The literature on the construction of places of worship has predominantly shown difficulties, rejection and disharmony among religious communities. This study aims to describe and analyzed the success story of the construction of the Santa Monica church in Tangerang. This is a qualitative study conducted over a month-long period using primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through observation and interviews, while secondary data were obtained through formal and informal policy reviews available online. The informants involved in this study amounted to eight people consisting of church leaders and administrators, local leaders, religious leaders, religious organizations and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Data were analyzed using content analysis methods. The results of the study show that the ability of church leaders and administrators to build good social and cultural relations with the community was a key element in their success in obtaining permission to build the church. This was achieved through effective communication, dialogue and cooperation between the Catholic community, leaders and the predominantly Islamic local community. Active involvement in daily activities had a positive impact, fostering mutual trust and peaceful coexistence, ultimately resulting in the local community’s support and approval for the establishment of the place of worship. Thus, the church construction committee was able to meet all administrative requirements as stipulated by government regulations. This study recommends the importance of good social and cultural relations as the fundamental basis and determinant of success for religious communities seeking to construct places of worship.Contribution: This article contributes to the goal of HTS Theological Studies in promoting the transdisciplinary aspect of religious studies in the international theological arena, particularly in the study of religious harmony among communities in Indonesia.
{"title":"The struggle for the construction of places of worship of minority religions in Indonesia","authors":"Warnis Warnis, Kustini Kustini, Fatimah Zuhrah, Anik Farida, Siti Atieqoh","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i1.9186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.9186","url":null,"abstract":"The literature on the construction of places of worship has predominantly shown difficulties, rejection and disharmony among religious communities. This study aims to describe and analyzed the success story of the construction of the Santa Monica church in Tangerang. This is a qualitative study conducted over a month-long period using primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through observation and interviews, while secondary data were obtained through formal and informal policy reviews available online. The informants involved in this study amounted to eight people consisting of church leaders and administrators, local leaders, religious leaders, religious organizations and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Data were analyzed using content analysis methods. The results of the study show that the ability of church leaders and administrators to build good social and cultural relations with the community was a key element in their success in obtaining permission to build the church. This was achieved through effective communication, dialogue and cooperation between the Catholic community, leaders and the predominantly Islamic local community. Active involvement in daily activities had a positive impact, fostering mutual trust and peaceful coexistence, ultimately resulting in the local community’s support and approval for the establishment of the place of worship. Thus, the church construction committee was able to meet all administrative requirements as stipulated by government regulations. This study recommends the importance of good social and cultural relations as the fundamental basis and determinant of success for religious communities seeking to construct places of worship.Contribution: This article contributes to the goal of HTS Theological Studies in promoting the transdisciplinary aspect of religious studies in the international theological arena, particularly in the study of religious harmony among communities in Indonesia.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"82 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140665418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Corruption has caused serious dysfunction in most of the public institutions in Zimbabwe. The effectiveness of public institutions on providing meaningful services today hinges upon the capacity of the Church and other social institutions to combat corruption. Regrettably, corruption has infected and affected both the Church and the secular institutions. This theoretical qualitative study explores the potential of the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (COCZ) in curbing corruption in Zimbabwe. It employs a combination of the Christological kenosis and Ubuntu or Hunhu as its theoretical lenses. The article argues that the Church has great potential to tackle corruption. The potential of the COCZ manifests in its organisation and public engagement. The restorative nature of the COCZ Restoration Movement (RM) magnifies scripture, the gospel of Christ (Christological kenosis) as a tool of conviction and behaviour change in public spaces to combat corruption. These unique attributes of the COCZ provide the rationale for choosing it as a case study in this article. The data were collected through the engagement with literature largely from the Zimbabwean scholars on the subject and the COCZ documents. The findings were that the COCZ can only unlock its potential if it is committed to taking a self-introspection and reconfigure itself in order to take a robust anti-corruption stance.Contribution: The study poses questions about the potential of the Church’s voice, through the case of the COCZ, in the context of corruption in Zimbabwe. It pushes for the Church to reclaim its authentic status in order to root out corruption and have relevance in the Zimbabwean communities’ lived experiences. Religion has always claimed higher ground in ethical and moral issues, but there is scanty literature on the COCZ’s role in combating corruption in Zimbabwe. The study maintains that the Church has a consequential opportunity to either drive the agenda to end corruption or lose relevance due to perceived complicit attitudes towards the same.
