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Baptists regard ecclesiology as the field where they provide a unique contribution to Christian theology and practice. Yet, the Baptist Principles that summarize the distinctive beliefs of Baptists have not much to say about the position and role of the Baptist pastor. Instead, they emphasize the equality of all church members and their individual rights to participate and decide in church matters. This thesis investigates the theology of ministry from contemporary Baptist sources in South African and German contexts. The author takes from his own experience of ministry in both countries, but researches literature also from a wider range of backgrounds. The first part provides a discussion of Baptist ecclesiology with a view to the topic of ministry. The Baptist Principles are scrutinized with specific focus on the Principles of the priesthood of all believers and of congregational church government. They allow for a variety of interpretations, but on the whole limit the position of the pastor rather than positively describing it. The same is true for the German Baptists' creedal document Rechenschaft vom Glauben. The author of this thesis sees his particular contribution to the topic in providing a positive characterization of the Baptist pastor. He does so in the second part where he presents four pairs of marks of the pastor. "Called and Gifted" describes the divine origin of ministry. Both marks are not exclusive to pastors, but also have a general meaning that includes all church members. "Ordained and Trained" is summarized as a secondary category, which shows the human institutions and prerequisites for ministry. "Leader and Servant" is a seeming contradiction in terms, but has become idiomatic as a combined term to describe the Christian way of leadership, as proclaimed by Jesus. "Preacher and Shepherd" are both synonyms for the pastor. They emphasize different aspects of ministry, but can also be interpreted as contrasting in focus. In his conclusion, the author relates the marks of the pastor to the Baptist Principles. From there, he formulates challenges for the understanding of pastors in Baptist churches in Germany and in South Africa. / Systematic Theology / D. Th.(Systematic Theology)

A number of previous studies have examined lay counsellor training within a modernist paradigm. By contrast, this study collaboratively presents ways of training pastoral caregivers using a participatory approach to practical theology and pastoral care in the postmodern time in which we live. The research journey starts from the premise that postmodernity calls for the mediation of a new approach to practising theology, pastoral care and giving authority to ordinary members of the church through training in pastoral work. This work therefore describes Participatory Pastoral Care (PPC) training as a suggested way to train people of God to use participatory approaches. The research journey also explores how the PPC training constructions they participated in brought about transformations in the co-researchers' lives, relationships, caring practices and the societies in which they live. This practical theology research document introduces the participants as co-researchers and theologians. The recollections shared by the participants reveal a rich variety of stories as these participants reflect on their lives, caring practices and faith journeys. This research document is viewed through the lens of a postmodern epistemology that builds on social constructionist and poststructuralist perspectives. Thirty-three participants embarked on this feminist narrative participatory action research journey, not only to tell their stories, but also to negotiate and challenge ways of training pastoral caregivers within a participatory practical theological and pastoral approach. This research document informs the church, theological institutions and broader caregiver practices through narratives about what the participating members of various congregations find helpful in the co-construction of participatory pastoral training and what they do not find helpful. The methods used to gather the recollections of the participants were multiple reflexive conversations and the discussion of a semi-structured questionnaire. This research journey therefore offers a deeper understanding of the experience of being part of a postmodern construction of training for participatory pastoral caregivers that has the transformation of society as its theological aim. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Practical Theology - with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Il lavoro propone la traduzione annotata del poema “Pogorel'ščina“ (Terra bruciata, 1928), una delle ultime opere di Nikolaj Alekseevič Kljuev (1884-1937), inedita fino al 1954, e mai apparsa in lingua italiana. La traduzione si mantiene il più possibile aderente al testo originale, che accosta il registro basso del canto popolare e quello alto letterario, liturgico ed epico. Le note al testo illustrano gli arcaismi e i localismi, tipici del linguaggio kljueviano, e approfondiscono alcuni motivi legati al folklore e alla tradizione ortodossa così come a quella vecchio-credente e settaria. Completano il lavoro i dati relativi alla storia redazionale del poema, la cronologia della vita e delle opere dell'autore, fra i protagonisti della cosiddetta “Età d’argento” della poesia russa novecentesca, e un’appendice iconografica. / Our work offers a commented translation of the poem “Pogorel'shchina“ (The Burned Ruins, 1928), one of Nikolai Alekseevich Klyuev’s (1884-1937) last works. It was composed in 1928, remained unpublished until 1954 and was never translated into Italian. In our translation, we have endeavoured to adhere to the original lexicon and syntax of the original text, which combines the low register of the folk songs with the upper, liturgical and epic register. In our notes to the text we illustrate the archaisms and localisms that are typical of Klyuev’s language and explore motifs related to the folklore, to the Orthodox tradition as well as to the Old Believers’ and sectarian tradition. Finally, our work includes the redactional history of the poem, the chronology of the life and works of the author, one of the protagonists of the so called “Silver Age“ of XXth century Russian poetry, and an iconographic appendix.

