Jaargang 6 - Nommer 24 - 7 Augustus 2008 - www.ngkok.co.za/enuus
Om jou eie bediening te kruisig
Die post-politeness era in kerkherenigingsgesprekke?
Nomzamo Special Care Centre, Peddie, benodig speelplek vir kinders
David Bliss praat by Wêreldsending-Konferensie in PE
Fakulteit Teologie te Stellenbosch in 2009 150 jaar oud
Jonk Live Musiekfees in Pretoria (29-31 Augustus 2008)
Work matters to God–seminar
Obed Nuusbrief - Julie 2008
Help asb met NGK Jaarboek se In Memoriam-berigte
Leadership Qualities needed for the Missional Church
Emerging Churches: Lies About Truth
Jesus roep ons om deel te neem aan sy lewe en sy bediening. Hy is teenwoordig en werksaam, daar is geen plek waar jy kan kom waar Hy nie reeds aanwesig is nie. Daarom behoort predikante hul eie bediening te kruisig en geloofsonderskeidend saam met Jesus te bedien.
‘n Lekker groot groep dominees, met ‘n goeie groep VGK-leraars, van oor die hele Oos-Kaap het Maandag, 4 Augustus behoorlik aan prof Andrew Purves se lippe gehang.
Purves het ons eenheid met Jesus Christus beklemtoon - ons in in Hom (Paulus), sonder Hom kan ons niks doen nie. Hierdie eenheid slaan nie net op ons verlossing nie, maar het met ons hele lewe van diens te doen. Sy lewe, wat sy dood insluit, red ons, bind ons aan Hom, en stuur ons in navolging van Hom om die dinge te doen weat Hy ons leer om te doen.
Die plaasvervangende mensheid van Jesus, en sy hoë priesterskap, is die teologiese knooppunte in terme waarvan Purves sy aanbieding uitgewerk het. Die radikale verstaan van die inkarnasie wat beteken dat Jesus mens namens ons is, dat ons gered word op grond van sy geloof, sy gehoorsame mens-wees voor God namens ons, het alles te doen met die inhoud van ons bediening - nie net met ons verlossing nie.
Volgens Purves is ons Christologie dikwels te eng en te arm. Die groot verlossingswerk van Jesus word vereng tot bloot ‘n juridiese kontrak om vir ons sonde in te staan aan die kruis. Ons ly aan ‘n Christological timidity. Ons verstaan van Jesus is te eng. Die inkarnasie gaan voort, deur sy hemelvaart is Jesus Christus nie net in die verlede teenwoordig nie, maar in die hede. Ons is die getuies en die werktuie van sy bediening in die hede.
Lees gerus sy twee onlangse boeke, Reconstructing Pastoral Ministry and The Crucifixion of Ministry, om Purves se gedagtegang te volg.
Vandeesweek het die leierskapskonferensie in kruiskulturele kommunikasie onder leiding van dr Ryk van Velden werklik positief verloop. Ryk het verskeie dimensies van kruiskulturele kommunikasie verduidelik, waarna die groep in kleingroepies verdeel het.
Aanvanklik het ons in homogene affiniteitsgroepe gesels - NGK, Afrikaners, VGK, Xhosa, Vroue e.s.m. volgens eie keuse. In hierdie groepe is waarderend gesprek gevoer oor die ander groepe, maar ook gevra: wat maak jou gespanne of ongemaklik oor die ander se kultuur; watter wanopvattings het die ander oor jou groep?
Toe kom die antwoorde: eerlik, reguit, maar ook deernisvol. Die NG Kerk en wit mense word as uiters kontrolerend beleef - wil altyd in beheer wees. Dikwels ook geslepe - sê een ding, maar bedoel ‘n ander ding. NG Kerk-mense het weer gesê die gebrek aan administratiewe vaardighede en die neiging om altyd blaam te verplaas ten einde self-verontskuldigend te wees, en die geneigdheid om die moral high ground in te neem maak hulle angstig van die ander kultuur.
Daarna het ons in gemengde groepe vergader waarin die gesprek ontlont is en ons ervarings op ‘n diep vlak en in die gees van aanvaarding met mekaar kon deel.
‘n Interessante opmerking van Ryk van Velden was dat politeness dikwels geweldige afstand tussen mense bring. In die gees van hierdie gesprek moet ons dalk hoop dat die post-politeness era in kerkherenigingsgesprekke - wat lyk of dit nou aanbreek - ons op ‘n vreemde manier kan help?
Mev Lizzie Holane is een van daardie ware entrepreneur-lidmate. Sy is lidmaat van die VGK en bedryf die Nomzamo Special Care Center op Peddie, die dorpie in die voormalige Ciskei, tussen Grahamstad en King William’s Town. Die Nomzamo-Sentrum gebruik die ou sendinghospitaal se geboue met die grasie van die Departement van Openbare Werke. (Nomzamo is ‘n geregistreerde Organisasie Sonder Winsoogmerk.)
Lizzie was in die vorige reses lid van die VGK se Kommissie vir Diakonale Dienste en het ook gedien op die Oos-Kaap se subkomitee.