{"title":"The Church in the context of corruption: A case of the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe","authors":"Shelton Mafohla, Macloud Sipeyiye","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i2.8963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.8963","url":null,"abstract":"Corruption has caused serious dysfunction in most of the public institutions in Zimbabwe. The effectiveness of public institutions on providing meaningful services today hinges upon the capacity of the Church and other social institutions to combat corruption. Regrettably, corruption has infected and affected both the Church and the secular institutions. This theoretical qualitative study explores the potential of the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (COCZ) in curbing corruption in Zimbabwe. It employs a combination of the Christological kenosis and Ubuntu or Hunhu as its theoretical lenses. The article argues that the Church has great potential to tackle corruption. The potential of the COCZ manifests in its organisation and public engagement. The restorative nature of the COCZ Restoration Movement (RM) magnifies scripture, the gospel of Christ (Christological kenosis) as a tool of conviction and behaviour change in public spaces to combat corruption. These unique attributes of the COCZ provide the rationale for choosing it as a case study in this article. The data were collected through the engagement with literature largely from the Zimbabwean scholars on the subject and the COCZ documents. The findings were that the COCZ can only unlock its potential if it is committed to taking a self-introspection and reconfigure itself in order to take a robust anti-corruption stance.Contribution: The study poses questions about the potential of the Church’s voice, through the case of the COCZ, in the context of corruption in Zimbabwe. It pushes for the Church to reclaim its authentic status in order to root out corruption and have relevance in the Zimbabwean communities’ lived experiences. Religion has always claimed higher ground in ethical and moral issues, but there is scanty literature on the COCZ’s role in combating corruption in Zimbabwe. The study maintains that the Church has a consequential opportunity to either drive the agenda to end corruption or lose relevance due to perceived complicit attitudes towards the same.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"65 47","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140663959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Tshivenḓa Bible Translations 1936 and 1998 are language tools, which have since the advent of Christianity in Venḓa somewhat contributed to the shaping and reshaping of the language and culture of the Vhavenḓa people. These language tools have also contributed largely to distortion of the Vhavenḓa language and culture and unfortunately the distortions have become normalised to a great extent. The argument in this article is that in as much as the distortions have become normalised through these language tools, they can be reversed through disobedience at various levels and epistemic relinking with the values, customs, traditions and practices of the Vhavenḓa people.Contribution: This article highlights language and cultural distortions inherent in Tshivenda Bible translations (1936 and 1998), and it proposes decolonial measures to rectify these distortions given the widespread use of these texts in the culture.
{"title":"The Bible and distortion of culture: Normalised distortions of Vhavenḓa culture through the Bible","authors":"Hulisani Ramantswana","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i2.9062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9062","url":null,"abstract":"The Tshivenḓa Bible Translations 1936 and 1998 are language tools, which have since the advent of Christianity in Venḓa somewhat contributed to the shaping and reshaping of the language and culture of the Vhavenḓa people. These language tools have also contributed largely to distortion of the Vhavenḓa language and culture and unfortunately the distortions have become normalised to a great extent. The argument in this article is that in as much as the distortions have become normalised through these language tools, they can be reversed through disobedience at various levels and epistemic relinking with the values, customs, traditions and practices of the Vhavenḓa people.Contribution: This article highlights language and cultural distortions inherent in Tshivenda Bible translations (1936 and 1998), and it proposes decolonial measures to rectify these distortions given the widespread use of these texts in the culture.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"123 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140669673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zimbabwean literature produced after the attainment of independence has been predominantly engrossed with thematisation of the postcolonial subaltern subjects’ existential conditions, enunciated together with gender politics, religion and socio-economic environment that frame politics of difference, and sites of suffering or resistance. These tropes remain absorbing and critical even in contemporary female-authored novels that also engage with a deeply fractured modern-day Zimbabwe. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, This Mournable Body, offers important site to debate the enduring concerns of gender inequalities, politics, and religion. A stylistic approach is adopted to identify the semiotic construction of the text and discuss the different styles that are deployed to foreground central tropes in the novel. The adoption of stylistics as an underlying conceptual model locates this current study in the interdisciplinary research which brings together gender, applied linguistics, poetics, politics, and religion, in order to provoke new ways of reading the dialogic and polyphonic elements of the text. The study contends that the politics of difference is an unsettling subject that profoundly impacts on gender relations and religio-political practices in a milieu where precarity is a major defining feature of the subaltern sections comprising women and the marginalised poor. Thus, the novel’s title figuratively foregrounds the (un)mournable bodies of the people, who are both dehumanised and heavily burdened by surviving at the margin.Contribution: Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, This Mournable Body demonstrates a deep concern with the plight of the subaltern people in a gendered society and how their conditions of the Othered bodies are further amplified by both religion and politics in present-day Zimbabwe. Thus the study contributes to the mounting discourses about politics of fragmentation and binary practices, and the ensuing agony suffered by the sidelined persons. The adopted stylistic reading of the focus novel underscores the interdisciplinary urgency to literary interpretative process.
