Mission Of Church Research Articles

Reforum: A brief but not unimportant chapter in the Dutch Reformed Church’s apartheid saga

In 1985 when storm clouds were gathering over South Africa, and a state of emergency was declared, a group of members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Family, clergy as well as laity, founded an organisation, Reforum. The two-fold aim of Reforum was to provide a prophetic witness against apartheid, calling the DRC to take leave of its theology of apartheid, and, secondly, to work towards the reunification of the DRC Family. The article researches the original Reforum documents, minutes, reports, conference material and letters, that hitherto laid untouched in the DRC Archive, in Pretoria. The programme of Reforum, especially the national and regional conferences held by the organisation over the 7 years of its existence, is discussed. The initial negative reaction of the DRC officials and synods, as well as the critique from some in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and the DRC in Africa that Reforum was not radical enough in its approach, are recorded. The summation, at the end, is that Reforum did play a significant role, albeit humble and short lived, in the annals of the DRC’s apartheid saga. Relevance: The DRC’s apartheid saga, the story of a church that had over many years lived with apartheid and even provided a theological argument for separate development, eventually came to the point where the DRC not only repented of its past, but declared apartheid and the theology of apartheid a sin and a heresy, continues to fascinate historians, including church historians. For South African Christians, clergy as well as laity, it helps explain their often troubled past, as well as present. The often neglected story of Reforum and the role and contribution of the organisation in this process needs to be recorded. Original research: the author provides original qualitative research, using material that had lain untouched in the DRC Archive for three decades. This may be considered to be a preliminary study. The archival material merits more and deeper attention. It may well provide material for post graduate research.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research is of value for the study of South African general history, South African church history, ecumenical studies, and practical theology.

Missional Church Leadership in the Pneumatological Perspective

This study intends to find missional leadership in the pneumatological perspective by focusing on bibllical, historical, missiological and theological appraoches. God send us to His mission fields and He is also doing mission with us. Missional church is about the nature and purpose of the church. The church is sending public spheres as well as individual people as an alternative community. For this reason, the missional leaders also needs to fulfill the public calling in their public and social roles for mission and evangelism in the Holy Spirit. In this study, I concentrate on a biblical, historical, missiological and theological understanding of the missional leadership through the Holy Spirit. I attempt to deal with the concept of ‘missional church in the missiological perspective. The mission of Trintarian God is crucial for practicing missional church leadership because the Son and the Spirit through the Father are doing mission as missionary God. In the Bible, Jesus’ Great commission is fulfilled in the Holy Spirit. Harry R. Boer recognizes the Great Commission and missions on Pentecost. Roland Allen is an great model of practicing missionary task in the doctrine of the Spirit as a missionary. Craig Van Gelder also develops a biblical and historical approach for a missional ecclesiology in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit encourages the missional church leaders to fulfill God’s redemptive reign in the world. Theologically, Jürgen Moltmann’s pneumatology is important for understanding missional church leadership through the Holy Spirit. He deals with the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit: 1) the church of Jesus Christ, 2) the missionary church, 3) ecumenical church, and 4) the political church. The missionary church emphasizes “Missio Dei in the Trinitarian history.”

Middle Knowledge: Human Freedom in Divine Sovereignty

In the last two or three decades, we have witnessed a renewed interest in spirituality in Christian academic circles. More recently, we have also seen a growing number of publi­cations on the mission and missional church—both on popular and academic levels. While one can easily find many quality works on Christian spirituality and some decent books on mission/missional church, one would only find a few works that combine both themes in a single volume. In this work, Charles Fen­sham, professor of theology at Knox College, Toronto, attempts to do just that—as one may discern from the book’s subtitle: A Missional Spirituality. As such, this book ad­dress­es those who have interest in spirituality and/or in mission but particularly to those who would like to see how biblical missional impetus shapes a particular understanding of Christian spirituality.

