Examining the Authority of Church Leaders in African Christianity (original) (raw)
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Exchange, 2001
This article envisages a systematic exploration of the way in which the concepts of God (or the lack of such a concept) of Africa’s prevalent worldviews determine their respective conception and practice of human authority. It argues that a Christian understanding and practice of authority should distinguish itself from the perspective of African Traditional Religion, of which the practice of authority suffers from its sacralisation of human authorities. It should distinguish itself from (post)modern influences, which miss a transcendent moral basis for a critique of human authorities. Lastly, it should distinguish itself from Islamic concepts of authority, which are based on the dominant metaphor of the God as King of the Universe and Master. In looking for an answer to Africa’s crisis of authorities, Christians should be guided by their proper understanding of the Triune God, who revealed Himself in the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
LITURGICAL LEADERSHIP AS CHRIST'S BRAND: A CHALLENGE TO LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
GRACE & TRUTH: A JOURNAL OF CATHOLIC REFLECTION FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA VOL 33 NO 3, 2016
The question of inept and corrupt leadership style in Africa persists as one of the most basic factors to turn around the fortunes of the people. The study maintains that the current leadership style is very defective. Unlike Christ's brand of leadership that shows protection, care, attention, and above all, the love of the Good Shepherd to the sheep, it is disheartening that a lot of misgivings surround the understanding of leadership positions in the African continent today. Some people in leadership positions in Africa have not grasped the elementary idea of leadership as service delivery, and even when such is done, it is very distorted and shallow. An ideal liturgical leadership facilitates “the community’s worship of God and the sanctification of the people.” Every worshipping community for its survival must have good leaders whether cleric or laity who direct her affairs, to transform and effect positive changes in the ecclesial community and the society. Employing descriptive and analytic methods, the paper concludes that political leaders in the 21st century African society are therefore challenged to rise up to the Christ’s brand of servant leadership concretized in the concept of liturgical ministry in order to be effective and efficient servants of the people.
African Leadership Wisdom and Experience: Lessons for Church Leaders in South Africa
Religion, ethics and communication in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic
Christian research projects in Africa have been marred by a notorious and almost deliberate intent of seeking to establish alternative protocols that posit nothing less than the introduction of new objects of knowledge and new theoretical models that seek to upset or at the very least undermine the prevailing paradigmatic indigenous norms. In this article, the authors seek to demystify the complexities of “indigeneity” and “autochthony”, and shed some light on how they impact the preservation of indigenous knowledge, values and norms. The indispensable social values which are deeply rooted in the African tradition, ubuntu and oral tradition are explored to suggest lessons from which church leaders can draw. This, the authors realise through a carefully structured literature review of selected sources. Following the reviewed literature, the authors must align themselves with the sentiments that, if the church in Africa wishes to enjoy relevance and acceptance, it has to approach Afri...
