The quest for being public church : a study of the South African Moravian Church in historical and contemporary perspective

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study falls within the area of Missional theology, which is a functional thoology. Assuch, it deals with the function (praxis) and mission of the Church in society. It seeks abetter understanding of the functionality of the Church fundamental to the Missio Dei.Since Missional Theology is about the Church's serving function to the community, thesefunctions, viz. mission, proclamation, fellowship, education, growth, habitual change andtransformation, are brought to bear on the image of the Moravian Church.Because this study concerns the being and public witness of the Church, it adopted aqualitative approach linked to participatory action research. The research was donediachronically and phenomena were analysed over three periods in the formation of theMCSA: (a) The Missionary era (1737 - 1960), (b) the autonomous Church underapartheid (1960- 1994) and (c) challenges of the democratic dispensation for the UnitedMCSA and its future role in the RSA (1994 and further).Drawing upon these resources, Chapters 3 - 5 examine (based on the epistemologicalframework designed in Chapter 2) the values, symbols and conceptions of the MoravianEcclesiastical community in relation to its internal and external environment. It alsoexamines its structures and polity in order to come to a critical understanding of itsdisposition as a faith community in its interaction with public life.Four presuppositions are established as core principles:The first core principle is that the Moravian Church in SA (MCSA), in its quest forbeing a public Church, had to act true to its calling as the divine proponent of thereconciled, transformed humanity. The MCSA also had to serve (prophetically andsacrificially) a broken society with a view to its transformation, which is essentially itsmissional quality.The second core principle is that the MCSA in its tendency towards being a publicChurch had to conform to the theological principles of a public Church. In Chapter 2,based on the three identified publics in which the Church (theology) operates, fourrelations are applied, i.e. the Church in relation to the State; the Church in relation tomarket economy; the Church and people's empowerment; and the Church and publicvalues - the quality of human life. Subsequently these configurations of the Church areused to design an epistemological framework according to which the public role of theMCSA throughout its history was established.The third core principle is that the Church, given its context, had to act according to thechallenges and needs of that context. The historical analysis of the MCSA helped toestablish how it-contributed to the public discourse within those contexts. However, inorder to establish how it could contribute in future, the MCSA was evaluated according toa reasonable, contemporary social contextual analysis . (in chapter 7), which wasimperative.In Chapter 7, the fourth core principle is developed as the outcome of the investigationin the preceding chapters. In order to be an adequate public Church, the MCSA had toharness the potential of its members by training them, equipping them for justiceministl)', which would provide the Church with the much-neglected public ministry.Based on the historical findings, guidelines were designed to assist the church in trainingits minista-s and congregations for public witness.There is no simple shortcut formula for developing an effective congregational-basedpublic (advocacy) ministry. It requires the congregation to be bold in its vision,committed to its mission, willing to give significant time, energy and resources, to be arisk taker, and to work in partnership with its larger community (macro environment).Most of all, it requires faith in the knowledge that God's righteousness and justice willprevail. The most practical advice is spiritual - to live the belief that justice is central toour calling as Christ's witness in the world - even in the public arena!

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University