Autonomous Church Research Articles

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

Conceptualization of the Church Legal Order in the Modern State

The article analyses the church legal order as a component of the general social legal order. It is determined that the unique nature of ecclesiastical law and ecclesiastical legal order is the basis for a new reading of the problem of the relationship between the spiritual and legal principles of society. With the help of a set of modern methodological approaches, the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition, codes of canons and social concepts of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, works of theologians, national legislation and international legal acts, sociological data, press materials are analyzed. The ecclesiastical legal order, and the general social one, is combined with spirituality in that the sphere of the spiritual includes all the intellectual and moral forces of man, his desire for freedom and order. Comprehending the spiritual origins of law and the legal order, the authors assume that they are, above all, spiritual value. The functioning of the church legal order is an argument in opposition to those doctrinal positions that derive the legal order from the law and legality, and emphasises the appeal to the law as its real and reliable basis. Therefore, the concepts of legal order and church legal order are correlated as interrelated, but at the same time different phenomena. Legal regulation of church relations has a dual nature. It is carried out both by legal acts of the church and by the legislation of the state. Such a double dependence creates a vulnerability of the church legal order to the nature and quality of secular law. The subjective structure of the church legal order is also ambivalent. In Ukraine, as in a multi-confessional society, a separate (autonomous) church legal order is inherent in each denomination. Relationships, differences between denominations, interaction or contradictions between them in one way or another affect the state of the church legal order in society, including – the general legal order

The Church and Politics of Early 20th Centuries in Minahasa

This study aims to explain the presence of the Indische Kerk (church) of the Dutch colonial government in Minahasa, identify the problems faced by the Indische Kerk and efforts to address them in Minahasa, and analyze politics and political education in Minahasa, as well as the impact of colonial politics on the process of church ministry in Minahasa. This study employs both the structural method of Lloyd (1978) and the explanation of the fact theory of Tilly (1978). Research and discussion revealed that the presence of the Indische Kerk in Minahasa is connected to the rule of the Dutch colonial administration following the bankruptcy of the VOC trade partnership on December 31, 1799. Consequently, NZG cannot refinance its work in Minahasa. The Dutch colonial administration utilized the church door, the Indische Kerk, to exert control over the Minahasa people. However, some Minahasa-educated individuals who comprehended the politics of the Dutch colonial administration and who collaborated with the Indische Kerk to control the Minahasa people opposed the colonial church's engagement in establishing an autonomous church in Minahasa.

A family affair? Post-imperial Estonian Orthodoxy and its relationship with the Russian Mother Church, 1917–23

ABSTRACT As the First World War shattered the old empires, Orthodox Christians in former imperial territories faced a dilemma. Should they remain loyal to their Russian “Mother Church,” from which they were separated by physical and ideological borders, or should they pursue autonomy and break away from their former canonical centre? This article deals with the evolution of the Estonian part of Riga diocese into an autonomous Orthodox Church, focusing on the negotiations, compromises, pluralism, and realpolitik that characterized this process. The reconfiguration of Riga diocese in 1917–23 and the emergence of the autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church under the patriarch of Constantinople occurred under the influence of three factors: first, the political formation of Estonian statehood; second, the violence of the Bolshevik takeover and the Civil War; and, third, the temporary decentralization of the Russian Church. Pointing out that Patriarch Tikhon was willing to negotiate various forms of church autonomy in the Baltic and there was support for remaining under the jurisdiction of Moscow, the article argues that the change of jurisdiction was in itself a sign of the Estonian Church’s agency when it came to fulfilling its desire for ecclesiastical autonomy.

