This thesis addresses the issue of Pastoral remuneration for the clergy. It is an attempt to investigate whether or not full-time Pentecostal pastors in Nairobi are adequately remunerated. The thesis argues that presently the situation is far less than desirable. Reasons for such a conclusion are explored in the thesis. This is done by attempting to examine this phenomenon and critically analysing the theology behind the practice. The thesis commences by giving a background of the research topic, defining the research problem and important terms. This chapter introduces the criteria to determine adequate or inadequate remuneration. It then proceeds to identify and to define the methodology employed in the thesis. This is followed by a survey chapter where data is analysed and interpreted revealing lack of adequate pastoral remuneration. Chapter four has two parts, the first one unpacks the Pentecostal liturgy and practice at the ground revealing a heaven-ward world view of theology which does not favour the economic circumstance of the Pastors. The world view perceives that wealth and earthly prosperity are inherently dangerous to God's calling. Part two constitutes a theological critique of some ideologies. It challenges an observed dualism of Pentecostal eschatology with its form of dispensationalism. Chapter five seeks the biblical mandate for remuneration of ministers. The examined passages of Scripture articulates that the worker is worth his wages. While it is imperative that the pastor be remunerated, it does not depend on the willingness of the church but it is mandatory. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

The objective of this research study is to investigate the problems of the divorced Christians within the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga in Kenya. A selection was made of some the divorced Christians in this diocese who even after their separation and divorce remained in the Church. The divorced Christians in this study were observed to have many more problems than ordinary Christian people. Their failure to survive their marriage made them feel desperate, tending towards a sense of personal failure. It was hypothesized that divorcees experience being sidelined in the Church, thus causing them physical and psychological emotions which affect them and label them as people who are unpardonable. Jack Dominian (1979), in search of information leading to the breakdown of marriages, has observed that the Christian Churches' teaching on sexuality and marriage has been a factor contributing indirectly to the breakdown of marriages and specifically to divorce. He also confirmed that another important contributing factor is the background of the partners. With this in mind the Christian Churches will want to do everything possible to save marriages. Therefore, the Churches have to be properly prepared and equipped for undertaking the challenges involving in building a worthy marriage. At the end of this research study the emphasis on marriage counselling is appealed to as a worthy tool to guide people towards a stable marriage. The dissertation commences with chapter one as an introduction which defines the objectives, motivation and the hypothesis to be tested. The literature review is tabled and is followed by definition of the terms so as to make the reader familiar with their usage. Finally, the chapter closes with the structure of the study. Chapter two deals with the methodology, explaining the sample and the development of the tool. The survey and all procedures are explained. Chapter three is divided into three parts. Part one introduces Agikuyu marriage and divorce, part two brings a theological review of divorce problems in the scriptures and part three brings a challenge to the missionary endeavours in the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga. It deals with the tensions created by the efforts of the Western missionaries and the Church as they came up against the African traditional heritage. Chapter four brings out the results of the methodological work. Hypothesis analysis is done and the interpretation given. The findings are given for and against the hypothesis. Discussion of the findings is done and then a conclusion is made. Chapter five is divided into three parts. First, a few ideas arising from the findings are discussed at length.The second part is the way forward which suggests possible ways in dealing with divorcees and enhancing a stable marriage. The final part carries the concluding remarks as a summary of the research study. / Thesis (M.Th. ; School of Theology)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998

This study seeks to investigate the impact of the state and the donors on Second Generation NGOs. The study argues that the state and the donors have an impact on Second Generation NGOs which tend to change the basic intentions of the latter. If the state is supportive of democratic social reform, it may have a positive impact on the civil society. If it is against democratic reform, it may have a negative impact on the civil society. As the NGO sector is part of the civil society, its behaviour can be influenced by the way the state relates to the civil society. Donors influence the behaviour of the NGOs through the conditions which they impose when they provide their funds. This study argues that such conditions have, to a large extent, a negative impact on the behaviour of the NGOs, though in some cases they are necessary due to the need to control the opportunistic behaviour of NGO officials. The study concludes that the state, the NGOs and the donors must work together as mutual partners whose main intention is to develop and enhance the welfare of grassroots people. The partnership must include the grassroots people because true development is participatory. The meaningfulness of such partnership is grounded in Christian ethical values of community life. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