The Baptist Quarterly: The First Decade (1922–1931)

ABSTRACT The Baptist Quarterly began in 1922 as a successor to the Transactions of the Baptist Historical Society. In its first decade, the Quarterly was greatly indebted to the Honorary Secretary of the Baptist Historical Society, W.T. Whitley, and the President of the Society and Principal of Regent's Park College, Wheeler Robinson. This article considers how the Quarterly, from 1922–1931, sought to foster historical investigation and also, as Robinson put it, to ‘express contemporary Baptist aims and interests' on ‘a broader basis'. After ten years of the Quarterly, Robinson argued that it had made ‘a wider appeal by including matters of contemporary as well as of antiquarian interest’. In examining in detail that period, this study proposes that five main areas were of greatest significance: contemporary church life and mission; Baptist history in particular places in Britain; international experience; theological and biblical issues; and the more general historical area.

Catholic Innovation Through E-Rosary: Between Fascination and Disapproval

The aim of this study is to show that digital technology now lies at the heart of the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church. In view of the profound changes brought by the rise of digital communication technologies, the Vatican justifies this goal through a desire to reach believers in the remotest areas of the world. While at first glance this strategy gives the Catholic Church a modern image, the current research work brings it closer to the importance the Church attaches to global health interventions. Given the healthcare system failure in some African countries, this article which is based on Foucault's concerns about surveillance foresees a form of paternalism capable of fostering a mode of governance that subtly promotes the influence of individual behaviour.

The Claims of Diversity: The Uniting Reformed Church, Diversity and Qualitative Unity

The first 25 years of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was dedicated to stabilise and deepen the unity achieved between the former Dutch Reformed Church in Africa and the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, while simultaneously fighting off challenges posed by the break-away DRCA. A vital characteristic of these two churches was that they brought multiple diversities to the unification process—diversities of language, gender, laity, age, spirituality, and different abilities. URCSA did not often address these challenges openly, but they functioned as underground currents that reached visible manifestations when leaders had to be elected. At the last regional synod of URCSA in the Cape (2018), a debate ensued and a contesting of leadership positions occurred, that affirmed a mechanistic model of cultural representation and side-lined greater gender recognition. These attempts bear witness to the reality of diversity and compel URCSA to address this vital issue in a way that remains true to the Gospel, affirming our fundamental unity while drawing on our diversity as sources of enrichment. URCSA has the inestimable resource of the Belhar Confession 1986 that drew on the biblical tradition to approach the issue of diversity and unity. This essay will clarify the issue of diversity in relation to unity in the church and investigate how diversities are addressed as they impact on culture and gender. The author will draw on the work of the late political philosopher, Iris Marion Young, to investigate various approaches to diversity. The essay proposes that if we do not address the reality of diversity in a significant way, the unity of the church will not reach meaningful depth and a new dominating hegemony will replace the aspiration to qualitative unity, thereby limiting the contribution and access of different constituencies in URCSA.

Pastoral Ministry from the Margins: Pastors’ Wives in Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe

This study researched pastors’ wives from the Apostolic Faith Church Mission in Zimbabwe as a case study to understand gender-sensitive leadership models in African Pentecostal churches. Women are the majority in both Apostolic Faith Missions and all the churches, hence the focus of pastoral ministry on women. The pastors’ wives’ contributions to the pastoral ministry are hardly told, as effective ministry is accredited to male leadership. Pastors’ wives are not “ordained to the ministry; they are regarded as helpers of their spouses who received a calling to ministry.” In reality, pastors’ wives bear enormous responsibility for the church by contributing financial and human resources to the ministry. Pastors’ wives are not trained; hence, they employ “experiential theology” to meet the needs of their fellow women. The overarching aim of this study was to explore the contribution of pastors’ wives to pastoral ministry in the African Pentecostal churches. The study used “pastoral ministry” as a conceptual framework. The study employed a qualitative methodology, and data were gathered through in-depth interviews. The study concludes that pastors’ wives’ pastoral ministry is a useful tool for church growth and should not operate from the margins.