Music in The Liturgy of The Catholic Community in Jakarta, Indonesia

This article discusses music in the Catholic liturgy in Jakarta, Indonesia in the postmodern era within the context of the autonomy of the Catholic Church. The Indonesian Catholic Church is an independent and autonomous church where liturgical music is a form of original artistic expression. However, in practice, the majority of Catholics in Indonesia view the liturgical celebration as uninteresting and dull. Conversely, pop music has increasingly influenced liturgical music. This reality is discussed and analyzed specifically in regards to liturgical music that experiences contextual data inference, especially in the specific cultural contexts of the community. The data analysis shows, in perception of Catholics in Jakarta, the role of liturgical music in worship is not homogeneous, but rather depends on the educational background, attention from Pastors of the Parish, cultural factors, and individual past experiences. For the most part, the level of understanding regarding the nature and important position of liturgical music in religious holy celebrations is low. Most consider that all music is the same and can therefore be used in the liturgy. Music is considered only a complement to enhance religious celebrations. In this context, the government and the Indonesian Catholic Church established the Catholic Church Choir Development Institute (LP3K) as a forum for fostering Catholics in Indonesia in the liturgical field and discussing issues related to music. This article confirms that the position of the liturgical music is crucial and has an irreplaceable significance in the liturgy, and the two are inextricably woven to each other.

A young church in mission or maintenance mode?: A case study of the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (1923-1999)

The Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA) was the first autonomous South African church to be established in 1923 as the result of the work of the mission of a Church of European origin (CEO). It had taken one hundred years after the first missionaries of the Glasgow Missionary Society and subsequently the Free Church of Scotland and the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which united in 1900 to form the United Free Church of Scotland, had arrived in the Eastern Cape to form an autonomous church. It would continue to pursue its missionary strategy for the next seventy-six years until it united with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in 1999 to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa. The aim of this article is to explore the extent to which it remained true to the mission of its founders and God’s mission as it became institutionalised. The ecumenical aspect of mission has already been dealt with and will not be considered here. This particular article will concentrate on internal church policies and activities including the role of missionaries, evangelists and church associations, theological education and socio-political issues. This is predominantly an exercise in primary archival research.

Structures of Charity: What is Left of the 1920 Lambeth Conference ‘Appeal to All Christian People’?

The 1920 Lambeth Conference viewed the Anglican Communion’s confederated structure among autonomous churches as a model for the future organic reunion that its famous Appeal proposed. This article examines the Conference’s discussion of this model, as well as an influential early critique of the model, written by Yves Congar in 1937. More recent conflicts within the Anglican Communion, as well as analyses of these conflicts, have confirmed some of the practical aspects of Congar’s critique, even while Roman Catholic self-reflection has moved beyond his own early alternatives. In conjunction with Roman Catholic rethinking of the nature of oversight, the Appeal’s challenge, after 100 years, now appears to lie in the direction of a more radical restructuring of Anglican ecclesial life than its authors originally anticipated.

In the Light of Tomos

Thanks to the autocephaly of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in 2019, there is a fundamental change in the whole local Church in the religious, ecclesial, organizational, administrative and jurisdictional aspects. At the same time, there is a completely new perspective of self-realization in a fully autonomous Church based on communication with the Constantinopolitan patriarchate. This reality creates the right conditions for establishing proper relations with other Churches in the country, including Eastern Catholic and Latin, which previously had an ambiguous character. Ultimately, join the multilateral dialogue within the Christian, which aims to bring together and unite all Christians into one community of people of faith.

From three congregations to one autonomous church: The Swaziland Reformed Church

This article covers the time from 1985 to 1992 in the history of the Swaziland Reformed Church (SRC). In 1985, for the first time in its existence, the SRC had four missionaries working in the four districts of the country. At this stage the SRC formed a presbytery within the synodical region of the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA) of Northern Transvaal. In 1989 – at its own request – this church became a regional synod within the DRCA. However, not long thereafter, in 1992, it was forced to become an independent Reformed church, even though it still remained part of the family of Dutch Reformed churches. Making use of original documents, this article records this history of the SRC.

The end of Mission Councils: A case study of the Church of Scotland South Africa Joint Council, 1971–1981

This article will investigate why Mission Councils continued to exist for so long after the so-called autonomous churches were established in South Africa following the upsurge ofEthiopian and other types of African initiated churches at the close of the 19th century inopposition to the European sending churches. It will also examine how the emergingPartnership in Mission policy affected the process of integration of church and mission. Usingthe closing years of the Church of Scotland South African Joint Council (1971–1981) as a casestudy, the author examines primary sources to uncover the exercise of power demonstratedthrough racism manifested in the disposition of personnel, property and finance to control thedevelopment of authentic autonomy.

