Church Gathering Research Articles

Adapting or Adopting Digitisation: The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) during Covid-19 Lockdown (2019 to 2022)

The Covid-19 pandemic became an eye-opener for the church to reconsider technology due to the lockdown and its impact on the church. From 2019, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic, the global church space and its functions were greatly affected. This forced the church to look at alternatives to ensure that it continued to maintain its sacred space as well as its offering of worship services to all Christian believers. The church needed to find new ground to perform its functions. Telephones, newspapers, radios, as well tape recorders have long been in existence and were already explored by the church, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, the main question was: How does the church enhance its own space, and how does it function in the new era of digital technology? The existence of social media meant that the church had to go digital and enhance its offerings of worship on other network systems rather than the traditional. The internet eased this movement by the church from the traditional way of doing things. This article will focus on how the church in South Africa began to embrace the digital world in enhancing its mission to the larger society, as 4IR was at the same time making inroads in public and private spaces. Popular social media platforms (such as Facebook, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Twitter, WhatsApp, and so forth) were providing much-needed alternatives at a critical point in history—the Covid-19 pandemic. These platforms became the alternative means to ensure that worship services continued, as well as other church gatherings such as synods, councils, retreats and conferences. The spread of Covid-19 afforded the church enough room, time and space to venture into expanding its mission digitally, thereby entering into the world of technology that was new to it.

Zimbabwean women’s experiences at Johanne Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic churches’ open ground gatherings

The Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees religious freedoms and freedom of association including for religious purposes. While people can gather for religious purposes, the main thrust of this paper is to investigate and unpack environmental crises caused by Christian gatherings and how women are affected by these environmental crises. The article focuses on the Johanne Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic churches. Environmental rights in terms of the Constitution recognize the need for one to be in a healthy environment. It also imposes an obligation for the non- occurrence of land pollution, land degradation, or destruction of the ecology and the advancement of conservation and ecological sustenance. Through observation, it was established that the Johanne Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic churches hold their church services in an open ground with no ablution facilities and no availability of critical basic resources such as water and medical facilities. The paper contends that the environmental crisis caused by open gatherings affect women and men differently. Equally, the effects of climate change leave women in an unhealthy environment during church gatherings. It is further argued that such consistent gatherings in one place cause environmental degradation and deforestation. Leaning on the feminist social justice theory, this paper advocates consideration of approximately prepared meeting places for the Johanne Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic churches gatherings inclusive of provision of basic ablution and clean water facilities.Contribution: This article makes a significant contribution to the study of gender in the context of environmental challenges and recommends greater involvement of women in the fight against environmental crises.

Gospel Music and Liturgical Hymns to the Researcher’s Spiritual Healing during the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Autoethnography Biblical Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for Christian believers worldwide, especially in developing countries like South Africa. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed COVID-19 as a pandemic. Many activities were suspended, including church gatherings. As a result, like many Christian believers, during the pandemic, the researcher was spiritually and emotionally affected and suddenly filled with fear, depression, panic, loss, and loneliness. During the peak of the pandemic, the researcher used gospel music and liturgical hymns to uplift the researcher’s spiritual well-being. Although gospel music and liturgy hymn music have been used as devotional and spiritual music for the well-being of religious individuals, little academic attention has been given to gospel music and liturgy hymns. Hence, this article aims to provide important insights concerning the researcher’s personal experience in using gospel music and liturgical hymns during the pandemic. In this article, autoethnography was used as a research methodology. This article extends the literature about the researcher‘s experience of using gospel music and liturgical hymns as devotional and spiritual music for well-being. The article presents significant awareness and insights into gospel music and liturgical hymns during the pandemic. The findings of this article are outlined under the following three themes: Feeling vulnerable during the pandemic; (b) the role of gospel music in liturgical hymns during the pandemic; and (c) the use of gospel music and liturgical hymns for healing during the pandemic. The article affirms that gospel music and liturgical hymns can improve psychological and spiritual well-being. This can be attributed to the role of gospel music and liturgical hymns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Autoethnography, COVID-19, Christian Believers, Gospel, Liturgy Hymns

가상 공간에서의 교회 모임에 대한 성서학적 근거에 관한 연구

Since the post-corona era, many studies have been conducted on the post-corona situation, the concept of uncontact, or non-contact meetings. In this situation, this article tries to explore the biblical basis for worship using remote video such as zoom and worship in the metaverse space in the post-corona era, but in particular, this biblical basis is called “temple theology” to try to find it. A correct biblical-theological understanding of the temple will reaffirm the biblical basis for non-contact and video worship today. The form of the temple has been constantly changing. This form of transformation can contribute to changing the past concept of understanding a building as a temple, and contributing to breaking the prejudice that church meetings are to be held in a building today. This study will enable an open attitude toward non-face-to-face worship and church gatherings beyond the practice of only recognizing face-to-face contact.

