Christian Leadership Research Articles

Galvao-Sobrino, Carlos R., Doctrine and Power: Theological Controversy and Christian Leadership in the Later Roman Empire

Galvao-Sobrino, Carlos R., Doctrine and Power: Theological Controversy and Christian Leadership in the Later Roman Empire

The Slaves of the Churches: A History by Mary E. Sommar

Reviewed by: The Slaves of the Churches: A History by Mary E. Sommar Michael Flexsenhar III Mary E. Sommar The Slaves of the Churches: A History New York: Oxford University Press, 2020 Pp. 280. $34.95. The opportunity to read about Christians in the Roman Empire and Christians in the early Middle Ages, both in a single volume, is rare and welcome. The enduring human practice of slavery has unfortunately made that reading possible. Mary E. Sommar's sweeping book, The Slaves of the Churches, brings together an abundance of texts from the first to the fourteenth century and beyond in order to trace "the church's own norms concerning ecclesiastical unfree dependents and the evolution of these norms over time, with attention to how they were affected by the social, economic, political, and legal developments of the larger society" (2–3). The book analyzes mainly "canonical texts," that is, "all of the canons of the 'ecumenical' councils" as well as the "synodal material" up to the ninth century and the "normative canonical material from the twelfth-and thirteenth-century 'classical' period of canon law" (7). Included is also a "random sample" of letters, charters, sermons, and royal proclamations from the "various societies" (7). That massive collection of writings related to slavery in Christianity is the book's primary strength. The approach is Catholic church history—perfectly understandable for a medievalist whose "scholarly home turf" is western canon law (1)—but it is difficult to find any canon law before the ecumenical councils, if not later. As a result, an approach focused on "[t]he early Christian church" (27) before any institution existed to enforce a nominal "orthodoxy," is thorny, and anachronistic, when applied to the New Testament (Chapter Two) or even the patristic writings (Chapter Three). Scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity may find this early portion of the book wanting. It succeeds in compiling and discussing a wealth of passages dealing with slavery, but sacrifices depth for breadth. In a book that queries church leaders and authorities about their "ecclesiastical servile dependents," [End Page 302] it is also curious that Katherine Shaner's Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2018) is referred to only once and in brisk passing as "an intriguing perspective on the ideas about slavery found in 1 Timothy" (35n92). Philologists and lexicographers might be disappointed as well that throughout the book, the Greek word for "slave" is displayed with an umlaut (δοϋλος) rather than with a circumflex. Slavery in the imperial church (Chapter Four) relates the key issue of the church's inalienable property (res ecclesiae) and the regulations over how to properly manage it, including the servi ecclesiarum. The outcome: "there was almost no way to escape ecclesiastical servitude" (103). Within these pages, the discussion of freeing slaves by means of a church ceremony (manumissio in ecclesia) was particularly intriguing, although the book does not describe how exactly the ceremony unfolded or the impact that ritualizing manumission had in the long run (77–83). Sommar discusses Augustine's views of slavery (85–89), but Gregory of Nyssa receives a more robust analysis than any other figure in the chapter, since Gregory "has often been hailed as the only one of the early church teachers to speak out against slavery" (99; also 65, 103–4). Sommar concludes, however, that Gregory clearly saw slave ownership as normal, even for those who embraced the ascetic life (102). While the chapter challenges the idea that Gregory opposed slavery, it does not actually spar with any scholars who hold that idea. Sommar only twice cites Chris De Wet's recent books on slavery in early Christian thought (30n68 and 65n4), but does not integrate De Wet's analyses, whether on Nyssa or on John Chrysostom (64–65), either of which would go a long way towards explaining the formation of the "norms" that Sommar seeks to trace out. Equally perplexing, Ilaria Ramelli's Social Justice and the Legitimacy of Slavery (Oxford University Press, 2017) is entirely absent from this book, even though Ramelli's work dissects texts from ancient Judaism to late antiquity—including several of Gregory's—and investigates specifically early Christian authors' own...

