church, virtual ministry and such pandemics as Covid-19. The church cannot afford to remain ambivalent; her relevance is at stake. This article deals with Reformed Ecclesiology and polity in the context of Zimbabwe, with a special focus on the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in Zimbabwe. These two denominations are in a “prolonged” engagement for church unity. From a strategic perspective, a possible ecclesiology will be proposed that can facilitate this renewal in the context of a Calvinistic ecclesiology. It is argued that a change in ecclesiology will result in a refined church ministry and polity. This is done by investigating the “church as epiphany.”

scholarly journals DIVIDE ET IMPERA. RUSSIAN CENTRALISM AS A CONFLICTING FACTOR FOR UKRAINIAN ORTHODOXY IN RETROSPECTION AND IN CONTEMPORARY REALITIES

2019 ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana Kahamlyk
Keyword(s):  
Information Space ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Conflict Processes ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Divide And Rule ◽  
Russian Military ◽  
The Church ◽  
Ukrainian Society

The topicality of the article is motivated by the present situation of Ukraine under conditions of Russian military and information aggression and of the active spread in the information space of the aggressive concept of the "Russian world". The purpose of the article is to investigate the causes and essence of conflict processes in Ukrainian Orthodoxy, in particular, to analyze the role of the Russian centralism in them in the past and in contemporary realities. It is determined that the causes of conflicts in the sphere of Ukrainian Orthodoxy aч re largely related to the act of ecclesiastical submission to the Moscow Patriarchate in 1686. The situation of Ukraine under conditions of Russian military and informational aggression, in which the church matters also played an important role, refer to the exploration of Russian centralism as a conflict factor for Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The actual character of the issue is also determined by the modern planting in the information space of the aggressive theory of the "Russian world" as well as the necessity to find the ways for consolidation of the Ukrainian society, in particular in the sphere of interconfessional relations. In order to weaken the opposition of the Ukrainian ecclesiastical superiors to imperial centralism, the Russian government deliberately resorted to incitement between the secular and the ecclesiastical elites. Such measures were taken by Empress Anna Ioanovna, who ordered Prince Oleksii Shakhovskyi, the ruler of Little Russia at that time to persuade the Cossack elders secretly to protest against the giving of land possession to the Church. In the same way the Empress Catherine II acted and consciously orientated the ruler of the Little Russia Earl Piotr Rumiantsev to support conflicts between the Ukrainian nobility and clergy according to the principle “divide et impera” (divide and rule). Contemporary Russian information aggression has revealed various forms of propaganda in Ukrainian society, one of which is the project of the “Russian world”. A major point in overcoming the influence of the Russian neoimperial factor in Ukrainian society as well as the contemporary conflicts on the level of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is the development of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine founded a result of the age-old aspirations of Ukrainian society for church unity. The important steps for strengthening if the church unity were outlined by the Bishops' Council of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine convened on December 14, 2019.

scholarly journals Die mooi drome van burgerlike teologie verander toe in kerklike nagmerries

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M.J. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
General Assembly ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The Road ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Binding Factor ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Church

The sweet dreams of civil theology then became ecclesiastical nightmares. With the 69th General Assembly of 2010 the Netherdutch Reformed Church reached a fork in the road. The Church is still hesitating, unsure which road it should take at the fork. But she can not hesitate much longer. History will not wait infinitely for those who find it difficult to make choices on political and ecclesiastical matters. This article reflects on the recent history of the Church that brought her to this fork in the road, the different choices that are on the table for the Church at this stage and how she will shape her own future by the choices she will have to make in the near future. Rather than presenting a systematic argument on the matter at hand, the article reflects from different perspectives on the problems the Church is facing. Politics, ecclesiastical renewal, the role of tradition and heritage in ecclesiastic reflection, Church unity and the role of confessions of faith as a binding factor in the ecclesiastical community are used as points of reference to reflect on the current crisis in the Church. Church leaders are called upon to break with a tradition of civil obedience serving the interests of the politicians in power. The Church should rather bravely fulfil her calling to practise prophetic criticism in society so that she can help to promote justice for all in the most efficient way possible.

The Impact of Non-Roman Catholic Observers at Vatican II

Ecclesiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-312
Author(s):  
Donald W. Norwood
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church ◽  
Domestic Affair

Not all accounts of Vatican II, 1962–65, recognize that the 200 carefully selected non-Roman Catholic Observers had a considerable influence on the Council and on its major documents about the Church, Church unity, liturgy, the Jews and religious freedom. Their impact is assessed both by Roman Catholic theologians like Congar and Willebrands and Observers such as Bishop Moorman and Robert McAfee Brown together with comments Karl Barth later made on some of the documents in his discussions with Pope Paul VI and others, including Ratzinger and Rahner in Rome. An attempt is made to explain how the Observers had the influence they did. One conclusion is that they helped the Council evolve from what could have been a purely domestic affair and a rubber-stamping exercise dealing with 70 documents, already prepared by the Curia, and Commissioners appointed by the Pope, into a genuinely ecumenical, deliberative, debating and decision-making council of the worldwide Church.

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