State policies towards religion and the Russian Orthodox Church in China

ABSTRACTThis article examines the history and current state of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in China. It analyses both the declared and actual approach of the Chinese authorities towards Orthodox believers in China, as well as the attitude taken towards that approach by the authorities in Russia, where the ‘Orthodox factor’ plays an increasingly prominent role in domestic and foreign policy. The author shows that Russia’s most senior political leaders assist the ROC to strengthen the status of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church (CAOC) and create better conditions for Chinese Orthodox believers. That effort has elevated the ‘Orthodox question’ to become an important issue of bilateral relations. As a result, and despite a lack of enthusiasm from the Chinese side, conditions could be created in the coming years for the normal functioning of the CAOC. At the same time, the Chinese Government is likely to consider it not as an autonomous part of the ROC (as the Orthodox canon considers it) but as one of the ‘patriotic religious organisations’ registered first at the provincial, and possibly later at the national level.

АУТОНОМИЈА ПРАВОСЛАВНЕ ЦРКВЕ У КНЕЖЕВИНИ СРБИЈИ И АРОНДАЦИ.ТА ЕПИСКОПИЈА 1831-1836.

У раду су објашњене промене у Православној цркви у Кнежевини Србији од периода стицања и уобличавања њене аутономије од 1831. до 1836. године. Указано је на чињеницу да је досадашња употреба назива „Конкордат“ у историографији за документ којим је 1831. аутономија утемељена била неодговарајућа. Анализиране су промене извршене услед деловања чинилаца спољашње и унутрашње природе, од којих је најважнија била промена броја и граница епархија. Повећањем броја епархија, обезбеђен је неопходан број епископа за формирање аутономног сабора, који би могао бирати митрополита Србије и остале архијереје у њој. Поред тога, дошло је и до промена територије епархија, прво због припајања подручја Шест нахија Кнежевини Србији 1833, а потом и услед измена граница између њих. Године 1836. Васељенска патријаршија потврдила је ново стање, чиме су границе аутономне Православне цркве у Кнежевини Србији коначно одређене.

Pioneering Leadership: Historical Myth‐Making, Absence, and Identity in the Churches of Christ in Victoria

This article explores the role of historiography in the developing identity of congregationally autonomous churches by examining the process and meaning behind the historical myth‐making associated with pioneering church leadership. In the absence of a clerical hierarchy or recognised historical expertise, four competing claims for the title of “first evangelist” emerged in the Churches of Christ (Disciples of Christ) denomination in colonial Victoria. Each of these claims is critically analysed in the light of rapidly developing church identity, the work of the evangelists in the 1860s, the influence of Australian nationalism, and historiographical portrayals which sought to make these four men heroes even in their absence. Finally the article examines absence of another kind — historiographical omission — and the question of the heroic in denominational church history.

Orthodox Christianity as a transnational religion: theoretical, historical and comparative considerations

In this article I analyse Orthodox Christianity as a transnational religion. In the first section I develop a theoretical argument concerning the relationship among diaspora, transnationalism and Orthodoxy. Seen through these lenses, transnationalism represents a newfound situation connected to the epochal shift from empires to nation-states. I then give a historical overview of demographic trends which shows that in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries millions of Orthodox emigrated to North America and Western Europe; while large Orthodox groups were created in the USA by the early twentieth century, the majority of Orthodox immigrants to Canada, Australia and Western Europe are post-1945 arrivals. I then offer a brief overview of the situation of Orthodox transnationalism in the post-Soviet space since 1989, and argue that in contrast to that situation, it is the experience of migration that is most accurately captured by the label of religious transnationalism. Lastly, I conduct an initial comparison of North American and European experiences. The current fragmentation of Orthodox jurisdictions reflects the creation of autonomous church organisations or groups of parishes that extend the jurisdictions of Mother Churches into the host states. I contemplate the consequences of religious transnationalism for future developments.