Feminist critique has become a central feature in most academic disciplines and has contributed to the radical transformation of these disciplines. As a critical tool, located within the feminist movement, feminist critique has forged its own identity that is linked to a number of fundamental principles that have become its trademark. All these principles cluster around the central goal of feminism that is its commitment to the universal liberation of all women and the creation of a society free from all forms of oppression. Feminists differ in their analysis of the causes of women's oppression and the means to end such oppression. These differences however do not interfere with the central commitment of the movement. The universal feminist movement is also diverse and may in some cases appear as separate movements with no connection, but on closer examination these movements are all linked to the fundamental goal of feminism. Theology is one of the disciplines that has been transformed by feminist theologians. It boasts of scholars from every continent which bring in dynamism within theology. There is a proliferation of material from feminist scholars covering just about every aspect of Biblical studies, ethics and systematic theology. There is also a great diversity among feminist theologians which provides a critical edge to the discipline. Unfortunately, this tremendous growth in feminist theology has not translated itself into the practical fields of theology such as Pastoral Counselling, Christian Education, Pastoral Care, Homiletics etc. All these fields represent applied theology i.e. the areas where theological systems and doctrines are applied in real life situations. Ideally there should be constant interactions between these two divisions of theology i.e. the theoretical and practical studies in order to critically monitor the effects of theology in practical situations. Unfortunately, there seems to be a gap between them and this is evidenced by the lack of integration of feminist principles into these practical fields. Pastoral counselling is the focus of this dissertation and has as yet to benefit from the input of feminist theologians. Probably it is taken for granted that when theology changes so should its practice, that the transformation of theology automatically results in the transformation of its applied disciplines. This is an unrealistic expectation because these disciplines have developed into separate fields and to move from one field to another requires commitment and effort - it will not just happen! The lack of feminist input into Pastoral Counselling has been unfortunate because the knowledge base on which pastoral counselling is based on has remained unchallenged and worse still has failed to keep up with the changes that are taking place in society especially with regards to the changing roles of women. The result has been a gap between Pastoral Counselling and progressive sectors of society which are promoting the equality of women. This should not be the case because there are valuable resources from feminist theology that could equip pastoral counsellors with the knowledge required to deal with these issues. This is indeed unfortunate because not only is pastoral counselling out of step with feminist issues in society but has been found lacking in the development of appropriate counselling specifically geared to meet the needs of women especially the growing number who are victims of violence. Violence against women has become a world-wide "epidemic" which requires a response from the church. Since it is through pastoral counselling that victims of violence, encounter the "church", how the church responds to them through counselling is evidence of whether pastoral counselling is a liberative tool and an agent of social transformation. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

The Christian canon comprises of sixty six book. Of these the majority, thirty nine to be precise, stem from the Jewish religion. These books, comprising the Hebrew Bible direct or guide the adherents of Judaism till today. Christians consider the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament in the light of a new revelation in Jesus Christ. This thesis questions the last premise, firstly in the light that Messianic Jews or present day Jewish Christians, also still adhere to their heritage as stemming from the Old Testament. Secondly, it should be noted that due to missionary influence both the Old Testament (Hebrew) culture and African culture were discarded. In the light of so many correlations between the Old Testament values and culture and African values and culture I set out to trace whether there is more to the Old Testament than the deductions we, Africans, have inherited from the Western minds down the centuries, as we in the process could have tapped into their (unconscious?) anti-Jewish motivations. As a start in this wide field, I focus on the three pilgrimage festivals, Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles, prescribed in the Old Testament. I go back in history, through the eyes of Messianic Jews, to learn about the celebrations and interpretations that surround these festivals. Once I have gained that insight I contrast it with the general Christian interpretations and celebrations and where there is room for implementation of Messianic Jewish insight I put these forward towards liturgical enrichment and worship enhancement in the Lutheran Church. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

This thesis attempts to give a sketch of the life of Bishop Mandlenkhosi Zwane (1932-1980) who was bishop of Manzini for only four years. His enemies thought that he was magnificently prevaricating, his friends saw him as plain-dealing and bound by invisible power. Being the first Catholic African Bishop in Swaziland, he brought many changes in the life of the Church. Consecrated to the episcopate when the diocese of Manzini and the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference urgently needed a leader who would challenge injustice and the lack of authentic African spirituality, Zwane felt compelled to fight for justice and promote inculturation thus building the church. Though at a certain stage he was declared persona non grata by the South African Government; he did not stop helping the victims of injustice, in fact later on in our discussion we will find that Zwane had been at a certain stage branded a politician. He was not interested in political leadership, but he was interested in spiritual leadership. Since he was also interested in social justice some governments in the Southern Africa region felt threatened by his presence. Let us look briefly at the method. For many years Catholics in Swaziland have felt the need for a biography of Bishop Zwane. Surprisingly, no one has yet written the biography of Zwane. Since very little has been written on Zwane, in an endeavour to write his biography I felt compelled to conduct many interviews with some of the people who knew him. This means that for our knowledge of the life and the episcopate of Zwane, we are almost entirely depended upon interviews conducted fourteen years after his tragic death. A tape-recorder and questionnaires have been used. Other people who should have been interviewed have been unintentionally missed. We have made an effort to screen out errors and discrepancies. By far the most important written source for the life of Bishop Zwane is the collections of speeches and writings compiled and published by the Catholic Institute for International Relations. The oral and written sources provide new insight into Zwane's character and philosophy. They also throw certain aspects of his life into new perspective, in particular Zwane's feeling towards the poor whom he adored unequivocally. Our discussion is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with inculturation, which seems now to have attracted many people in Africa especially these days when the Church is preparing to enter into the third millennium. Also in that chapter, we shall try to understand how the Church looks at inculturation. Some documents of the Second Vatican and Post-Vatican Council will be used. Our reflection on inculturation will be reintroduced in the third chapter where we will be looking at Bishop Zwane's life. The inculturation we discuss in the first chapter is designed to help the reader understand how the church locks at inculturation. The second chapter looks at the Catholic Church and evangelization in Swaziland. That chapter will help us to understand how the church in Swaziland has carried out the work of evangelization amongst the Swazis. We are going to look briefly at how different religious congregations that engaged themselves in the work of evangelization established themselves in the country. When religious congregations arrived in Swaziland they discovered that there were many social problems. It will be interesting to look how they tried to address these issues as foreign missionaries. That discussion will certainly prepare us to see how Zwane who was the first African Bishop addressed similar problems. After one has understood the different approaches she or he will not hesitate to call Zwane a pioneer. Zwane tried to lay the foundations for the encounter between the Swazi culture and the Gospel. The principal aim of chapter three is to throw light on the life and the episcopate of Zwane. This chapter will consist of a careful study of some of the main issues discussed in the previous chapters such as inculturation, relations between Church and State, and other issues. Also in that chapter we shall see that the Church is one of the institutions that have a strong sense of social responsibility. The Church concern for justice was obvious in many conferences which were held during Zwane's episcopate. Our study on Zwane will enable us to learn how to build a prophetic Church. Finally; we shall be looking at the mysterious death of Bishop Zwane. Many questions have been raised about his death. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.