Baptists regard ecclesiology as the field where they provide a unique contribution to Christian theology and practice. Yet, the Baptist Principles that summarize the distinctive beliefs of Baptists have not much to say about the position and role of the Baptist pastor. Instead, they emphasize the equality of all church members and their individual rights to participate and decide in church matters. This thesis investigates the theology of ministry from contemporary Baptist sources in South African and German contexts. The author takes from his own experience of ministry in both countries, but researches literature also from a wider range of backgrounds. The first part provides a discussion of Baptist ecclesiology with a view to the topic of ministry. The Baptist Principles are scrutinized with specific focus on the Principles of the priesthood of all believers and of congregational church government. They allow for a variety of interpretations, but on the whole limit the position of the pastor rather than positively describing it. The same is true for the German Baptists' creedal document Rechenschaft vom Glauben. The author of this thesis sees his particular contribution to the topic in providing a positive characterization of the Baptist pastor. He does so in the second part where he presents four pairs of marks of the pastor. "Called and Gifted" describes the divine origin of ministry. Both marks are not exclusive to pastors, but also have a general meaning that includes all church members. "Ordained and Trained" is summarized as a secondary category, which shows the human institutions and prerequisites for ministry. "Leader and Servant" is a seeming contradiction in terms, but has become idiomatic as a combined term to describe the Christian way of leadership, as proclaimed by Jesus. "Preacher and Shepherd" are both synonyms for the pastor. They emphasize different aspects of ministry, but can also be interpreted as contrasting in focus. In his conclusion, the author relates the marks of the pastor to the Baptist Principles. From there, he formulates challenges for the understanding of pastors in Baptist churches in Germany and in South Africa. / Systematic Theology / D. Th.(Systematic Theology)

A number of previous studies have examined lay counsellor training within a modernist paradigm. By contrast, this study collaboratively presents ways of training pastoral caregivers using a participatory approach to practical theology and pastoral care in the postmodern time in which we live. The research journey starts from the premise that postmodernity calls for the mediation of a new approach to practising theology, pastoral care and giving authority to ordinary members of the church through training in pastoral work. This work therefore describes Participatory Pastoral Care (PPC) training as a suggested way to train people of God to use participatory approaches. The research journey also explores how the PPC training constructions they participated in brought about transformations in the co-researchers' lives, relationships, caring practices and the societies in which they live. This practical theology research document introduces the participants as co-researchers and theologians. The recollections shared by the participants reveal a rich variety of stories as these participants reflect on their lives, caring practices and faith journeys. This research document is viewed through the lens of a postmodern epistemology that builds on social constructionist and poststructuralist perspectives. Thirty-three participants embarked on this feminist narrative participatory action research journey, not only to tell their stories, but also to negotiate and challenge ways of training pastoral caregivers within a participatory practical theological and pastoral approach. This research document informs the church, theological institutions and broader caregiver practices through narratives about what the participating members of various congregations find helpful in the co-construction of participatory pastoral training and what they do not find helpful. The methods used to gather the recollections of the participants were multiple reflexive conversations and the discussion of a semi-structured questionnaire. This research journey therefore offers a deeper understanding of the experience of being part of a postmodern construction of training for participatory pastoral caregivers that has the transformation of society as its theological aim. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical Theology - with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Welcoming visitors is part of our African culture. This research tries to reflect on house visitation in the Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ (MRCC), and the impact thereof, if any, in the spiritual lives of congregants. Traditionally, pastors, elders and deacons alone bear the responsibility of visiting families in the MRCC. This research therefore reflects on the issue of house visitation in the MRCC where it is seen and understood as the duty and responsibility of pastors, elders and deacons only. The research is a passionate call for the MRCC, as a church, to work on a ministry design where all members will be actively involved in visiting one another, a move from the traditional one where only pastors, elders and deacons visit households. Arguments are also presented on how technology could be used to the advantage of the church in this task. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