Lizzie het ‘n besondere liefde vir gestremdes en het opleiding as arbeidsterapeut assistent. Met daardie kennis het sy begin uitreik na die gestremdes in die Oos-Kaap. Tans is daar 100+ gestremdes wat dienste ontvang, waarvan 70+ inwoon en die ander aangery word. Hulle kom van sover as Port Alfred. Presies hoe sy alles bekostig is ‘n wonderwerk, want die sentrum sukkel om registrasie by die Onderwysdepartement te ontvang.
Die sentrum verbou groente wat selfs aan die plaaslike Spar gelewer word. Die groentetuin is ongeveer 2 rugbyvelde groot. Daar is ‘n houtwerk-projek wat baie goeie kwaliteit meubels vervaardig, sonder enige elektriese gereedskap. Hulle het ook ‘n hoenderprojek wat sommer in een van die rondawels bedryf word. Sy droom groot, want sy wil baie graag nog ‘n leë gebou “oorneem” en inrig vir werk met kinders.
‘n Nieu Zeelandse vrywilliger, ‘n onderwyseres met spesiale opleiding vir gestremde-onderwys het pas hier begin met werk wat oor twee jaar sal sterk.
Lizzie het ook goeie verhoudinge met die Visrivier Sun wat al baie gebruikte linne voorsien het.
Die totaal ontoereikende speelplek vir die kinders is ‘n baie groot behoefte by Nomzamo. Daarom dié boodskap en versoek vir hulp. Daar is nie miskien ‘n gemeente of individu wat sou kon help om ‘n doelmatige klimraam/speelplek te ontwikkel nie?
Belangstellendes kan my skakel, dan voorsien ek julle van die kontakbesonderhede.
Die gemeentes van die Ring van PE-Wes reël ‘n wêreldsendingkonferensie van 17-19 Augustus by die NG Kerk Sherwood, hoek van Walker- en Devonweg, Sherwood, PE. David is die direkteur van die Andrew Murray Sentrum te Wellington, en ‘n bekende en gesogte spreker. Bliss praat op Sondag, 17 Augustus om 18:30 oor die kerk wat soek, op die 18de om 18:45 oor die kerk wat dien en op die 19de om 18:45 oor die God wat stuur.
Rig navrae aan die kerkkantoor by 041 371-1133.
Uit sy pen het daar in Afrikaanse ‘n baie nuttige boekie verskyn, Beyond Expression - Approaching the Divine - on spiritual guidance for and by pastors.
Elna Mouton, dekaan van die Fakulteit Teologie op Stellenbosch skryf: “Op 1 November 2009 sal dit presies 150 jaar wees sedert die ou Drostdygebou van Stellenbosch feestelik in gebruik geneem is as ’n seminarium vir die opleiding van predikante. Oor baie jare heen het die Kweekskool predikante opgelei wat as geestelike leiers ’n enorme invloed in kerk en samelewing gehad het. Vanaf 2000 is dit nie net meer predikante van die NG Kerk wat in die Fakulteit opgelei word nie, maar ook predikante van die Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk van Suider-Afrika én van die Presbiteriaanse Kerk. Die Fakulteit Teologie wil graag gedurende die hele 2009 hul 150-jarige bestaan feestelik vier onder die tema Teologie Stellenbosch 150+. Gegewe die waarde en belangrikheid van die teologiese opleiding van Stellenbosch vir die hele Suid-Afrika, neem die Fakulteit die vrymoedigheid om hul planne vir 2009 hiermee met u te deel en ook om u uit te nooi om van die geleenthede by te woon.”
Hoogtepunte op 2009-jaarprogram
Die Fakulteit Teologie wil graag gedurende die hele 2009 ons 150-jarige bestaan feestelik vier onder die tema Teologie Stellenbosch 150+. Onder hierdie tema wil ons terugkyk na die opleiding van die afgelope 150 jaar, maar terselfdertyd ook vorentoe kyk en probeer om die geleenthede te peil wat die toekoms mag inhou.
Die feesvieringe in 2009 sal die volgende insluit:
Januarie 2009: Die verskyning van ’n gedenkboek, Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
27–29 Januarie 2009: ’n Kongres vir Afrika-alumni van die Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst oor Conflict, peace and sustainable development in Africa: The role of universities, NGOs and churches/faith-based organisations
2 Februarie 2009: Teologiese Dag met die jaarlikse opening van die Fakulteit
18–20 Maart 2009: ’n Konferensie oor die geskiedenis van die Fakulteit en Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
18-20 Mei 2009: ‘n Konferensie oor Missionêre kerk-wees in die Handelinge-verhaal
22–26 Junie 2009: Jaarvergaderings van Teologiese en Godsdienstige Werkgemeenskappe van Suid-Afrika op Stellenbosch
30 Augustus – 2 September 2009: Internasionale Calvyn-gedenkkonferensie
2–4 September 2009: Eregradeplegtigheid en Internasionale Teologiese Konferensie met vennote en alumni
7–8 September 2009: Konferensie met die Protestantse Kerk Nederland, die Molukse Kerk en International Reformed Theological Institute van die Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
31 Oktober 2009: Boomplantgeleentheid en verjaarsdagdinee
1 November 2009: Erediensviering van Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
Februarie–November 2009: Musiekuitvoerings, kunsuitstallings en ’n blyspel ter viering van Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
Februarie–November 2009: Deurlopende reekse lesings deur die onderskeie teologiese vakgebiede onder die tema Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
Enigeen wat by een van die geleenthede ’n akademiese voordrag sou wou lewer, kan skakel met prof Pieter Coertzen (pc@sun.ac.za).