Dispositional Optimism in Christian Populations Compared to other Religious Groups: a Scoping Review

IntroductionThere are various ways people cope with life events. One can expect generalized positive or negative outcomes across various life domains, called dispositional optimism. This can be explained by attribution theory: how people explain past events, their causations, and outcomes. Understanding attribution styles is important to help people reframe current circumstances and improve mental wellbeing. Our hypothesis is that people of different religious groups may exhibit various levels of optimism and pessimism based on their values, teachings, and practices. Previous research has found that people of Christian faith, or those with a religious faith in general, look to their religion as a way of coping during life adversities. Certain religious practices such as prayers and Church gatherings have been found to improve mental health through increasing dispositional optimism. While the relationship between religiosity and mental health has been previously examined in different religious populations, there are few studies that focused on comparing this relationship across religions.ObjectivesThe objective of this scoping review is to understand the link between religiosity and mental health, focusing primarily on how people of the Christian religion demonstrate dispositional optimism or pessimism when coping with adverse life events, compared to other religious groups or atheists.MethodsThis scoping review included original peer reviewed study articles that studied mental health in terms of dispositional optimism or pessimism in people of Christian religion compared to other religious groups. This review used online databases, Ovid MEDLINE and PsycInfo, and used extraction tables to analyze the results of past research.ResultsThe results of this scoping review revealed that people of Christian religion, especially those high in religiosity, use their religion as a method of coping. This population also showed higher dispositional optimism compared to atheists or those that believe in other religions. However, when compared to other religions such as Buddhism and Muslim, Christian populations showed lower dispositional optimism.ConclusionsIt is evident that religious involvement is linked to aspects of mental health, but comparing the effects of different religions is still a topic of exploration that can be investigated further to allow deeper understanding of their similarities and differences, as well as the mechanisms by which religion can affect mental health. In this review, a gap in the body of knowledge regarding the relationship between religion and pessimism was revealed. Future research directions could include examining whether dispositional pessimism varies across religious groups, as it does not necessarily have a perfectly inverse relationship with optimism.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Were the African indigenous resources rendered impotent by the pandemic?

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, became a reality in Kenya on 13 March 2020 when the first confirmed case was publicly announced. The disease spread across the country and had posted over 300, 000 confirmed cases and over 5, 000 deaths by March 2022. With some risk factors, for COVID-19, remaining: close contacts, coughing, sneezing on by an infected person, poor air flow, and crowded places with infected people, among others, the pandemic remained a major scare, as Kenya geared towards August 2022 general elections which were hotly contested, especially at the presidential levels. There were fears that the 2022 electoral contests would reverse the gains that had been made in the previous two years (2020, 2021), as the government had put up containment measures, that previously banned crowded political rallies. Church gatherings, and other social activities were effectively controlled. Nevertheless, the coming of COVID-19 in March 2020 brought about far-reaching effects that will continue to inform the Kenyan nation for an unforeseeable future. Were the indigenous resources rendered irrelevant by COVID-19? Did the failure to exorcise the demons of COVID- 19 make the religious institutions irrelevant? (Mk. 5:4-20, Lk. 4:33-36). This article seeks to explore how these impacts on the Kenyan society played out, and how communal-inclusive approaches were utilized to usher in an African face in the onslaught against the pandemic. Were there indigenous resources that could inform these discourses?

