Church Organizations Research Articles

Working towards improved collaboration: reviewing provision and support for Christian parents/carers

ABSTRACT It is increasingly acknowledged by a range of sectors, particularly health and educational, that collaboration with parents is fundamental to improving the developmental outcomes of children. It is also becoming more commonplace within the UK church and para-church organisations to emphasise the importance of supporting parents as they seek to nurture their child’s Christian faith. This raises multiple questions around the resourcing of institutions such as churches and school to form supportive, collaborative partnerships with parents for the sake of the children’s spiritual growth and development. This exploratory study collected data from three different perspectives: a review of tools and resources; interviews of practitioners and online surveys of parents in seventeen case-study contexts. In each arena, the provision and support for parents and carers for nurturing their Christian faith was investigated. Epstein’s types of involvement theory was used as a framework for analysis to map the nature of resources currently available for churches and faith-based schools wanting to collaborate with parents and carers, as well as to identify gaps and opportunities for future resourcing to enhance this kind of collaboration and partnerships.

LINGUISTIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SPOKEN, WRITTEN, AND COMMUNICATIVE USE OF HUNGARIAN IN VOJVODINA

By reviewing the background factors behind the functionality of Hungarian language use in Vojvodina, the study points out the sociological and linguistic factors that determine language use in everyday life. Among the sociological factors, we considered the relationship between language and identity, language and education, language and social communication, as well as the use of economic and legal language, the media, cultural aspects, and the role of the church and national political organizations. Among the linguistic background factors, we discussed the influence of Serbian on Hungarian and the role of the Hungarian regional dialect in the functionality of the language, as well as its community function. As a conclusion of the study, we can say that Hungarians in Vojvodina use Hungarian depending on the given communication situation and the social and linguistic context, that is along the lines of functional and situational language use in the given communication situation.

Managerialism in church and care organizations

We examine two examples of managerialism, in a Church of England parish reorganization and in a hospice. After reflecting on New Testament management concepts, we analyse the negative consequences of managerialism in these examples and the regulatory changes that made it possible. The article ends by suggesting how trust lost through poor management could be rebuilt through a holistic pastoral sensitivity to the whole community served by the organization, including the staff.

The Sacrificial Economy: The Economic Conditions for the Development of Free Churches in Late Nineteenth‐Century Sweden*

Free church organisations were a vital part of Christian evangelical revivalism in the Nordic countries around the turn of the century in 1900. In this paper, a new piece is added to the puzzle regarding why free churches developed and survived. Against the background of a case study of the Swedish Uppsala Missionary Congregation's cultural economy 1870s–1890s, it is argued that a particular rationality — a sacrificial economy — was an important prerequisite for organisational development. The paper therefore adds a materialist explanatory factor to the organisational development of revivalism in late nineteenth‐century Sweden.

Differences in perspectives on the Christian revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in China

In terms of civilian casualties directly and indirectly caused by the war, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was the largest war in world history in the second half of the nineteenth century and had a strong East Asian Christian background. This article adopts the ‘historical contextualism’ approach of the Cambridge School in the history of political thought, and through a comparison of the relevant views of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Kang Youwei, it reveals that this intentional omission comes from a specific combination of modernisation routes and modernisation political construction choices. In contemporary China, the study of Christian theory and the practice of church organisation still need to answer the question of the general public as to whether Christianity can bring about a better life, both materially and spiritually.Contribution: This article pointed out that three contemporaries, Marx, Weber and Kang, all evaluated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement as a revolution of Christianity in China from the standpoint of ‘China’s need for modernisation’, but differed in their evaluation of the position and role of the religious reform factor in the process of modernisation in China. However, they differed in their assessment of the position and role of the Reformation factor in the process of modernisation in China. The article reveals that for Protestant Christianity in contemporary China, it is still necessary to carefully handle its relationship with the government and to satisfy the people’s real needs for a modernised material and spiritual life. Meanwhile, it sheds light on the issue of ‘heterocultural adaptability’ brought about by the expansion and spread of Protestant Christianity in East Asia, as well as on the question of whether Protestantism and Confucianism in the process of modern conversion can achieve peaceful coexistence.

