Celtic culture,Calvinism, social and mental health on the Island of Lewis

The five points of federal Calvinism, as outlined by the Synod of Dort, have had a strong influence on the Protestant church. Their negative effects on the culture and society of the Western Isles of Scotland are often overlooked, or simply accepted as an expresion of that culture. In this paper, an attempt is made to show how Celtic culture on the Isle of Lewis has been held back by this theology, and the effect of this repression on society and the individual. Particular areas of concern are the neglect of the Gaelic language, and the incidence of violence, alcoholism, and depression. Iain Macritchie, S.T.M., comes from the village of Ballantrushal on the Island of Lewis. He is a Church of Scotland minister with a particular interest in training ministers for work in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, to which he has returned after a year on the Scottish Fellowship at Union Theological Seminary.     

Organizational Revivalism: Explaining Metamorphosis of China's Catholic Church

The classical works of Troelsch and Niebuhr suggested that sect movements had been the origin of reform and revitalization of the church. More recently, Finke and Wittberg supplemented that thesis by suggesting that the Catholic Church was able to reform itself not through the sect development, but through the establishment of religious orders within the Catholic Church itself. This article suggests, from historical and contemporary archival sources, that the revitalization of the Catholic Church in China was through indigenization of the Church. The vitalization has been achieved despite tensions between the underground church committed to Rome and the national church, which advocated self-government without political and financial ties to the Catholic hierarchies outside China. Both the Chinese government's accommodation of the ecclesiastical authority of the papacy, and the Vatican's silence in response to the underground church's pleas to disregard the national church, had helped the indigenization process and the growth of the church without a possible schism.     

The Scottish Reformation was not Protestant

This article argues that the generally accepted term for the Protestant revolution of 1559–60 in Scotland, ‘The Scottish Reformation’, hides the remnant of a sectarian denominational historiography and should be abandoned. These events should be called ‘The Scottish Protestant Reformation’ while ‘The Scottish Reformation’ should be used for a ‘long reformation’ including Catholic and Protestant reform movements extending from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. This terminological change represents a new way of understanding the Scottish Reformation as a long process in the Christian culture of Renaissance Scotland. It brings historical research in line with developments in other disciplines, which have uncovered a flourishing early Scottish Renaissance. Making Christianity the primary category in the religious history of this period, rather than the polemical binary ‘Catholic/Protestant’, enables a more balanced appraisal of the various religious and cultural movements in Scotland.     

Attitudes to the early Church and the Age of Conversion in late medieval Scotland

The conversion of Scotland, in the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, was carried out largely by Gaelic-speaking missionaries from Ireland. When Scotland was largely Gaelic-speaking it was freely acknowledged that the conversion had come mainly from Ireland. But in the later Middle Ages, as Gaelic retreated from the Lowlands and became increasingly seen there as barbaric and uncivilised, new historical models were developed in Scottish hagiography which portrayed missionaries as civilised Lowlanders penetrating and pacifying the barbaric Highlands. In the course of this process the ancient Picts disappeared from view. This rewriting of history could not overcome the known facts about St Columba, however, and on the eve of the Reformation Roderick MacLean, a Gaelic-speaking bishop (with Lutheran sympathies), wrote elaborate and sophisticated Latin poems proclaiming the achievements of Columba and Iona.     

An impact of Lutheran theology on the formation of the church and society in Tanzania

This article analyzes the impact of Lutheran theology on the life of the church and society in Tanzania, beginning with an introduction to the basic teachings of the Lutheran Church in Tanzania and their connection to the theological foundations of Reformation. The second part of the article deals with the story of the establishment of the Lutheran Church in Tanzania and how it interacted with the social context of Tanzania. Finally, the article correlates the basic theological foundations of Lutheranism and their influence on the formation of the church itself and society as a whole.     

Scotland: religion,culture and national identity

In this initial article of the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church's special issue on Perspectives on the Church in Scotland, as well as offering a wider context for the contributions that follow, I want to explore what connections in general might be said to exist between Scottish identity and Christianity, and then, more particularly, the impact of religion on the country's artistic culture, written as well as visual. Even those whose interest in the Scottish dimension may be marginal at best may find the discussion of broader relevance, since all nations now face to varying degrees the problem of how to relate their present pluriform identity to a narrower past. England, for instance, is ethnically much more diverse than its near neighbour and so struggles to find an appropriate contemporary self-definition. This can be seen reflected in the way in which politicians, in speaking of ‘British core values’, often merely reiterate what are universals in the western world, such as democracy, equal respect before the law, gender equality and so on, as with Nick Clegg's recent list on the Today programme on Radio 4 (10 June 2014) in which Gordon Brown's similar list during his premiership was simply reiterated. Others, though, continue to wrestle with what appeal to England's past history might mean and even with whether the established Church might have some continuing role within it, with the philosopher Roger Scruton offering a particularly intriguing instance in his Our Church: A Personal History of the Church of England (2012).     