Good Trouble: Pioneering the Power of Protest

30 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 84, NO. 1 84 No.1 GOOD TROUBLE: PIONEERING THE POWER OF PROTEST By Andrew Jezisek Introduction The right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of America. It is the bedrock of democracy, granted to all citizens of the United States regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity. However, the power of protest has been employed by African Americans for generations. From the local level to the federal level and even on the world stage, African Americans have demonstrated the power of protest in order to forward their cause for social justice. Since the three Reconstruction Amendments were added to the US Constitution, African Americans have struggled for social change despite systemic and stigmatic obstacles at every turn. Nonetheless, they have steeled themselves by mobilizing alongside their allies in protests that have shaped the history of the United States of America. Blueprints for Action In 1954, the battle for integration began. The United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren struck down the “separate but equal” precedent established by the controversial Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. The ruling in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education declared that school segregation policies directed against African Americans were unconstitutional.1 However, pro-segregation southern politicians had no intention of toeing the new line. A struggle between African Americans and white supremacists was inevitable. African American civil rights leaders such as John Lewis and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. had a roadmap to the goal of equality drawn out. The vehicle to get to that ultimate goal was nonviolent civil disobedience as a form of protest. John Lewis, the chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and future representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District, referred to this practice as getting into “good trouble.”2 Civil rights leaders planned to mobilize in activities that would potentially elicit legal penalties and violent retaliation. Marches, sit-ins, freedom rides, and boycotts were the manifestations of “good trouble.” Many of these nonviolent tactics had been implemented before the American Civil Rights Movement in countries that were colonized by large European empires. Most notably, India was led to independence from the British Empire in the 1940s by nonviolent protests spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s nonviolent movement gained a large following, especially from bystanders who witnessed the British’s violent opposition to the Indian Independence Movement.3 Drawing from the tactics of Gandhi, African American civil rights leaders such as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. reinvented the meaning of protest in the United States in order to overturn the Jim Crow status quo.4 “Good Trouble” in Practice Nonviolent protests by African Americans continued after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the establishment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1956. Jim Crow was beginning to lose footing from 1956 to 1960 as boycotts and sit-ins organized by civil rights groups forced local communities to do away with segregation on buses and in businesses.5 These acts of nonviolent civil disobedience achieved success at the federal level after local efforts were successful. The Supreme Court declared segregated busing and segregated counters in businesses unconstitutional by 1960. Yet cities in states that ignored Supreme Court rulings on segregation, particularly Alabama, still enforced discriminatory laws.6 Additionally, African American votes were suppressed by pro-segregation politicians who sought to cling to both power and the past. As a result, the same tactics of participating in “good trouble” were employed against these more entrenched discriminatory policies. At every sit-in, every march, and every freedom ride, protestors were met with brute force from white supremacy. Alabama became a central battleground in the Civil Rights Movement as one of the most segregated states in the country, an assertion that was reinforced in 1963 by its newly elected governor, George Wallace, who proclaimed his oppositiontointegrationinhisinauguraladdress.Nonetheless, massive grassroots nonviolent protests were organized by the SCLC in Birmingham in April of 1963. As the protests persisted into May, the authorities in Birmingham drastically escalated their response; Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor allowed the police to arm themselves with nightsticks, fire hoses, and attack dogs...

Leadership challenges in Christian non-governmental organisations

This article refers to selected issues elaborated from my interdisciplinary doctoral thesis accomplished at the University of South Africa in 2019. I investigated the ethical-theoretical frameworks as well as practices of Christian humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Germany by combining a theoretical part (including philosophy, theology, business studies and development studies) and an empirical part. The empirical part was accomplished by interviewing 11 NGOs from the humanitarian field (development and/or relief agencies in an international context). The findings of theory and practice showed that many Christian NGOs typically conform to the secular mindset and regulations in order to be able to function as organisations. The results also revealed that Christian NGOs have difficulties in defining their identity in order to be attractive and convincing to their current and prospective employees and donors. In addition, organisational and hierarchical structures are mostly taken from business companies but do not necessarily always fit to the individual organisations. The research is significant because it shows to what extent these NGOs experience tensions and insecurities having to work in a secular environment, and it helps to identify some typical challenges that Christian organisations face in Western countries. The purpose of the thesis was to impact on the reflection and practice of leaders of NGOs in their quest to understand developments and paradigm shifts, and ensure that they will act in a recognisably Christian way. Contribution: This article has been held as a presentation at the Leadership Conference in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2019. It contributes to the research of specific Christian leadership, and particularly of leadership in Christian non-governmental organisations. This article aims to describe the challenges these organisations face, having to work in the midst of a secular environment.