Reimagining Mission in and from Africa: A contextual analysis of OM Mission Approach in Southern Africa

The activities of mainline Western missionaries in Africa have been discussed by scholars from various perspectives, but much attention has not been given to mission organizations that are not affiliated with any denomination. This article therefore focuses on the work and mission approach of Operation Mobilisation (OM) in Africa. The article is based on empirical data gathered through interviews with twelve OM country leaders in Southern Africa (Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). The key aim of the interviews was to establish from the OM leaders serving in the Southern African countries their self-understanding of the local context and the contextual implications for OM's work in and from the continent. It was to also establish some opportunities and challenges for missions for the African church and Western Established Mission Organizations WEMOs. The article argues for contextual consideration of OM’s mission agenda, missionary training, and discipleship approach in Africa.

Федеративная модель Церкви в православном богословии

The author continues his study of the ways in which the political concept of federation is used to describe church organisation, this time taking as a basis the texts of Orthodox authors. These writers borrowed the idea of a federative structure of early Christian communities from Protestant historians of the 18th century and from subsequent works of Protestant scholars, for whom such notions became a component of the prevailing doctrine. In the writings of Russian theologians the concept of federation seems to have travelled the same path as in the West, having come into use against the background of a general fascination with political projections in theology and having lost its relevance under the influence of various criticisms. In Greek theology the picture turns out to be much more complex. In the course of the development of Greek historiography in the nineteenth century, federalism and democracy were declared to be the characteristic features of the model of organisation of the Eastern Christian Church, developed through the synthesis of the new religion and Hellenistic culture. In the twentieth century these ideas were revised. In modern Orthodox theology there is an agreement on the incorrectness of describing the Church using the concept of federation. Nevertheless, this image has come to be used as a polemical cliché in intra-Orthodox discussion, which is used to denote any form of rejection of the monocentric model of Church unity.

A. A. Smirnov and the Christian point in Old Irish narrative tradition: a case of "nativism" in Early Russian Celtic Studies?

The article is devoted to the concepts contributed by Alexander Smirnov about the Irish Church and the role of Christian culture to the Old Irish narrative tradition in general. Archival records shows that so-called "Christian element" was entirely accepted by him and was emphasized in an initially neutral formula; later, however, passages about the ‘undoubted Christian influence’ related to some motifs were replaced by such markers as "late interpolations" or "artificial insertions". The turn from a comprehensive approach to an intensive search for the archaic "Celtic basis" has affected all aspects of Smirnov’s discourse: from the interpretation of particular motifs to the characteristics of Christianization and Irish Church organization in general. Due to these observations, we suppose to depict such Smirnov’s conceptions as the truly ‘nativist’ position.The author gives special gratitude to the National Library of Russia, the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences for an opportunity to work and consult with their founds and record series.

Training, attitudes, segregation of duties and internal control of church finances: an empirical study in Indonesia

Church organizations are non-profit organizations operating in the religious sector. Church financial management requires good and adequate internal control to protect and secure church assets from fraud, damage, and waste due to ineffective use of assets. Sacralization is a factor that gives rise to blind trust in financial managers and spiritual leaders in the church. This study aims to analyze the influence of trained accounting personnel, attitudes toward the importance of internal control, and separation of duties on the level of internal control of church finances. The sample used was 115 pastors at the HKBP Church in Jakarta, Indonesia. Data were obtained by distributing questionnaires to pastors as respondents. The analysis technique is carried out using multiple regression. The results of this study show that trained accounting personnel, attitudes about the importance of internal control implementation, and the existence of separation of duties in church organizations have a significant effect on the level of internal control of church finances. The results of the study strengthen support for the implementation of effective church financial internal control, which requires increasing the competency of accounting staff through accounting training, the attitude of organizational members to support the implementation of the church’s financial internal control system to make it more accountable, and the existence of a clear separation of duties within the organization to avoid fraud.

Study Theological Approach on Abortion Actions based on Psalm 139:13 and the Responsibility of Today’s Church Leaders

The church is a community united by the Lord Jesus Christ, empowered to be witnesses, agents, and examples. However, reality shows that the church often tends to be closed off and does not consistently practice God's love and justice, whether towards its congregation, among church organizations, or towards the surrounding environment, particularly concerning the issue of abortion among teenagers and young people. This study aims to analyse abortion in light of Psalm 139:13 and outline contemporary church leaders' responsibilities. The methodology employed is qualitative, using a literature-based approach (library research) grounded in hermeneutical study. Hermeneutics universally refers to the theoretical and methodological process of understanding the meanings of signs and symbols used in verbal or non-verbal communication. The approach used is the grammatical-historical study approach. The results of this research indicate that abortion of unwanted foetuses is inconsistent with biblical teachings; therefore, contemporary church leaders have a responsibility to nurture the morality of youth to help them avoid engaging in premarital sex, which could lead to abortion.

