Church Polity Research Articles

Crafting Aboriginal Nations in Taiwan: The Presbyterian Church and the Imagination of the Aboriginal National Subject

This study argues that since the end of World War II, the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church’s practical institutionalised arrangements for evangelisation have had the unintended consequence of creating an imagined multi-layered aboriginal national Subject. The argument is founded upon analysis of three main points. First, aboriginal members’ daily practices within the three-level federalist church polity formed in their minds an acquired “schema”, a ready-made cognitive structure that could be easily appropriated by them to imagine their own nations in a certain way. Second, when the Church promoted the translation of the Bible and hymns into aboriginal vernaculars for practical evangelising reasons, it unintentionally created tribe-based cultural-linguistic mediums as national languages upon which the contents of aboriginal nations could be elaborated and reproduced. This step further consolidated tribe-based ethnic categorisation and facilitated the reification of aboriginal nations. Third, since aboriginal ministers and elders were institutionally endowed with many strengths in comparison to other aboriginal elites, they came to serve as human activators in formulating and spreading the imagination of the multi-layered aboriginal national Subject.

Full and Partial Structures of Historical Roof Trusses in Assessment of Volume of Timber Used for Construction

Abstract Rafter framing is the basic roof frame that, through the trusses, transfers the load from the roofing to the main supports of the building. The construction material of these structures is usually wood. The development of roof framing construction for wider and wider covers has caused an increased demand for construction timber for their construction. This paper points to this economic aspect based on an example of a geometric pattern of a rafter framing based on repetitive construction of full and partial girders. For such an understanding of the use of simple trusses by carpentry masters who constructed roof framings in past centuries, it is pointed out in Ryszard Ganowicz’s works titled “Historical roof trusses of Polish churches” with section by Piotr Rapp’s “Historical development of roof structures in Polish churches”. This work is intended to provide an initial estimate of the percentage of wood saved in this solution. This assessment will be made on the basis of the inventory documentation of the roof framing of the church of the Michael the Archangel Church in Wierzbnik.

Re-animating church as politics:South Africa commemorating the radical reformation in the hope of decolonizing local congregations

An unlikely crosscurrent in the Reformation-schism was the violent reaction of both the Reformation and Roman Catholic establishments in the 1520s to Anabaptist Churches. What evoked this reaction was the Anabaptists’ recognizably distinct church polity, which the Radical Reformers understood to be directly continuous with the socially transformative politics of Jesus and of the first Christians of the Roman Empire. In a spirit of contrition for Christian disunity, this research is a commemoration that aims to identify prophetic aspects of early Anabaptist polity. Secondly, the essay demonstrates that the way the Radical Reformers practised church is pertinent for ecclesiology five centuries later – not least in contemporary South Africa and North America where church capture to neoliberal economic values and commitments prior to following Jesus, calls into question orthodox Christian witness and presence. Thirdly, the essay imagines a South African re-appropriation of the politics of Jesus as amplified in the Radical Reformation tradition, in a tentative, heuristic invitation to the Church in South Africa today, to become ‘God’s left wing’.

Historical Theology: Content, methodology and relevance

In this contribution, the authors reflect on historical theology as theological discipline. The authors propose that historical theology be applied to different areas of research, namely prolegomena, history of the church, history of missions, history of theology, history of ecumenical theology or public theology and church polity. The point is made that historical theology, when properly structured and presented, could play a major role in enriching the theological and ecclesial conversation and in assisting the church in the process of reformation and transformation.

‘A City Set on a Hill,’ Congregational Discipline Among Early Particular Baptists

ABSTRACTIn the middle of the seventeenth century English Calvinistic Baptists emerged as an identifiable group within the broader Puritan movement seeking further reform in the Protestant Church of England, firstly by gathering, and subsequently conforming congregations to the will of Christ the King. Every area of church life was scrutinised in the light of scripture to bring church polity, worship and congregational life into harmony with the primitive church described in the New Testament. One significant area of reform was the correction and discipline of church members to secure their personal submission to the rule of Christ and promote the collective purity of the church. It is my purpose to show that the gathered believers in Baptist congregations attended to the purity of their communal life akin to the biblical simile ‘a city set on a hill, a light to the world.’ This paper examines the records of the early Calvinistic Baptists to understand their policies, procedures and theology of congregational discipline.

Równe czy identyczne traktowanie osób duchownych w prawie polskim?