Church Doctrines as Living Rules in African Perspective
Global Missiology, 2018
Diverse mechanisms in the contemporary world are concealing differences between Africa and the West. At the same time, Western Christian denominations believe in the distinctiveness of the churches they have planted. Perhaps in Africa only genuinely indigenous churches have 'true' doctrines, because only they guide their church lives in the light of local contexts and avoid a distorting adherence to Western modes of theology. Biblical criticism, and rejection of a holistic framework to make space for the 'secular', has weakened the cultural-linguistic dynamic that could contribute to doctrinal formation by Western churches. Such weakness helps secularists to apportion blame to churches for various contemporary maladies. A re-appropriation of holism could take the church back to a pre-modern position, thus creating a space in which cultural context could once again be central in doctrinal formation. Doctrines established in living contexts promote inter-church dialogue and change. The cultural-linguistic dynamic calls for African churches to use their own languages in order to form doctrine which has value for indigenous contexts.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES CUM CULTURAL REALITIES IN AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY
CHURCH RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES OF POSTMODERNISM TO BIBLICALAUTHORITY AND PREACHING , 2023
The 21st-century world is rapidly metamorphosing in almost all facets of life. It is becoming an individualistic world which is bizarre for an average African used to communal living. This is primarily because of Postmodernism which has relativized everything, especially concerning truth and biblical authority. In this paper, the writer overviews Postmodernism and discusses its challenges to Biblical Authority, Christian Preaching and how the African Church can respond. Through an analytical method, the findings, as discussed in the paper, are that, everything depends on how one perceives or the angle at which an individual perceives it. Postmodernism challenges biblical authority because the Bible becomes a relative book and loses the infallibility status Christians have long held concerning it. Postmodernism has challenged the traditional approaches. Thus, to the postmodernist, a Bible is not the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. It attempts to destroy the belief in God and promote atheism. Preaching loses its efficacy in a postmodern world because one is not supposed to impose their views on others; it promotes pluralism of truth. Regarding the teaching that there is no absolute truth, the apologetic teachings on the Bible's infallibility, reliability, and inerrancy should be taught even more. Keywords: Postmodernism, Biblical Authority, Challenges, Preaching
Thomas G. Kirsch_'The Precarious Center: Religious Leadership among African Christians' (2014)
Kirsch, Thomas G. 2014. The Precarious Centre: Religious Leadership among African Christians. Religion and Society: Advances in Research 5: 47–64. Abstract: This article addresses a long-standing conundrum in the anthropology of religion concerning the ambiguous status of religious leaders: they are subjects of power in that they are able to exert power over others, yet they are objects of power in that they rely on empowerment through others. Taking African-initiated Pentecostal-char-ismatic Christianity in Zambia as my example, I argue that church leaders' strategies to stabilize their authority have unintended consequences since these strategies can contribute to the precariousness of their positions. By drawing fundamental distinctions between themselves and members of the laity as regards their own extraordinariness, church leaders raise high expectations about their own capacities that may turn out to be impossible to fulfill. Yet even the opposite strategy of strengthening one's authority by embedding oneself in socio-religious networks can eventually lead to a destabilization of church leaders' authority because it increases their dependence on factors that are beyond their control.
The Christian Church and Africa in Dysfunctional Discourse
This paper looks at the dysfunctional relationship that exists between the Christian (mission) Church in Africa and African culture and belief systems. It seeks to conscientize the Church to allow for constructive discourse to take place so that the mission churches are better suited to cater for the spiritual needs of Africans.
contemporary issues on missions and Pentecostalism in contemporary Africa Christianity: a festschrift in honour of Rev. Dr Ezekiel Oladepo Ajani @ 50, 2022
Abstract The world is increasingly multicultural, and the leadership style that will be effective in such a time like this is clearly stated in the Bible. African Christianity has greatly increased in impact, which is evident in the numerical growth of converts and disciples, cultural transformation, and Christian missions’ engagements. Along with success came the need to address multicultural leadership challenges as many churches comprised members from diverse cultural backgrounds and the minority groups are usually neglected. The apostle in the early church experienced a similar challenge when the number of disciples increased; "the Grecians complained against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in daily ministration". As led by the Holy Spirit, the apostles took practical steps, and the problem was resolved (Acts 6: 1-4). They asked the people to select among themselves men that possessed leadership qualities such as honesty report, "full of the Holy Spirit, and wisdom," while the apostle focused on "prayer and the ministry of the word". Through a descriptive method including the interview of selected five church leaders and ten church members, it is deduced that African churches can solve leadership challenges that are associated with multicultural contexts by appointing people that are qualified spiritually and culturally. Multicultural leaders are to care about the spoken needs of their members by being good listeners, knowing what can be delegated to others and what cannot, being spiritually and culturally sensitive, and being open-hearted. This paper explains the concept of multicultural leadership, the exegetical analysis of Acts 6:1-4, and its implications for contemporary African churches. Keywords: Multicultural Leadership, Administration, Church Health, Church growth and African Christianity. Word counts: 257