The Problem of Denominational Identity of Churches in Modern Protestantism

This article examines the history of denominationalism – the division of Protestantism into a multitude of independent religious associations, freely competing with each other. This approach to typologising religious associations, initially adopted for Protestant communities within the United States, has become a global phenomenon. Since the early 1980s, there has been a vigorous debate in the sociology of religion about the contemporary meaning of denominations. There is a growing number of independent churches that do not wish to be associated with any of the Protestant denominations; megachurches are leaving denominations or trying not to emphasise their affiliation with any particular denomination; some megachurches and church organisations are growing into a transdenominational evangelical movement with worldwide influence. The article is based on an analysis of the work of sociologists of religion on the issue of denominationalism in Protestant organizations, ranging from Richard Niebuhr to researchers drawing on contemporary statistical data. The existing congregations that emphasize their denominational identity, none of them exist in a denominational isolated cocoon any more – worship practices and music, missional objectives and educational resources can be adopted from other non-denominational churches and trans-denominational evangelical movements. The very concepts of megachurch, independent church, and evangelical movement can be viewed as separate denominations. Using these terms, members of a congregation identify themselves as holding certain beliefs and engaging in certain practices in common with others around the world. The trend toward the emergence of independent churches is part of the new course of Protestantism – post-denominational Protestantism.

Strategi Efektif Dalam Manajemen Gereja Untuk Membangun Penatalayanan Yang Berdaya Dan Berdampak Bagi Pemuda Kristen

The author discusses effective church management in order to build stewardship to create empowered and impactful Christian youth. The author also classifies contributing elements, analyzes preventing elements, and discusses ways to get past barriers to effective strategies in the church management. Author also describes the progress and innovation made by the Church as a result of its management of youth. This research uses a literature study methodology, which looks at how the church handles stewardship for youth. The findings suggest that direction and guidance, creating a supportive and inclusive environment, and integrating community outreach and service plans are all necessary components for an effective strategy. This method has encouraged and engaged youth, resulting in increased participation and positive outcomes in each youth's faith and personal development. And also shows that management can be responsible for human and financial resources, and that good data administration and an effective ministry group notably influence the congregation's expansion, and this is a method of stewardship. With any luck, this writing can offer wider advantages as well provide appreciation for leaders of the church organizations, ministers, elders, deacons, teachers and all congregation members regarding effective church management to build empowered and impactful stewardship for Christian youth.

His Holiness Patriarch Sergius, Metropolitan Gregory and the Theological Schools of the Moscow Patriarchy from 1944 to 2024

The article commemorates two significant events marking the 80th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2024: the passing of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius and the establishment of the first theological schools in Moscow during the Soviet era. The question of establishing theological schools was raised by Patriarch Sergius following the Council of Bishops in 1943 and his subsequent election as patriarch. These schools were inaugurated just a month after his passing. It’s emphasized that the swift preparation for the opening of the Theological Institute and Theological and Pastoral courses was facilitated by the quarter-century journey of the patriarch’s long-time faithful colleague, Archpriest Nikolay Chukov (Archbishop Gregory of Saratov and Stalingrad), who authored the project for spiritual educational institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate. He had substantial experience in establishing and overseeing higher theological institutions in Petrograd-Leningrad from 1920 to 1925. For the first time, a diary detailing the activities of Archpriest Nikolay Chukov is published in the appendix. His endeavors, undertaken with the support of Metropolitan Sergius and the Synod from 1928 to 1930, aimed to establish a Theological Institute in Leningrad. Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted by his arrest in 1930. The entries in the published diary confirm Olga Vasilyeva’s assertion that Metropolitan Sergius’ interview, which sparked widespread protests due to its denial of Church persecution in the USSR, was a quid pro quo for allowing him to submit a memo to Pyotr Smidovich. One of the memo’s points emphasized the necessity of opening a theological school. This memo played a pivotal role in obtaining permission, which, in turn, significantly hastened the process of opening theological schools in Moscow in 1943–1944. The article concludes with excerpts from books and articles by a professor from the Department of Church History at Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. This academic offers a negative and ironic assessment of both the ascetic work of Metropolitan Gregory of Leningrad and Novgorod, and the martyrdom of Patriarch Sergius, who endured humiliation primarily to preserve a legalized church organization, which was essential for the establishment of theological schools within the Patriarchate. This aspect became particularly significant when considering the pivotal choice by the authorities between the patriarchal Church and the Renovationists in 1943.

