A Revisit of the Ministerial Concept of Lay and Full-Time Ministers in Classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana and its Missional Implications

In their article “Pentecostal Mission Approaches” White and Niemandt (2015, 241–269) make a case for how some Pentecostal Churches in Ghana have made good use of lay/tent ministry in their missionary agenda. However, among the Classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana, lay ministers are not recognised as full-time ministers of the church. The understanding of these churches is that the lay/tent ministers by their definition do not operate in the five-fold ministry. In some of the churches, they are not accredited by the church to be part of their General Ministerial Council Meetings and the Annual General Meetings. Unlike the mainline churches, the lay or tent ministers in the Classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana are also not allowed to vote or to be recommended for Executive Council positions. These issues therefore make it essential to investigate the historical and theological understanding of the concept of the lay and full-time ministers in church history, Ghanaian Pentecostals’ view of the concept, as well as the missional importance of lay ministries in the church and the missio Dei.

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The Relevance of Singing the Te Deum Laudamus in the Postmodern Era

Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae ◽

10.25159/2412-4265/4423 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Phemelo Olifile Marumo

Keyword(s):

Church History ◽

Missio Dei ◽

Te Deum ◽

Christian Churches ◽

God's Mission ◽

Pertinent Question ◽

History Of ◽

The Universe ◽

The Church ◽

Te Deum Laudamus

This paper investigates the relevance of singing and performing the Te Deum Laudamus in the postmodern Christian era, especially in view of changing enactments and perceptions of the purpose of the hymn. The Te Deum has been used in various ways in church history, sung as a confession of praise and regularly used since the time of St Benedict during Matins (morning service). While the Reformers were critical of the late medieval worship, they did not query incorporating the Te Deum into their liturgies, because it brought meaning to the glorification of a benevolent God. This explains its use also by most Christian churches in their liturgies in the postmodern era. However, the pertinent question remains: Is the Te Deum still applicable to the postmodern church, which is characterised by secularism, charismatic sermons, and commercialised worship. The question is instigated by events and conceptions of the universe from the era of Gregorianism to Darwinism. In answering this question, the paper highlights the history of the Te Deum and its application within the church, and seeks to find out whether the hymn addresses the present needs of Christians, which have been affected by postmodernism. The paper contends that the Te Deum is still relevant and contributes to the glorification of God’s mission (missio Dei).

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Planning and management in the Missional agenda of the 21st Century Church: A study of Lighthouse Chapel International

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v38i1.1699 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter White ◽

Benjamin O. Acheampong

Keyword(s):

21St Century ◽

Holy Spirit ◽

Church Leadership ◽

Missio Dei ◽

Planning And Management ◽

The Holy Spirit ◽

Pentecostal Churches ◽

Central Argument ◽

Interdisciplinary Study ◽

The Church

Planning and management is an important aspect of every successful organisation. In a similar way as the church participates in the missio Dei, it is essential that we consider planning and management as part of the missional tools for the management of the various resources God has given the church. Doing this, church leadership must join in with the Father (God) and the Holy Spirit to know what he wants to accomplish in their context as they plan and manage God�s resources for missional purposes. In the light of this understanding, the article discusses the role of �planning and management in the missional agenda of the 21st century church� by using one of the fastest growing Neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana, the Lighthouse Chapel International, as a case study. The central argument in this paper is that although leadership has a major role to play in missional planning, it is however a holistic and all-inclusive agenda. Missional planning includes the involvement of the Holy Spirit, congregational leadership, the entire congregation and the various resources the church is being endowed with by God.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The study is an interdisciplinary study between Missiology, Planning, and Management. The result from the study will enhance the Ecclesiastical Community to appreciate the importance of management and planning as they participate in the missio Dei.

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Die inkarnering van die missio Dei as praktykmodel vir die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v71i3.3066 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

Author(s):

J. Christo Van der Merwe

Keyword(s):