“What Really Happened?”: The Life and Death of Olivia Coombs

“What Really Happened?”: The Life and Death of Olivia Coombs

The impact of COVID-19 on church gatherings in the Philippines: a policy analysis

The Philippines is the largest Christian-majority country in Asia. With church gatherings playing a vital role in the nature of Christianity in the Filipino culture, the advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines posed challenges to public religious practices amid efforts to mitigate COVID-19 community transmission. Various policy pronouncements from both the government-led Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and the church-led Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) were issued. These guidelines were implemented in order to address the two-pronged problem on healthcare and religious obligations. While these guidelines were initially contributory to the mitigation of disease transmission, varied compliance by Filipinos was observed through the progression of the pandemic. Considering the value that church gatherings and religion play in the lives of the Filipino people, further studies on COVID-19 transmission in the church should be conducted in order to develop more efficient policies and guidelines on the practice of religion, particularly for religious gatherings. Furthermore, a more synergistic state and church cooperation must be encouraged in order to arrive at solutions that will mutually address the concomitant problems of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The role of religion in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic: the Malaysian multi-faith perspectives.

Social distancing is crucial in breaking the cycle of transmission of COVID-19. However, many religions require the faithful to congregate. In Malaysia, the number of COVID-19 cases spiked up from below 30 in February 2020 to more than a thousand a month later. The sudden increase was mostly linked to a large Islamic gathering attended by 16,000 near the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Another large COVID-19 cluster was from a church gathering in Kuching, Sarawak. Within a few weeks, Malaysia became the worst hit country by COVID-19 in Southeast Asia. While religious leaders have advised social distancing among their congregants, the belief that “God is our shield” is often cited for gathering. There is a need to promote sound decision-making among religious adherents so that they will not prioritize their loyalty to the subjective interpretation of religion over evidence-based medicine. Malaysia, a multi-cultural and multi-faith country, is an example of how religious beliefs could strongly influence health behaviours at individual and community levels. In this article, we detail the religious aspects of COVID-19 prevention and control in Malaysia and discuss the possible role of religious organizations in encouraging sound decision-making among religious adherents in mitigating this crisis. We make recommendations on how to promote a partnership between the healthcare system and religious organizations, and how religion and faith could be integrated into health promotion channels and resources in the response of COVID-19 and future communicable diseases.

Abortion and Telemedicine: Beyond COVID-19 and the Shadow Docket

This Article examines the Supreme Court’s recent shadow docket opinion in FDA v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)—not just its present effects, but its bigger-picture implications for the future of abortion jurisprudence. In FDA v. ACOG, the Court, without full briefing or argument, stayed a Maryland court’s injunction against the FDA. In doing so, it allowed the FDA to continue enforcing its “in-person requirement,” forcing women to travel to pick up abortion medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parts I and II of this paper review the Court’s abortion jurisprudence and the opinion in FDA v. ACOG. Part II also suggests that FDA v. ACOG is inconsistent with the Court’s contemporaneous “shadow docket” opinions—summary opinions that enjoined states’ restrictions on church gatherings during the pandemic. Part III then explores the impact that FDA v. ACOG could have on abortion jurisprudence in a post-pandemic world. We first speculate about a post-pandemic United States where the Court continues to recognize abortion as a constitutionally-protected right. We argue that, while “in-person requirements” impede women seeking abortions, they also, ironically, make it harder for states to pass laws restricting access to abortion under contemporary case law. We then contemplate a parallel post-pandemic universe in which the Court overturns Roe v. Wade and stops recognizing the right to abortion. If the Court decides that abortion is not a fundamental right, as pro-choice liberals fear, it will be the in-person mifepristone requirements, or lack thereof, that determine the severity of that decision for many women in the United States. In a world without Roe, in-person requirements would maximally restrict women’s access to abortion.

Preaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa: A Grounded Theoretical Exploration

Churches have been prompted to rethink the format of preaching and the content of sermons since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions on church gatherings. What does preaching look like, or what may it look like in times of crisis? These questions arose, specifically considering the content of sermons in the week before and after the national lockdown was announced in South Africa. Using Grounded Theory, the content of sermons delivered during this period was examined in order to identify an emerging theory regarding the homiletical content. From these findings, a homiletic praxis theory is formulated for preaching in times like these. The tension between proximity and distance that is experienced by hearers and proclaimed by preachers is explored. Habits of faith and discernment emerge as core concepts in mitigating this tension and in navigating the thin spaces that are created by liminal times such as these.