Zgodnie z prawem polskim kościoły i inne związki wyznaniowe korzystające z gwarancji wolności sumienia i religii niektórym ze swoich członków nadają status duchownego. Rzeczpospolitą Polską cechuje różnorodność funkcjonujących wspólnot wyznaniowych. Prezentują one różną doktrynę. Jednocześnie też ustanawianym przez siebie duchownym stawiają ściśle określone cele i zadania do realizacji. Przepisy prawa polskiego odnoszące się bezpośrednio do duchownych przewidują pewne odrębności wpływające na status prawny również w obrębie tej grupy osób. W niniejszym artykule podjęta jest próba odpowiedzi na pytanie: czy przepisy odnoszące się bezpośrednio do duchownych faworyzują tych, którzy przynależą do większych wspólnot wyznaniowych, kosztem pełniących swe funkcje w kościołach i innych związkach wyznaniowych o niezbyt wielkiej liczbie wiernych. Innymi słowy chodzi o to, czy w obrębie tej szczególnej grupy zachowana jest zasada równości wyrażona w art. 32 Konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. W celu rozwiązania postawionego problemu konieczne jest wskazanie wyznaczników zróżnicowanego traktowania osób duchownych, co zostaje zrealizowane w prezentowanym tekście. Na podstawie przeprowadzonej analizy należy stwierdzić, że przepisy prawa polskiego, określając status duchownych, biorą pod uwagę pewne szczególne różnice w pełnionej przez nich posłudze, jak również uwzględniają odrębności na gruncie prawa własnego. Ten stan nie jest sprzeczny z zasadą równouprawnienia.

Interpreting the event: baptism, networks and polemic in Commonwealth England

ABSTRACTThis article examines a set of texts that circulated around a debate between Richard Baxter (1615-91) and John Tombes (1602-76) about the lawfulness of infant baptism and church membership. The relationships between these manuscript and printed texts and the debate as an event are described and assessed demonstrating the ways in which knowledge networks were constituted in Commonwealth England and how they contributed to changing definitions of political and ecclesial communities, the role of baptism as a sacrament in effecting transformation and staking out boundaries, and the formation of publics that were increasingly theologically informed and polemically engaged. Considering these richly documentary texts, which exist in a reciprocally generative relationship with a well-known historical event, as material embodiments that work rhetorically in the world enables a more robust account to be given of the people, texts, objects and networks that collaboratively redefined baptism, church polity, and their associated practices.

An inquiry into ethnicity in the structures of the church: the case of Malawi

Ethnicity, tribalism and xenophobia could be found inside and outside church walls. Ethnic and racist behaviours in human beings are natural, learned and nurtured within societies around the world. However, ethnic identity and relations exist whether the ethnic groups are competing or not. The first challenge of the early church in the New Testament Church was to overcome ethnicity and hostile divisions between Jews and Gentles. The New Testament Church’s principles of open plural government overcame the phenomenon. The contemporary church is in dilemma to understand its archaic church polity and order in her own challenging context today.

Wizerunek o. Józefa Jarzębowskiego (1897–1964) – pedagoga, żołnierza, księdza, uczonego, poety, kreowany na łamach polskich czasopism emigracyjnych

<p>W artykule omówiono działalność wielkiego wizjonera, przyjaciela dzieci i młodzieży, cenionego pedagoga, marianina o. Józefa Jarzębowskiego (1897–1964). Ojciec J. Jarzębowski brał czynny udział w wojnie bolszewickiej 1920 roku. Po upadku Warszawy w 1939 r. przedarł się na Litwę, a następnie przez Syberię, Japonię, USA dotarł do Meksyku. Tam w polskim osiedlu Santa Rosa od połowy 1945 r. pełnił funkcję dyrektora Polskiego Gimnazjum Ogólnokształcącego. Następnie po krótkim pobycie w Rzymie został skierowany w latach 50. XX w. do Wielkiej Brytanii, by stworzyć od podstaw w Fawley Court polską szkołę wyznaniową dla chłopców. Szkołę w 1986 r. przekształcono w polsko-angielski ośrodek edukacyjny. Od 2008 r. do czasów współczesnych trwa walka byłych wychowanków skupionych wokół Fawley Court Old Boys Network pod przewodnictwem Mirosława Malevskiego, ich rodziców oraz wszystkich Polaków o to unikatowe miejsce, które stworzyli wspólnymi siłami i zasobami finansowymi, po tym jak w 2012 r. posiadłość została bezprawnie sprzedana przez zarządzających placówką o. marianów.</p>

Teaching Historical Theology at the University of Pretoria – Some introductory remarks

The Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria went through a process of restructuring, resulting in the amalgamation of Dogmatics, Christian Ethics, Church History and Church Polity into one department under the name ‘Systematic and Historical Theology’. This contribution reflects only on the one aspect, namely Historical Theology. The point is made that a name change could not mean ‘business as usual’, but should be regarded as an opportunity to re-imagine the content and structure of Historical Theology. This is not an easy task. This contribution reflects on Historical Theology as theological discipline, the teaching content and how it could be relevant in Africa in the 21st century. It also has implications for restructuring the curriculum.