Repeat Photography and Virtual Reconstruction of Los Santos de Ángeles de Guevavi, Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona

ABSTRACT Since its abandonment in 1775, the mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi has undergone severe erosion and loss, rendering the eighteenth-century adobe church and associated mission structures difficult for the visiting public to understand and appreciate. This research examines the use of repeat photography and virtual reconstruction of Guevavi Mission to visualise and quantify deterioration of the church while also improving visitor understanding of the site. Repeat photography processed through JuxtaposeJS provides an interactive mode of viewing changes over time, while 3D modelling creates a digital reconstruction of the complex during its occupation. Both methods taken together also provide a semi-quantitative means of documenting material loss of the Guevavi Mission church over time and monitoring loss and the efficacy of current and future preservation methods.

Language and identity politics in the American Board Mission church in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The convergence of Americans and Africans (Ndau and Zulu) at the Mt Selinda mission created a new order that was marked by significant ethical and metaphysical contradictions. Navigating through such a sticky reality with potentially pliable political, linguistic, cultural and social cleavages, American board missionaries adopted strategic interventions that enfeebled the predominant Ndau identity in Chipinge. Using archival data from the mission, government and personal archives, this article argues that missionaries engaged in manipulative language politics that, in addition to pitting African identities against each other, bended, twisted and subverted the revered traditions and normative sociocultural belief systems that had sustained the foundational values of the Ndau identity for centuries. Contrary to Eurocentric literature that extols missionaries’ role in developing African languages and societies, we provide evidence that missionaries instituted linguistic and cultural reorientation initiatives to foist western policies and ideologies upon the church and the school. The upshot of this was the delegitimisation of traditional Ndau identities within the vicinity of the mission as well as the birth of new linguistic, educational and sociocultural identities subservient and apologetic to the cause, principles and values espoused by missionaries in Ndau speaking societies.

Rekonstruksi Paradigma dan Implementasi Misi Gereja Masa Kini di Indonesia

The relationship between evangelism and social care is a hot topic that is still being debated. Some argue that the Church should only work on evangelism, that is, on eternal salvation (spiritual matters), not on social issues. Others are of the view that working on social issues is a means for the purpose of evangelizing. By using a descriptive qualitative approach, this article is intended: firstly to show that the mission of the Church is an integrative-holistic mission covering the field of evangelism and social service. The two are united in Missio Dei. Second, in order to attract reflections for churches everywhere, it is necessary to reconstruct the paradigm and implementation of the Church's mission in the present. The results of the discussion conclude that the Church's mission should be integrative-holistic. This means that the Church does not separate (dualism) between evangelism and social care. The integrative-holistic mission is considered very relevant and needed as an answer to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into reality and at the same time can alleviate the problems or conditions of the society in which the Church is located.

Social media as tool for the Church's mission and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A recent correspondence claimed that the establishment of community pantries across the Philippines embodies a spirituality of “Alay Kapwa” as it connects people, especially in a time of crisis such as the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, to be persons for others. 1 This article highlights that the rise of community pantries was primarily aided by social media. It claims that if social media is utilized ethically and with positive disposition and perspective, it can be a powerful tool in the Church’s mission of evangelization, and in its response to this pandemic.

Appraising the Quality of Diocesan Catholic Education in accordance with Philippine Catholic Schools Standards

Catholic education is linked to the Church's evangelical mission. However, Catholic schools are confronted with the deterioration of values, teacher turnover, and decline in enrolment, posing threats to their mission and operation (Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines [CEAP], 2016). Hence, this assessed the quality of Catholic education of Antique diocesan schools using the Philippine Catholic Schools Standards (PCSS). Further, it identified areas for continuous improvement in the Catholic school operation. It also correlated the respondents’ age, sex, length of service, and designation with the quality assessment. With the descriptive-correlational design, the 120 school personnel responded through a standardized PCSS questionnaire. Generally, the assessment was rated “fully meets benchmark” with Catholic identity and mission as the highest and operational vitality as the lowest. The correlation showed no relationship between the age, sex, and length of service with the quality assessment while little if any relationship with the designation. Accordingly, the quality of Catholic education is attained through continuous adherence to the standards. With this, stakeholders’ collaboration is necessary.