The Islamic religion has become a challenge to Christianity due to its rapid growth around the world today. Christianity and Islam are both devising strategies on how to reach out to each other with their conflicting messages. Christian missiologists have come up with several approaches of doing Mission to the Muslims. However, because of the Islamic practices and beliefs that vary in different contexts or from place to place, some of the approaches are not effective in some areas. The nature of the cultural context has more often made it progressively difficult for the Christian churches and missionaries to do Mission among the Muslim countries, including those at South Coast of Kenya, the Digo folk Muslims. The call for a suitable understanding of an evangelism approach among the Digo folk Muslims is an essential concept for an effective Mission to them. There is no doubt that in Digoland, there is still a great challenge in evangelising the Digo people. Even though currently there is a good number of un-indigenous churches in this area, the problem remains that the Digo Muslims have not effectively responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at large. It is also clear that the evangelism approaches that the Christian churches are using have not been effective. This thesis analytically examines evangelism approaches to Mission among the Digo folk Muslims by seven selected Christian churches from different denominations in the South Coast of Kenya. The study investigates the effectiveness of the evangelism approaches, which these churches are using with the Digo folk Muslims in sharing the gospel. Mostly using data collected from oral interviews, the study finds that Mission involvement to Digo Muslims is slow and not as effective as evidenced by the small number of the Muslim background believers in the selected churches. The churches and the Muslim background believers face challenges that include fear due to threats from the Muslim community as they perceive the Christians as adversaries who are stealing their members. Moreover, the few Muslims are, at times threatened with death. The churches also face challenges from the lack of effective training in Muslim evangelism in context including the financial constraints for Muslim Mission in the area. The research concludes that significantly, there is a need for the selected churches to reexamine and reconsider their evangelism approaches to Digo folk Muslims with a view to improving their ways of engaging in sharing the gospel with them. Finally, the study formulates and proposes a practical biblical model for effective Mission to these Digo Muslims. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Muslim Evangelism)

In order to fulfil its missionary task the church needs good leaders. However, there is a huge shortage of leaders and many of the people who step forward to fill the gap, are not trained. This study looks at what is needed in a training system to produce enough of the right kind of leaders to lead the church in fulfilling its missionary task. However, training people has little value if they are not going to be given the opportunity to take part in the ministry. This leads to the conclusion that the church does not only need the right training system, it also has to break with the Professional Church Model, so that the priesthood of all believers will not continue to be a theological assertion only, but become an experiential reality. In this light the study then evaluates the two major models used by the church to prepare its leaders, namely the Traditional Residential Academic Model and Theological Education by Extension. The evaluation shows that the Traditional Residential Academic Model has serious weaknesses. Theological Education by Extension introduced a new paradigm, namely in-service training. It overcomes many of the weaknesses of the Traditional Residential Academic Model, but it also has its share of problems. The Daystar Training Model is then introduced and evaluated. It takes the in-service paradigm further and overcomes some of the problems that Theological Education by Extension could not solve. The evaluation shows that Daystar has the potential to provide the leaders the church needs to fulfil its missionary task. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

Cette recherche se propose de faire une analyse de la dissolution du lien matrimonial spécifique aux épouses musulmanes, le divorce désamour ou ẖul‘. Cette faculté de divorcer élaborée par la casuistique doctrinale islamique sunnite ou fiqh sera reprise par le Code algérien de la famille promulgué en 1984. Le mode de divorce imparti exclusivement aux femmes fera l’objet de critiques sur le plan théologique et sur le plan juridique. Dans la théologie du droit dans la tradition islamique, il s’agira d’interroger les fondements religieux du divorce désamour à travers les sources fondamentales du Qor’ān et de la Sunna en relation avec le fiqh. En reflet, l’examen de la positivisation de la norme islamique dans le Code algérien de la famille conduira à porter un regard sur l’articulation entre ce référent religieux d’origine scolastique et les normes juridiques de production étatique et d’inspiration positiviste caractéristique du Droit algérien, lequel se comprend comme un phénomène juridique spécifique circonscrit aux frontières du pays. L’intérêt porté à cette conjonction internormative, dénommée pour les fins de la présente étude comme une normativité axio-juridique, conduit à rendre compte de son effectivité et donc de son application par les personnes concernées par le divorce désamour qui se trouvent à l’extérieur d’un pays à majorité islamique. L’étude envisagée poursuit deux