Peran Gembala Jemaat dalam Pengajaran Agama Kristen terhadap Keterlibatan Warga Jemaat dalam Pelayanan

Lack of church involvement in every church activity (service), because the congregation does not get guidance, direction, and teaching. If Christian religious teaching is taught properly and healthily, the congregation will be strong / survive, experience a change in thinking (cognitive), attitude (affective), and willing to be involved (psychomotor) in church activities. That is why, if the congregation has received formation, teaching properly and healthily, they will take root, grow, and bear fruit (Colossians 3:17). The method presented during the study was to use quantitative methods, namely distributing questionnaires to members of the Church of Christ Rahmani Indonesia, Sola Gratia Church, Ruko Permata Ujung Menteng. As a result, as a pastor, the task is not only to shepherd but also to be responsible for the spirituality of the church in providing teaching, formation, direction, and training to church members. AbstrakKurangnya keterlibatan jemaat di dalam setiap kegiatan gereja (pelayanan), karena jemaat tidak mendapatkan bimbingan, arahan, dan pengajaran. Apabila pengajaran agama Kristen diajarkan secara benar dan sehat maka jemaat akan kuat/survive, mengalami suatu perubahan di dalam berpikir (kognitip), bersikap (afektip), serta mau untuk terlibat (psikomotor) di dalam kegiatan-kegiatan gereja. Itu sebabnya, jika jemaat sudah mendapatkan pembinaan, pengajaran secara benar dan sehat maka mereka akan berakar, bertumbuh, dan berbuah (Kolose 3:17). Metode yang disajikan selama penelitian adalah menggunakan metode kuantitatif yaitu penyebaran angket kepada para anggota jemaat di Gereja Kristus Rahmani Indonesia Jemaat Sola Gratia, Ruko Permata Ujung Menteng. Hasilnya sebagai seorang gembala tugasnya tidak saja menggembalakan tetapi ia juga bertanggungjawab terhadap kerohanian jemaat di dalam memberikan pengajaran, pembinaan, pengarahan, dan pelatihan kepada warga jemaat.

The Role of the Contemporary Christian Church in the Rural American South

The contemporary Christian Church plays many roles in the community and in the lives of individuals and families living there: Church as a political tool, Church as an instrument for community stability and change, Church as an oppressor and source of rejection, and Church as a source of protection. Literature commonly approaches Christianity and involvement in the contemporary Christian Church from a positivist paradigm which assumes Christianity and church-involvement are rooted solely in commitment to faith. Exploring Christianity in a rural context requires researchers to consider alternative philosophical paradigms when operationalizing religion, such as church-involvement as a source of community or social exclusion through a post-positivist paradigm or church-involvement as a source of authority through Foucault's postmodernist paradigm. Shifts in the operationalization of religion in rural research and implications of such must be considered in the field of social work.

Adam Smith, Thomas Chalmers and the formation of a moral economy

This paper argues that the contemporary church needs to re-engage with the task of training individuals (both within the church and without) to become morally responsible members of commercial society. It examines practices of church involvement in the moral training of secular society advocated by Adam Smith and Thomas Chalmers in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scotland as potential models for this.

Church Involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Its Biblical Antecedent vis-à-vis the Society’s Attitude to Wealth

Slavery existed in most ancient cultures and continues to exist indirectly in some societies in its various forms. Though slavery was used openly in the past by ancient cultures to create wealth, it is today regarded as an act of injustice against humanity. The trans-Atlantic slave trade between the fifteenth and nineteenth century is no exception. Christians who claimed to have the love of God and humanity at the centre of their religion were involved in such atrocious trade practices to create wealth. The church’s involvement in this economic venture seems paradoxical and contrary to its mission of love for all humanity. This paper assesses the church’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade to unravel the motives of such a paradox. It traces the biblical antecedent to the slave trade vis-à-vis the society’s attitude to wealth. It explores how the Judaeo-Christian scriptures and the Greco-Roman world shaped the church’s understanding of slavery to see how the church perceived its practice and the motives for its involvement.

Servant Leadership: The Style of Frank Chikane from Early Life to the Presidency of Thabo Mbeki

This article is a historical study of Frank Chikane from early life to the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. The article looks at the early life of Chikane; his experience of the crusade organisation “Christ for all Nations” in 1975; theological studies at the Pan-African Bible Correspondence College; pastoral duties at Kagiso; ordination in 1980; detention by government; suspension by the church; involvement in Institute for Contextual Theology; reconciliation with Adriaan Vlok; involvement in the unity of the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM); and his role as a director general in the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the leadership style of Chikane is servant leadership.

My Pilgrimage in Mission

This personal account chronicles the journey of one expatriate family that tested the viability of the migration evangelism model set forth in 1961 by Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. Reflecting on nearly two decades of cultural identification and church involvement as self-supporting English teachers in Japan, the author identifies ways in which their tentmaking status impacted nearly every aspect of their lives, from their legal status in the country to their relationships with other Mennonite missionaries. The article concludes that the experiment was financially successful, replicable, and led to long-term commitment, providing a satisfying, practical, and compelling paradigm for overseas missions.