Misi Gereja Dalam Realitas Sosial Indonesia Masa Kini

In general, the problem of mission today is related to a one-sided emphasis on one side. One emphasizes and maintains the context of the humanitarian field with all its problems and challenges so that it tends to ignore the text. While others are fixated on the text and ignore the context. It is undeniable that the mission paradigm will influence and determine its missionary practice. This paper is intended to contribute theoretically about the importance of reconstructing the Church's mission paradigm that is relevant to the context of today's Indonesia, and practically the churches in Indonesia can implement an applicable form of mission by taking part in alleviating the concrete problems faced. by the community according to the capabilities of the church members. By using a qualitative approach, namely a literature study, the author will describe descriptively about the foundation of Christian mission and the urgency of conducting a review or updating of the understanding and practice of its mission in the current concrete situation. It was concluded that the mission of the church must still be carried out but in its implementation it must pay attention to the social situation in the community. Because the mission of the church without paying attention to the context of its recipients will find difficulties and even failures in carrying out God's will as the light and salt of the world. This means that the strategy or technique of the church's mission must be implemented according to the current context in which the church is present.

My Pilgrimage to the Missional in South Africa

The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa at its 2013 General Synod made a bold resolution—to be a missional church. This resolution was not only an acknowledgement of past failures, but also a commitment to deep and lasting reform. In this article one of the pastors (and leaders) of the church tells this story from a personal, biographical perspective. It is a story of learning and growth and conversion. In this story we see how historical occurrences, personal experiences, reading the Bible and theology, meetings and conversations with friends and strangers and friendships, old and new, can help people change their minds. We also see how being missional is not only bound up with our understanding of scripture and theology, but also with the context in which we live and work. It becomes very clear that it is impossible to isolate the missional work of the church from the political, social and economic realities in which we live. We also see that being missional should not be romanticized as an ideal situation. Most of the time being missional is conducted in the messy chaos we call life.

A Reflection on Nominal Christians in Contemporary England

This article attends to the religious landscape in contemporary England, particularly those who display some Christian beliefs and practices loosely, while their church attendance is slight, occasional or non-existent. In Western society and churches, they are predominantly characterised as “nominal Christians.” From a missiological perspective, I examine the adequacy of this characterisation, drawing upon my empirical findings of non-diasporic Korean missionaries’ engagement with the phenomenon of interest. Firstly, I show how nominalism is addressed in the two major sociological approaches that attempt to characterise the religious trend in the contemporary Western culture, namely, secularization theories and de-institutionalization theories. Secondly, I present empirical findings of Korean missionaries’ reflection on nominalism in the light of such a sociological debate. Finally, I examine the missiological implication of their reflection for nominalism in reference to the concept of missio Dei. I argue that Korean missionaries’ accounts disclose what I call “religious nominals” who have some valid elements of Christian faith in an increasingly deinstitutionalized ecclesial context. They represent a distinctive religious constituency among whom God carries out the redemptive work of Christ, the manner of which is as yet to be explored. This disclosure invites us to review our understanding of nominalism with a serious theological exploration of such a redemptive intervention of God. This exploration also invites further reflection on our current discourse of missional church in this particular theological context.