Nadere besonderhede oor die onderskeie geleenthede sal mettertyd bekend gemaak word.
Die JONK LIVE Musiekfees vind plaas oor die naweek van 29-31 Augustus 2008 in IRENE, Pretoria. Die Fees is ‘n NG Kerk Jeug inisiatief maar neem hande saam met verskeie vennote en kerke. Jongmense, kinders en gesinne word tydens die Feesnaweek op verskillende maniere geakkommodeer.
Die doel van die Fees is om ‘n platform te skep vir nuwe, veral Afrikaanse lof- en aanbiddingsmusiek wat in die kerk gebruik kan word.
Nuwe komponiste en groepe word ook betrek by die Fees vir hierdie rede. Die Fees het ook ten doel om jongmense te mobiliseer om ‘n positiewe boodskap van Hoop te leef in Suid Afrika. Jongmense in Suid Afrika wat hulself assosieer met geloofsgebaseerde instansies verteenwoordig huidiglik die grootste kontigent van jongmense in ons land. Die potensiaal van jongmense in ‘n land soos Suid Afrika met ‘n baie jong demografie, is oneindig. Christen jongmense kan ‘n wesenlike bydrae lewer in die huidige Suid Afrikaanse konteks.
Die Fees bestaan uit ‘n aandfees en ‘n dagfees. Die aandfees sal aan bekende kunstenaars ‘n geleentheid bied om nuwe musiek op die verhoog te plaas. Kunstenaars soos Louis Brittz, Retief Burger, Stass en Vertikaal sal in die aandfees te siene wees. Die dagfees gee aan gemeente musiekgroepe die geleentheid om hul talent ten toon te stel. Gemeentes van reg oor die land neem aan die dagfees deel.
Stalletjies en vermaak sal bydrae tot die feestelike atmosfeer. Dit is verseker ‘n gebeurtenis op die kalender wat nie gemis kan word nie. Word deel van die Jonk Live Facebook groep of stuur ‘n e-pos na jonk@ngkerk.org.za.
Alle inligting oor die Fees is beskikbaar by www.live.jonk.co.za of 012 342 0092. Kaartjies vir die dagfees kan gekoop word aanlyn by www.itickets.co.za.
• VRYDAG 29 Augustus 14:00 tot SATERDAG 30 Augustus 22:30 vir dagbesoekers
• Naweekbesoekers kan bly tot SONDAG 31 Augustus om 10:30
• IRENE Volle Evangelie Kampterrein Pretoria
• Kaart by www.live.jonk.co.za
KAARTJIES, PRYSE EN BESPREKINGS
• Gee jou toegang vir VRYDAG of SATERDAG
• R70 per persoon per dag
• Verkrygbaar by www.itickets.co.za
• Gee jou toegang vir ALLES vir die hele naweek. (Uitgesluit kos)
• Naweekbesoekers kan eie kos bring (gasbraaiers ens)
Twee verblyf opsies:
* R300 per persoon (alles ingesluit vir die naweek)
* Bring jou eie tent saam
* Tentstaanplekke word bespreek vir 4-6 persone
* R220 per persoon (alles ingesluit vir die naweek)
* Bel die Pretoria kantoor 012 342 0092
* Verskeie kos stalletjies van ligte etes en drinkgoed tot gebalanseerde etes
* Verskeie uitstallings
* Verskeie vermaaklikhede en speletjies
* Jonk Live Merchandise te koop
BELANGRIKE INFO OM TE WEET
* Geen alkohol
* Daar is baie sekuriteit – so jy is veilig!
* Bespreek vroeg (ons kan net 6000 mense per dag toelaat)
* GESINNE, LAERSKOOL KINDERS, TIENERS EN STUDENTE WELKOM!
* www.jonk.co.za (www.live.jonk.co.za)
POSBUS 13528 HATFLIED 0028 | 012 342 0092 | jonk@ngkerk.org.za
Global Careers presents a
Challenging Christians in all walks of life to integrate their work and faith.
