D.Litt. et Phil. / Having lost its prominent position at the centre of Western society, the church currently finds itself in a post-Christian era. This position leads to a drastic loss of members (Braaten & Jenson 2002:21). Estrangement in churches therefore brings about a new dialogue regarding the identity of the congregation which constitutes the essence of its reason for being (Greenwood 2002:21 ). The identity of the congregation as a missional faith-community is indispensable to a healthy, growing congregation (Van Engen 1996:26; Frost & Hirsch 2003:15; Guder 1998:3). Theologians agree that the loss of this identity constitutes one of the main reasons for churches declining influence. This necessitates a reorientation of the true essence of being church. The changing of the times is an important factor, because it challenges the local congregation to grow towards becoming the missional faith-community that God has in mind. A missional faithcommunity is exemplified by a congregation that rethinks its essential identity and purpose for existence. This reorientation restores the local congregation's true nature to God's original plan and objective, thus enabling it to meaningfully embody the Missio Dei. It was therefore important to undertake a comprehensive literary study in order to ascertain the definition of a faith-community, how it is formed, how it is sustained and how it may demonstrate its missional purpose. This study has a dual contribution in that it presents a systematic PracticalTheological study of the essence of church and that it allows for the development of a contextual model. This model was developed and tested through a process of participative action research in the context of two AFM-congregations. The method also allowed for the formation of a measuring-instrument which will enable congregations to do self-evaluation. In the future this PracticalTheological study may form a guideline for meaningful church-development while the developed incarnation model will enable the local congregation to function as a missional faith-community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2462 |
| Date | 06 June 2012 |
| Creators | Basson, Ernrich Frederique |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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