Equipping A Selected Group Of Believers At Latta Baptist Church In Latta, South Carolina, To Utilize Their Spiritual Gifts

Still segregated under Jim Crow restrictions, the Liberia community continues in this chapter as a semi-protected enclave, anchored primarily by one extended family. The story of Liberia includes the community’s survival as a farming region as desegregation gradually percolated into Upstate South Carolina and as racialized assaults continued. Soapstone Baptist Church persists, but Soapstone School eventually closes under rural (but still segregated) consolidation. The story of Liberia is presented primarily through the memories of contemporary residents, especially the community’s surviving matriarch and her extended family.

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A rediscovery of the priesthood of believers in Ephesians 4:1–16 and its relevance for the Missio Dei and a biblical missional ecumenism

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi ◽

10.4102/ids.v51i2.2251 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

Author(s):

George Lotter ◽

Timothy Van Aarde

Keyword(s):

Catholic Church ◽

Spiritual Gifts ◽

Missio Dei ◽

Baptist Church ◽

Peter 2 ◽

1 Peter ◽

Vatican Council ◽

Priesthood Of Believers ◽

The Church

This article is dedicated to Professor Sarel van der Merwe as missiologist and what he had done for the cause of the missio Dei in South Africa. The role of the laity in the missio Dei was one of the most significant developments followed by most church denominations. The priesthood of believers was the reformational perspective rediscovered by Martin Luther. The reformed tradition rediscovered the role of the laity in missions, which the Baptist church tradition has now developed most extensively in terms of missions. The Catholic Church has recognised the apostolicity of the laity in a decree called ‘Apostolicam Actuositatem’ at the Second Vatican Council in response to the crises of the church. The charismatics gave recognition to the role of the laity through the spiritual gifts of each believer. The role of the laity and of the priesthood of believers has its biblical precedent and foundation in 1 Peter 2:5, 9 and Ephesians 4:1–16. The contribution of Ephesians is that it provides the church with a missional mandate for the ordinary believer to participate in the missio Dei –, a mandate that has to be rediscovered in every age. The priesthood of believers provides an orientation for a biblical missional ecumenism.

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