From semiotic exegesis to contextual ecclesiology: The hermeneutics of missional faith in the COVIDian era

This essay uses the global impact of the Coronavirus as a heuristic semiotic for exploring the future of the church. Unlike the pandemic of 1918, which left few dents on the world’s economic, social, and cultural systems, almost all the nations of the world have passed laws and implemented procedures that are only comparable to world wars in their impact on entire populations. Nations are acting in unison, but not in unity. This post-COVID, post-Corona world is the ‘time that is given’ to the church. But it will not be a post-pandemic world. We may become COVID-proof, but we will never be pandemic-proof. There is no pre-COVID reset. There is only risk assessment from natural extinction risks to existential dangers of our own creation that are catching up to us (climate change, GRAIN [genetic engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence {AI}, info-tech, nanotechnology]). Disruption is the new status that is never quo; stability is the new abnormality; global cataclysm is the ever-present peril. The only way to prepare for a future of constant ‘the end of the world as we know it?’ moments is by developing a high Contextual Quotient (CQ), and deepening our Contextual Intelligence (CI) so we can choose ‘the next right thing’ in a world of volcanic volatility.Contribution: This essay frames the semiotics of a missional ecclesiology in the COVIDian wake from the hermeneutics of blessings not curses. What virtues might we expect to come out of a virus that is fast-forwarding the future, virtues that will shape the contours of Christianity. What if the pandemic is a shock treatment that is putting the world, and the church, back in a new and better equilibrium? What if there are goldmines on the other side of the landmines and minefields?

The shaping and formation of a missional ecclesiology of township congregations in the Mangaung Metro Municipality during COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught most organisations, institutions and leaders off-guard, including church leaders. This was not any different in the congregations in the townships of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The article discusses the responses of the churches in the Mangaung district and poses the question pertinently, ‘How did (or not) the churches in the Mangaung district reimagine, restructure, and position themselves prophetically during the COVID-19 pandemic?’. This is done firstly by providing a background to the development of a missional ecclesiology in North America, United Kingdon, and South Africa. Secondly, a discussion will be focused on the characteristics of the congregations which are necessary for developing a missional ecclesiology, in terms of these phases, as argued by Baron and Maponya. However, in the final section it will bring the missional ecclesiological discourse in conversation with the shaping and developing (or not) of a missional ecclesiology in respect of congregations in the township of the Mangaung Metro Municipality. The authors provide some contours for the missional role of the church in the current South African context and the formation of a missional ecclesiology.Contribution: This article contributes to the missional church discourse in missiology, that has been a conversation within Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. The authors have been conducting research within mostly Pentecostal church in the township of Mangaung. The article is an attempt to broaden the missional church discussion in terms of region and Pentecostal ecclesiology.

Missionale ekklesiologie in die Afrikaanse gereformeerde kerke sedert 1990

Missional ecclesiology in the Afrikaans reformed churches since 1990This article argues that “missional ecclesiology” in the last decades became a new mission paradigm for churches in South Africa, especially after the demise of apartheid. After an overview of the development of a “missio Dei” theology, the article examines texts from various South African churches in which this terminology is used. The article concludes with a section which underlines the importance of missional ecclesiology in the context of the local congregation. Congregations are seen as “missional”, challenged to be present in local communities as a living witness to God’s love. Missional ecclesiology has its theological foundation in the “missio Dei”. In missional ecclesiology, mission is understood as part of the nature of God as well as the nature of the church. Without mission there is no church. Mission is not a project, it is existential. However, there are diverse interpretations of “missio Dei”, “missional ecclesiology” and “mission” itself. As a result, many congregations find it difficult to identify with missional ecclesiology and enter a process of transformation. The historical analysis presented here contributes to a better understanding of the terminology as well as the challenges facing churches in the 21st century.