코로나 팬데믹 상황 속에서 선교적 교회의 교회론적 변화와 선교적 대응: 한국 교회 적용을 중심으로

코로나 팬데믹 상황 속에서 선교적 교회의 교회론적 변화와 선교적 대응: 한국 교회 적용을 중심으로

코로나19 속 뉴노멀 시대 미국의 선교적 교회에 관한 연구

본 연구는 코로나 19 상황 속에서 미국의 선교적 교회의 사역에 대한 연구, 특히 새들백교회의 온라인 소그룹 사역을 중심으로 살펴본 것이다. 코로나19 상황 속에서 한국의 많은 교회들은 온라인 사역을 감당할 수 밖에 없는 상황속에 처하게 되었다. 그러나 사역의 방향성이나 사역을 위한 준비를 어떻게 해야 할지 몰라 어려움을 겪기 도 했다. 온라인 예배는 그나마 신경을 써서 감당을 했으나, 온라인 소그룹은 어떻게 인도하고 진행할지 몰라서 코로나 상황이 지나가기만을 기다리는 교회가 많았다. 그 러한 시행착오를 경험하면서 한국교회는 온라인 공간도 하나의 선교지가 될 수 있다 는 생각을 가지게 되었다. 온라인 사역에 대해서 좋은 모범을 보여주는 교회 중 하나 가 미국 캘리포니아에 있는 새들백교회(Saddleback Church)이다. 새들백교회는 500여 개가 넘는 사역을 모두 온라인으로 전환하면서 코로나 상황 속에서도 24,000명이 넘 는 세례자가 생겼다. 새들백교회는 제자도와 온라인 소그룹 사역에 탁월함을 보여주 고 있다. 이 논문은 새들백교회의 온라인 소그룹의 노하우를 살펴봄으로 디지털 미션필드 사역을 감당할 때 필요한 사역의 방향성과 실제에 대해서 나눠볼 것이다. 한국 사회의 교회에 대한 인식 변화를 살펴봄으로 앞으로 앞으로 선교의 방향성에 대한 고 민을 통해서 온라인 사역의 출발은 교인과 지역사회의 필요(felt-need)에서 출발해야 함을 살펴볼 것이다. 그러한 사역이 일회성의 사역이 아니라 앞으로 지향해야 할 방 향성이라는 생각으로 계속해서 사용할 수 있는 사역 커리큘럼의 온 디맨드(on-demand) 화 할 필요가 있다.

교회의 이웃의 소리경청 및 개선방안 연구 : 선교적 교회의 관점에서

이 연구는 선교적 교회 관점에서 교회의 이웃의 소리경청 및 개선방안을 모색하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 사실 오래 전부터 한국 교회의 대사회적 소통의 부재 또는 일방 적 소통의 문제에 대해서 계속해서 문제 제기가 되어왔지만, 한국 교회의 대사회적 소통은 크게 개선되지 않았다. 그동안 한국 교회가 세상과의 관계 속에서 선포중심의 일방적 소통을 해왔기에, 이웃과의 소통을 더 잘하기 위해서는 경청중심의 대화적 선 교 패러다임을 필요로 한다. 이런 점에서 선교적 교회론이 적합한데, 왜냐하면 선교적 교회는 삼위일체 하나님의 관계적이고 대화적 선교에 참여하는 것을 교회의 정체성이 자 사명으로 인식하면서 세상과의 관계하는 방식이 쌍방적이고 대화적인 것을 지향하 기 때문이다. 선교적 교회가 일반 교회보다 이웃과 더 잘 소통하고 경청한다는 것을 보여준 한 양적 연구가 있지만, 그 연구는 일반 교회와 선교적 교회가 어떻게 이웃을 경청하고 소통하는지에 대해서는 구체적으로 제시해주지는 않았다. 이런 점을 고려하면서, 연구자는 구성주의적 사례연구 방법(constructivist case study methodology)을 준용하여 일반 교회와 선교적 교회를 하나씩 선택하고 그들이 이웃의 소리를 어떻게 경청하는지를 연구하였다. 이 과정 속에서 연구자는 둘 사이의 공통점과 차이점에 주목했다. 여기서 구성주의적 사례연구 방법이란, 사례연구와 구성 주의적 근거이론을 종합한 방법론으로, 사례연구의 틀 안에서 차마즈(Charmaz)의 구 성주의적 근거이론으로 자료를 분석하는 방법이다. 이 연구를 통해서 선교적 교회뿐 만 일반 교회 안에도 이웃의 소리를 경청하는 모습이 있음을 발견했다. 이 연구는 또 한 그들이 이웃의 소리를 경청하는 과정이 단순한 직선적인 과정이 아닌, 복잡하고 다양한 측면을 가지면서도 동시에 통합된 과정임을 제시하였다. 하지만 둘 사이에 차 이점도 발견되었다. 하나님의 선교의 측면에서 선교적 교회는 자신을 일반 교회와는 다르다고 인식했고, 선교를 수행한다는 동기에서 이웃의 소리를 경청하려고 했으며, 이웃의 소리를 경청하는데 있어서 감사하는 태도를 취했다. 그리고 리더십 차원에서 선교적 교회는 담임목사의 역할을 대단히 중요하게 보았고, 내적 소통구조를 만드는 것을 굉장히 강조했다. 또한 하나님의 선교 차원에서 선교적 교회는 새로운 선교적 사건들을 훨씬 더 많이 경험하였다. 따라서 일반교회가 이웃의 소리를 더 잘 경청하 기 위해서는 이런 점들을 개선해야 한다는 결론에 도달하였다. 달리 말하면, 일반교회 가 이웃의 소리를 더 잘 경청하기 위해서는 선교적 교회로의 패러다임 전환이 필요하 고, 여기에는 리더십의 변화가 필수적이다.

