The Church in the Twenty-first Century

The Faithful ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 266-308
1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-337
Author(s):  
Craig Van Gelder

It is becoming increasingly clear that we are experiencing a shift in North American culture that requires the church to think of North America as mission field. The thesis of this article is that the church will need to develop a new paradigm of mission to accomplish this. This article identifies 18 issues which such a paradigm of mission will need to address. These issues are discussed in terms of three aspects: (1) the context in which we live, (2) the gospel we seek to proclaim, and (3) the church which seeks to proclaim this gospel.


Author(s):  
Cecil M. Robeck

This chapter traces Pentecostal and related congregations, churches, denominations, and organizations that stem from the beginning of the twentieth century. They identify with activities at Pentecost described in Acts 2 and in the exercise of charisms in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Each of them highlights is the significance of a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit leading to a transformed life. These often interrelated organizations and movements have brought great vitality to the Church worldwide for over one hundred years, and together, they constitute as much as 25 per cent of the world’s Christians. This form of spirituality is unique over the past 500 years, since it may be found in virtually every historic Christian family/tradition, and in most churches of the twenty-first century.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Eric Sorenson

It was a universal conviction among the leaders of the ancient church that vocational ministry is attended by certain spiritual hazards that threaten to undo the very soul of the minister. This notion is revived in William Paley’s 1795 sermon, “Dangers Incidental to the Clerical Character.” The pastoral ministry, he warns, is comprised of “dangers inherent to the very nature of our profession.” In this ordination sermon, Paley not only identifies certain spiritual hazards, but he traces their roots to the unique context and responsibilities of daily ministry. A close reading of Paley’s sermon highlights its clear relevance to ministers in the twenty-first century, who, like all ministers throughout the history of the church, are constantly exposed to the spiritual dangers lurking in ministry itself. Such a close reading also reveals practical means by which today’s minister can be constantly vigilant to overcome these dangers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Néstor Da Costa

Uruguay is an atypical country as regards the place of the religious in society. This is due to many factors dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in a process that culminated in the separation of the Church and the State in 1919, along with the subsequent privatization of religion. This matrix impregnated the Uruguayan imagination up until today; however, some changes in the traditional location of the religious in society are apparent, and some debates are quite similar to those of the nineteenth century. This article will explore the foundational bases of the model of Uruguayan laïcité, some of the main debates about it, along with the trends existing in the twenty-first century.


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