{"title":"The semantics of gender, politics, and religion in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body","authors":"Esther Mavengano","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i2.9030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9030","url":null,"abstract":"Zimbabwean literature produced after the attainment of independence has been predominantly engrossed with thematisation of the postcolonial subaltern subjects’ existential conditions, enunciated together with gender politics, religion and socio-economic environment that frame politics of difference, and sites of suffering or resistance. These tropes remain absorbing and critical even in contemporary female-authored novels that also engage with a deeply fractured modern-day Zimbabwe. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, This Mournable Body, offers important site to debate the enduring concerns of gender inequalities, politics, and religion. A stylistic approach is adopted to identify the semiotic construction of the text and discuss the different styles that are deployed to foreground central tropes in the novel. The adoption of stylistics as an underlying conceptual model locates this current study in the interdisciplinary research which brings together gender, applied linguistics, poetics, politics, and religion, in order to provoke new ways of reading the dialogic and polyphonic elements of the text. The study contends that the politics of difference is an unsettling subject that profoundly impacts on gender relations and religio-political practices in a milieu where precarity is a major defining feature of the subaltern sections comprising women and the marginalised poor. Thus, the novel’s title figuratively foregrounds the (un)mournable bodies of the people, who are both dehumanised and heavily burdened by surviving at the margin.Contribution: Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, This Mournable Body demonstrates a deep concern with the plight of the subaltern people in a gendered society and how their conditions of the Othered bodies are further amplified by both religion and politics in present-day Zimbabwe. Thus the study contributes to the mounting discourses about politics of fragmentation and binary practices, and the ensuing agony suffered by the sidelined persons. The adopted stylistic reading of the focus novel underscores the interdisciplinary urgency to literary interpretative process.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140676110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This research explores the contextual approach within Christian-Jewish religious education, addressing a notable gap in existing literature and offering fresh insights into the application of the Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) model within Christian contexts. Through a qualitative literature study employing a three-step methodology, including an in-depth analysis of Deuteronomy 11:19–20, this study reveals that this biblical text provides both educational guidance and theological significance, serving as a foundational support for the CTL model in Christian-Jewish religious education. The integration of digital media into biblical sources holds promise for future research, while the central challenge lies in harmonising life experiences and empirical phenomena with biblical reflections to seamlessly integrate inquiry processes and pedagogical phases, with potential avenues for further exploration in scripture models endorsing CTL. This research provides valuable insights for educators, parents and policymakers in Indonesia and beyond, advancing educational research in contextualised teaching models within religious education.Contribution: This article demonstrates that the CTL model in the digital era has the potential to revolutionise religious education and profoundly impact learners, making it a significant scientific contribution in the context of Christian-Jewish religious education.
{"title":"Deuteronomy and Contextual Teaching and Learning in Christian-Jewish religious education","authors":"J. Tulung, O. Wuwung, S. E. Zaluchu, F. Zaluchu","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i1.9312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.9312","url":null,"abstract":"This research explores the contextual approach within Christian-Jewish religious education, addressing a notable gap in existing literature and offering fresh insights into the application of the Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) model within Christian contexts. Through a qualitative literature study employing a three-step methodology, including an in-depth analysis of Deuteronomy 11:19–20, this study reveals that this biblical text provides both educational guidance and theological significance, serving as a foundational support for the CTL model in Christian-Jewish religious education. The integration of digital media into biblical sources holds promise for future research, while the central challenge lies in harmonising life experiences and empirical phenomena with biblical reflections to seamlessly integrate inquiry processes and pedagogical phases, with potential avenues for further exploration in scripture models endorsing CTL. This research provides valuable insights for educators, parents and policymakers in Indonesia and beyond, advancing educational research in contextualised teaching models within religious education.Contribution: This article demonstrates that the CTL model in the digital era has the potential to revolutionise religious education and profoundly impact learners, making it a significant scientific contribution in the context of Christian-Jewish religious education.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"32 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140673292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paul’s teaching on the Parousia and resurrection of the dead has been a subject of contention with the culture of some Ghanaian contexts. The belief in life after death in Ghanaian culture requires the performance of certain rituals for the dead which contradicts biblical teaching because of the belief in the resurrection of the dead. These belief systems often cause disagreement and misunderstanding among surviving families, sometimes resulting in violent clashes at the instance of the death of relatives. However, the interpretation of the word of God is given for the transformation of the individual and society. The article, therefore, employs analysis of some rhetorical elements in the text and the Contextual Bible Study model of African biblical hermeneutics to investigate how Paul’s teaching on death and resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is received by Christians in the Ghanaian context. It contends that as Christians believe that the dead in Christ will rise on the Parousia, then rituals and cultural practices that have negative effects on the socio-economic and Christian beliefs of surviving families should be avoided or modified.Contribution: The article concludes that the church in Ghana should advocate strongly for a transformation of such cultural practices and institute measures to ameliorate the effects of death and funeral expenses of Ghanaian families.
