Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study entails an historical investigation of how the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has addressed the ecumenical tension between ecclesiology and ethics in its history between 1963 and 2013. The study is arguably the first comprehensive analysis of the history of the AACC focussing on ecclesiology and ethics and will therefore make an original contribution to ecumenical theology in Africa in this regard. The study argues that the tension between what the church is (read: ecclesiology) and what it does (read: ethics) has undeniably been present in the ecumenical movement in Africa. The study is situated within two concentric contexts. Firstly, it is located within the context of the WCC study project on ecclesiology and ethics that was conducted during the period 1992 to 1996 and will contribute to wider discourse in this regard. The WCC project was an attempt to bridge a deep divide in the ecumenical movement between those who emphasise that the way to unity is through doctrinal agreement and those who believe that “doctrine divides” while a common moral cause (service) may unite. Secondly, this study is aimed at discerning how the AACC has addressed the relationship between the theological quest for unity (read: ecclesiology) and the social responsibility of the church (read: ethics). The study examines how the AACC assisted its member churches to respond to contemporary challenges in three distinct periods in recent African history, namely the periods of decolonisation (1963-1974), development (1975-1992) and neo-liberal globalisation (1993-2013). The hypothesis of this study is that these periods correlate with the AACC’s ways of negotiating the tension between ecclesiology and ethics. The study argues that although the AACC has privileged the social agenda of the church in society (read: ethics), the ecumenical quest for ecclesial unity (read: ecclesiology) has not been completely absent. While the study acknowledges that the tension between ecclesiology and ethics is not easily resolved, it affirms that these two ecumenical concerns are inseparable. The study therefore suggests an appropriation of the African notion of ubuntu as a horizon for ecclesiology and ethics. The intuition behind the proposal is that ubuntu resonates with biblical notions of koinonia and diakonia and is thus an apt notion for an articulation of the interconnectedness between ecclesiology and ethics. The study is divided into two parts, comprising eight chapters. The first part covers four chapters in which I offer an historical background to the modern ecumenical movement, an analysis of the ecclesiology and ethics debate in the wider ecumenical context and a brief institutional history of the AACC. The second part of the study comprises three chapters. Therein, I present a critical analysis of the AACC’s handling of the tension between ecclesiology and ethics in the period 1963-2013. Each chapter describes and analyses the various ways in which the AACC addressed the tension between the theological quest for the visible unity of the church on the one hand (read: ecclesiology) and the social responsibility of the church (read: ethics) on the other in specific socio-historical contexts. The hypothesis of the study is confirmed on the basis of such analysis. This study contributes to discourse in African theology on authenticity (read: ecclesiology) as expressed in theologies of inculturation and indigenisation and on social relevance (read: ethics) as expressed in theologies of liberation and reconstruction. It further contributes to academic reflection on the history of the ecumenical movement in Africa and the quest for an appropriate ecumenical vision on the African continent amidst the tensions between mainline churches, independent churches (AICs) and a variety of Pentecostal churches and the many social challenges that churches have to address. / Sakupapa, T.C. (2017). Ecclesiology and ethics: An analysis of the history of the All Africa Conference of Churches (1963 - 2013). PhD thesis. University of the Western Cape. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5534

This study is a historical analytical investigation and theological interpretation of Wesleyan Methodists' political teaching and practice in Zimbabwe from 1891 to 1980. In an attempt to come up with an informed interpretation of the political teaching and activities, the study traced Wesleyan Methodist political praxis John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and interpreted his teaching and practice from a third world perspective. That perspective was used as a basis for evaluating the contextualisation of his teaching by Wesleyan Methodists in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean Wesleyan Methodists' political teaching and practice during the colonial era were explored using four themes: politics of land, race relationships, Federation and war. Two hypothetical statements were tested in this study: Wesleyan Methodism outlines a framework for constructive participation in politics, and the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe provided and supported positions of political leadership in Zimbabwe. The objectives of this study are to: unveil successes and failures of Wesleyan Methodists in Zimbabwean political arena, expose the historical significance of Wesleyan Methodist influence in politics for Zimbabwean history and present a historical account of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. The methodology preferred in this study included oral history and a combination of the ecumenical and southern approaches to Church history. The study utilised archival and oral data as primary sources, the translation model of contextual theology, holistic framework for analysing history, the principle of the overriding right and the conflict transformation model as part of the methodology. Through the use of the translation model of contextual theology, the study revealed how John Wesley used principles from the Christian message and Church tradition in addressing his political context. The study exposed that John Wesley was obsessed with accountability to God and constituency, respect for every person, respect for political structures as well as authorities and relationships among people as fundamental pillars in political activities. He based these on his understanding of God's free grace, people's liberty to accept or reject that grace and the validity of popular religious expression. The study revealed that Wesleyan Methodists in Zimbabwe had a special relationship with the colonial government due to an invitation by Cecil John Rhodes for the church to participate in the Pioneer Column. The relationship determined how retrogressive or progressive ministers responded to government requirements and made demands on government until the country's independence in 1980. The study also exposed how retrogressive Wesleyan Methodists moved from acceptance and collaboration to acceptance and selective rejection of colonial policies and how both retrogressive and progressive ministers employed the concept of non-contestation of participation in armed conflict and throwing one’s lot on the expected side. It also showed how progressive ministers contributed to the political emancipation of Africans and the role played by the mission-educated elite in Zimbabwe. The study ended with pointing out that Zimbabwean Wesleyan Methodist political teaching and practice had very bright future prospects at the independence of the country in 1980. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Church History and Church Policy / Unrestricted

