Clergy, crusified within the body of Christ - a challenge to pastoral care

M.A. Thesis / University of Pretoria / Department of Practical Theology / Advised by Prof M Masango

That Whole Business about the Cross

digital audio recording

"Not Without My Ancestors": A Christological Case Study of the Shona Ancestor Cult of Zimbabwe

The issue of ancestors has been controversial since the first encounters of Christianity with Shona religion. It remains a major theological problem that needs to be addressed within the mainline churches of Zimbabwe today. Instead of ignoring or dismissing the ancestor cult, which deeply influences the socio-political, religious, and economic lives of the Shona, churches in Zimbabwe should initiate a Christology that is based on it. Such a Christology would engage the critical day-to-day issues that make the Shona turn to their ancestors. Among these concerns are daily protection from misfortune, maintaining good health and increasing longevity, successful rainy seasons and food security, and responsible governance characterized by economic and political stability. Since the mid-16th century arrival of Jesuit missionaries in the Mutapa Kingdom, the Church has realized that many African Christians resorted to their ancestors in times of crisis. Although both Catholic and Protestant missionaries from the 1700s through the early 1900s fiercely attacked Shona traditional beliefs as superstitious and equated ancestors with evil spirits, the cult did not die. Social institutions, such as schools and hospitals provided by missionaries, failed to eliminate ancestral beliefs. Even in the 21st century, many Zimbabweans consult their ancestors. The Shona message to the church remains "Not without My Ancestors." This dissertation examines the significance of the ancestors to the Shona, and how selected denominations and new religious movements have interpreted and accommodated ancestral practices. Taking the missiological goal of "self-theologizing" as the framework, this dissertation proposes a "tripartite Christology" of "Jesus the Family Ancestor", "Jesus the Tribal Ancestor," and "Jesus the National Ancestor," which is based on the Shona "tripartite ancestrology." Familiar ecclesiological and liturgical language, idioms, and symbols are used to contribute to the wider Shona understanding of Jesus as the ancestor par excellence, in whom physical and spiritual needs-including those the ordinary ancestors fail to meet-are fulfilled.

Computer-Mediated Communication and Ecclesiological Challenges To and From the Reformed Tradition

Communities of faith have appeared online since the inception of computer -­ mediated communication (CMC)and are now ubiquitous. Yet the character and legitimacy of Internet communities as ecclesial bodies is often disputed by traditional churches; and the Internet's ability to host the church as church for online Christians remains a question. This dissertation carries out a practical theological conversation between three main sources: the phenomenon of the church online; ecclesiology (especially that characteristic of Reformed communities); and communication theory. After establishing the need for this study in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 investigates the online presence of Christians and trends in their Internet use, including its history and current expressions. Chapter 3 sets out an historical overview of the Reformed Tradition, focusing on the work of John Calvin and Karl Barth, as well as more contemporary theologians. With a theological context in which to consider online churches in place, Chapter 4 introduces four theological themes prominent in both ecclesiology and CMC studies: authority; community; mediation; and embodiment. These themes constitute the primary lens through which the dissertation conducts a critical-­confessional interface between communication theory and ecclesiology in the examination of CMC. Chapter 5 continues the contextualization of online churches with consideration of communication theories that impact CMC, focusing on three major communication theories: Narrative Theory; Interpretive Theory; and Speech Act Theory. Chapter 6 contains the critical conversation between ecclesiology and communication theory by correlating the aforementioned communication theories with Narrative Theology, Communities of Practice, and Theo-­Drama, and applying these to the four theological themes noted above. In addition, new or anticipated developments in CMC investigated in relationship to traditional ecclesiologies and the prospect of cyber-­ecclesiology. Chapter 7 offers an evaluative tool consisting of a three-­step hermeneutical process that examines: 1) the history, tradition, and ecclesiology of the particular community being evaluated; 2) communication theories and the process of religious-­social shaping of technology; and 3) CMC criteria for establishing the presence of a stable, interactive, and relational community. As this hermeneutical process unfolds, it holds the church at the center of the process, seeking a contextual yet faithful understanding of the church.