{"title":"Reception of Paul’s eschatological teaching in Ghana: A contextual study of 1 Thess. 4:13-18","authors":"G. Nsiah","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i2.9065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9065","url":null,"abstract":"Paul’s teaching on the Parousia and resurrection of the dead has been a subject of contention with the culture of some Ghanaian contexts. The belief in life after death in Ghanaian culture requires the performance of certain rituals for the dead which contradicts biblical teaching because of the belief in the resurrection of the dead. These belief systems often cause disagreement and misunderstanding among surviving families, sometimes resulting in violent clashes at the instance of the death of relatives. However, the interpretation of the word of God is given for the transformation of the individual and society. The article, therefore, employs analysis of some rhetorical elements in the text and the Contextual Bible Study model of African biblical hermeneutics to investigate how Paul’s teaching on death and resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is received by Christians in the Ghanaian context. It contends that as Christians believe that the dead in Christ will rise on the Parousia, then rituals and cultural practices that have negative effects on the socio-economic and Christian beliefs of surviving families should be avoided or modified.Contribution: The article concludes that the church in Ghana should advocate strongly for a transformation of such cultural practices and institute measures to ameliorate the effects of death and funeral expenses of Ghanaian families.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":" 38","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140682990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article endeavours to prove that there were creation myths of human beings or certain things, but there were seldom creation myths of ontological cosmology in ancient China. This will be warranted through the distinction between the concepts of ‘to create’ and ‘to beget’, the distinction between ‘Cosmology I of creationism’ and ‘Cosmology II of begetting’, and the relationship between the One and Many. The only exception is the myth of Nüwa 女娲 as the creator of human beings, but not the creator of the cosmos. Therefore, in ancient Chinese tradition, there were mainly myths of begetting rather than myths of complete creation in the sense similar to creatio ex nihilo.Contribution: Previous research frequently underscores the profound differences between ‘Cosmology I of creationism’ and ‘Cosmology II of begetting’. Based on the discussion of concepts of ‘to create’ [zao 造] and ‘to beget’ [sheng 生], this article argues that, there were mainly myths of begetting rather than myths of complete creation in the sense similar to creatio ex nihilo.