objectifs : l’un épistémologique et l’autre ethnographique. L’objectif épistémologique cherche à comprendre dans une visée heuristique l’intérêt d’un cadre théorique féministe, mais aussi islamique et décoloniale, concomitamment critique de l’interprétation par le fiqh de ce type de désunion, et du Droit algérien forgé dans un cadre colonial positif et dans des emprunts locaux (coutume, usages et fiqh sunnite de l’École malékite), pour l’étude de cette pratique spécifique en islam. Quant à l’objectif ethnographique, il tend à travers une recherche empirique à saisir la subjectivisation du rapport à la transcendance. L’analyse porte sur les actions d’un groupe de femmes musulmanes, croyantes et pratiquantes, d’ascendance algériennes exilées, au cours de la décennie 2000-2010 à Montréal. Des femmes qui ont pris la décision unilatérale d’introduire une procédure de divorce à Montréal plutôt qu’en Algérie. Par ce fait, leur démarche se trouve au croisement de normes juridiques (Code civil du Québec et Loi sur le divorce) sans égard à la normativité axio-juridique algérienne (Code algérien de la famille) qui régit, habituellement, le divorce des Musulman.e.s. La réflexion inspirée par ces objectifs formulés dans un contexte d’individualisation du croire et de la pratique, a conduit en premier, à la conclusion d’une inégalité juridique intrinsèque à la normativité axio-juridique inscrite dans le Code algérien de la famille et à sa conceptualisation. Et consécutivement, la lecture personnelle du Qor’ān indépendante de celle du fiqh sunnite, a induit une seconde conclusion : l’absence d’un fondement qor’āni du divorce désamour. L’introduction initiale du ẖul‘ dans le corpus religieux et subséquemment dans la législation algérienne contemporaine peut se comprendre comme l’expression d’un déni aux femmes, contrairement aux hommes, du droit de se défaire des liens matrimoniaux. Finalement, cette recherche a mis en lumière l’agencéité d’un groupe de femmes, musulmanes, croyantes et pratiquantes, d’ascendance algérienne, exilées à Montréal et qui ont fait le triple choix : initier le divorce, le faire selon les lois de la société d’arrivée et le faire en dehors des balises juridiques du fiqh sunni relatif au ẖul’. / This research analyses the dissolution of the matrimonial bond that is specific to Muslim spouses: the divorce out of love or ẖul ‘. This faculty of divorce posed by the Sunni Islamic doctrinal casuistry of fiqh and taken up by the Algerian Family Code. This notion will be criticized both theologically and legally. Theologically and with respect to traditional Islamic law, we will be questioning the religious foundations of disenchanted divorce through the fundamental sources of the Qor’ān and Sunna in relation to fiqh. In reflection, the examination of the positivisation of the Islamic norm in the Algerian Family Code will lead us to look at: the articulation between this religious referent of scholastic origin and the legal norms of state production of positivist inspiration; both characteristic of the Algerian Law and to be understood as a specific legal phenomenon circumscribed to the borders of the Algerian state. The interest in this internormative conjunction is denominated for the purposes of this study as an axio-legal normativity and will lead to an account of its effectiveness. Therefore, we focus on its application to those affected by the disenchanted divorce who are living outside of a predominantly Muslim country. This proposed study has two objectives: one that is epistemological and the other that would be ethnographic. Therein, the epistemological objective seeks to understand in a heuristic perspective the interest of a feminist theoretical framework, but also one that is inherently Islamic and decolonial. Concomitantly, we seek a critical interpretation of the fiqh that affects this type of disunity, the Algerian law forged in a colonial positive framework, and local borrowings (customs, uses and Sunni (Malekite) fiqh) for the study of this specific practice in Islam. As for the ethnographic objective, it tends, through empirical research, to grasp the subjectivization of the relationship to transcend the ancestry of Algerian Muslim wives who immigrated with their husbands, settled in Montreal, made the unilateral decision to divorce, and who by this fact, utilize a disparity in the repertoire of aligned strategic actions. The reflection inspired by these objectives, formulated in a context of individualization of beliefs and practices, led to the proposition of a conceptualization of the legal inequalities intrinsic to the axio-legal normativity inscribed in the Algerian family code. The reflection inspired by these objectives formulated in a contexte of individualization of belief, led first to the conclusion of a legal inequality intrinsic to the axio-legal normativity inscribed in the Family Algerian code and to its conceptualization. And consecutively the personal reading of Qor’ān, independent of the Sunni fiqh induced a second conclusion: the lack of a qor’ani basis of divorce. The initial introduction of ẖul‘ into the religious corpus and subsequently into contemporary legislation can be understood as the expression of a deny to women, unlike men, of the right to unilaterally break off marital ties. Finally, this research sheds light on the agency of a group of muslim, practicing and believing women of Algerian descent and exiled in Montreal, who have made the triple choice: to initiate the divorce, to do it according to laws of the society of happened and to do so outside the legal guidelines of the Sunni fiqh relating to ẖul’.