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda : Reformation in the Twenty-First Century?

Review Article Ecclesia Semper Reformanda: Reformation in the Twenty-First Century? P Fintan Lyons OSB, Martin Luther: His Challenge Then and Now (Dublin: Columba Press, 2017), 258 pages. Gesa E Thiessen (ed.), Called To Freedom: Reformation 1517–2017 in an Irish Context (Dublin: Wordwell, in association with the Lutheran Church in Ireland, 2019), 190 pages. Johnston McMaster, Challenging Times: A Journey in Faith (Derry/ Londonderry: The Junction, 2019), 377 pages. Marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017 has prompted significant and valuable reflections on what was involved in the sixteenth century Reformation. Inevitably, such reflections lead on to considerations of the state of the Churches in the present century which has been characterised as ‘post-Christendom’. What kind of ‘reformation’ is necessary in the radically changed circumstances in which the various expressions of Christianity now find themselves? Each of the three books under review makes a valuable contribution to this key question and they provide pointers to the kind of responses by the Churches which might be appropriate in furthering the Gospel. The great challenge is to address theologically what is perceived by many as a global and multi-dimensional crisis at least on a par with, or even more deadly than, that which provoked the Reformation and Counter- Reformation in the sixteenth century. P Fintan Lyons OSB is a monk of Glenstal Abbey, with expertise in Reformed Theology and Reformation History. He provides a clear account of Luther’s life and of the issues at stake in the Reformation. In assessing Luther’s challenge to the Church of his day, Lyons’s purpose is ‘to show his relevance to the efforts of the Catholic Church to continue the path of renewal undertaken at the Second Vatican Council’; he seeks to show how Luther’s theology ‘can today address a secular world which has Studies • volume 109 • number 436 458 Christian, including Reformation roots’ (p.10). Called To Freedom brings together the lectures or addresses given by seventeen speakers at the symposium in Trinity College, Dublin, to mark the quincentenary of the Reformation, organised by the Lutheran Church in Ireland and staff of Trinity, in February 2017. The book ‘hopes to be a contribution to the on-going quest of the ecclesia semper reformanda’ (vii). The papers published here address issues in the historiography of Luther’s contribution to the Reformation; those by European scholars make recent German and European scholarship accessible for Irish readers. Professor John McCafferty, from University College, Dublin, contributes a poignant essay on the effect of the Reformation in sixteenth and seventeenth Ireland: religious change ‘became braided up with warfare, destruction and the trauma of military campaigns’(p.127). Protestantism became tightly woven into plantation, using the English language when most of the population spoke Irish; the executions of Catholic bishops and others as martyrs led to the scaffold becoming a place to display opposition to the government’s religious policies and to create scenes of Catholic solidarity’ (pp.136–137).1 Rev. Dr Johnston McMaster, a Methodist minister and a leader in education for reconciliation in Ireland, has written a profound theological autobiography, reflecting on almost five decades of ministry in an Ireland that has experienced seismic change including the death of Christendom, the developing secular society, the destructive culture of violence and the challenges of building peace and reconciliation: Challenging Times indeed, to make his reflective journey in the Christian faith. The death of Christendom A key point that emerges from reading these books is that Luther and his contemporariessharedthemajorworldviewwhichwenowcall‘Christendom’. This had emerged when Christians ceased to be a minority movement within the Roman Empire and became the established religion under Constantine and Theodosius in the fourth century. The merging of imperialism and Christianity was a profound paradigm shift, allying Christian leadership with the political and military power of governments. Lyons points out that a medieval maxim held that sacerdotium, imperium and studium came together ‘as the three mysterious powers or virtues by whose harmonious co-operation the life and health of Christendom are sustained’ (p.41). Luther sought the ‘well-being of Christendom’ in his reform proposals. Review Article Studies • volume 109 • number 436 459 For many reasons, Christendom...