Longing for Humanity: The Process of Leaving a Context of Perceived Spiritual Abuse

This study provides an account of leaving a context of perceived spiritual abuse within some Pentecostal fellowships in Norway. We discuss how our 16 informants discovered the need for change and sought support to navigate challenging departure processes characterized by emotional strain. Three empirical themes emerged: (1) God’s will, as conveyed by leaders, evoked shame, (2) there were various sources of help in leaving a context of perceived spiritual abuse, and (3) the acknowledgment of vulnerability provided space for new images of God. Throughout the leaving process, many informants underwent a profound shift in their perceptions of God, marked by a heightened awareness of their vulnerability. This transformation encompassed a deep-seated desire to embrace their humanity and to accept the relevance of their thoughts and feelings. Acknowledging their own vulnerability allowed them to have more humanized images of God. Our analysis employs Kenneth Pargament’s notion of orienting systems and his theory of religious coping to elucidate how their images of God changed. The process led to a perceived sense of freedom from spiritual abuse. We understand the informants’ experiences of leaving the church and affiliated organizations as instances of deconversion through what empirically emerged as “deprogramming” processes in our material. Deprogramming involves disentangling individuals from what they perceived was conveyed and thus “programmed” by spiritual leaders. Deprogramming processes emerged as a new exploration of images of God, shame, power, and human vulnerability.

Rosyjska dezinformacja jako element budowania wpływów w Europie: analiza i perspektywy

Zbrojna napaść Rosji na Ukrainę spotkała się ze zdecydowaną reakcją Zachodu. Jednak w przypadku kilku państw była ona spóźniona, co mogło świadczyć o istnieniu w nich rosyjskich wpływów. Celem badań była analiza możliwości oddziaływania przez Rosję na procesy decyzyjne w państwach zachodnich oraz wpływu takich oddziaływań na bezpieczeństwo Zachodu. Wyniki pokazały, że Rosja dysponuje wieloma narzędziami wpływu politycznego, do których można zaliczyć dyplomację, komunikację polityczną, rosyjską diasporę, Rosyjską Cerkiew Prawosławną oraz sympatyzujące z Rosją organizacje i ugrupowania społeczne i polityczne. Zostało również ukazane, że w celu wywierania wpływu Rosja wykorzystuje cały aparat państwowy, co stanowi zagrożenie dla szeroko rozumianego bezpieczeństwa państw Europy Zachodniej. Wnioski płynące z badań wskazują też na to, że Zachód może stać się ofiarą własnej tolerancji i poprawności politycznej, zwłaszcza w przypadkach kryzysów celowo wywoływanych przez Rosję.

Деятельность судовых священников по организации библиотек на кораблях Российского императорского флота на рубеже XIX-XX вв.

The activity of the navy chaplains outside the framework of worship is still a little-studied aspect of the service of the Orthodox clergy in the navy. This article attempts, based on the analysis of various written sources, to reconstruct the activities of representatives of the naval clergy in organizing libraries on the ships of the Russian Imperial Navy in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. This is one of the least studied areas of ministry of navy chaplains. The authors, relying on personal sources, office materials and periodicals, analyze the existing practice in the fleet of creating and completing ship libraries, their types and features of functioning, and also determine the role of navy chaplains in these processes. It is important to note that many sources are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The authors came to the conclusion that, despite the frequent lack of initiative on the part of the officers or even with a certain opposition, the navy chaplains were directly related to the organization of both church and sailor's libraries. Some clerics acted quite effectively in this field, but they could not significantly change the general situation that had developed with librarianship on the ships of the Russian Imperial Navy.

Этноконфессиональные аспекты существования церковной кафедры Таматархи Зихийской в XI в.