本文试图证明，中国古代有关于人或某些事物的创世神话，但很少有关于本体宇宙论的创世神话。本文将通过 "创 "与 "生 "概念的区别、"创生论宇宙观（一）"与 "生生论宇宙观（二）"的区别以及 "一 "与 "多 "的关系来证明这一点。唯一的例外是女娲神话是人类的创造者，而不是宇宙的创造者。因此，在中国古代传统中，主要是生育神话，而不是类似于 "从无到有"（creatio ex nihilo）意义上的完全创世神话：以往的研究经常强调 "创世宇宙论 I "与 "生生宇宙论 II "之间的深刻差异。本文基于对 "造 "与 "生 "概念的讨论，认为当时主要存在的是 "生 "的神话，而不是类似于 "从无到有 "意义上的完全创世神话。
{"title":"Creation myths and generative ontology in ancient China","authors":"Paulos Z.Z. Huang","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i3.9497","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i3.9497","url":null,"abstract":"This article endeavours to prove that there were creation myths of human beings or certain things, but there were seldom creation myths of ontological cosmology in ancient China. This will be warranted through the distinction between the concepts of ‘to create’ and ‘to beget’, the distinction between ‘Cosmology I of creationism’ and ‘Cosmology II of begetting’, and the relationship between the One and Many. The only exception is the myth of Nüwa 女娲 as the creator of human beings, but not the creator of the cosmos. Therefore, in ancient Chinese tradition, there were mainly myths of begetting rather than myths of complete creation in the sense similar to creatio ex nihilo.Contribution: Previous research frequently underscores the profound differences between ‘Cosmology I of creationism’ and ‘Cosmology II of begetting’. Based on the discussion of concepts of ‘to create’ [zao 造] and ‘to beget’ [sheng 生], this article argues that, there were mainly myths of begetting rather than myths of complete creation in the sense similar to creatio ex nihilo.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":" 42","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140689165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leslie J. Francis, Ursula Mckenna, Francis Stewart
Rooted in the field of cathedral studies, this paper draws into dialogue three bodies of knowledge: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion that, among other things, highlights the continuing traction of the Christian tradition and Christian practice within secular societies; David Walker’s notion of the multiple ways through which in secular societies people may relate to the Christian tradition as embodied within the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s notion of spiritual wellbeing as conceptualised in relational terms. Against this conceptual background, this paper draws on data provided by 1234 participants attending one of the Christmas Eve carol services in Liverpool Cathedral to explore the perceived impact of attendance on the spiritual health of people who do not believe in God and yet feel that Liverpool Cathedral is their cathedral, and it is this sense of belonging that brings them back at Christmas time.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this paper links in an original way three fields of discourse: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion, David Walker’s notion of the four ways of belonging to God facilitated by the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s conceptualisation and operationalisation of the notion of spiritual wellbeing. The hypothesis developed from this original integration of theoretical perspectives is then tested empirically on data provided by 404 participants at carol services who do not believe in God.
{"title":"Implicit religion, Anglican cathedrals, and spiritual wellbeing: The impact of carol services","authors":"Leslie J. Francis, Ursula Mckenna, Francis Stewart","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i1.9049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.9049","url":null,"abstract":"Rooted in the field of cathedral studies, this paper draws into dialogue three bodies of knowledge: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion that, among other things, highlights the continuing traction of the Christian tradition and Christian practice within secular societies; David Walker’s notion of the multiple ways through which in secular societies people may relate to the Christian tradition as embodied within the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s notion of spiritual wellbeing as conceptualised in relational terms. Against this conceptual background, this paper draws on data provided by 1234 participants attending one of the Christmas Eve carol services in Liverpool Cathedral to explore the perceived impact of attendance on the spiritual health of people who do not believe in God and yet feel that Liverpool Cathedral is their cathedral, and it is this sense of belonging that brings them back at Christmas time.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this paper links in an original way three fields of discourse: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion, David Walker’s notion of the four ways of belonging to God facilitated by the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s conceptualisation and operationalisation of the notion of spiritual wellbeing. The hypothesis developed from this original integration of theoretical perspectives is then tested empirically on data provided by 404 participants at carol services who do not believe in God.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"88 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140695724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Discipleship is a responsibility of the Church. It is an outlet in which the regeneration of Church leadership to the younger generation is conducted. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, discipleship and mentoring of youth leaders, especially key persons of GKII (Gereja Kemah Injil Indonesia) youth were provided by means of in-person activities. During the pandemic, digital media has been utilised for various church activities, including mentoring these key persons. Hence, this research intends to explore: (1) the method by which key persons practise digital discipleship and (2) the benefits of digital media in youth discipleship to facilitate faith growth. This research is a qualitative research. Data were collected by means of interviews and observations on several key persons’ digital media accounts. The research shows that social media significantly benefits the discipleship process. It was found that digital discipleship was quite often carried out during the pandemic, especially in urban areas, with WhatsApp and Zoom meetings as its two primary means. However, it slightly declined along with the lifting of social gathering restrictions. The main themes explored in the mentoring sessions were discipleship, soteriology, spiritual life, motivational and digital media materials, and youth ministry in the digital era. The discipleship practice used was the NM-SM (Nurtured, Matured, Served, Mission) pattern.Contribution: The results of this research contribute to the development of knowledge, especially in the field of youth discipleship, and digital media-based discipleship. This research also shows that digital media has become an effective theological space during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods.