Exploring Christian leadership in parachurch organizations in Lesotho

Exploring Christian leadership in parachurch organizations in Lesotho

Jude Padfield, Hopeful Influence: A Theology of Christian Leadership

Jude Padfield, <i>Hopeful Influence: A Theology of Christian Leadership</i>

From Holy workers to profiteers in Luke 20:9-16: the waning values of Christian leadership in Nigeria

The paper examines the biblical underpinnings of virtues that should characterised Christian leadership as stewards. The gradual disappearance of these qualities is evidenced in the cheap exchange of the cherished tradition on the altar of mammon. This phenomenon has had its toll on some religious leaders, who unknowingly have goofed from being holy workers to profiteers in God’s vineyard. The paper adopts expository approach and critical interpretation of the texts. It discovers that while some leaders have remained faithful as God’s servants, others have indulge in the habit of making merchandise of the gospel; bearing ulterior motive as holy profiteers looking for every opportunity to maximise personal gains with caution thrown to the wind. This attitude has not only brought shame and disrespect but disrepute to their persons. Consequently, we have leaders who are depraved indulging in all kinds of vices with unworthy behaviours, such as commercialisation of the gospel, half-baked doctrines and falsification geared towards self-enrichment and woeful threefold manifestation of lust towards wine, women and wealth. The paper therefore concludes by calling on religious leaders to borrow leaf from the life of Prophet Amos who adopted a total denunciation of social evil, rebuking those in political offices sternly without compromise as well as Apostle Paul who set aside all other benefits for the sake of knowing Him, who laboured diligently and earned fame with self-contentment. To shun all forms of undue entanglement with worldly affairs, to seek the face of God and play the prophetic and intercessory roles on behalf of the people which is the primary assignment of holy workers thereby restoring the dignity of leadership and the beauty of the vocation.&#x0D; Keywords: Holyworker, profiteer, mammon, contentment, virtues

A vallásközi párbeszéd jelentősége a libanoni válságkezelésben

Az elmúlt évtizedek fegyveres konfliktusai gyakran olyan területen zajlottak, ahol az interkulturális és a vallási különbségek nagy jelentőséggel bírtak. Kiemelke-dően igaz ez a közel-keleti országokra, ahol a keresztények vallásuk miatt állami disz kriminációval, sok esetben nyílt üldöztetéssel találták szemben magukat. Bár Libanon az egyetlen állam a Közel-Keleten, amelynek tartósan keresztény vezetője van, a keresztények százalékos aránya a térségben – főként a muszlimok termékenységi rátája miatt – az elmúlt évszázad alatt csaknem a felére csökkent. Mivel az ország etnikai, vallási és felekezeti szempontból meglehetősen heterogén, a békés együttélés – főként az 1941-ben kikiáltott szuverenitás óta – az államot kihívás elé állította. Bár a térségbeli véres polgárháború (1975–1990) 30 éve lezárult, a tartós béke időszaka nem azonnal köszöntött be. Mind a polgárháború lezárásának előmozdításában, mind az azt követő megbékélésben elvitathatatlan érdemei vannak az elmúlt évtizedek pápáinak és az Apostoli Szentszék mérsékelt és kiegyensúlyozott diplomáciai törekvéseinek.

Leading in the certainty of uncertain times

This research focused on the potential for Christ-following leaders to develop a theological and missiological posture in response to the current volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world context. This research looks at how the attitudes and actions of the corporate world have influenced those of Christian organisations and Christian leadership. The corporate world primarily focuses on strategies for overcoming the challenges of the VUCA environment, but this research explores how Christ-following leaders might benefit from looking more deeply at what VUCA represents, rather than merely accepting and reacting to it. The research used a literature review to develop the groundwork for an increased understanding of how God and VUCA relate and how Christ followers can develop a perspective in keeping with an understanding of God’s mission, their calling and the VUCA world mindset. Although some research has been done regarding spirituality as part of a response to the VUCA world, it has often focused on the outward expressions (morality, values, collaboration and service) with little attention to the Christ follower’s source of spiritual life, the trinitarian God. This research integrates recognition of the character of God, evaluation of VUCA realities and rhetoric, and the responsibilities and opportunities of leaders who desire to participate in God’s mission. In this process, the research explores strategy metaphors, missional thinking and leadership implications. Contribution: This research encourages greater theological and missiological exploration of the Christian leader’s posture and response to the VUCA world mindset. The research engages with corporate thinking regarding strategy and the implications of VUCA and with theological and missiological thinking regarding God’s role, the leader’s role and the nature of current contexts, both local and global.