The article attempts to examine the history of the Zich Archbishopric of Tamatarcha in the XI century in the con-text of ethno-confessional relations that developed between the autochthonous population and Russian settlers who arrived on the Taman Peninsula due to the formation of the principality of Tmutarakan, ruled by Russian dukes. The major scientific problem, which gave rise to a number of contradictory hypotheses and assumptions in modern science, is the question of the jurisdictional affiliation of the church organization of Tamatarcha in the so-called “Russian period” in the XI century. For the purposes of the study, the main facts of the Russian ethnic presence in Taman in the XI century are considered: the peculiarities of the exercise of princely power; relations with the autochthonous population and neighboring tribes of the northwestern Caucasus; relations between the Russian princes and the church community of Tamatarcha, for which in 1022 Prince Mstislav Vla-dimirovich built a votive church of the Mother of God. Particular attention is paid in the work to the Russian church hierarchy in Tmutarakan, among which the personalities of the Monk Nikon of Pechersk and Bishop Nicholas of Tmutarakan, who was the ruling bishop of the Zich diocese during a certain period, are singled out. The ecclesiastical administration of the Tamatarch diocese in the 2nd half of the XI century is studied in the context of the state-confessional policy of the “triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs” – the leading political group of Old Russian dukes in this period.

The Role of the Church in Low-Income Housing in Namibia

The paper examines the church's role in Namibia's low-income housing process. The study followed the qualitative method; data were drawn from journals, books, newspapers, and other relevant material. The article argues that the church in Namibia plays a positive role in low-income housing and promotes Sustainable Development Goals. The findings reveal that the church established a foundation for the current Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, an umbrella body of savings groups that address housing issues for low-income groups. The church plays a significant role by building houses for the poor, donating materials, and helping low-income communities alleviate poverty. The study supports participatory planning efforts in housing, highlighting that the church and faith-based organizations have a place in promoting Sustainable Development Goals, particularly goals 1, 2, and 11. It augments literature in religious studies, the built environment, and sustainable urban development by investigating the church's role in housing provision. In contrast, most studies focus on the church’s involvement in politics, culture, and socio-economic development. The study will benefit stakeholders who want to contribute towards goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities). Additionally, the contribution will grow as the research serves as a novel contemporary reference for future studies in the same field.

Church rules: How churches and individuals recreate and challenge compulsory Christianity in the Deep South

Conservative Christian spaces in the deep south promote compulsory Christianity, the belief that there is only one way to be Christian and individuals cannot be both Christian and LGBTQIA+. These contexts continue to remain hostile and intolerant for LGBTQIA + Christians. To understand, and thereby challenge and change the problems LGBTQIA + Christians in the deep south face, we interviewed 25 (23 white, 2 Black) individuals who identified as LGBTQIA + Christians, about their experiences in and with churches and the organizations influenced by churches. We analyzed their responses using an integrative theoretical perspective that examines the interplay of micro (individual), meso (organizational), and macro (culture) levels. Our findings demonstrate how the meso organizational level serves as a conduit between larger, often ephemeral cultural beliefs in religious doctrine to individuals and how LGBTQIA + Christian reconcile their Christian and LGBTQIA + identities, navigate church rules, policies, and practices, as well as challenge compulsory Christianity. Our findings demonstrate the weaknesses in anti-LGBTQIA + rhetoric in church organizations, the potential mechanisms for resistance and change, as well as how to challenge the stronghold of compulsory Christianity in the Christian deep south.

Community Poultry Farmer Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Contributing to Antimicrobial Resistance in High Density Areas of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Background: Antimicrobial use in poultry poses a risk of resistance and transmission thereof to human populations, and poses a global public health risk. No previous studies considered Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of community (backyard) poultry farmers in dense settlement areas in Zimbabwe Methods: We used self-administered questionnaires to assess knowledge, attitude and practice items in addition to general and demographic variables. We describe our findings and evaluate associations with practices. Results: Fifty-six participants completed questionnaires. A range of practices (good and bad) was reported. Practices with risk for antimicrobial resistance developing were associated with males, having previously experienced an incident of high mortality among the poultry, and if knowledge and attitude scores were low. Individuals trained by church organisations and practicing chicken farming as their only occupation was associated with good practices. Poor knowledge scores were predictive of poor practices in the study. The study also found that individuals who do chicken farming as their only occupation were more likely to adhere to international regulations than those who did it as a part time occupation. Factors associated with good practices were those that were trained by church organisations. Despite its limitations such as measurement bias, the study highlighted gaps in the one health concept which might reduce antimicrobial resistance in both clinical and community settings