Submitted to the Faculty of Theology and Religion Studies in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Theology in the Department of Practical Theology at the University of Zululand, 2004. / A literary critique is offered on the publication "Theology in a New Key: Responding to Liberation Themes", by Robert M. Brown. His view of Christian ministry differs fundamentally from the documented ministry of the early Church, described by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. A comparative analysis is presented in this dissertation. A brief review is made of the Christian Church in South Africa, with reference to early Christian missionaries who helped establish the Christian faith in this country. The devastation caused to the Church and the nation by fifty years of Apartheid is discussed. Attitudes towards the role of the Christian Church in society differ according to religious or philosophical belief. A brief examination of Atheism, Agnosticism, Deism, and Theism is undertaken, and conclusions drawn concerning their attitudes towards the Christian Church. Situational Ethics is the practical outworking of many religious and philosophical views in the 21st century, and is here exposed as unbiblical. It is also illogical, in that it expects the Christian Church to provide 'social convenience', while offering no personal commitment Socio-medical aspects of South Africa's monstrous HIV/AIDS epidemic are presented, and a case study done of an orphanage in KwaZulu-Natal, to establish the precise nature, financial viability, and balance of spiritual ministry within this Christian Care Centre. Recommendations for effective and biblical Christian ministry in the 'new' South Africa are presented.