scholarly journals The Church, the Pulpit, and the Poor. the Role of Preaching in Poor Relief Efforts in the Thinking of Samuel Mccomb (1864-1938)

Author(s):  
Simuț Ciprian

The problem of the poor has been a constant in the life of nations. There have always been poor people to whom society, governments, and the Church have been looking in various ways across the ages. One important aspect is the way the Church has behaved in relation to the poor, because it is the institution that preaches a certain kind of moral code, and a certain kind of human value. This paper focuses on the role of preaching and the role of the Church in poor relief efforts, as presented in the writings of Samuel McComb (1864-1938). The main argument in the thought of McComb is that the Church will always need to be involved in poor relief efforts, but not simply by helping the poor with material needs, but also by offering spiritual guidance. These efforts should be coupled with the preparing of the believers to be directly involved in poor relief, based on a moral code, which is presented and explained from the pulpit.

Author(s):  
David Carroll Cochran

Using Charles Taylor’s A Catholic Modernity? as its starting point, David Cochrane explores the evolving role of Catholicism in Ireland over the last half century and concludes that the disentangling of the Church from the dominant political and cultural institutions of society has paradoxically extended many of the very values Catholicism celebrates. Due to the severing of its close traditional connection to the State, the Church has rediscovered its original mission to provide a prophetic spiritual voice, especially in favour of the poor, and to align itself more closely with the concerns of its founder, Jesus Christ.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Saleh Alshebami ◽  
V. Rengarajan

The objective of this paper is to investigate the different types of hurdles limiting the growth and development of microfinance institutions operating in Yemen, and to suggest relevant recommendations that be used as a backup in the process of taking remedial measures. The study is both descriptive and analytical in nature. The data collected is based on both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected during the field study of ongoing PhD research study on the role of microfinance in mitigating poverty and unemployment in Yemen conducted in October 2015 by Mr. Ali Alshebami. Only a sample of nine MFIs was selected from The MFIs operating in the market, as the remaining MFIs could not be easily reached due to the prevailing persistent internal war situation. A few of these hurdles include but not limited the existence of insufficient funds necessary for financial business and the availability of poor physical infrastructure in the rural areas. In addition, the shortage of qualified human resources, the poor diversification of products and services, the political instability of the country, the wrong perception about lending to the poor and many others. Among other remedial measures, investible funds and designing of integrated financial products with the inclusion of micro insurance are essential, these two vital ones along with including the financial linkages between MFIs and formal banking institutions should be adopted for more enhancement. The study confirms that there are several difficulties and challenges, which hinder the MFIs from progressing and achieving their mission in terms of outreach to the poor people.


Patan Pragya ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Dipak Bahadur Adhikari

The focus of this paper is to analyze the role of micro-finance in socio-economic development of Kathmandu. Microfinance is a simple but effective credit tool that enables the most poor to pull themselves out of poverty. The socio-economic status of loanees has improved consequently than when they started small business with loan in the earlier days. Moreover, it was found that their socio-economic status was higher than that of non-loanees. Microcredit is an effective tool for raising the socio-economic status of the poor people, particularly the women.


2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONATHAN HEALEY

ABSTRACTThe development of the poor law has formed a key element of recent discussions of ‘state formation’ in early modern England. There are, however, still few local studies of how formal poor relief, stipulated in the great Tudor statutes, was implemented on the ground. This article offers such a study, focusing on Lancashire, an economically marginal county, far from Westminster. It argues that the poor law developed in Lancashire surprisingly quickly in the early seventeenth century, despite the fact that there is almost no evidence of implementation of statutory relief before 1598, and formal relief mechanisms were essentially in place before the Civil War even if the numbers on relief remained small. After a brief hiatus during the conflict, the poor law was quickly revived in the 1650s. The role of the magistracy is emphasized as a crucial driving force, not just in the enforcement of the statutes, but also in setting relief policy. The thousands of petitions to JPs by paupers, parishes, and townships that survive in the county archives suggests that magistrates were crucial players in the ‘politics of the parish’.


