La conférence de Berlin de 1884 a posé les jalons des relations religions-États en Afrique centrale en instituant la « mission civilisatrice ». Dans cette région, les relations religions-États ont toujours été ambigües. Suivant les périodes, il y a eu collaboration, soutien mutuel, coexistence, ignorance réciproque, oppositions et même persécutions. Les relations entre les missions religieuses et l’administration coloniale, puis entre l’Église catholique et les jeunes États indépendants, furent une parfaite illustration.La « vague » de démocratisation de la décennie 1990 a permis l’adoption de nouvelles lois fondamentales calquées toutes sur le texte constitutionnel français de 1958 que les constituants d’Afrique centrale ont pris pour modèle. Les nouvelles constitutions ont ainsi introduit un nouveau principe, celui de la laïcité de l’État, dans le même esprit du constituant français de 1946 et 1958. Le processus démocratique a également permis un pluralisme aussi bien politique que religieux. Sur le plan religieux, la consécration de la liberté religieuse a favorisé l’implantation des églises évangéliques qui connaissent, depuis, une diffusion rapide.La question des relations entre les Églises évangéliques et les États dans cette région d’Afrique prend aujourd’hui une importance croissante, du fait du succès grandissant de ce nouveau mouvement religieux et de sa proximité avec les pouvoirs politiques. Il y a là une situation nouvelle, récente, en mutation rapide et qui remet en question bien des situations politiques, institutionnelles, juridiques et sociales. Sur le plan juridique, l’échec du modèle de laïcité-séparation confronté à la forte religiosité qui caractérise les sociétés africaines, appelle à une nécessité de faire une large part à la coutume africaine dans la conception des textes juridiques, ce qui permettrait la construction d’une nouvelle laïcité « africaine ». / The Berlin Conference of 1884 laid the foundations for relationship between religions and states in Central Africa by instituting the "civilizing mission". In this region, those relationships have always been ambiguous. According to the periods, there was collaboration, mutual support, coexistence, mutual ignorance, oppositions and even persecutions. The relationship between religious missions and the colonial administration and between the Catholic Church and the young independent nations, were a perfect illustration. The “wave” of democratization of the 90’s allowed the adoption of new fundamentals laws similar with the French constitution of 1958 took as a model. The new central African constitutions introduced a new principle, the secularism of state, in the same spirit of the French constitutions of 1946 and 1958. The democratic process also allowed pluralism both political and religious. About religious field, the consecration of religious freedom has promoted the implantation of evangelical movement which has then, knew a rapid growth. The issue of relationships between Evangelical Churches and States in this region of Africa is becoming increasingly important, because of the growing success of this new religious movement and its proximity with political powers. This is a new, recent, rapidly changing situation that challenges many political, institutional, legal and social situations. At the legal level, the failure of the secular model adopted call for a need to make a large part of African custom in the conception of legal texts, which would then allow the construction of a new "African" secularism.

As a cultural staple, the Christian faith has been a defining characteristic of the United States for generations. Religion has moved from the spiritual and become integral to many parts of this society’s social gatherings, artistic outlets, and even businesses. Often rooting itself in conservative values and interpretations of The Bible, Evangelicalism’s beliefs regarding damnation and hell contradicts its sola scriptura theological view. Yet, with The Bible’s near silence on hellish matters when looked at as a whole, the human need to have these gaps filled allowed for literary portrayals of hell and explanations of damnation to become part of this subsect of Christianity. Lining sermons with bits and pieces of Faustus’s lost soul, a new tradition was born. Filling churches with paintings of unique layers of hell from Dante’s Inferno, this tradition took on new life. This thesis analyzes how Evangelicalism has bypassed The Bible in favor of Doctor Faustusand Inferno as well as how Christianity in the United States influences literature and biblical interpretations.

