Met woord en daad in diens van God : die diakonaat van die NG Kerk in postapartheid Suid-Afrika

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades the Dutch Reformed Church, a typical mainline church in SouthAfrica, encountered radical challenges, as was the case with many similar churchesworldwide. The DR Church had to face global societal shifts such as the emergence ofpostmodernism, the intensifying of secularisation and the growing impact of globalisationon the religious community. In addition, the members of the DR Church were exposed toradical challenges due to the dismantling of the apartheid system in South Africa.This dismantling was a particularly traumatic experience for the DR Church, seeing thatthis church did not only support the apartheid regime, but also legitimized it on theologicalgrounds. It is therefore understandable that the publishing of the document Kerk enSamelewing ('Church and Society) in 1986, which first signalled the rejection of apartheidin the DR Church, evoked a major reaction, not only among the church membership,but also within the ranks of white Afrikaners as social group.With the dawn of the post-apartheid era in South Africa in 1994, the issue of the church'srelevance was already on the agenda of the ecumenical church. In recent times suddenlythis theme also became critical to the church in South Africa and especially to the DRChurch. The present study proposes that a missional diaconal ministry which focuses on the society as a whole will provide a modus to the DR Church by which it can function as arelevant church within the South African society.The rationale of this investigation is a follows: The DR Church is currently (2014) not in aposition to impact significantly on the societal needs of South African citizens. The reasonis that this church's current ministry of compassion is still based on an ecclesiocentric andspecialist approach, which was typical of the Corpus Christianum. As a result, a new,unique praxis is needed for the diaconal ministry of this church.The present study argues that missional theology provides a new paradigm according towhich an applicable missional diaconal praxis can be developed for the DR Church. Sucha unique diaconal praxis can only develop when it is guided by a spirituality that leads to adiaconal attitude and sensitivity towards the poor and destitute. This diaconal spirituality,in turn, is activated and fed by a missional theology that builds on the triune God as origin,basis and final purpose of the diaconal ministry as such. Furthermore in this study it isshown that the concept of missio Dei implies that the diaconal ministry forms an integralpart of God's mission and is thus not an isolated church ministry besides other ministries.It is further argued in the present study that a multi-dimensional missional-diaconalpractice should be developed for congregations and the various structures within the DRChurch. To facilitate the conceptualisation and operationalisation of a missional diaconalministry in this church, the study proposes that a specific research focus, namely'Missional-diaconal Studies should be developed for the South African environment.For this purpose a research and teaching institution should be established to provide insuch needs of the church.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University