Ulangan 31:9-13 Sebagai Landasan Strategi Guru Sekolah Minggu Dalam Mengajarkan "Takut akan Tuhan"

A well-organized Sunday School can be the right means for the church to educate children in their spiritual growth so that one day they become a beautiful future for the church and the nation. Church participation through Sunday School teachers is an important part of the spiritual formation of children to instill fear of God. Researchers used Deuteronomy 31: 9-13 which is considered to be one of the important biblical foundations to be studied with the aim of being able to develop as a strategic foundation by Sunday School teachers in teaching the fear of God to children. The method used in this study is a literature review of the biblical text in Deuteronomy 31: 9-13 which is elaborated using lexical and grammatical analysis. From the analysis of the text of Deuteronomy 31: 9-13, three main parts can be found, namely: facing God's presence; listening to God's Word; and learning to fear God which will be the basic strategy(conceptual) of the Sunday School teachers when teaching the fear of the Lord.AbstrakSekolah Minggu yang terselenggara dan terorganisir dengan efektif dan baik dapat menjadi sarana yang tepat bagi gereja untuk mendidik anak-anak dalam pertumbuhan rohaninya sehingga kelak mereka menjadi masa depan yang indah bagi gereja dan bangsa. Partisipasi gereja melalui para guru Sekolah Minggu merupakan bagian yang penting dalam pembentukan kerohanian anak untuk dapat menanamkan takut akan Tuhan. Peneliti menggunakan Ulangan 31:9-13 yang dianggap merupakan salah satu landasan biblika yang penting untuk diteliti dengan tujuan dapat dikembangkan sebagai sebuah landasan strategi oleh para guru Sekolah Minggu dalam mengajarkan takut akan Tuhan pada anak-anak. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kajian pustaka dari teks Alkitab dalam Ulangan 31:9-13 yang dielaborasi menggunakan analisa leksikal dan gramatikal. Dari hasil analisis teks Ulangan 31:9-13, dapat ditemukan tiga bagian utama, yakni: menghadap hadirat Tuhan; mendengarkan Firman Tuhan; belajar takut akan Tuhan, yang akan dijadikan landasan (konseptual) strategi guru Sekolah Minggu dalam mengajarkan takut akan Tuhan.

redictors of Church Participation In Effutu Municipality, Ghana: A Marketing Perspective

The budding rate of churches in recent past has been on the rise due to myriad of factors ranging from miracle seeking, economic sustainability and the quest to be different in the wake of competition. A cross-sectional survey was used for the study. The population for the study comprised all church in the Efutu Municipality, totalling 400. A sample size of 292 respondents was selected using convenience sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to elicit information from respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze research objectives while Pearson product moment correlation was used to test the relationship between the variables. The study concludes that; preaching style and branding are significant in increasing church participation. However, physical evidence such as church building, signage and ambience do not influence church participation.

Reach and Adoption of a Randomized Weight Loss Maintenance Trial in Rural African Americans of Faith: The WORD (Wholeness, Oneness, Righteousness, Deliverance)

Purpose: There is minimal information regarding the Reach and Adoption of evidence-based weight loss maintenance interventions for African Americans of faith. Design: The WORD (Wholeness, Oneness, Righteousness, Deliverance) was an 18-month, cluster randomized trial designed to reduce and maintain weight loss in African American adults of faith. Participants received the Diabetes Prevention Program adapted core weight loss program for 6 months, and churches were subsequently randomized to 12-month maintenance treatment or control. All participants underwent body weight and associated behavioral and psychosocial assessments at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. The current article focuses on assessing Reach and Adoption at baseline and 6 months using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework. Setting: Lower Mississippi Delta. Participants: Thirty churches, 61 WORD Leaders (WLs), and 426 participants. Intervention: Group delivered by trained community members (WLs). Measures: Body mass index and percentage weight lost from baseline to 6-month follow-up were measured. Reach was assessed at participant, WL, and church levels through calculating participation rates and sociodemographics of each level. Adoption was assessed at church and WL levels. Analysis: Descriptive statistics summarized baseline characteristics of each level. Continuous and categorical end point comparisons were made. Results: Participants’ participation rate was 0.84 (n = 437 agreed to participate, n = 519 eligible invited to participate); they were predominantly female, employed, and had a mean age of 49.8. Dropouts by 6 months were younger, had differential marital status, and religious attendance compared with retained participants. Church participation rate was 0.63 (n = 30 enrolled, n = 48 eligible approached) and the majority reported ≤100 active members. The WL participation rate was 0.61 (n = 61 implemented intervention, n = 100 eligible approached); they were primarily female and aged 53.9 (mean). Conclusion: Recruitment, engagement, and delivery strategies employed by the WORD show promise of sustained engagement and adoption in other faith-based behavioral weight management programs for African Americans.

A Call for a Theology of Theologies to Address Increasing Income Inequality in Mainline Protestant Congregations

The dramatic rise in income inequality in the United States over the past several decades is likely having a significant impact on mainline Protestant congregations. The financially-comfortable tend to look to their religious traditions for a sense of meaning, while the financially-precarious tend to look for help in meeting the daily challenges of insufficient earnings. Wide differences in income can separate congregants into two groups: one with the means to participate in advocacy work and another in need of the reforms produced by this work. The non-traditional and unreliable hourly schedules of low-wage workers make church participation difficult, undermining integration into congregational life and class-bridging. Income gaps in congregations call for a thoughtful, proactive response and a sturdy theology of theologies spacious enough to embrace the distinct, but not necessarily antithetical, theologies of the financially-comfortable and of the financially-precarious.

God in the Barrio?: The Determinants of Religiosity and Civic Engagement among Latinos in the United States

It is often assumed that Latinos in the United States are deeply religious, and that this religious identity plays an important role in shaping their political beliefs and behaviors. A more controversial though unexplored proposition is that Latinos may not be as religious as is commonly believed and that forces beyond their religiosity play more prominent roles in shaping their political engagement. Relying on data from the 2006 Latino National Survey, we examine secularism — measured by church attendance — and civic engagement among Latinos. Our efforts are to analyze the social forces that shape levels of religiosity and find that generational status plays a significant role. Additionally, we further find that while church attendance declines among later generations, second and third generation Latinos have higher levels of civic engagement than their first generation peers, indicating that a decline in church participation does not depress political participation among later generations of Latinos.

Perceived benefits and church participation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived benefits and church participation among regular and irregular church goers (ICG). Design/methodology/approach – The research incorporates a descriptive research design. In total, 564 questionnaires were completed by active and relapsed members of churches in Australia. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between constructs. Findings – This study provides empirical evidence that perceived spiritual and social benefits have a positive and significant relationship with church participation in both regular and ICG sample group. Perceived purpose-in-life (PIL) benefits are not related to church participation in both sample groups. Practical implications – The findings may guide leaders of religious organisations to understand the importance of spiritual and social benefits in attracting prospective church members. The marketing message of religious organisation should therefore focus on spiritual and social appeals. Originality/value – Past researchers have not looked into the dynamic relationships between perceived benefits and church participation among regular and irregular church members, particularly in Australia, hence research is to be called for in this area. The study provides a further empirical support for the importance of social benefits within the church settings.