Impressions of the Church of Sweden: liberal and catholic with nuances of Lutheranism

The Church of Sweden is difficult to describe or to characterise, whether as a Folk Church, a national church, as catholic or liberal, or as, in some sense, Lutheran. This article refers to aspects of its complex relations with the Roman Catholic Church and with Lutheranism at large. The author detects, from ecumenical agreement and practice, an incipient new communion of churches, based on a common claim to be catholic and also to be open to developments in society. This group includes the Church of Sweden, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Philippine Independent Church, all of which are in communion with each other. The author's presentation is set out in relation to the Church of Sweden's liturgical and sacramental life, its church–state relations, and in an account of the rather asymmetrical shape of ecumenism in Sweden, in all of which the question of gender plays a role.     

Democracy and the Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden was democratized in the 1930s when party politics was introduced into church elections. Since then, party politics have more and more been part of the governing style of the Church of Sweden. In 2000 the church was disestablished and a new election system was introduced with direct elections to the General Synod. The system of political parties remained. This article questions the democracy of the church using criteria for democratic structures. It also focuses on the role of the ordained ministry in the governance of the church, as the bishops have not been full members of the Synod since 1982. The conclusions are that the Church of Sweden is not fully democratic since participation in elections is at about 10% and the electorate has few chances to understand what the elections are about. The bishops’ weak formal position in the Synod is not in accordance with the teachings of the church on episcopacy. The conflict between democratic principles, inherited from the Swedish constitution, and church teaching on the ordained ministry and its role has not been fully resolved so far.     

Fresh Expressions of Church and the Mixed Economy

The term “fresh expressions of church” has been used since 2004 in the Church of England to refer to small contextual churches that start alongside but aim to be different to parish churches. What is characteristic of a fresh expression of church is not its newness, but its ability to pass on and contextualize inherited theology, ecclesiology, tradition, and spiritual experience. The ecclesiology of fresh expressions of church can be summarized as a dialogical‐relational ecclesiology that is focused on a theological centre. There may be around 2,100 of them in the Church of England, both urban and rural. During the past 15 years, the self‐understanding of the Church of England, a traditional state church with its parish structure, has changed. The mother church of the Anglican World Communion claims since 2008 to be a mixed‐economy church: one that supports and recognizes innovative ecclesial spaces (fresh expressions of church) as church, as well as parish churches. It is the goal to have an innovative diversity of churches in a pluralistic society. At the same time, these churches should be recognizable and contextual. It is the concept of the mixed economy that manages a fair cooperation between parochial and fresh expressions of church. In the meantime, the concept of mixed economy is received not only in the UK, but in different national and free churches in continental Europe, the US, South Africa, Canada, and Australia. Lately, the concept has been taken up by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE).     

The Emergence and Development of Protestantism in Macedonia

Abstract

This paper explores the political activity of the Catholic Church in Poland in the years 1990–2009 in terms of categories of political strategies. I argue that the church as an institution applied varied strategies with the aim of influencing the politics of the day. These took on three forms, in which the church acted as (1) a political principal, (2) a creator of political values and (3) an interest group. In the period between 1990 and 1997 the church attempted to exert a direct influence on the political scene by supporting the Catholic national parties. In the period between 1997 and 2004 the church focused on the second of the above-mentioned strategies by supporting the establishment of Christian Democratic parties. In the years 2004–2009 we can observe a more varied strategy consisting of a formal withdrawal from political activity with a simultaneous acceptance of political engagement on the part of the Catholic national Radio Maryja. During the whole period under analysis the church effectively acted as an interest group. This has resulted in a growing dependence of the church on the state, which – in connection with symptoms of institutional crisis – may lead to a particular kind of ‘cartelisation of the church’.     

Studying the ecclesiology of a national church: the Danish context

Studying the ecclesiology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark is a complicated matter. It requires knowledge of a broad range of subjects such as theology, political science, history, and anthropology. This article shows some of the difficulties and problems related to studying a national church which is heavily politicised, because a national church, in a globalised context, easily becomes the symbol of a past identification of nation, state, church, and people. Today, this identification is changing because of immigration, secular ideologies, and secularisation. Researchers in ecclesiology must be aware of the political and national dimensions of their research and how their conclusions are used in the political debate.     

Mental health counselling in the Black American Church: reflections and recommendations from counsellors serving in a counselling ministry

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between “The Black Church”, the mental health needs of its members, and addressing those needs from the perspective of counsellors within the church. Four in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the mental health counselling team at one large, African American-serving church in the Midwest to explore their thoughts about their church pastor’s desire to expand their current ministry to a fully operating counselling centre. The findings suggest that “the Black Church” not only has a role and responsibility in addressing the mental health needs of African Americans within and outside of the church but can also use religiosity as a facilitator rather than a barrier to mental health service use among African Americans.     