Author(s):  
Reginald Alva

Migration is a global phenomenon. An essential part of the mission of the Catholic Church is to love Christ particularly in the poor and the weak, which includes migrants. The Magisterium of the Church has consistently stressed reaching out to migrants. However, issuing documents would mean nothing if Christians do not implement them in letter and spirit. Christian charity would be meaningless if it remains only as a part of orthodoxy without orthopraxis. The phenomenal rise in global migration has created unfavorable conditions for many migrants. The Church being an ‘expert in humanity’ has a great task to reach out to the least in the society.1 In this article, we shall examine the role of the Catholic Church in bridging the gap between the orthodoxy and orthopraxis in their mission for migrants. We shall base our study on the documents of the Church and actual cases of migrant ministry in the Church.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIËLLE TEEUWEN

ABSTRACTIn many localities in the Dutch Republic, charitable collections were the single largest source of income for relief institutions for the outdoor poor. This article takes into account both the role of the authorities organising collections and the role of the city-dwellers making charitable donations. It is demonstrated that people from almost all layers of urban society contributed to the collections. By means of thorough planning and exerting social pressure, religious and secular administrators of poor relief tried to maximise Dutch generosity. They presented making charitable donations as a duty of the rich as well as of the less well-off. In the Dutch Republic, not only the elites, but also the middling groups of society, who approximately constituted almost half of the urban population, were of vital importance in financing poor relief.


Author(s):  
Christo Thesnaar

The desire to remember the plight of the poor in South Africa has reduced in the last 20 years after the transition from apartheid to freedom. To a large extent, Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) and the religious society at large have lost their ‘dangerous memory’ which keeps us mindful of those who suffered and whose plight is usually forgotten or suppressed. In this contribution the conditions of poor farm school children in multigrade rural education will be scrutinised by unpacking the contextual factors that cause us to forget their plight. This article will seek to reimagine the role of the church in poverty-stricken South Africa by engaging with the work of Talcott Parsons, the practical theologian Johannes A. Van der Ven, as well as the work of the political theologian Johann Baptist Metz in order to affirm the focus of Practical Theology to transform society and to contribute to the quest for justice and liberation for the poor in rural education. This reimagining discourse has a fundamental responsibility to challenge the social, political and economic realities that shape the lives of human beings within rural education, remembering the plight of the poor, and participating on their journey towards liberation and healing. It is proposed that if the church can activate its ‘dangerous memory’ it will be able to reimagine its role by transforming our poverty-stricken South African society, open new avenues for breaking the cycle of poverty and contribute to rural education.


2000 ◽  
Vol 45 (S8) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Boulton

Although research on survival strategies is still at a relatively early stage, there are clearly some areas where there is considerable difference in emphasis placed by historians on the relative importance of particular “expedients” deployed by the poorin extremisThere is, for example, uncertainty regarding the amount of support given by neighbours as opposed to relatives. There is some historical contention, too, over the importance to the elderly of care by their children, as opposed to alternative sources of maintenance such as earnings, charity and especially the formal institutions of poor relief. After all, in the early modern period the principle source for a study of the survival strategies of poor people is always likely to be the records of poor relief or charitable agencies and institutions. The obvious danger here is that historians of poor relief consistently overestimate the importance of such relief to the poor. Both Richard Wall and Pat Thane, using evidence from nineteenth- and twentieth-century England, for example, have demonstrated that the elderly received far more support from relatives than has been realized. Professor Thane has argued that this situation is unlikely t o have been new. Other historians, however, are much more sceptical over the value of intergenerational flows of wealth from children to elderly parents.


Author(s):  
Jana Raclavská

The article serves as a contribution to the role of women in Protestant culture. An analysis of five manuscripts by Jan Traugott Bartelmus proves that a woman is gradually gaining a new position in society. Still, the main mission of a woman is motherhood and bringing up children in faith, which is manifested in many word combinations in the form of epithets (faithful mother, gracious, kind, faithful wife, etc.). However, other roles emerge, such as supporting the poor or material help for the church. The analysis also showed that educated Cieszyn women were held in high esteem.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalemba Mwambazambi

The Church mission relative to socio-political issues in Francophone Africa requires a paradigm shift in both practice and teaching. To revitalise the Christian mission and pave the way for the positive transformation of Francophone Africa, a method review and mission strategy is relevant. The Church�s mission is to create disciples, to evangelise people, bring them to a deeper faith, promote truth, justice, peace, reconciliation, reconstruction, development and defend the poor and oppressed. Thus, people should always be central to the Church�s commitment regarding evangelism and social advancement. This article has provided a missiological overview of the Christian mission to gain a better understanding of the role of the Church in Francophone Africa today.


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