scholarly journals Liturgical guidelines for congregations to have a voice in the serious problem of economical inequality in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barend J. De Klerk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Problem Statement ◽  
Local Congregation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Church

It is part of the calling of the church to address issues of justice and peace, and to care for the poor and the marginalised in society, because the church is the body of Christ and therefore the heart and hands of Christ in this world. In this article, the problem statement is: ‘How can liturgical guidelines help churches to become involved in the economic inequality and the consequent poverty in our society?’ Richard Osmer articulates a practical theological method that is largely employed in this research. South Africa is the world’s most unequal nation. The South African economy grew steadily from 1992 to 2008, but the benefits were distributed unequally, such that income inequality actually worsened. It is necessary to get a truthful starting point for the church to address this need − and the best way will be to discover the identity of the church. The church’s identity is described in the liturgical sense in three phases of involvement in society, namely (1) the gathering and sending of the local congregation; (2) the liturgical responsibility with the ecumenical church; and (3) the possible cooperation with those who do not share the Christian faith.Deel van die kerk se roeping is om aangeleenthede soos geregtigheid en vrede aan te spreek, asook om vir armes en gemarginaliseerdes in die samelewing te sorg. Die kerk is immers die liggaam van Christus en daarom die hart en hande van Christus in die wêreld. Die probleemstelling van hierdie artikel is: ‘Hoe kan liturgiese riglyne kerke help om betrokke te raak by die ekonomiese ongelykhede en gevolglike armoede in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing?’ Richard Osmer bied ’n prakties-teologiese metode wat met vrug gebruik is in hierdie navorsing. Suid-Afrika is die wêreld se mees ekonomies-ongelyke nasie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie het van 1992 tot 2008 stelselmatig gegroei, maar die voordele daarvan is sodanig versprei dat die ongelykheid in inkomste toegeneem het. Dit is nodig om ’n betroubare vertrekpunt vir die kerk te vind om hierdie probleem te hanteer – en die beste wyse is om by die identiteit van die kerk aansluiting te vind. Die identiteit van die kerk in die liturgiese sin word in drie fases van betrokkenheid in die samelewing beskryf: (1) die vergadering en uitstuur van die plaaslike gemeente; (2) die liturgiese verantwoordelikheid tesame met die ekumeniese kerk; en (3) die moontlike samewerking met hulle wat nie in die Christelike geloof deel nie.

scholarly journals Op pad na ’n nuwe bedieningstruktuur: ’n Analise van die gemeente as deel van hierdie proses

1993 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Van der Walt ◽  
M. J. Du P Beukes
Keyword(s):  
Church Growth ◽  
Local Church ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Situation Analysis ◽  
Local Congregation ◽  
2 Corinthians ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Corinthians 3 ◽  
The Church

Heading toward new ministerial structures: A situationanalysis of the local congregation According to 2 Corinthians 3:18 the church has the instruction to be transformed so to become part of the body of Christ more and more. But it does happen that the church stagnate in its ministry. The purpose of the subject Church Growth is to adress this problem. One phase of this subject is the analysis of the situation in the local church. The purpose of the analysis is to systematically look at the situation in a congregation of the church and then to identify problems that stand in the way of fulfilling of the Biblical command. The situation- analysis can not be done at random, but must be planned carefully. This study gives attention to a planned situation-analysis of the local church.

Apartheid and the Church in South Africa

Worldview ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Koji Taira
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Inhibiting Factor ◽  
The World ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church

In order to be truly the body of Christ in the world, the Church seeks the right to give free, unrestricted expression to its basic functions such as worship, proclamation, fellowship, service and teaching. In an avowedly Christian country it legitimately proceeds on the assumption that this right is given. Apartheid legislation and custom, however, place serious restrictions on these basic functions, as well as on the overall administration of the Church.Apart from specific restrictions contained in legislation, there is also the inhibiting factor of uncertainty engendered by the wideness and vagueness of many regulations and laws. A climate of opinion has developed, encouraged by the plethora of regulations and laws, which makes even legally permissible actions seem doubtful and possibly dangerous.

scholarly journals From victimhood to hubs of (trans)formation and local agency: Re-imagining poor urban communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasebwe T.L. Kabongo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
The Body ◽  
Good News ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Black African ◽  
Biblical Principles ◽  
The Church