『디다케』와 『사도 전승』을 통한 영성과 기독교 리더십의 상호관계 연구

2020년 1월만 하더라도 누구도 예측하지 못한 상황이 급작스럽게 그리고 급속히 전 세계로 퍼지고 있다. 왕관이라는 의미를 지닌 코로나(corona)-19 바이러스가 한국은 물론 전 세계를 강타하면서 엄청난 숫자의 사상자를 발생시키고 수많은 이들을 공포와 불안으로 몰아놓은 현실이 바로 그것이다. 의학적 문제뿐 아니라 정치적 혼란과 경제적 위기를 동반한 이번 사태 속에서, 뜻밖에 한국교회의 주일예배가 관심사로 대두되었으며 이는 다시 한국교회가 지향하는 기독교의 가치와 지향이 무엇인가에 관한 논의로 확장되었다. 즉 단순히 정해진 시간과 공간을 전제로 한 예배 담론 차원을 넘어 예배의 근본적인 근거와 궁극적 목적 그리고 예배에 참여한 신자의 삶 전반에 나타나는 효과 등에 관한 논의들이 활발하게 진행된 상황을 의미한다. 교단 지도자들의 정부 비판과 이에 대한 교회 안팎의 신랄한 반응이 맞물리면서 상황은 복잡한 양상으로 진행되었고, 한국교회가 고수한 예배와 영성, 리더십 등에 대한 재해석의 필요성이 강하게 대두되기 시작한 것이다. 본 연구는 그와 같은 한국교회의 실제 경험을 기반으로 질병과 연계된 사회적 상황에서, 예배의 형성과 기능이 기독교 영성과 리더십에 주는 함축적인 요소들을 탐구하려는 의도에서 비롯되었다. 이와 같은 취지는 전염병을 위시한 질병은 인류 역사에서 끊임없이 반복되는바, 그런 역사적 경험이 교회의 예배를 통하여 어떤 영성과 리더십으로 발전했는지를 살펴봄으로써 오늘날 위기상황에 접목 가능한 원리들을 찾아내는 논리적 절차를 추구한다. 이 목적을 위해 특히 예전 연구의 기원에 해당하는 저술로 평가받는 『디다케』와 『사도 전승』를 선택한 후 그 내용과 저술 당시의 역사적 배경 등을 연결하는 방식으로 현 상황과 접촉할 개연성을 탐색하는 과정을 밟았다. 여기서 한 가지 밝히고 싶은 점은 두 고전이 주로 초기교회의 예배와 교회 직제를 연구하는 저술로 인식된 점으로부터 탈피하여 당시 시대 상황을 재구성하고 본 연구의 목적과 연계된 요소들을 찾아내려고 애쓴 진행 과정이다. 그를 통해 예배는 영성과 리더십과 직결되는 포괄적인 내용을 암시하며 삶과 하나의 연장 선상에서 파악되는 다양한 요건들을 내포할 당위성을 강조했다. 이를 통하여 결국 예배는 교회 공동체 내부자들을 위한 폐쇄적 형식의 한계를 극복하는 통로의 구실을 해야 하며, 교회 밖 사회 성원들을 위한 복음과 선교 그리고 봉사와 섬김의 구체적 도구가 되어야 한다는 명제를 한국교회에 적용하는 데 주력한다. 물론 이 글이 한국교회의 신학적 대응 전체를 포괄할 수 없겠지만, 더 넓고 깊은 토의의 장을 마련하는 계기로 작용하기를 기대한다.

Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies July-Dec 2018 "Christian Leadership"

Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies July-Dec 2018 "Christian Leadership"

The Times They Are a-Changin': Christian Leadership Over the Last 40 Years

The article considers a biblical theology of leadership and examines empirical studies of leadership over the past 100 years. Both theological and scientific analyses frame the authors’ reflections on leadership in educational ministry over the past 40 years. Three inter-connected factors shape our understanding of leadership at any given time in history: the importance of a leader’s character; the competencies needed in a leadership role; and the context in which a leader serves.