From timely exegesis to contemporary ecclesiology: Relevant hermeneutics and provocative embodiment of faith in a corona-defined world – Generosity during a pandemic

In a world where economies have no moral conscience, biblical theologians can challenge local cultures with ancient wisdom about generosity and equity. Systemic solutions require changes in the habits of virtue, and this study focuses on the habit of generosity. Building on the work of Stephan Joubert’s Paul as Benefactor, this study concentrates on Paul’s collection in one notable instance: what he says about generosity in 2 Corinthians 8-9 and, in particular, what he means by isotēs in 2 Cor 8:13–15. Does it mean “equality” or “equity”? Beginning with a reinvigorated interest in the economic vision of the apostle Paul about what is meant by “weak” and “good works” and what the Pastoral Epistles communicate with eusebeia (not “godliness” but “social respectability and civility”), we reconsider the collection as an act on the part of the Pauline mission churches to express more than ecclesial unity. This act embodied a theology of grace in mutual reciprocity and in equitable provision on the part of the wealthy for the poor, not least and not limited to those in their own Christian assemblies. The term isotēs is too easily glossed over when translated as “fair balance”, “fairness”, and so the translation of the term with “equity” or “equality” comes closest to the vision of the apostle. Too few studies on this term baptize it sufficiently in the economics of the ancient world and the early Christian radical vision of siblingship and family.Contribution: From the perspective of the Historical Thought and Source Interpretation of the work of Paul, the question of systemic equality or equity is as crucial to navigating the current economic climate as it has ever been. Equality or equity is not limited to Christian communities but following the early church in embodying a theology of grace.

Desarmando oleadas y trasplantes

This article raises the need to rethink the usual schemes we use to characterize the course of the historic Protestant churches in Argentina, and by extension, in Latin America. Since the publication of the seminal work by Waldo Luis Villalpando, Christian Lalive D'Epinay and Dwain C. Epps, Las iglesias del trasplante, in 1970, the division between migratory and missionary churches has been emphasized. This approach was taken up and enriched by Hilario Wynarczyk and Pablo Semán in their article "Campo evangélico y pentecostalismo en la Argentina", 1994, which describes four aspects or "waves" of Argentine Protestantism, and which has been repeated on numerous occasions. In the light of the most recent theoretical and historical advances, the existence of homogeneous "waves" of churches that arrived in Argentina during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and a too linear vision of their development, as well as the division between immigrant churches and missionary churches, will be questioned. It is also proposed that a less schematic view would allow to renew the questions about the conformation of the evangelical field, and the relationship of the different churches with the phenomenon of Pentecostalism.