This article was written from the perspective of a black African who has been unfairly subjected to colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism. This African is learning to simultaneously blame others for mistakes committed against him and interrogate his own agency in being an answer to his own prayers. He has observed that communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence of this, most of its residents prefer to move away, if they have the option of doing so. This article explored the concept of thin places as a vehicle to nurture agency amongst people living in communities of poverty such as Soshanguve. It uses the narrative approach of storytelling to recount particular past events and present ones as a tool to cultivate a ‘can-do attitude’ in ordinary people. The goal is to raise agents of hope who will bring good news to their neighbours and anybody else, using biblical principles as a critical tool in their toolkit. Communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence, most of its residents prefer to move out, if they have the choice to do so. This article reflects on the efforts of a missional team, InnerCHANGE, to help residents of the township of Soshanguve migrate from a victim mentality to become agents of their own hope. It uses a theology of place that alludes to concepts of thin places which challenges ordinary people to become participants in the flourishing of lives around them. A reflection on agency influenced by the Black Consciousness Movement and other African scholars gave context, meaning and relevance to such a theology of place. Stories of agency from Africa are remembered and retold to inspire ordinary people. Some of the latter have taken to heart these inspirational stories and have been transformed into agents. This article calls such people transformation agents. A conclusion was made that the Church needs to continue playing its prophetic role in society. Such a role could entail reminding people of existing assets they may have such as stories told around them of people who defied the normal victim mentality seen in poor communities and actively built thin places around them.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article was based on the field of missiology. It engaged historical facts (history) in a way that could nurture and develop agency in ordinary people. It challenges a general apathy towards community involvement found within the body of Christ located in South African communities of poverty.

scholarly journals "Moiwa fa ba bangwe The imperative to generosity and caring - a challenge to the Hervormde Kerk in Suidelike Afrika1

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Manala
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
The Face ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church

In this article, the Afro-Christian imperative of caring and sharing is highlighted as a fundamental response of the church, as the body of Christ, in the face of abject poverty. The extent of poverty in South Africa is sketched, both as an economically and as a socio-spiritualy destructive phenomenon. Based on Biblical perspectives, theological principles underlying benevolent services within Reformed churches are outlined and evaluated.

scholarly journals The Bantu Presbyterian Church in South Africa and Ecumenism, 1940–1999

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Problem Statement ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
South African Council ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Church

From 1940, ecumenical developments in the Presbyterian/Congregational corpus in Southern Africa became more tortuous and complex, with an expansion of the number of denominations involved in union negotiations to include the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA, from 1979 the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, RPCSA), the Congregational Union of South Africa, later the United Congregational Church of South Africa, the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and the Tsonga Presbyterian Church (TPC, later the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of South Africa, EPCSA). The problem statement centres around the complex situation that despite substantial similarities in doctrine, liturgy and polity, as well as involvement in the Church Unity Commission and the South African Council of Churches, the union proved to be elusive. The aim of this article is to investigate the dynamics of the developing relationships and hindrances to closer relationships in the wider South African context. This study is conducted from the perspective of the BPCSA and RPCSA, and the methodology is based predominantly on archival research.

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.

La metáfora de la 'ecclesia mater' en la literatura antidonatista

Augustinus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-225
Author(s):  
Paola Marone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
African Theology ◽  
The Church

The modern scholars have studied the maternity of the Church independently from the anti-Donatist literature. But a careful study of the anti-Donatist documents reveals many interesting elements. According to Optatus and Augustine the notion of mother was abscribed to all believers, because the body of Christ was formed of all those the Church bore as children through the baptism. According to both African bishops also the donatists gave a valid baptism, but only Augustine demonstrated how the salvation could be found outside of the viscera Ecclesiae. Then this article deals with the image of the Ecclesia mater as illustrated in the Adversus Donatistas of Optatus published in answer to the donatist bishop Parmenianus and in all that Augustine penned against the schismatics (Tractatus, Sermones, Epistulae). By doing so, it presents a picture of the African theology of the fourth century.

What is Distinctive about Methodist Ecclesiology? A Response to Papers by Miriam Haar, Justus Hunter and Robert Martin

Ecclesiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Kenneth Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Church

Does Methodism want a distinctive ecclesiology? British Methodism assumes its ecclesiology from the Church of England which explains its lack of ecclesiological thinking, its genuine desire for reunification, and indeed its focus on ecclesia in actu. But there can be no ecclesia in actu apart from ecclesia per se. Being and doing are one in God. The Church, grounded in the dynamic being of God in Trinity, celebrates in the action of the Eucharist the wholeness of God’s presence with his world. Proleptically the Church includes the whole of creation and all people. Hence, when as the Body of Christ we pray the Our Father with our Lord, we pray on behalf of all, not just for ourselves. But what then do we mean by apostolicity? Perhaps in Methodism we would be well occupied exploring more keenly with the Roman Catholic Church what we each mean by being a society within the church. Outler may have been right when he opined that Methodism needed a Catholic Church within which to be church.

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