I hope this study will bring hospitality into the communities of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa (EPCSA) and will also bring the gospel to the people within their context. I hope this study will not only be fruitful to the EPCSA, but also to outside readers or other churches or congregations that might experience growth in their congregations that might come with language challenges. The principal aim of this research is to develop more inclusive liturgy praxis for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa. The main focus of this study is the Sunday liturgy of the EPCSA, known as Magandzelelo Ekerekeni. Magandzelelo Ekerekeni is a Sunday liturgy for the EPCSA and is exclusively in the Tsonga language. It consists of five (5) Sunday orders of service, i.e. one for each Sunday of the month. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis and the church to the readers. The motivations for the chosen research are discussed as well as the relevance and the importance of the research. This chapter also states its aims and objectives of the research, the problems to be researched, methodologies and the expected outcomes. Chapter 2 introduces the history of the church (EPCSA), looks at the profiles of the founders of EPCSA and the possible influence they might have had on the Sunday liturgy of EPCSA. This chapter also considers the influence of the community on the development of the EPCSA in the past. Chapter 3 introduces the liturgy of EPCSA; it looks at John Calvin‘s view on liturgy and his influence in the EPCSA, discusses the historical development of the liturgy of EPCSA, analyses the liturgical inculturation in the township and city churches within EPCSA and concludes with a critical review of the liturgy. Chapter 4 shares Paul‘s theology of being inclusive and how South Africa‘s democracy helps us in this regard (Truth and Reconciliation Commission). This chapter also discusses Christology and inculturation from a biblical perspective and concludes with inculturation and liturgy. Chapter 5 concentrates on data collection and discusses the methodology considered, the ministers‘ view on the inculturation of the church‘s Sunday liturgy, compares the data collected from individual church members found in townships as well as in the villages, provides a brief detail on the meaning and methods of EPCSA and concludes with areas in the EPCSA in need of inculturation based on the collected data. Chapter 6 discusses the findings of the study and the challenges to the EPCSA liturgical team in the twenty-first century and multicultural context found in the church. To give the readers a brief idea on the structure, management and values of the church, I share a quotation from the general secretary‘s office. I found this to be very important to offer background to what I am working with and the kind of Presbyterian Church I am working with: Quote from the office of the general secretary of the church: “The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa —formerly known as the Tsonga Presbyterian Church —is the result of the work of the Swiss Mission in South Africa which that began in the Northern Transvaal in 1875. The gospel was first proclaimed to the Shangaans people by two Basotho evangelists, seconded by the Parish Evangelical Missionary Society. A Network mission station was established in the northern and eastern parts of the Transvaal. As Whilst the rapid growth of the mining industry drew many people to the towns, congregations were established in the Pretoria Reef and later the Welkom (Orange Free State) areas (Orange Free State) and also in Zululand. The church became autonomous in 1962, but still relied on the Swiss churches for financial support. Tsonga is the official language of the church. 1 The church confesses one universal faith, this faith being in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the World: the same Jesus whom God revealed Himself. The church, therefore, worships the ONE GOD, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it strives to foster the advent of the Kingdom on earth and to prefigure God‟s new creation. I acknowledge her (EPCSA) dependence on the Word of God, as contained in the Scripture of the OLD and New Testament. This Word stands in judgment over the Church and constitutes the only foundation of faith and life. She (EPCSA) confesses the faith proclaimed by the early church as embodied in the declaration of the Ecumenical Synods and represented by the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. These are considered to constitute a witness and test of its faith, which the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples and are still confirmed by the Holy Spirit in the church. Activities and priorities:  Evangelism: planting of new churches;  Promoting of spiritual growth of the church;  Playing a leading role in health matters in the battle against HIV/AIDS,  malaria etc.;  Empowerment of ministers—lay preachers and administrative staff with management skills;  Health matters;  Addressing poverty and unemployment.” A quote such as the above from the general secretary of the EPCSA is informative for this research because it provides an understanding of what the church stands for and what its aims are. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Practical Theology / MA / Unrestricted

The diploma thesis named Wedding ceremonies in the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren aims to reflect the importance and development of wedding ceremonies in this church dating from its foundation in 1918 to the present. This thesis is based on the officially accepted liturgical forms and materials of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, namely on official agendas published in 1939, 1953 and 1983 and other published texts of this church. The thesis also explores the development of attitudes to mixed marriages from the perspective of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and offers a comparison with the attitudes of the Catholic Church. Keywords Wedding, marriage, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, mixed marriage

