What the world needs now - The church being and doing Theology (original) (raw)
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000 Church, by and large, whether it"s global or national or local irrespective of denominational tags is immersed with numerous problems. Many may argue the current fiasco that the church is into not new, but similar challenges and problem the church did face perhaps may not be of similar nature or magnitude, nonetheless managed the problems effectively and efficiently and thus cruised through over centuries and still alive and "vibrant". They even go one step further by saying that no other institution or organization or even empires or kingdoms managed to survive the onslaughts, but church is still alive and active because it is founded on the life and witness of Jesus Christ, and therefore, Jesus Christ is foundation and fulcrum of the church. Are these arguments suffice and reasonable? The Universal church and the local church nowadays are at the cross road. Christianity as a religion ought to mirror the Words and Works of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, it reflects the societal ills and the church have hit the new low particularly in recent times that there"s no difference between the church and the society. Some may say that let the Universals takes care of the global concerns and the local church should respond to the local needs and spiritual concerns. However, the Scripture and the Gospel values united along with the creedal and traditional expositions and expressions. Nonetheless, the church is @ crossroads and so intensely caught up with mind-boggling problems. In such a context and background, the church in its life and witness should manifest candidly so that the adherents and the world in which it is place would repose their faith and trust. It is highly imperative that those who are concerned about the Church will have to revisit and reinvent and evolve new strategies and programs so that the church once again comes back and serve in multifarious ways to its constituencies. 001 In every period of history when Christians have faced new conditions, they have looked to the sources of their traditions for new directions… Today, new times demand new directions, so we are driven once more to examine our sources; to discover, if possible, what God is saying to us within the context of our time. Perhaps our first reaction to such a suggestion will be a sense of powerlessness. Is there anything we can do? The odds seem so Dr. I. John Mohan Razu, Professor of Christian Social Ethics resides in Bangalore.
Pharos, 2019
This article focuses on the role of the Pentecostal church in society and as the love of Christ in action. The focus is on three dimensions that the church should gear itself to. These are kerygma (proclamation), diakonia (acts of service), and koinonia (fellowship). Each of these dimensions will be briefly explored to reveal what it means to be in the Pentecostal church in society. For instance, proclamation covers issues such as relevance and effectiveness of preaching. Acts of service cover issues such as the divine healing, institutions of learning, deliverance from demonic possessions, education and social upliftment through the local churches. Fellowship covers the partnership, cooperation, and the "one another" principle. The Pentecostal church in society is encouraged to desist from the private and romantic spirituality of disengagement from societal ills and a decadent culture. The article concludes with a focus on how to reflect these dimensions so that as the church in society, the love of Christ is seen in operation. Some of the practical examples to be highlighted include partnerships in areas of relief and aid for education bursaries, community projects for the marginalised poor, remedial education, and capacity building for church leaders-all these need to be attempted through the church in the community.
The Spirit says 'yes': exploring the essence of being church in the 21st century
2008
The Spirit says 'yes': exploring the essence of being church in the 21st century EVANGEL, 26.1, SPRING 2008 9 'The Church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning '. Emil Brunner, theologian (1899-1966 'It is not the church which 'undertakes' mission; it is the missio Dei which constitutes the church.' David J. Bosch, missiologist (1929Bosch, missiologist ( -1992 'Everyday people are straying away from the church and going back to God. ' Lenny Bruce, comedian (1925-66) From the earliest beginnings of the Christian movement, the Holy Spirit has created a variety of expressions of being church in changing cultures and environments. Each generation as well as people groups has had to rediscover what the appropriate clothing of the gospel is for evangelism and church planting. Often a fresh reading of and reflecting on the book of Acts has become the centrifugal inspiration to aid this discovery. The focus, however, has often centred on the outward forms more than the essence, as debates were fostered about what is appropriate and necessary, often driven from the culture of the interpreter. Even in the earliest church, the key decisive issue centred on how 'Jewish' the new Gentiles believers must become (Acts chapters 10, 15 and the ongoing struggles within the Pauline churches over the 'Judaisers').