The purpose of this article is to reflect on homiletics and Christian preaching in the context of Latin America, in the current times of transition. In order to provide a better understanding of the approach, initially aspects of the Latin American religious and cultural context will be analyzed. Then there will be considerations on aspects of the development of Christian preaching, creating a space to think about the relationship between Christian preaching and theologies that are relevant to the context, such as liberation theology. Finally a few challenges to Christian preaching in times of transition will be pointed out. Due to the delimitation of the article, it will focus on the homiletic development of the historical Protestant churches on the continent, above all in the Brazilian context.

Este artigo tem por objetivo refletir sobre a homilética e a pregação cristã no contexto da América Latina, em tempos atuais de transição. Para tanto, afim de propiciar uma melhor compreensão da abordagem, analisar-se-á aspectos do contexto religioso e cultural latino-americano, num primeiro momento. Em seguida, refletir-se-á sobre aspectos do desenvolvimento da pregação cristã, dando espaço para pensar a relação entre a pregração cristã com teologias relevantes para o contexto, como a Teologia da Libertação, para, finalmente, apontar alguns desafios para a pregação cristã em tempos de transição. Devido a delimitação do artigo, o enfoque estará concentrado no desenvolvimento homilético das igrejas protestantes históricas do continente, sobretudo do contexto brasileiro.

No description available.

In this paper, a brief overview is given of two research projects that were done in South Africa during 1987 (a particularly difficult time under apartheid), and 1994 (the year that the first democratic elections took place), respectively. Some of the findings are discussed under the keywords: silence, transition, reservation, new vision. Reference is made to a historic sermon preached by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town only three days before the first democratic elections were held in South Africa on the 27th of April, 1994. The paper concludes with a reflection on an artwork by the South African artist, Willie Bester.

In this article, I present insights from an empirical study of a congregation which consists of a medley of refugees from the Middle East who have recently converted from Islam and ethnic Danes whose families have belonged to the Lutheran Church for generations. The empirical material is analyzed in light of Søren Kierkegaard’s category of repetition, in the sense of receiving anew, because this phenomenon appears crucial, not only to the genre of preaching but to preachers and listeners alike – especially, in times and situations of transition. I suggest that the Kierkegaardian notion of repetition may be useful as a homiletical category with regard of scholars’ method, preachers’ preparation and listeners’ appropriation of preaching.

This article deals with the derasha, the Jewish sermon and offers an inventory of the key dimensions of the Jewish sermon as practiced today and in the past from a reformed Jewish perspective. It shows its connection to the particular moment, its functions (further distinguished as contextual, intentional, educational, and symbolic), its message, sources, structure, and the techniques involved in its delivery and gives a brief example of one of the author’s own derashot from July 2015.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Youngstown, Ohio was devastated by the closing of three major steel mills in three years: In all, more than 15,000 steelworkers and another 35,000 in related industries lost jobs in this period. The purpose of this thesis is to study the response of the local nonprofit sector to the closing of the Campbell Works, a mill located just outside the city of Youngstown that employed approximately 4,100. The activities of traditional nonprofit organizations are briefly reviewed; however, much of this study focuses on the story of the Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley, a diverse group of religious leaders whose mission evolved into a campaign to garner the resources necessary to purchase the Campbell Works and reopen it as an employee-owned company. Additional analysis is made of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Weirton, West Virginia; two nearby steel centers that faced similar economic downturns in the 1980s and used the lessons learned from the Ecumenical Coalition. The final chapter of this thesis examines the work of two researchers, Vaughn Grisham, Jr. and Richard Cuoto, and their work studying Tupelo, Mississippi and Appalachia, respectively. In these works, we see cities and regions laid bare by stark economic conditions and the collective action taken by a wide variety of constituencies to not only survive but to thrive.

The International Journal of Homiletics will publish scholarly, peer-reviewed articles from homileticians around the world and will work on the establishment of an interactive component to stimulate ongoing dialogue among homileticians from different national and cultural contexts. At the same time, our journal is – as stated – not only international, but also ecumenical and even inter-religious. This is reflected in the composition of the editorial board, which consists of Christian and Jewish homileticians from five continents. The journal is co-edited by Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen (Professor of Practical Theology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and Alexander Deeg (Professor of Practical Theology, University of Leipzig, Germany) with the help of Ferenc Herzig (Wiss. Assistant, Leipzig University), our managing editor.