The movement of evangelical multiethnic churches, which occurred in the late-1990s and into the early 2000s, sought racial justice by developing racially diverse congregations as their core distinction of Christian discipleship. These evangelical multiethnic churches are situated in a longer historical narrative of black-led, black-centered ecumenical leadership focused on a theological framework of racial reconciliation, cross-racial interpersonal friendships, and diverse cultural expressions. However, research of these churches reveal they actually perpetuate the very inequalities they seek to dismantle. White hegemony remains intact in these multicultural Christian communities through its maintenance of white dominant structures and cultural norms, even with black-led senior leadership. The problem this project seeks to address through the concept of “white followership” is the lack of experience and skills among white evangelicals particularly in multiethnic churches to yield normative power and institutional culture to another cultural expression and organizational power arrangement. Utilizing Dr. Patsy Baker Blackshear’s definition of an exemplary follower, this project will develop the construct of white followership and the particular behaviors and characteristics white congregants in a minority-led multiethnic congregation can adopt. While this project relies on research of evangelical multiethnic churches across the United States, the focal site in which the construct of white followership will initially be applied is The Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is where I, a white female pastor, serve as its Associate Pastor. The methodological approach of this project is interdisciplinary, integrating history, anti-racism research, and white racial identity studies to elucidate the problem of white supremacy in the United States and the American church. The project relies heavily on: 1) sociological studies of religion, race, and power to enumerate the problem of white hegemony in evangelical multiethnic congregations, 2) theological and biblical studies to outline the imperative shift of power needed in white-dominated evangelical multiethnic churches; 3) business and leadership studies to introduce the concept of followership and enrich the construction of white followership; and 4) observing resistance among white congregants as change produces shifts in the status quo, adapting Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and autoethnographic stories to measure change. White followership, in the scope of this project, focuses primarily on a pedagogical approach, institutional strategy, and overall ecumenical culture primarily expressed at The Sanctuary. It does not address more granular aspects of the communal worship experience, external evangelistic service, and community engagement and action, though those are important considerations as the applied work of white followership expands. Overall, the construct of white followership, while not exhaustive for the remedy of white hegemony in evangelical multiethnic churches, provides an innovative, malleable, and promising solution forward for white congregants to employ toward greater racial justice.

The primary aim of this study is to attempt to provide a means of restoring evangelical preaching in Xhosa churches. I will attempt to answer the question, How can the evangelical preaching be restored in Xhosa churches in the Western Cape? From personal observation, it is clear that in contemporary Xhosa evangelicalism, preaching is totally misunderstood. To put more bluntly, there are no clear criteria from biblical theology for preaching in Xhosa churches. Indeed so much is happening in the name of preaching that offers no substance whatsoever. In the first two chapter’s of this study, the focus is on the problem that the Xhosa church is experiencing and how preaching is understood and practiced in this community. Chapter three examines the causes of the problem and how to deal with those causes. On a practical note, it is shown that sermon analyses are inevitable for further consideration of the problem. Moreover, the chapter examines various attempts that have been made in response to the problem. In Chapter four, an investigation of the views of biblical theology on the subject of preaching is carried out. The chapter dwells into what the Bible offers on the subject of preaching and this is meant to serve as a foundation for the restoration of evangelical preaching in Xhosa churches. In the light of Chapter four, Chapter five argues for expository preaching as a possible means of responding to the crisis which the Xhosa church is experiencing. At the same time chapter five seek to state the case for expository preaching. Finally, Chapter Six provides the most effective material for Xhosa preachers in the process of exploring and constructing expository sermons. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This dissertation critically examines both the discursive and empirical significances of recent newcomers in the Haitian religious field, namely Korean and Korean American Protestant women missionaries. This confluence of Korean and Haitian Protestantism, which first emerged in the early 1990s, is a compelling case of the diversification of contemporary transnational and even global Christianity. Protestant Christianity was implanted in Haiti and Korea at around the very same time, in the nineteenth century, by North American missionaries who were inspired to work in new national religious fields by the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) and its evangelical fervor. In the eyes of North American missionaries, both countries were religious wildernesses waiting to truly receive and understand the Good Word. Since then, in both Korea and Haiti, westernization, Western hegemony, and Western neo-colonialization have featured strong undercurrents of North-American-derived Protestantism. However, the respective lots and religious fields of each country have been dramatically different overall largely because of national and global economic and political forces. South Korea enjoyed formidable growth both in its economy and its evangelical Christian population after the Korean War (1950-1953), resulting in Korean Christianity’s zealous participation in evangelical Protestant mission overseas, following the models of North American mission enterprises, especially toward the end of the century. Meanwhile, Haiti continued to suffer from natural disasters, political turmoil, and widespread abject poverty. Thus, overseas Haitian Protestant mission work is altogether non-existent, though internally evangelical prosetalization efforts are legion and often aggressive. Vodou and Catholicism, meanwhile, continue to captivate the majority of the Haitian masses, but Protestantism is clearly on the rise across the nation. In is into this socio-religious context that Korean Protestant missions expanded in the Caribbean nation, an expansion that has amplified especially since the tragic 2010 earthquake. Toward understanding these developments, this project investigates the influx of Korean and Korean American Protestant missionaries in contemporary Haiti and the reverberations of North American evangelicalism as channeled through and adapted by Korean missionaries. With all of these historical and contemporary contexts in mind, this dissertation more sharply focuses on a specific group of actors in the Haitian religious field, namely contemporary Korean American Protestant women missionaries. I argue that their activity suggests a new type of examples for current scholarly discourses about the relationship between gender and evangelical missions. By way of historical analyses of both Korean and Haitian Protestant Christianity and oral histories based on interviews with Korean missionaries in Haiti, this study argues that Korean evangelicalism has developed a distinctive gendered praxis that claims both continuity with and divergence from North American evangelicalism. It also shows that in both South Korea and Haiti, twentieth-century U.S. hegemony and military occupation were significant factors in propelling Protestant Christianity. / Religion