Friday 5th September ’08 at 19h00
Saturday 6th September ’08 at 09h00-16h30
Venue: St Hugh’s Church, West Street, Newton Park (Next to Exclusively Frozen)
Cost: R100.00 including material, coffee/tea and light lunch on Saturday
Enquiries and registration contact Brenda Hill cell: 084-264-6124 or
e-mail : brenro@vodamail.co.za
Hier is uittreksels uit ds Danie Matthee, wat die evangelie met kuns, teater en musiek uitdra, se jongste nuusbrief:
In Lukas 15 vertel Jesus vir ons die gelykenisse van die verlore skaap, die verlore muntstuk en die verlore seun. In al drie verhale beskryf Jesus vir ons dat wanneer 'n verlorene gevind word, God baie bly is daaroor. En dit is per slot van sake waaroor ons lewens behoort te draai, om God te laat glimlag en om Hom vreugde te gee. Daarom mag ons nooit moeg word om verlorenes te soek en van ons Vader se liefde te vertel nie. Hierdie maand was vir my net weer 'n bewys daarvan. Dit het begin met ons kinderproduksie by die Boardwalk waar ons vyf en twintig Afrikaans, Engels en Xhosa Bybels kon weggee en afgesluit met die aangrypende storie van iemand wat na baie afdwaal paaie, weer by die Here kon uitkom. Ek wens ek het fotos geneem van die kindergesiggies wat hul Bybels vashou na ons optrede met 'Lord Digiteck se GROOT Avontuur', maar ons was almal in karakter en so besig met die kiddies dat dit net onmoontlik was. Aan Ds. Ben en die Bybelgenootskap baie dankie dat julle ons gehelp het om sulke vreugde te kon beleef. Ons beplan die derde week van Augustus nog nege optredes en hoop ons sal dan selfs nog meer Bybels kan weggee vir kinders wat nie hulle eie Bybel besit nie. Bid asseblief hiervoor.
Behalwe vir die optredes by die Boardwalk kon ek die maand ook help by Hoërskool Framesby en Hoërskool Brandwag se toneelgroepe. Baie sterkte met die shows wat voorlê! Hulle neem o.a. in Augustus deel aan die ATKV se tienertoneel. Dan was ek ook twee keer op Patterson, by Klema in Somerstrand en natuurlik ook die N.G. Gemeente Kraggakamma waar ek nog tot die middel van Augustus uithelp. Aan Leon en almal in die gemeente, dankie dat julle my so vinnig laat tuis voel het, dis vir my 'n groot voorreg om by julle te kan bedien. Die afgelope maand het ek die geleentheid gehad om 'n paar korter sketse op te voer en aan Natalie, Marie en Emercia wat my daarmee gehelp het, baie dankie, julle is sterre. Ek weet ons Here sal julle ryklik beloon vir julle tyd en talente wat julle in sy diens stel. Natalie verwag haar tweede kleinding vroeg in Augustus en sy was nog steeds bereid om te help. Sterkte met die min slaap wat voorlê en ek bid dat die nuwe baba sommer tonne vreugde vir jou en Hennie sal bring. Die einde Augustus sluit die KKNK se inskrywings so bid asseblief dat die Here vir my sal wys watter produksies om daarvoor in te skryf. Om net een inskrywing te voltooi is 'n tydrowende proses met regisseursnotas en teks, klank- en beligtingsontwerpe, 'n cast-lys met cv's, musiek en dans DVD's, stelontwerp, reklamemateriaal en 'n motivering wat ingesluit moet word. Die moontlik produksies wat ek kan inskryf wissel van die komedie 'Kniediep in die warmwater', ons kinderproduksie 'Lord Digiteck se GROOT avontuur' die musiekblyspel 'Breek 'n Been', my eenmanstuk 'Vry!' en 'n splinternuwe dansproduksie wat handel oor 'n jong meisie se stryd met drank en dwelms en haar pad na God toe. Vra asseblief die Here om vir my duidelikheid en vrede hieroor te gee.
Die verhoogproduksie van 'A Walk to Remember' wat ek Februarie volgende jaar saam met die N.G. Gemeente Somerstrand wil opvoer is op koers en die teks moet teen einde September klaar wees. Vra asseblief dat die Here my die vermoë sal gee om reg te laat geskied aan hierdie ongelooflike mooi verhaal.
In verledemaand se nuusbrief het ek julle gevra om te bid vir 'n persoon wat Obed se bemarking kan help doen en die Here was soos altyd getrou. Hy het Melloney Fourie vir ons gestuur en sy sal op 'n deeltydse basis help met reklame, borge en die reël van optredes. Melloney ek glo God het jou oor ons pad gestuur en dat jy vir Obed tot groot seën gaan wees en ons ook so vir jou. Melloney is self 'n begaafde danser en choreograaf en sal ook haar talente wat dit aanbetref by ons kan uitleef.
Sel: +27 82 876 9015E-pos: danie@obed.co.za
Ons doen 'n ernstige beroep op leraars wat landwyd begrafnisse van kollegas waarneem of daarvan weet, om asseblief die name en kontakbesonderhede van familielede aan Gerdrie van der Merwe te verskaf. Aangesien sinodale kantore nie meer alleen verantwoordelik is vir die pensioenfondse nie, is ons nie altyd bewus daarvan as leraars sterf nie. Gerdrie benodig die name van leraars wat sedert Julie 2007 gesterf het. Hy is verantwoordelik vir die skryf van In Memoriam-berigte vir die Kerkjaarboek. Stuur die inligting na gerdrie@telkomsa.net Hy kan ook gekontak word by 051 763 0046 of selnommer 083 516 7600. Sy posadres is: Dr GA van der Merwe, Posbus 46, Bethulie, 9992.