Features of church-state relations in the theological and philosophical concepts of Metropolitan Alexis (Gromadskoho)

Until recently, the name of Metropolitan Alexy (O.Ya. Gromadsky) was mentioned by researchers, mainly historians and religious scholars, mostly in the context of the problem of the split of the Orthodox Church in the Ukrainian lands during the years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1943 as the head of the Autonomous Church. At the same time, he remains almost unknown as a religious thinker, and meanwhile, in his numerous theological-philosophical and historical-religious studies works, the bishop raised the most devastating religious and spiritual problems of society and person, many of which have not lost their relevance to this day. Since Ukraine began to realize itself as a democratic country, the process of revising the relations of our state with various social institutions, including the Church, began to find a model that would ensure the harmonious development of both the state and the Church. In this context, the study of the views of one of the prominent hierarchs of intellectuals Metropolitan Alexy on church-state relations is very important and relevant.

John Carmont, The Mitchell Trust and Scottish Catholicism, 1865–1885

This article will consider the mismanagement during the years 1865–1885 of the benefaction made by Thomas Mitchell, a convert and one-time military man, to the Catholic Church in Scotland, as well as a number of other financial difficulties that beset the Church during this period. In doing so, it will reveal how the Scottish bishops, under enormous pressures because of Irish migration, acted in ways not only unbecoming of their offices, but also beyond the scope of both civil and canon law. Yet, as will be seen, the Church was developing as an institution and, in many ways, the difficulties of these years were necessary if it was to re-develop as a fully-fledged and autonomous national Church.

Book Review: From Pioneer Mission to Autonomous Church: Lutheran Mission Cooperation and Church Building in Thailand, 1976–1994

Book Review: From Pioneer Mission to Autonomous Church: Lutheran Mission Cooperation and Church Building in Thailand, 1976–1994

Krótka historia Prawosławnego Autonomicznego Kościoła Świętej Góry Synaj

The Holy mountain Sinai was known and venerated in the Old Testament. On this mountain, moses saw God in the form of a burning bush and heard His name – Jahwe (I am, who I am). When returning from bondage in Egypt, moses received the ten commandments on stone tablets and instructed Israel. also, the Prophet Elijah hid himself from the wrath of Queen Isabel on mount Sinai.In the times of the New Testament, the caves of Sinai became a dwelling place for Christian recluses in the III century. after the relics of St. Catherine the martyr were found on the top of mount Sinai, anchoritic monasticism began to give way to monastic communities. The first church was built by St. Helen here in the IV century, and later in the VI century, a monastery was established by the Emperor Justinian. The monks of this monastery, such as St. John Climacus and St. Gregory of Sinai, significantly contributed to the development of Christian teaching and asceticism. The monastery on mount Sinai engaged itself in the theological debates of this time, fighting against monotheletism and iconoclasm. mount Sinai did not lose its importance when the arabs and later Turks occupied the whole Sinai Peninsula.In the VII century, the monastery of St. Catherine was made the seat of the bishop of Pharan. In the IX century, it was raised to the honour of archbishop. The diocese was made into an autonomous Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1575. although Sinai was canonically dependant on Jerusalem, it was granted much independence. The Church safely survived both world wars and Israeli-Egyptian conflicts. although the Church in Sinai consists of the fewest people in any local church, its importance still remains. The icon collection is the richest in the world, the archives and library is second largest in the world and the Codex Sinaiticus of the Holy Scriptures is a world treasure. The relics of St. Catherine and the Burning Bush of moses also give loftiness to the image of the autonomous Church of Sinai.