This discourse presents significant data relating to major developments in the elementary school system of the Central District of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. Some inferences are made which are based on information pertaining to the school system of the entire synod. These data, however, are used and interpreted as it affects the schools in this district.

Interviews were conducted with 44 highly religious women from three demographics: Mennonite, Evangelical Christians and Cajun Catholics. The results provide insight into the reasons that faith appears to play a part in making motherwork a deliberate choice for many women. Comparing and contrasting the interviews within and between demographics as well as allowing for the influences of modern academia and media on attitudes toward motherwork grants voice to these often marginalized religious minorities. The resulting analysis shows that all of these women, to varying degrees, find value in motherwork. Each group seemed to have a perspective of this work which was unique between and yet common within the specific demographic. Across groups was a pronounced unity of thought that motherwork is profoundly important and that one is culpable before God in her execution of this potentially divine work

Literary historian Terryl L. Givens referenced the visions of Moroni as "exhibit A" of Mormonism for nineteenth century believers. The 1823 visions constituted one of the core tenets of the religion as an underlying premise of The Book of Mormon. The significance of the visions, however, has not translated into many studies on the 1823 visions. This thesis seeks to fill portions of this gap by evaluating the visions within post-Revolutionary evangelical and treasure seeking culture. I contend that the visions drew upon various elements of the culture, but ultimately diverged from the culture. The introduction recounts the vision from the perspectives of Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, and Lucy Mack Smith. Chapter one provides a historiographical review of the literature and some methodological considerations. Chapter two describes the evangelical and treasure seeking cultures. The examination emphasizes the cultural belief in visions and dreams that contained angels, guides, guardians, or other preternatural beings. Chapter three examines the significance of the dates of the 1823 visions, September 21-22. Three traditions associated significance with the date, witchcraft, astrology, and Christianity. I show that either the date did not match with the holiday of these traditions or that Smith probably did not know of its significance. Many people called the vision a dream, which led Oliver Cowdery to refute that claim. Chapter four analyzes whether the visions constituted dreams or visions, before proceeding to evaluate the imagery of dreams and visions. Smith's visions lacked much of the imagery of other contemporary visionaries. Chapter five evaluates Moroni's message to Smith. I contend that Smith considered the plates a treasure and they fit the cultural pattern of treasure. Moroni, though, directed Smith's attention from the money seeking elements toward religious purposes. Many elements within the vision follow the cultural beliefs concerning visions and dreams, which make the visions appear as a cultural product. Careful evaluation of the details of the visions, shows however, the 1823 visions diverged from many cultural tenets.