In die 1 Augustus-uitgawe van Kerkbode:
Hoofberig: SA grondwet staan dalk voor grootste toets ooit met Konsepwetgewing oor Onteiening
Kerkbode berig ook oor:
Diep verdeelde Anglikane vergader in Engeland
SA moet skroewe teen Zimbabwe vasdraai, vra kerkleiers
“Nuwe Hart”-projek wil moraliteit bevorder
Dreigende morele ramp: wat doen die kerk? – Piet Strauss
Daar is baie slegte nuus vir en oor die kerk. Maar daar is ook ’n ander storie – Schalk Pienaar
Is dit tyd om Power Point af te skakel – Chris Jones
Sinvolle kategese aan die “whatever”-generasie – Johan Avenant
Nuwe Publikasies: ...vir alle gemeentes(leiers)!
Christenleiers: Jannie le Roux & Braam Hanekom (redakteurs) ...R139.95 (14 % BTW ingesluit)
God se mense vir nuwe werklikhede. Geestelike leierskap maak die verskil.
Vrygewige Lewe van Brian Kluth teen R54.50 (14 % BTW ingesluit)
In die September-uitgawe van LIG:
VOORBLAD: Daar is liefde in die lug! Op die stoep voor die AH! Gastehuis van Arnold Hoon en Annelise Bosch (Villa Rosa se “Ruette”), word ’n glasie geklink op die geluk van Herman Hardick en Beatrix Eras­mus - oftewel Villa Rosa se “Ben” en “Jackie”.
Leer jou kind (flink) dink. Daar is talle maniere waarop jy hom kan help om flink te dink - van soggens se opstaan-roetine tot 7de Laan.
6 dinge wat gelukkige kinders régtig nodig het.
Pa, jy het ’n plek en ’n rol.
ATHS dalk die rede vir jou rustelose siel.
Groete uit ’n winterskone Wellington.
A recent article in the New York Times suggests a starting point for our discussion.
The focus of the article is the transition at Eastman Kodak from film to digital technology. That transition is now in full swing, but Kodak is late getting into the digital game. It is ironic that they have only focused the company in this direction over the last five years since the first digital camera was invented in the 1970s by Steven J. Sasson, a Kodak employee!
The technical people at Kodak loved Sasson's prototype, but the leadership at Kodak was less than enthusiastic. Sasson explains, ". . . it was filmless photography, so management's reaction was, 'that's cute--but don't tell anyone about it.'" Kodak was so deeply invested in the reigning film technology that it was nearly impossible for the decision-makers to imagine that physics would become more important to their world than chemistry. In the words of Bill Lloyd, chief technology officer at Kodak, "It seems Kodak had developed antibodies against anything that might compete with film."
This is not an uncommon story in our world of discontinuous change. Past success has a downside--it can inoculate individuals and organizations against the very adaptations that might allow them to thrive in a new context.
The relevance of this and similar stories for missional Christians is obvious. The church in the West is deeply indebted to the models of Christendom and the styles of leadership that grew up in the modern period. But those models are struggling. Change is needed and it will not be easy, nor will it be desired by many. However, the growing crisis in our churches presents what may be a change-or-die scenario. According to the Times article it took a "near-death experience" to overcome Kodak's resistance to the new technology. As some declining churches stare death in the face we have to ask, "Is this God's 'severe mercy,' brought about to help us think outside the box of Christendom?"
A number of writers have issued calls for re-imagining leadership roles within the church. Harvie Conn identifies and critiques two dominant models in the Western concept of ministry:
1. Pastor as pedagogue
2. Pastor as professional
Conn argues that the minister-as-teacher model (pedagogue) is deeply indebted to Greek philosophical currents that flowed into the church, especially through the influence of the Alexandrian fathers Clement and Origen. While this rationalizing tendency has been challenged over the centuries (particularly during the early years of the Reformation), "cognitive abstractionalism" remains a strong element in our current understanding of ministry.
Conn also critiques the "professionalization" of ministry which values credentials over spiritual gifts and accentuates the contrast between clergy and laity. John Piper sounds a similar note, but with greater passion: "We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. . . . Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake."
Alan Roxburgh discusses the anxiety over marginalization that has led pastors in late modernity to "the continual search for ways to reconfigure pastoral identity." This has resulted in three common images, all of which he argues, remain within the paradigm of modernity.
1. the therapeutic - pastor as counselor
2. the technical-rational - pastor as CEO/manager/entrepreneur
3. the creator of community - pastor as facilitator of body-life 
These critiques highlight two important issues that need to be addressed by leaders in the missional church. The first is the tendency toward elitism in current models of leadership. The pastor as scholar/teacher and as technician/professional reinforces a strong top-down understanding of spiritual authority and ministry. The expectation is that ministry leaders can (or should) know it all and do it all. This of course puts more pressure on pastors to "prove" themselves in a culture of rising leadership expectations. They must preach with excellence, manage budgets and staff with efficiency, articulate a compelling vision of the future, develop a strategic plan, and of course maintain a model family life.