Hee An Choi, A Postcolonial Leadership: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges

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Red Squads and Black Radicals: Reading Agency in the Archive

Abstract Scholarly accounts of racial formation have regularly focused on the role of state actors or non-state oppressive subjects administering racial systems against a dominated population. Challenges or resistance to state racialization practices by dissenting communities, on the other hand, have not received commensurate engagement, particularly at the level of race-making. Judith Weisenfeld demonstrates in New World A-Coming that African American religious movements such as the Moorish Science Temple of America and the Peace Mission were not merely protesting a racial system but also inventing new racial subjectivities. This account of Black radical agency is deeply consequential for understanding the religious dimensions of Black radical politics and the agential architecture of racialization. In this article, I apply Weisenfeld’s method of mapping radical agency from the underside of state archives. The focus is on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Chicago campaign of 1966 and the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) that culminated in the summer of 1968. I argue that Black radical activists, despite being targeted by counterintelligence operations of law enforcement, nevertheless transformed the politics of race and power with lasting consequences by exceeding in specific ways the efforts of state actors to destroy Black liberation projects. The archival records of state entities themselves render the import of Black agency. This implies, among other things, that scholarship on Black religion and racialization broadly must shift significantly to account for a central argument of Weisenfeld’s book: dominated peoples have been agents of racial histories and not merely objects of racial governance.

Kepemimpinan Kerajaan Allah Berdasarkan Ucapan Bahagia Ajaran Yesus Kristus Matius 5:3-12

Kepemimpinan Kristen merupakan kepemimpinan yang di dasarkan atas azas-azas kepercayaan Kristen yang dibangun dari kebenaran Alkitab. Komunitas Kerajaan Allah yang dibangun Yesus Kristus merupakan kelompok yang berbeda dengan kelompok-kelompok lain yang ada di dunia ini. Oleh sebab itu kepemimpinan yang tepat di terapkan dalam kepemimpinan di sini adalah kepemimpinan yang tidak di dasarkan atas kekerasan dan otoriter melainkan rendah hati, takut akan dosa, lemah lembut, menyukai kebenaran, penuh belaskasihan, hatinya murni, suka berdamai, siap menderita.&#x0D;

Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God: Kenosis of leadership

Leadership is at the core of Christianity; it operates from the paradigm of God’s revelation to humanity through creation. The creation of the world and the creation of Imago Dei are markers of the service that God has maintained from creation to the fulfilment of soteriology (Gn 1:26, 3 and I Cor 15:42). The early church’s worship of Christ, at least in the Didache, stemmed from the fact that this Hebrew prophet was a servant of God and was YHWH in the flesh. The early teachings of the church were service to the world. This article contends that Christianity faces a crisis because of neglect of the nuclei of Christian theology and faith oriented around the real or physical person of Christ and service to others. The emphasis of this article focuses on kenosis as a prerogative of true Christian faith and leadership. A kenotic model of leadership is service to humanity and the world. The article seeks reflection on the theological importance of kenosis, which interacts with creation and creature. This approach will highlight underlying theology for leadership as it relates to the person of Christ.

Cultivating Self-Control: Foundations and Methods in the Christian Theological Tradition

In the New Testament the concept of self-control or voluntary restraint of one’s desires is highlighted as a “fruit of the Spirit,” a trait of the spiritually mature, and a hallmark of Christian leadership. But as a Christian virtue, self-control is a product of spiritual discipline, a trait for which the Christian must engage in “strict training.” This biblical theme has inspired a long history of Christian moral-spiritual practices aimed at cultivating self-mastery or strength of will. Here I discuss several of these as found in the writings of the Desert Fathers, Augustine of Hippo, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Thomas à Kempis, and John Wesley. Despite their theological diversity, these Christian thinkers are united in the belief that self-control can and ought to be intentionally nurtured via the systematic practice of self-denial.

Christian leadership in a South African township community: A reflection on nepotism and its impact on society

The author reflects on the reality of nepotism in Christian leadership as he has observed in the township of Soshanguve and many other African poverty-stricken communities he has lived in. The leadership of churches in those areas seems to run in the family. This model tends to have a disempowering effect on the other church members in terms of taking responsibility or initiating projects that could expand the impact of the church beyond the borders of its walls. This article recognises the positive impact of nepotism, but it mostly stresses on the negative impact of nepotism on the democratisation of power in the church and society. It uses music, a critical vehicle of knowledge acquisition in Africa, to stress upon the fact that Christian leaders should be equipped to participate in the common good, help in the empowerment of ordinary people around them, starting with their members and be altruistic, like Jesus, and work beyond the boundaries of their families.

기독교 리더십과 선교적 교회론의 소명에 대한 연구

기독교 리더십과 선교적 교회론의 소명에 대한 연구