This thesis is a theological and practical challenge to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola (IELA) on the issue of social development after the civil war, especially in the Cunene Province among the Ovawambo community. The thesis briefly examines the history of the Angolan civil war, and of the IELA. It notes the key development concerns facing the Ovawambo community. The focus of the thesis is centres on three themes namely: reconciliation and peace; reconstruction; and sustainable development strategies. The thesis argues that it is the responsibility of the IELA in the first place through its ministry of reconciliation to contribute to rebuilding the nation that has been destroyed by the civil war. In the second place it argues that since much of the social frame works have been changed due to civil war, a reconstruction approach is needed. In the last place, it argues that IELA should contribute fully to providing fruitful strategies for the sustainable development for the better life of the future generation. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This dissertation re-examines Christ's hospitality from the perspective of inculturation/contextualisation, which is a common trend in African Theology today. It starts on the premise that Christ is the ideal model of hospitality that African Christianity ought to draw some lessons from as we embark on a theology of reconstruction. In so doing, it has sought to trace the concept of hospitality from the ancient times to the present times thereby relating it with the contemporary issues. The work is divided into six chapters and a conclusion that serves as a seventh chapter. The Introduction chapter sets the argument, describing the background to and motivation of the research, the review of relevant literature, the research problem, the theoretical framework and the research methodology. Chapter two defines the concept of hospitality tracing its linguistic roots, its ancient interpretations and practices; the Old and New Testament version of hospitality and concludes the chapter by assessing the characteristics of hospitable places with regard to Christ's hospitality. Chapter Three which is a continuation of chapter two continues with the survey of hospitality from Christian monasticism to post-reformation period where Rev. John Wesley emerges as a great beacon of hospitality after the Industrial revolution that took place in Europe. Chapter four revisits the concept of hospitality in Africa from the ancient times to the present times. It cites the general features of African hospitality and examines its uniqueness by comparing it with the Western hospitality. It also looks at the abuse of African hospitality through the ages citing some cases such as slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism. The chapter is premised on the conviction that African hospitality is compatible with Christ's hospitality hence the need to harness it through inculturation. Chapter five examines the faces of Christ in African Christian hospitality. It is based on the premise that Christ is in each and every one of us when we extend love to one another; for he is in the faces of the suffering and all the afflicted peoples of Africa and beyond. In this chapter, Christ is examined as one who cares and is therefore concerned, thereby challenging us to seek Christ in our day today lives. He is thus examined as a liberator, a reconstructor, a healer, a guest, a host, and a unique ancestor. Chapter six is the climax of our study, which specifically examines Christ as a model worth imitating as we grapple with the concerns of the twenty first century. Christ is portrayed as a model in terms of liberation, reconstruction, family level, cultural level, and rural ministry. As an area that has not been exhaustively done in African Theology, the chapter, in some sections, allows the various contributors to give their interpretations on Christ thereby coming very close to chapter five where we were looking at the faces of Christ. A good example is Christ as the model of liberation where the contribution of African Women Theologians (otherwise called the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians) is given prominence as a case in point where women in Africa, have to look at Christ as the model of liberation from patriarchal structures and as one who supersedes all genders. The chapter concludes by a passionate appeal that even if Africa may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we need not fear for Christ the ideal model in every sphere of life is with us. He will make us lie down in greener pastures, restore our souls, guide us in the paths of righteousness and lead us beside quite waters (Psalm 23). We must therefore seek to learn from him hence the caution, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). The chapter therefore acts as a conclusion of the study in spite of the fact that we have chapter seven that concludes the whole study. Chapter seven concludes the study by an appeal to Africa of the twenty first century to swim into action and face the challenges such as sexism, tribalism, regionalism, HIV/Aids and corruption, with confidence knowing that the hospitable Christ is with us and will be there to guide us in our undertakings till the end of the age (Matthew 28: 1820). / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.