Statistics on pastoral burn-out confirm that most leaders cannot live up to these expectations. Nor should they. The NT presents the church as an organism comprised of many diverse spiritual gifts, all needed for the healthy function of the body. For much of the history of the church this picture of unity-in-diversity has been threatened by a clergy-laity distinction which suggests a qualitative distinction between the ministerial class and the "ministered-to" class. The modern turn toward professionalism only serves to increase the distance between these groups. Little wonder many pastors report that they are lonely, isolated, and without close friends.
The future demands that pastors become less so that they can become more. They need to become more the wise discerners and encouragers of the Spirit's work to equip the congregation for "mission" - and less the experts with all the answers. Tim Keel says that leaders must become environmentalists. "Good environmentalists create settings of trust that allow diverse people with varied experiences to come together in order to engage each other in nonterritorial ways that allow a community to apprehend all of the different potentialities that emerge in such an environment of engagement."
Of course, to see leadership changes of this order, pastoral job descriptions will need to be re-written and the expectations of boards and congregations will need to change. Church members who view the gospel primarily as a promise to meet their felt needs will find it hard to conceive of pastors as less than professional providers of spiritual goods and services.
A second issue that needs to be addressed is the tendency of church leaders to focus their energy too exclusively on the inner workings of the church.. The church in Christendom functioned near the center of cultural power and influence. In that context it was easier to confuse the church with the kingdom of God--God's saving action (the coming of the kingdom) was believed to take place in the church. Mission was easily confused with ministry and pastoral leadership became largely congregation and building centered.
In a post-Christendom world we are taking a closer look at the church-kingdom connection. The kingdom is the active reign of King Jesus, in whom God is reconciling the entire world to himself. In this view the kingdom includes the church but extends beyond it. The Spirit of God is already at work in the world outside the congregation and invites the church to share in the ministry of reconciliation.
Using this perspective the church needs leaders called to lead God's people in engaging with their surrounding context rather than focused solely on congregational maintenance. Alan Hirsch describes this kind of leadership as "apostolic influence" that encourages congregations to look outside themselves, to see opportunities and engage those opportunities with boldness. "It is this more bottom-up, highly relational quality of leadership that characterizes true apostolic influence. We have been so captivated by hierarchical, top-down conceptions of leadership, be it that of bishops, superintendents, pastors, and CEO-type leaders, that we have inadvertently blocked the power latent in the people of God."
Living Hope Community Church is a congregation seeking to make the missional turn. Pastor Eugene Miller is a graduate of Biblical Seminary and an illustration of what Hirsch calls an apostolic leader. Under his leadership the church has worked intentionally to connect with its surrounding communities. Pastor Miller has modeled an incarnational life-style by engaging his neighbors with hospitality, heading the committee of volunteers for a local arts festival, and serving on the town planning council. This kind of leadership-by-example has encouraged the entire congregation to see itself as "the sent people of God" and has produced a number of missional outreaches in the surrounding communities initiated by members of the congregation. The role of pastors and elders in this context is not to staff or control the outreach, but to keep the focus on the overall mission and encourage congregational creativity.
Of course, the problems we face will not be solved merely by suggesting that pastors embrace a new paradigm of leadership. Current leadership models are dictated in large measure by the cultural expectations of Western churches and by the theological training provided by seminaries and bible colleges. In both churches and seminaries there are plenty of "antibodies" ready to suppress any outbreak of the missional virus! Unless the climate changes, missionally-inclined leaders will increasingly choose to work outside the system.
I believe this is a good starting place for conceptualizing missional leadership. Such leadership will be forward looking. It will recognize that the models of the past are not adequate for the future. Missional leaders will be alert to the presence of antibodies taking the form of resistance to change. And they will be willing to question not only organizational dynamics but also their own self-understanding as Christian leaders.
 Eternal Word and Changing World (Zondervan, 1984), pp. 272-81.
 Brothers, We Are Not Professionals [Broadman & Holman, 2002], p. 1. For both Piper and Conn, "professionalization" means more than simply full-time financial support in ministry.
 The Missionary Congregation, Leadership, & Liminality (Trinity Press International, 1997), pp. 18-22.
 Intuitive Leadership (Baker, 2007), p. 206.
 The Forgotten Ways (Brazos, 2006), p. 163.
Dr Graeme Codrington (www.futurechurch.co.za) wys in hierdie bydrae daarop dat die emergent church-gesprek dikwels ongeregverdig gedemoniseer word:
I am getting quite tired, bored and depressed (probably in that order) by Christian pastors, authors and magazines responding to the "emerging church". Fuelled by books by Carson and MacArthur (which have been reviewed many times on this blog) and by a few itinerant presenters, like Gary Gilley (also reviewed at this blog) and some pastors who have taken it upon themselves to make opposition to the emerging church a personal crusade (Tim Cantrell of Honeyridge Baptist is a prime example - see a review of his writings here), South African Christians are being presented with a very one-sided view of the emerging church. In fact, no, let me call it what it is - normal church-going Christians who want to do what is right and Godly are being told Lies about the Truth.