Kenmerke van ’n kerkorde van betekenis vir ’n geloofsgemeenskap in ’n postmoderne konteks, met spesifieke verwysing na die werk van Zygmunt Bauman

Characteristics of church ordinances with meaning for faith communities in a postmodern context, with spesific reference to the work of Zygmunt Bauman. Postmodernity changed the function, content and structures of church ordinances. This is a reality that cannot be denied by faith communities. New possibilities arise. Every ‘absolute truth’ can be formulated in a different way. Multiple truths suggest multiple possibilities. Plurality does not create chaos and risks anymore, but implies richness. Success and achievement have become relative to relations and the meaning of relationships. Individuals and small groups have discovered their own worth and identity. The disgust for rules has become the energy for the venture into new meaning. According to Bauman, the choice for humanity, including the church, is between ethics and morality. The individual’s responsibility to every Other is clear. Respect for diversity is the challenge. A new search for identity and meaning, as found in relationships is what characterises our time. Rules will not be of any help; the understanding of every Other’s story is important. The concepts to take into consideration are meaning, integrity, relativity, diversity, communication, justice and identity. A church ordinance of meaning should have the following characteristics: room for experimentation, complementary straights, room for people to be heard, authority carried by truth, a liturgical character, minimum geographical limits, room for diversity, structures that serve and an open view on offices. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The study identify new arguments in the debate regarding the formulation and implimentation of a church-order. In the current context of postmodernity, where power and instruments of power are challenged, the debate regarding church polity finds itself at a critical point. The study suggests that the current definitions and models of church-orders are not beneficial to the church regarding her mission in the world anymore. The researcher is of the opinion that the changes suggested, are possible and needed. The academic discipline of church polity will have to take note of these, in order to stay relevant in a postmodern context. In formulating the arguments, the researcher made use of sosiological perspectives.

Die verband tussen ekklesiologie en kerkreg: ’n Hervormde perspektief

This article discusses the meaning of ecclesiology and church polity as such, in relation to each other, but also in connection to church order which lies in the elongation of both. From a reformed perspective, it is indicated that the ecclesiology of the Netherdutch Reformed Church over the last fifty to hundred years, centred round the viewpoint of the Church as a volkskerk, in conjunction with the church orderly, of the Kerkwet till 1997. The author is of the opinion that the above-mentioned viewpoint limited the church to be a true church of the Word.

Die lewe en werk van Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560): ’n Leksikografiese bydrae tot Reformasie 500

This article is a contribution to a research project of the Department of Church History and Church Polity at the University of Pretoria on the biography and work of the Reformers of the sixteenth century and their followers. The life and work of Philipp Melanchthon receives attention in the article. Melanchthon’s contribution to Reformation theology as well as his contributions to church-life, are described. Melanchthon was the man next to Luther and he therefore has to receive attention in this year of celebration and commemoration.

Die klassis en kerkvisitasie in drie kerkordes

The classis and the visitation of congregations in three church orders. It is said by reformed church politicians that the classis as a major assembly in reformed church polity is the cornerstone of the church as a denomination. In the tradition in which the church order of the wellknown Synod of Dordrecht of 1618–1619 plays an important role, the classis is used as an assembly of local congregations caring for one another and helping to become better churches. This means that the visit of a commission of the classis to a congregation to care for it should be of a pastoral nature. The pastoral caring and advice of the classis should enable a congregation to become a better church. The members of this commission are, however, not rated as superior or more important ministers. The acceptance of their competent advice by equals helps the latter only to fulfil their ecclesiastical calling.

Społeczne, etyczne i religijne postawy polskiej młodzieży oraz ich konsekwencje dla nauczania religii w Polsce

Artykuł, odwołując się do badań socjologicznych z ostatnich kilku lat, charakteryzuje polską młodzież pod względem przyjmowanych wartości społecznych, etycznych i religijnych, by ukazać ważne konsekwencje dla nauczania religii w Polsce. 25 lat od momentu, kiedy lekcje religii na nowo pojawiły się w polskich szkołach, zachęca do różnych podsumowań, wyciągania wniosków i kreślenia perspektyw. Tekst podkreśla stojącą przed Kościołem szansę, jaką w udzielaniu młodym wsparcia w podejmowanym wysiłku wzrostu duchowego daje szkolna katecheza. W sytuacji globalnych przemian, które mają wpływ na myślenie i sposób postępowania młodzieży, dużą wagę należy przypisać działaniom wychowawczym, które będą wyzwalać osobiste doświadczanie miłości Boga. Kluczowe dla przyszłości polskiego Kościoła wydają się działania ewangelizacyjne, prowadzone w ramach szkolnej i pozaszkolnej pracy z dziećmi i młodzieżą w celu podtrzymywania i kultywowania przekonań religijnych i zwyczajów oraz umożliwiania dojrzewania wiary młodego pokolenia.