Social distance impact on church gatherings: Socio-behavioral implications

ABSTRACT This article provides an in-depth discussion of social distancing and its socio-behavioral implications on church gatherings in the era of COVID-19. We posit that social distancing has redefined, reshaped, and reconfigured Christian religious gatherings in a way that was hitherto unimagined. The unintended consequences (positive and negative) indicate that social distancing has impacted church gatherings in some positive ways such as reducing the spread of COVID-19 among congregants, and enabling technological innovations for virtual Church services and programs. Conversely, social distancing has negatively impacted the social cohesion and overall social capital value of churches, and imprinted a long lasting disruptions to age-long ecclesiological identities, denominational practices, and liturgies of contemporary churches. We utilized Game Theory as the theoretical scaffold of our propositions. In addition we delineated the implications of social distancing on Christian religious gathering during pandemics such as COVID-19 and lessons from a socio-behavioral perspective for religious institutions.

Pasifika diaspora connectivity and continuity with Pacific homelands: Material culture and spatial behaviour in Brisbane

AbstractThis paper presents an interesting discussion and analysis of Pasifika (specifically Tongan and Samoan) migrants in Brisbane, and the diverse adaptive cultural practices they use to promote a sense of wellbeing and cultural continuity in diaspora contexts. Pacific Island migrant perspectives of wellbeing and worldviews are linked to their spatial behaviour and material cultural adaptations within places like Brisbane. The characteristics of the Brisbane urban landscape create the material cultural adaptations that have been observed in diaspora contexts, including places of dwelling, community and church gatherings. They are commonly displayed during family or community events, in both private and public spaces. In order to understand the significance of material cultural adaptations we must also consider the underpinnings of the materials and templates used within context. Preliminary qualitative findings have been drawn from a wider‐scale research project that has explored Pasifika migrants (of Samoan and Tongan descent) perceptions and experiences of wellbeing during 2015‒2018. This inquiry has rendered significant evidence of cultural values and identity elements originating from Samoa and Tonga and retained by generations of Brisbane‐based Pacific Islanders, through adapted material culture and shared spatial behaviour.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of First Aid and Emergency Care among the Classes Educated in Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Aims: To find an association between educational qualification of the participant and knowledge of first aid and emergency care. To understand the common misconceptions of First Aid practices among the educated class of Aurangabad. To conduct a seminar cum workshop session for the educated class of Aurangabad.
 Study Design: Cross sectional study with a sample size of 700 participants. The candidates were provided with a questionnaire and a seminar demonstrating First aid and Emergency care was conducted post-questionnaire.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted among the educated class in the city of Aurangabad between October 2018 to February 2019.
 Methodology: The candidates were selected from different schools, colleges, small firms, church gatherings and hotel staff. Data was collected using a self-administered pre – tested questionnaire. Based on the scores obtained in each condition, the overall knowledge was graded as good, moderate and poor. A seminar was conducted post questionnaire and the improvement in their knowledge was tested.
 Results: Out of 700 candidates included in the study, 110(15.7%) were school going children, 60 (8.6%) were high school students, 50(7.1%) were college students, 280(40%) were graduates and 200(28.6%) were post graduates. 410(58.7%) had poor knowledge about First Aid and Emergency Care and only a mere 39(5.6%) had good knowledge about First Aid and Emergency Care. 105 candidates (15%) of the candidates believed that applying hot compresses relieves an ankle sprain. 77 candidates (11%) of the candidates believed that inducing vomiting is initial modality of management in a patient who accidentally ingested acid.
 Conclusion: Initiation of First aid and Emergency care training programs among all age groups still remains an enigma. Conducting such workshops on First aid and Emergency Care among communities can make the citizens competitive enough to provide first aid independently and spontaneously in real life situations.

White garment churches (Vapositori) and ZANU-PF party politics in Zimbabwe: True marriage or marriage of convenience during and post-Mugabe era

The white garment churches’ (Vapositori) involvement in party politics, particularly in favour of ZANU-PF, continued to flourish in Zimbabwe even after the demise of Mugabe. Robert Gabriel Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was deposed by the Zimbabwean Army on 21 November 2017. Unlike other Christian boards in Zimbabwe, the Vapositori churches played a significant role in authenticating and validating the continuation of ZANU-PF holding onto power from 1980 till the present even after the removal of Mugabe. This article describes the relationship between ZANU-PF and Vapositori analogically as a marriage. This article posited that this marriage between Vapositori and the ruling ZANU-PF political party did not end with Mugabe. President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and his vice president, Constantino Kuvheya Chiwenga, are seen masquerading Vapositori by attending and addressing Vapositori church gatherings. Thus, this article interrogates whether the marriage between Vapositori and ZANU-PF was borne out of real love or is just a marriage of convenience. Moreover, if it’s a marriage of convenience then who controls whom and why? These and other related questions require a critical investigation to deepen our understanding of the ‘Church and politics’ in Zimbabwe during and after the Mugabe era.

