scholarly journals Covid-19, Trends in Global Mission, and Participation in Faithful Witness

Author(s):  
Paul Bendor-Samuel

Mission is shaped by the life and experience of the church, both past and present, and this in turn is the function of both the work of the Spirit of God and the interaction of the people of God with their contexts. In line with this position, we examine the impact of Covid-19, highlighting some elements of the global context of mission, trends in world Christianity and mission. We then explore how global mission is in a process of realignment that has the potential to be enhanced through embracing the conditions Covid-19 has imposed on us. Finally, we consider the need for deep reflection on our identity if we are to take the opportunity to bear faithful witness in this moment.

2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (106) ◽  
pp. 349
Author(s):  
José Raimundo de Melo

A multiplicidade e variedade dos serviços ministeriais que se fazem presentes na celebração litúrgica do povo de Deus é elemento chave na compreensão da comunidade cristã, pois os ministérios, em definitivo, exprimem e definem a própria realidade da Igreja. A inteira assembléia é ministerial porque a Igreja mesma é toda ministerial. E esta ministerialidade se expressa na liturgia através da diversidade de funções e ofícios que cada um é chamado a desempenhar. Ao contrário do que quase sempre sucede no mundo, porém, a hierarquia de funções na Igreja não denota prestígio e nem pode conduzir à acepção de pessoas. Ancorada na mais pura linha evangélica, deve ela indicar compromisso cristão e serviço fraterno em total doação a Deus e aos irmãos. Para uma reflexão sobre esta importante realidade eclesial, que a partir sobretudo do Concílio Vaticano II a Igreja tem aprofundado e se esforçado em viver, empreenderemos a seguir, ancorados em alguns textos litúrgicos, um estudo a respeito dos ministérios presentes no momento celebrativo da comunidade cristã. Publicamos aqui a primeira parte do artigo.ABSTRACT: The multiplicity and variety of ministerial services which are present in a liturgical celebration of the People of God is a key element in the understanding of the Christian community, since ministries, of themselves, express and define the very reality of the Church. The entire assembly is ministerial because the Church itself is all ministerial. And this ministeriality expresses itself in the liturgy through the diversity of functions and offices which each one is called on to fulfill. Contrary to what almost always happens in the world, however, the hierarchy of functions in the Church does not denote prestige, nor can it lead to the classification of persons. Anchored in the purest evangelical tradition, it should indicate Christian commitment and fraternal service in total self-giving to God and to others. For a reflection on this important ecclesial reality, which, especially from the Second Vatican Council, the Church has struggled to live out, we undertake a study – anchored in some liturgical texts – of the ministries present in the celebrative moment of the Christian community. We publish here the first part of the article. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-131
Author(s):  
Ailsa Barker

Missional hermeneutics is the interpretation of Scripture as it relates to the missionary task of the church. Four elements comprise a missional hermeneutics: 1) the missional trajectory of the biblical story being the foremost element, which also underlies the other three, 2) a narrative throughout Scripture centered on Christ and intended to equip the people of God for their missional task, 3) the missional context of the reader, in which attention moves from the task of equipping to the community being equipped, a community that is active, and 4) a missional engagement with culture and the implications thereof. Through the life of God’s people an alternative is offered, together with an invitation to come and join. Because the separation of theology from the mission of the church has distorted theology, all theology needs to be reformulated from the perspective of missio Dei and from the realization that the church is a sent community, missional in its very being. A missional hermeneutics bears implications upon the congregation, worship, preaching, discipleship, education, ministerial training, and the missionary task in multicultural contexts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
John Littleton

Abstract People of God is a well-known biblical term used to describe and understand the inclusive, holistic and serving nature of the Christian Church. Currently, members of the worldwide Anglican Communion are discussing discipleship and ministry. This paper explores the deep connection between describing the church as the People of God and the practice of discipleship and ministry. That exploration occurs through an examination of the considerable literature on the topic, and by discussing discipleship and ministry in light of understanding the church as the People of God. Discoveries made from the journey may surprise. Suggestions for church practice emerged with implications for: ecclesial language; parish ministry and mission; the processes of Anglican Diocesan Synods; and potential outcomes for the 2022 Lambeth Conference.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Liz Shercliff