Recent research by the Call42 group has shown that South African Christians experience that they are not adequately prepared or equipped for Christian living and discipleship in the world of work – here called the marketplace. This article has argued for the importance of a rediscovery of a theology of work that can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for ministry in the marketplace. The article traces why such a theological deficiency exists in the South African church by considering areas such as an inadequate theology of work and mission, a dualism between faith and work, and an unbalanced emphasis on the role of clergy and a lesser focus on the role of the laity in the missio Dei. Having considered these challenges to the mission and theological identity of the church, the article discusses the three general theological views of the church in South Africa as presented by Smit and adapted by Forster. It considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the marketplace in each of these three forms. The article comes to the conclusion that the church will need to revisit its missional theology, refocuses its efforts on broader society, and empowers and equips its members for ministry in the marketplace in order to be faithful in partnering with God in the missio Dei.
Using sociological approaches, including participant observation and interviews in the United States, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom, we assess the significance of the Emerging Church Movement (ECM). We identify the ECM as a response to the crisis of modernity, not only in religion but across all spheres of life. We provide distinctive markers of the ECM as a religious orientation and argue that religious individualism, the formation of pluralist congregations, and the desire to construct a personal faith within a cooperative setting will be widely practiced elements of modern religiosity – not just in the ECM but in traditional denominations.
Retaining an Apostolic Approach to Church Life
SATS Conspectus
This article briefly examines the current return to apostolic Christianity in various parts of the world and references three earlier Christian movements that came into existence at approximately 100-year intervals, beginning with the Methodist movement in the 1700s, culminating with observations of a current apostolic movement that began in the early 1980s, known as New Covenant Ministries International, in an attempt to ascertain how they embraced early apostolic principles. The article highlights the strengths of several movements but also makes observations about how these movements lost their initial effectiveness by becoming institutional and, in many cases, forfeited their initial vision of impacting the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We examine possible reasons why these movements lost their fervour and discuss possible ways 1 The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the beliefs of the South African Theological Seminary. 2 Malcolm graduated with a Master of Theology from the South African Theological Seminary in 2007.
Emerging Practices for Churches in the West
The purpose of this paper seeks to discover emerging Christian practices in Western cultures that transcend personal and privatized practices of individuals and looks toward a social involvement of encountering God by way of relationship and community. The particular focus of the paper is on the leadership necessary for churches to flourish and to influence society in the way of Jesus.
"Christianity is the only mad religion; which is perhaps, the explanation for its survival—it deconstructs itself and survives by deconstructing itself.” -- Jacques Derrida WINNER 2015 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion This book explores the persons, practices, and sociological significance of emerging Christianity. The Emerging Church Movement (ECM) is a self-classified, voluntary, and largely reactive religious movement that strives to achieve social relevance and spiritual vitality by actively disassociating from its roots in Conservative, Evangelical Christianity. Using congregational surveys, in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, and ethnographic reports from nine different “Emerging Church” communities and four conference meetings, in the United States and the United Kingdom, supplemented by observation of the movement since its beginnings in the late 1990s, this book provides a social scientific analysis of this intriguing development within modern Christianity. In presenting our understanding of this movement, we focus on the motivation and religious identity of “Emerging Christians,” the structure of ritual practices within their congregations (often called “gatherings” or “communities”), and its significance as a modern religious movement. Advance Praise “As growing numbers of Americans say they are ‘nonreligious,’ observers note a comparable shift among those who are religious toward looser, more individualistic, anti-institutional, experimental expressions of faith. Marti and Ganiel have done a superb job of examining these emerging expressions, illuminating both the practices and beliefs of individuals and the innovative congregations they are forming.” --Robert Wuthnow, Gerhard R. Andlinger ‘52 Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University “In the midst of a polarized landscape, where ‘religion’ and ‘church’ signal a lack of vitality and authenticity, Emerging Churches are putting together something new out of the debris. Marti and Ganiel show us why we should pay attention. They describe the faith found here as neither shopping nor seeking, but a conversation carried on in congregations that are determinedly open and inclusive. This book provides a careful analysis of this much-discussed movement and shows why it is so well-suited to our times.” --Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life
Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
2005
If the church does not embody its message and life within postmodern culture, it will become increasingly marginalized. As they did their research they identified 9 patterns which they regarded as missiologically significant. Most emerging churches are urban and therefore multicultural; authors anticipate that as they become increasingly rooted in their context, they will increasingly represent its cultural mosaic. Emerging churches are not young adult services, GenX churches, churches-within-a-church, seeker churches,purposedriven or new paradigm churches, fundamentalist churches, evangelical churches – they are a new expression of church. They follow the example of Jesus, who announced a gospel which was to participate with God in the redemption of the world. They integrate sacred and secular aspects of life, travel to spheres in society and make them holy. They build relationships with outsiders and share the good news at all levels.