Missio Dei ◽

Christian Mission ◽

Early Christian ◽

Reformed Church ◽

Incarnational Mission ◽

The Many ◽

Theological Understanding ◽

The Mind ◽

Christian Witness ◽

The Church

The incarnation of the missio Dei practice model for the Dutch Reformed Church of Africa. The decline of the church in the West is of great concern to many today. The Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa (NRCA), experiences the same tendency. We are living in a time when survival is on the mind of most mainline congregations and denominations. The question is what shall we do to turn this situation around? The answer is to be found in the rediscovery of what it means for the church to be missional. The knowledge about how the early church functioned helps us to rediscover the character of early Christian mission, much of what is drawn together in the concept of incarnational mission. This article examines incarnational mission as the understanding and practise of Christian witness that is rooted in and shaped by the life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Understanding mission incarnationally in this manner is an integrative way to approach the church’s missionary vocation and to avoid the typical Western reduction of mission to one of the many programms of the church. The article, by exploring the meaning of incarnational mission, endeavours to be both constructive with regard to the biblical and theological understanding of the message, and polemical with regard to the context and history of mission, especially in the Western tradition. This article follows Darrell Guder in arguing that the historical ‘happenedness’ of Jesus’ life both enables and defines Christian witness. In exploring the missional ignificance of the incarnation, the article tries to avoid any dilution of the centrality of the incarnation event.

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Televangelism: A study of the ‘Pentecost Hour’ of the Church of Pentecost

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v72i3.3337 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Peter White ◽

Abraham Anim Assimeng

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Missio Dei ◽

Great Commission ◽

The Past ◽

Pentecostal Churches ◽

The Media ◽

The Mass Media ◽

The Church

The liberalisation of the Ghanaian media since the 1990s has drastically changed the media landscape of Ghana and given rise to the use of the mass media for evangelism purposes. The advent of the mass media offered churches and televangelists a unique opportunity to fulfil the Great Commission, and it is the Pentecostals who continue to use it effectively. Many Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches in the past 20 years have made good use of the mass media (radio and television) for the propagation of the gospel. In this article the televangelism ministry of the Church of Pentecost, named ‘Pentecost Hour’, and how it has influenced the mission and discipleship agenda of the Church of Pentecost in their endeavour to participate in the missio Dei are discussed.

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Vision 2025 and the Bible translation movement

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v69i1.1332 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 69 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kirk J. Franklin ◽

Cornelius J.P. Niemandt

Keyword(s):

Church History ◽

Missio Dei ◽

Global Alliance ◽

Christian Mission ◽

Bible Translation ◽

The Bible ◽

Lessons Learnt ◽

Mission Agencies ◽

The World ◽

The Church

Complex questions have arisen about how Christian mission agencies function within a globalised context. The changing context has impacted on how the missio Dei has been worked out within these agencies and this has had implications of a theological and missiological nature in particular as to how the agencies have interacted with the church worldwide. This has lead to new paradigms of how mission is conceptualised. The growth of the church worldwide in newer soil has forced mission agencies such as the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA) to re-evaluate their place in the world. It has been assumed that as resources have decreased from parts of the world where the WGA has had its traditional roots, there are missiological factors in determining how this impacts on the WGA. There are many missiological implications for the WGA that come from influences in church history on the importance of the translatability of the gospel especially in the context of Bible translation. These have impacted the WGA’s understanding of itself and in particular of how it has interpreted and reinterpreted its Vision 2025. When the missio Dei converges with outcomes of globalisation there are numerous implications for an agency such as the WGA. Consequently, the article concludes that none of these matters can be ignored. Instead they must be explored and lessons learnt from them that can be passed along to others in similar situations.

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Pentecostal hermeneutical reconsideration of the longer ending of Mark 16:9–20

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v41i1.2089 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marius Nel

Keyword(s):

Gospel Of Mark ◽

Church History ◽

Manuscript Tradition ◽

Original Manuscript ◽

New Testament Studies ◽

Canonical Inclusion ◽

History Of ◽

Pentecostal Churches ◽

Litmus Test ◽

The Church

Many scholars accept that Mark 16:9–20 is a late addition to the gospel of Mark based on the testimony of the manuscript tradition and internal evidence. Within early Pentecostalism, Mark 16:9–20 influenced pentecostal practice and proclamation to an inordinate extent, with ‘these signs shall follow’ (v. 17) serving at the same time as a wake-up call to worldwide mission and a litmus test for the authenticity of early pentecostal experience. Most early Pentecostals used Mark 16:9–20 without giving any consideration to its originality; however, some reacted to the scholarly debate about the longer ending by discussing its relevance in terms of its canonical inclusion and value. The article discusses these canonical considerations to answer the question: If it is accepted that the passage was not part of the original manuscript, what are the implications of it being used extensively throughout the history of the church as a part of the canon, and specifically in terms of its value and prevalent use in pentecostal practice?Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is intradisciplinary by touching issues concerning New Testament studies, hermeneutics and church history. Mark 16:9–20 is by scholarly consensus seen as a late addition to the gospel; however, Pentecostal churches have been and still are influenced by the text. If it is viewed as canonical, it calls for another way of thinking about Scripture.

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