{"title":"Youth key persons’ digital discipleship process during the pandemic and post-pandemic era","authors":"I. P. A. Darmawan, Jamin Tanhidy, Yabes Doma","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i1.9673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.9673","url":null,"abstract":"Discipleship is a responsibility of the Church. It is an outlet in which the regeneration of Church leadership to the younger generation is conducted. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, discipleship and mentoring of youth leaders, especially key persons of GKII (Gereja Kemah Injil Indonesia) youth were provided by means of in-person activities. During the pandemic, digital media has been utilised for various church activities, including mentoring these key persons. Hence, this research intends to explore: (1) the method by which key persons practise digital discipleship and (2) the benefits of digital media in youth discipleship to facilitate faith growth. This research is a qualitative research. Data were collected by means of interviews and observations on several key persons’ digital media accounts. The research shows that social media significantly benefits the discipleship process. It was found that digital discipleship was quite often carried out during the pandemic, especially in urban areas, with WhatsApp and Zoom meetings as its two primary means. However, it slightly declined along with the lifting of social gathering restrictions. The main themes explored in the mentoring sessions were discipleship, soteriology, spiritual life, motivational and digital media materials, and youth ministry in the digital era. The discipleship practice used was the NM-SM (Nurtured, Matured, Served, Mission) pattern.Contribution: The results of this research contribute to the development of knowledge, especially in the field of youth discipleship, and digital media-based discipleship. This research also shows that digital media has become an effective theological space during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"353 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140698037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article offers a critical reflection of Lizal’isidinga laKho (hymn 116) and Wazidala iinto zonke (hymn 16) written by Tiyo Soga and recorded in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) hymnal book. From the perspective of black theology of liberation (BTL), I historicise and contextualise hymn 116 and hymn 16 to debunk the argument that Tiyo Soga was alien to the lives, experiences of suffering and pain of his people. The article posits that hymn 116 and hymn 16 are black spirituals that articulate the contexts Soga found himself as a black person during the times of the frontier wars. Therefore, utilising blackness as a heuristic approach, I argue that the songs do not just historicise the experiences of black people in the times of the frontier wars, but they are prayers and/or laments from Soga that ask God to spare the lives, the culture, and value systems of black people in a world that seeks the destruction of their being, history, and culture. The songs emphasise the black struggle for justice and liberation encouraging black people never to succumb to the definitions given to them by those who seek the destruction of black personhood. The article locates Soga within the frontier wars to illustrate his own experiences as black person, then examines and presents Lizal’isidinga laKho, Wazidala iinto zonke as black spirituals born in a time of war to give hope to those who have been conquered and subjugated in the unjust wars of colonisation. Hymns 116 and 16 contribute to the decolonial turn discourse –unthinking of the west – because they emphasise the black struggle for liberation and justice.Contribution: The contribution of this article is its focus on the way in which the intersection of religious studies, social sciences, and humanities generates an interdisciplinary contested discourse.
{"title":"Thinking Africa through Soga’s black spirituals: A theological reflection","authors":"Sandiswa L. Kobe","doi":"10.4102/hts.v80i2.9294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9294","url":null,"abstract":"This article offers a critical reflection of Lizal’isidinga laKho (hymn 116) and Wazidala iinto zonke (hymn 16) written by Tiyo Soga and recorded in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) hymnal book. From the perspective of black theology of liberation (BTL), I historicise and contextualise hymn 116 and hymn 16 to debunk the argument that Tiyo Soga was alien to the lives, experiences of suffering and pain of his people. The article posits that hymn 116 and hymn 16 are black spirituals that articulate the contexts Soga found himself as a black person during the times of the frontier wars. Therefore, utilising blackness as a heuristic approach, I argue that the songs do not just historicise the experiences of black people in the times of the frontier wars, but they are prayers and/or laments from Soga that ask God to spare the lives, the culture, and value systems of black people in a world that seeks the destruction of their being, history, and culture. The songs emphasise the black struggle for justice and liberation encouraging black people never to succumb to the definitions given to them by those who seek the destruction of black personhood. The article locates Soga within the frontier wars to illustrate his own experiences as black person, then examines and presents Lizal’isidinga laKho, Wazidala iinto zonke as black spirituals born in a time of war to give hope to those who have been conquered and subjugated in the unjust wars of colonisation. Hymns 116 and 16 contribute to the decolonial turn discourse –unthinking of the west – because they emphasise the black struggle for liberation and justice.Contribution: The contribution of this article is its focus on the way in which the intersection of religious studies, social sciences, and humanities generates an interdisciplinary contested discourse.","PeriodicalId":502762,"journal":{"name":"HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies","volume":"53 43","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140701143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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