Opieka duszpasterska nad Polakami w Harbinie

Poles began to settle in Harbin in 1897. They arrived there as part of the first technical expedition (about 7,000 Poles) sent by the Tsarist government to mark out the East China Railway line. From the very beginning they made efforts to bring a Polish priest to their community. In 1901 Polish officers and soldiers turned to the authorities asking for permission to build a church. The Catholic chapel for Poles was organised in the building belonging to the Border Guards. On 30 May 1904 the authorities assigned a square for the construction of the church. The priests involved in the ministry were: P.P. Bulwicz, A. Szpiganowicz, S. Ławrynowicz, A. Maczuk. On 1 August 1909 Archbishop Jan Cieplak consecrated the new church and appointed Rev Wladyslaw Ostrowski the parish priest of the Polish parish in Harbin. The following priests engaged in pastoral work: A. Eysymontt, W. Mi[e]rzwinski, R. Wierzejski, W. Zborowski, A. Leszczewicz and P. Chodniewicz. They were joined by the Franciscan friars: Maurus Kluge and Paulin Wilczynski, from 1925 Gerard Piotrowski, and from 1941 Gracjan Kolodziejczyk (until 1957). The priests also served branch churches erected and organised by Poles, mostly along the railway line (2 or 3 times a year, over entire decades). The main centre of the religious and cultural life of the Polish community in Harbin was St. Stanislaus Bishop Parish. The development of the religious and cultural life of the parish was associated with the pastoral work of Rev Ostrowski, who initiated the creation of St Vincent de Paul Society, St Vincent de Paul Basic School, an orphanage for the poorest children, Henryk Sienkiewicz Junior High School for Poles and a parish library. From 1922 he had been publishing the weekly “Tygodnik Polski”. He initiated the construction of the second Polish church at so-called St Josaphat Harbour. Its parish priest was Rev A. Leszczewicz. He organised the first Catholic congress of the Polish parish on the Asian soil. A basic school was also created at this parish. In 1946, the churches and other assets of the parishes were taken over by the Chinese authorities. In 1959 the temple was taken over by the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, but in 1966 the church fell into ruin. Over time, it was adapted to house a school. In 2004 it was renovated as a temple dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

English-Polish contrastive grammar at Polish universities

Although contrastive studies do not enjoy great prestige among linguists, they have a very long tradition dating back to ca. 1000 A.D. when Ælfric wrote his Grammatica, a grammar of Latin and English. Even then he must have been aware of the fact that the knowledge of one language may be helpful in the process of learning another language (Krzeszowski 1990). Similarly, it seems that throughout the history of mankind teachers of a foreign language must have realized that a native and foreign tongue can be contrasted. However, contrastive linguistics only came into being as a science at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The first works were almost purely theoretical, and it is worth emphasizing that among the first scholars working in the field was Baudouin de Courtenay, a Polish linguist, who published his contrastive grammar of Polish, Russian and Old Church Slavonic in 1912. The outbreak of the Second World War was a milestone in the development of applied contrastive studies since a need to teach foreign languages in the United States arose as a result. The 1960’s is considered a further step in the development of contrastive grammar since a number of projects were initiated both in Europe and in the U.S.A. (Willim, Mańczak-Wohlfeld 1997), which resulted in the introduction of courses in English-Polish contrastive grammar at Polish universities. The aim of the present paper is to characterize and evaluate the courses offered in the English departments of selected Polish universities and to suggest an “ideal” syllabus.

In Order to Serve: An Ecumenical Introduction to Church Polity, written by Leo J. Koffeman

In Order to Serve: An Ecumenical Introduction to Church Polity, written by Leo J. Koffeman

Stowarzyszenie Polskich Muzyków Kościelnych. Retrospektywa

Artykuł jest syntetycznym przeglądem i podsumowaniem działalności Stowarzyszenia Polskich Muzyków Kościelnych od momentu jego powstania w 2001 roku do XVI Zjazdu we wrześniu 2015 włącznie.

Pojednanie polsko-niemieckie w wizji kardynała Bolesława Kominka

This article aims at depicting the figure of Cardinal Boleslaw Kominek, archbishop of Wroclaw, as a great supporter of Polish-German reconciliation. As a pastor of the Upper Silesia, he perfectly felt the soul of both Polish and German nations. As archbishop of Wroclaw he pursued with determination the approchement of Polish and German nations in a spirit of reconciliation and Christian forgiveness. His consequent activity led to the recognition of the border on the Oder-Neisse line as well as to the recognition of the Polish Church administration on the territory of the Western and Northern Lands (or the Recovered Territories). He can be considered as one of the founders of the idea of united Europe.