TELEGRAM: contribution in assistive technology indication for individuals with hearing impairment.

The objective of the study was to translate and culturally adapt to Portuguese the TELEGRAM instrument and to evaluate its effectiveness in adults with hearing impairment using hearing aids. The TELEGRAM was translated into the Portuguese language, reviewed for grammatical and idiomatic equivalences (reverse translations) and linguistic and cultural adaptations. After translation, the TELEGRAM was applied to 20 individuals with hearing impairment. A descriptive analysis of the results was performed. After the grammatical and idiomatic equivalence, the replacement of one term/item was suggested, which was modified and adapted to the Brazilian context. In general, the questions of the instrument were considered easy to understand. Among the categories assessed, individuals with hearing loss had greater difficulty using the telephone and in activities such as attending church gatherings, parties, or in situations of noisy environments, distance and reverberation. The TELEGRAM translated into Brazilian Portuguese proved to be an easily applicable tool in population studies and effective to assess which are the main situations where individuals with hearing impairment have greater difficulty in communication, reinforcing the importance of hearing rehabilitation and assistive technology to minimize these difficulties.

Religiously motivated travel and rural tourism in Vhembe District of South Africa

The study investigates the socioeconomic impact of the United African Apostolic Church gathering on the rural tourism industry and on surrounding rural communities in Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa. Questionnaires were used to collect data on pilgrims (visitors), businesses and residents during and immediately after the event. A significant finding is that the average spending per pilgrim by pilgrims from the rest of South Africa is larger than their Limpopo and foreign pilgrim counterparts. Out of every R100 of pilgrims spending only R2.16 remains in the local economy. The study also reveals consensus among residents that the annual pilgrimage gathering promotes morality, improved socialization as well as a sense of feeling good and proud of their community.

Family, Religion, and Psychiatry in Ghana

Family, Religion, and Psychiatry in Ghana

Communicable diseases as health risks at mass gatherings other than Hajj: what is the evidence?

Mass gatherings are characterized by the concentration of people temporally and spatially, and may lead to the emergence of infectious diseases due to enhanced transmission between attendees. This is well-demonstrated in the context of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia. The goal of this review was to present the available evidence on outbreaks associated with a variety of pathogens, or also the lack thereof, as assessed by thorough surveillance at any mass gatherings with the exception of those in Saudi Arabia. A systematic search for relevant articles in the literature was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Sixty-eight studies were identified. Although outbreaks have not been reported frequently in or after mass gatherings outside the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, they have sometimes occurred at Muslim, Christian, and Hindu religious events, at sports events, and at large-scale open air festivals. In this review it was found that the most common outbreaks at these mass gatherings involved vaccine preventable diseases, mainly measles and influenza, but also mumps and hepatitis A. Meningococcal disease has rarely been recorded. Additionally it was found that the transmission of various communicable diseases that may not be prevented by vaccination has been recorded in association with mass gatherings. These were mainly gastrointestinal infections, caused by a variety of pathogens. It was also noted that some outbreaks occurring at mass gatherings have resulted in the international spread of communicable diseases.

Raven Plays Ball: Situating “Indian Sports Days” within Indigenous and Colonial Spaces in Twentieth-Century Coastal British Columbia

Beginning in the nineteenth century, Anglo-Canadian colonial agents (residential school administrators and teachers, missionaries, and government officials) introduced a number of Western-style sporting activities among Indigenous peoples through athletic clubs, church gatherings, and school physical fitness programs. In keeping with a Victorian conception of leisure, these elites understood sports in moral terms, believing that they would support “civilizing projects” intended to remake Indigenous socio-cultural spaces into colonial ones. Indigenous communities, however, used these same sports organizations to challenge, resist, and even displace colonial agendas. Inspired by J.R. Miller's treatment of Indigenous–non-Indigenous relations as a nuanced, multidirectional, often contradictory encounter, we argue that “Indian Sports Days” in coastal British Columbia from the 1910s–1940s were complex social spaces, reflective of both Indigenous and colonial perspectives.