Feminism’s contribution to homiletics so far has arguably been restricted to exploring gender difference in preaching. In 2014, however, Jennifer Copeland identified a need not merely to ‘include women “in the company of preachers” but to craft a new register for the preaching event’. This article considers what that new register might be and how it might be taught in the academy. It defines preaching as ‘the art of engaging the people of God in their shared narrative by creatively and hospitably inviting them into an exploration of biblical text, by means of which, corporately and individually, they might encounter the divine’ and proposes that in both the Church and the Academy, women’s voices are suppressed by a rationalist hegemony. For the stories of women to be heard, a new homiletic is needed, in which would-be preachers first encounter themselves, then the Bible as themselves and finally their congregation in communality. Findings of researchers in practical preaching discover that women preachers are being influenced by feminist methodology, while the teaching of preaching is not. In order to achieve a hospitable preaching space, it is proposed that the Church and the Academy work together towards a new homiletic.


Author(s):  
Kelebogile Resane

Charles Peter Wagner is a well-known missiologist and ecclesiologist of the latest era. He is the author, trainer and prayer warrior who founded the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) that seeks to establish a fourth house. The NAR is a heterodox movement in Protestant Christianity sometimes known as the apostolic-prophetic movement, commonly associated with both the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches worldwide since the beginnings of the 1990s. Central to their theology is their locus of dogma that the task of the church, under the leadership of the apostles and prophets, is to take dominion of the earth within Christendom (distinct from Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodox Christianity). The ekklesia is the people of God, whether they are gathered in their congregations on Sunday as the nuclear Church, or scattered in the workplace Monday through Saturday as the extended Church. The extended Church, just like the nuclear Church, is founded on apostles and prophets, but in the extended Church these are the different people who operate differently under a different rule book. It is these extended church leaders who will be most effective in transforming society. Workplace apostles are called to take dominion in business, government, arts and entertainment, media, family and education. Panoramically, Wagner’s ecclesiology, like mainstream evangelical ecclesiology, is trinitarian, communal, missiological and eschatological in nature and character. The weaknesses on his ecclesiology include the notions of polity based on fivefold ministries, balance of power and authority on church leadership, phenomenological approach to texts, exegetical shortcomings, and secular models in ecclesiastical governance.


2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Christiaan Mostert

The church is the “people of God” in a particular way, namely as an eschatological community, living in the present in the light of God's promised future, already made real proleptically in the ministry of Jesus and in his resurrection from the dead. This eschatological character shapes every aspect of ecclesial life and work. In particular, it makes the church an anticipatory sign of the unity of humankind. Among the implications that follow from such a view of the church are ecumenical ones, with challenges at both local and wider levels. The article concludes with some critical reflections on the three great problems of faith and order: baptism, eucharist and (especially) ministry.


Horizons ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-53
Author(s):  
Brian P. Flanagan

ABSTRACTThis article looks at two major metaphors used in contemporary ecclesiology, the church as “the People of God” and as “the Bride of Christ,” which have functioned in some of the polarizing debates within the Catholic Church in North America. It then suggests some methodological reasons why reliance upon metaphors in ecclesiology, either through the balancing of different metaphors or the promotion of a dominant metaphor, is inadequate to the task of understanding the church systematically. It then suggests some avenues for future ecclesiological method that may help to understand the church better and so to respond better to contemporary ecclesiological debates.


Author(s):  
Ormond Rush

For 400 years after the Council of Trent, a juridical model of the church dominated Roman Catholicism. Shifts towards a broader ecclesiology began to emerge in the nineteenth century. Despite the attempts to repress any deviations from the official theology after the crisis of Roman Catholic Modernism in the early twentieth century, various renewal movements, known as ressourcement, in the decades between the world wars brought forth a period of rich ecclesiological research, with emphasis given to notions such as the Mystical Body, the People of God, the church as mystery, as sacrament, and as communio. The Second Vatican Council incorporated many of these developments into its vision for renewal and reform of the Roman Catholic Church. Over half a century after Vatican II, a new phase in its reception is emerging with the pontificate of Pope Francis.


Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-493
Author(s):  
Gerhard Lohfink
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