Now, we also have journalists joining the fray. The July Joy magazine for example has a cover story on the issue. This article on the emerging church (EC) is so badly written, so incorrect in it's approach, so lacking in journalistic integrity and so wrong, that I cannot believe that Joy magazine have made it a cover story.
In his book, The Truth Wars, MacArthur called for Christians to stand and fight for the truth. Most people within the emerging church are wonderful saints of God, trying desperately to understand what God is calling His people to do in the world and trying to understand some of the cultural, gender and historical bias that has for many years blinded us to the truth found in God's Word. And most of them are trying to live out their faith specifically in the way they respond to criticism and critique. The upside of this is that most of the leaders of the emerging church around the world are more Christ-like than any of the so-called Christian leaders who attack them. The downside is that their silence or reticence to get into an old-style evangelical theological wrestling match is taken for consent or defeat. This could not be further from the truth. There is part of me that really agrees with MacArthur - we need to fight for the Truth.
The Truth will indeed set us all free. And it is becoming more and more obvious that the only way the opponents of the emerging church can succeed in breaking down the emerging Christian approach is to tell lies about it. Here are a few examples:
The approach is wearingly similar:
The first thing you do is take a few quotes out of context. The favourite is Rob Bell's paragraph on the Virgin Birth from Velvet Elvis. This quote is so badly out of context that you can only assume one of two things: (1) the person quoting it has not actually read the book, but has rather just cut and paste the quote from someone else, without checking the context at all; and/or (2) the person quoting it is deliberately trying to malign Rob Bell and distort his original message in an untruthful attempt to destroy his credibility. I am sorry, but I do not see any other options. If you have the book, the quote is found on page 26 - halfway down on the left hand facing page. On the very next page - at the top - so you don't even have to turn over a page, you will find this statement: "I affirm the historic Christian faith, which includes the virgin birth and the Trinity and the inspiration of the Bible and much more. I'm part of it, and I want to pass it on to the next generation." The point Bell is trying to make is that seekers must come to God with all their questions and concerns. Two page turns later in his book (page 31), he explains the point of his virgin birth "what if" scenario, so often repeated by emerging church critics: "Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God. Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respect for our maker, but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising out of an awe that comes from engaging the living God." This is the "manifesto" statement that we should really be discussing, for I think it is this issue of whether or not we are allowed to have questions that actually is one of the key differentiators between traditional evangelical and emerging evangelical Christians.
The second thing you do to try and discredit the emerging church is claim that they have abandoned the atonement. What did Christ achieve on the cross, and how is His sacrifice "used" by God and appropriated to humanity? This has become a modern day litmus test of purity of doctrine. Here, the favourite person to quote is Steve Chalke.
Here, we find another approach, and that is to (mis)quote some of the fringe authors or fringe books from mainstream authors, as if they represented the whole movement, AND additionally to fail to mention the wonderfully enriching debates and counter arguments often brought against those authors and books from other emerging church leaders. I think again that one of the differences between traditional and emerging evangelicalism is this understanding of the role of discussion. Traditional evangelicals are not used to their leaders having open discussions and frank questions - they are used to prepackaged and finalised end-product "truth" being spoon fed in bite sized chunks to an unthinking audience. That may be a harsh overstatement, but I think there is a genuine fear that by actually musing in public you could lead people away from the truth. The bottom line for me is that if anyone is going to critique the emerging church movement, they need to be honest enough to not just quote the attention grabbing opening gambit of a fringe thinker, but need to represent the full scope of debate within the movement on particular issues. This does include atonement (where, just for the record, no-one I know questions that the cross was a substitutionary propitiation - there, I used and affirmed the magic words, even though no seeker in the world would actually know what I am talking about - the issue is whether it was MORE than that as well. I think, yes). It also includes issues like the role of women, approaches to mission, understanding of the Kingdom, social concern and how we should deal with homosexuality. On this last issue, I think you'd battle to find an emerging chuch thinker who would claim to come to final position on the issue - we are seeking God's will and God's Word. That does not mean we will never come to a conclusion - it just means we are taking our time to have full and proper deliberations and come to God's Truth in a godly way. Why is that seen as a bad thing? (After all, the church took nearly 400 years just to decide which books made up the New Testament - part of ensuring you have Truth is to take the time it takes to hear from everyone and include as many voices as possible in the process - yes, even the fringe voices. Luther himself was a fringe voice, as was CS Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Augustine, Paul and Jesus himself. And after hearing the voices we then come to a considered conclusion when the time is right. This is the witness of church history, and the way of the people of God from the beginning of time. It is the process by which Truth is found).