Church Schisms, Church Property, and Civil Authority

When the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Wolf it required courts to use secular criteria to decide church property disputes, yet there remains considerable uncertainty about the permissible latitude of those secular principles. This stems from the Court's attempt to honor three principles that are in tension with one another: 1) autonomous church governance, which the Court sees as an aspect of the free exercise of religion, 2) the need to prevent civil courts from deciding issues of religious doctrine, an aspect of the ban on governmental establishments of religion, and 3) preservation of state autonomy to decide how best to accommodate these twin goals, an aspect of federalism. There are three principal problems with this tripartite objective. First, sometimes they conflict with each other. Second, and worse, this framework fails to take into account adequately the interest of individuals united in local congregations of religious believers freely to exercise their religious beliefs. Finally, embedded in this framework is a generally unrecognized potential violation of the establishment clause: the provision by states of special advantages to hierarchical churches that allow them unilaterally to impose trusts for their benefit upon property held by local congregations. This article seeks to expose these problems and present an approach that better protects the interest in religious freedom of local congregants while still preserving autonomy of church governance and limiting civil courts to adjudication of secular issues. When hierarchical churches divide into factions the principles of religious freedom embedded in the religion clauses compel civil courts to recognize the religious beliefs of a majority of the local congregation in deciding which faction of the divided church is entitled to the use of the local congregational property, absent some clear and wholly secular indication that the local congregation has given control of its property to the general church. The cost of this approach is a slight reduction in the discretion of states to specify decision rules for church property disputes, and a somewhat more controversial reduction in the degree of deference that civil courts should pay to internal church governance rules when churches divide into factions as a result of religious schism. When the Supreme Court decided Watson v. Jones in the late nineteenth century and adopted deference to internal church governance as a standard for resolution of church property disputes, the religion clauses did not apply to the states. While the Court couched its reliance upon internal governance as an implication flowing from the ideals of religious freedom, it did not have to examine that premise critically. When in Jones v. Wolf the Court perpetuated this principle as an option for resolution of church property disputes it may have thought that deference to internal governance rules of hierarchical churches promotes religious freedom. Sometimes it does, but not always. Civil judicial interference with a hierarchical church's control of its clergy is the paradigmatic case of impermissible interference with the free exercise of religion. By contrast, permitting a hierarchical church unilaterally to impose trusts in its favor upon property held for the benefit of local congregations either creates an establishment clause violation (if secular charitable entities are denied this state-created benefit or if there is no plausible secular purpose for this benefit) or cuts deeply into the practical reality of how individual believers gathered in local communities manifest their religious conduct. This problem is exacerbated when a hierarchical church divides amid doctrinal disagreement. At that point, courts should apply a rule of local option, permitting each congregation to decide for itself which branch of the divided church will have its fealty and its property. Only by applying such a rule can a proper balance be struck between the splintered autonomy interest of a hierarchical church and the interest in religious associational freedom of local congregations and their individual members. The reflexive reliance of courts upon internal governance rules to decide property issues amid schism has obscured the interests in religious freedom that are at stake. Adoption of the local congregational option principle leaves hierarchical churches with many avenues to secure congregational property for the benefit of the general church. First, they can avoid rupture by finding sufficient common ground in their religious doctrine to accommodate their body of believers. Second, they can insist that local congregations explicitly place their property in trust for the benefit of the general church as the price of continued affiliation with the general church. What they cannot do is create such trusts by the ipse dixit of the hierarchical church.

Pluralism of ethnic identities as a factor in the formation of parallel Orthodox hierarchical structures in Ukraine

Eucharistic ecclesiology (in its universal dimension), which underlies Orthodox ecclesiology, has at its core a communion between the Local Churches. In practice, it manifests itself in the mutual recognition between the various autocephalous and autonomous Churches. The head of a separate Church of the Universal Orthodoxy during the Liturgy commemorates all the leaders of other self-governing Orthodox Churches. Communion through the sacraments also happens between the Churches, namely, unity is manifested through communion in the Eucharist. The teachings of the early Christian author, Ignatius Theophoros, Bishop of Antioch, formed the basis of the local structure of the Church. The main principle of his theology is the unity of all the faithful of a certain territory around his bishop, that is, the common communion of all Christians in the Eucharist, which only the bishop of that territory is entitled to fulfill. The bishop, in turn, is a member of the "universal bishopric" and through it the local church is part of the one universal Church.