Next, to discredit the emerging church, you need to claim that they have abandoned the Bible and are distorting God's Truth. This could not be further from the Truth. Most EC thinkers are very, very serious Bible scholars, who not only know the Scriptures but have a deep love for them, too. This criticism is the one that most obviously shows the true intent of the critic. The actual issue is that when EC thinkers have gone back to the Bible, they have discovered that we have been wrong in some of our interpretations. In the great tradition of all Christian theologians and apologists, they have not been scared to deal with the consequences of realigning some of their deeply held beliefs with a new understanding and clarity of God's Word. But, where this new understanding differs from the critic's entrenched views, the only response most critics have is to attack the integrity and Christianity of the EC thinker. What most critics don't see is that their arguments and protestations show much more about themselves than they do about the person they are protesting against. To claim that someone is a heretic, deliberately distorting God's Word, or abandoning God's Truth, is one of the most serious charges that can be laid against a fellow Christian, but it is nevertheless these charges that are being levelled against EC thinkers, preachers and writers with no real proof except, "what you're saying doesn't fit in with my interpretation of the Bible". If that were the charge (that our two interpretations of Scripture differ), it would be easier to accept for it's truthfulness. But to claim that EC thinkers have abandoned Biblical Truth is both a lie and an unacceptable slight of their characters. It also displays extreme arrogance on behalf of the critic, who is by implication claiming to be God and being infallible in their discernment of truth and error.
You can also claim, as MacArthur has done, that all EC leaders are doomed to end up in financial and sexual scandals. I suppose the proof of this one is in the pudding, and time will tell. But the glee with which MacArthur talks about this in his books and sermons makes my hair stand on end - it's as if he is actually is willing them to fail in this way.
Finally, for my purposes here, to discredit the emerging church, you simply lump them in with postmodernists and claim that they are trying to pander to culture. Firstly, this is a very patronising and Western view of the world, which thinks that what is going on in America (and all the white parts of the evangelical world that take their spiritual lead from the Bible Belt) IS what culture IS globally. A simple example will explain: the emerging church (in general) believes that women have been incorrectly culturally excluded from leadership and teaching positions within the church because of a misunderstanding and incorrect interpretation of the Bible. It could be thought that in allowing women "equal rights" within the church, EC is just following culture. However, in Africa, women are still culturally very much excluded, as they are in the Middle East, too. Emerging churches in Africa are fully countercultural in calling for women leaders and teachers. In some countries, they face exclusion (I don't know of any examples of persecution, but, knowing Africa, would think that could easily happen). The same would be true of homosexuality, which is seen as a "white man's issue" by many African church leaders. The emerging church is not trying to pander to culture, nor is it postmodern in the sense that Carson uses that term. The Joy magazine article I referred to above actually says, "the church should never adapt to suit the culture." This is a HUGE point of divergence between traditional and emerging evangelicals. (Actually, it is impossible to "never adapt" unless you become Amish - does that mean we cannot wear modern clothes to church, or have electricity in our buildings - or meet at night - and should we only sing Gregorian chants? This is just an insane comment). I wonder how we should then interpret Paul in the second half of 1 Corinthians 10, or more importantly in 1 Cor 9:19-23? What EC thinkers are doing is not trying to dumb down the Scriptures - rather, in the light of what we now know, they are trying to look at the Bible and see where we have misinterpreted it in the past, and made mistakes in our thinking and application of God's eternal law. What is wrong with that? Unless, of course, we believe that somehow in 2008 we have managed to escape the flow of church history, and, now have arrived at the full and final version of the Truth that cannot be improved upon, nor questioned.
As always, this is a longer response than I intended to a simple article in a Christian magazine. But, I cannot help myself. When Christians, in the name of helping other Christians to understand and find the truth, must resort to distorting the truth, bad journalism with no integrity (in the Joy magazine article, a good friend of mine, David Lock, is quoted as a "leader of the emerging church" and his photo used - he was never contacted for comment, nor was he asked permission for the use of his image in the mag, and he, in fact, is not and would not consider himself to be a leader in the emerging church in South Africa - this is bad, bad journalism), and downright lies, then my juices start to flow a bit.
The Truth shall set us free, and we shall be free indeed.
If you are a Christian seeking truth, please, please do not believe the half truths and distortions being pumped out of pulpits and pages about the emerging church. Part of the journey to truth is to actually do the seeking after truth yourself, not relying on pastors and journalists who spoon feed you only the bits they want to for their own purposes. God promises you that if you seek Him and His Truth, you will find it. This seeking involves more than passively accepting what you hear from the pulpit or read in books and magazines that deliberately distort the truth. Go to the source. Seek, and you will find.
Drie oulike enetjies:
* Die buurt se bekende alkoholis steier huistoe en loop teen sy priester vas, wat toe navraag doen oor die bult in sy baadjiesak. "O, dis heilige water, Vader," gee die vabond ewe vroom sy verduideliking. Die leraar draai die prop af en ruik daaraan. "Dis skoon brandewyn," sê hy. Roep die dronkie uit, "'n wonderwerk!"
* "Ek is baie jammer dat ek jou bek vol konfyt moet smeer," sê klein Kosie vir die kat. "Maar as ek dit nie doen nie, sal Ma weet dis ek wat konfyt gesteel nie."
* "Mamma, waar's ek gebore?" vra Sannie. "In Bloemfontein, Skat." "En waar's Mamma gebore?" "Op Potchefstroom." "En Pappa?" "In Kaapstad."
"Sjoe, ons kan bly wees dat ons drietjies bymekaar uitgekom het, né!"