Am I ‘Chinese’ or ‘Scottish’? children’s perceptions of the adaptive nature of Chinese Scottish children’s dual identities

Chinese Scottish children (children who are born and live in Scotland with Chinese parents) face challenges in establishing their identity. However, there is lack of research that investigates ethnic minority Chinese children’s identity and associated feelings about the dual social context in which they live. The study introduced a social identity vignettes task to examine Chinese Scottish and White Scottish children’s perceptions of Chinese ethnic identity and Scottish national identity of a Scottish born Chinese character within two contrasting socio-cultural contexts (Scottish vs. Chinese). This study examines whether children’s ethnic and national identity and feelings of positivity are adaptive and sensitive to social context. In addition it explored age-related changes in perceptions of ethnic and national identification in the vignettes. The sample comprised of 161 children (8, 11, and 14 years). The results found Chinese Scottish children and White Scottish children’s judgments of the characters’ ethnic identity changed with the cultural context. Both groups of children had a similar perception of vignette characters’ feeling of positivity. Both Chinese and White Scottish children judged that the character would feel more positive about him/herself in the Chinese context. There was no main effect of age.     

Religion and Paranormal Belief

This article uses a Canadian national sample to examine the relationship between conventional religious belief, church attendance, and belief in paranormal phenomena. Greater religious belief is strongly associated with greater paranormal belief. Church attendance (and other measures of religious participation) are only weakly associated with paranormal belief until conventional religious belief is statistically controlled; once this is done, greater church attendance is strongly associated with lowered paranormal belief. Together, these two religious variables explain about one-quarter of the variance in paranormal belief, making them the strongest predictors that have yet to be identified.     

Sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans in England and Wales: Assessing influence of the home

ABSTRACT

Responding to the problem facing the Church of England, as identified by the Church Growth Research Programme, regarding sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans, and also responding to the Renewal and Reform agenda to address this problem, the present study discusses the roles of three agencies in delivering effective Christian education and Christian formation: local churches, local schools, and the home. Building on a fruitful stream of research within Australia and the UK, the present study drew on two samples of young Anglicans: 2,019 9- to 11-year-old students attending church primary schools in Wales, and 2,323 13- to 15-year-old students attending church secondary schools mainly in England. The data demonstrated that young Anglicans who practised their Anglican identity by attending church did so primarily because their parents were Anglican churchgoers. Moreover, young Anglican churchgoers were most likely to keep going to church if their churchgoing parents (especially mother) talked with them about their faith. The implications from these findings, for an Anglican Church strategy for ministry among children and young people, is that alongside resourcing local churches and promoting deeply Christian schools, it may also be wise for the Church to invest in the education and formation of churchgoing Anglican parents.     

Being Chinese or being Scottish: National identification and intergroup attitudes of British born Chinese children

This study explored the age differences in national identification, and intergroup attitudes among British born Chinese (BBC) living in Scotland. Participants comprised 70 children in three age groups (8, 11 and 14 years). The study included three tasks: task 1 investigated children's national self-categorization; task 2 examined children's national self-identification; task 3 explored children's perception of the positive and negative traits of Chinese and Scottish people across the age groups (using card-sorting tasks). The results indicated that BBC children identified their national identity as Scottish, however, it varied with age and national contexts. Most BBC children identified themselves as both Chinese and Scottish but they attributed significantly more positive traits to Chinese than to Scottish people and showed significantly more liking for Chinese people than Scottish. The study concludes that BBC children experience a dual identity in which different components are integrated.     

The impact of The Way Ahead on headteachers of Anglican voluntary‐aided secondary schools

In 2001 the Church of England published The Way Ahead, a confident report on its role in education, boldly asserting that its schools are ‘at the centre of the Church’s mission to the nation’ and recommending the establishment of another 100 church secondary schools. In an empirical investigation into the distinctiveness of Anglican voluntary‐aided secondary schools, 10 headteachers were interviewed as to the impact of The Way Ahead upon their policy and practice. Analysis of the interviews suggests that the report has had little or no impact. It would appear that the Church sees the distinctiveness of its schools in essentially pragmatic terms and there is no sustained debate as to the development of a distinctively Christian paradigm for church schools. This article outlines some reasons for the lack of impact of the report and suggests it is time for a sustained and comprehensive debate within the Church as to what constitutes a distinctive rationale for its schools.     

On Being First: Dogma,Disease and Domination in the Rise of an African Church

What might the early institutional history of an indigenous African Church reveal about the institutionalisation of religious innovation? What might findings suggest about the impact of both internal organisational processes and extra-institutional pressures on the routinization of charisma? This article addresses these questions by examining the rise of Christ Apostolic Church, an Aladura church of the Yoruba of Nigeria, and focusing on the interplay of first, the global propagation of Christianity; second, colonial domination; third, symbolic reformulation; and finally, the pursuit of well-being in the face of epidemic disease. This investigation provides a case study of how people negotiate social and natural obstacles while constructing enduring institutional structures. Furthermore, it is argued that, rather than obstructing this religious movement, epidemics, colonial domination and missionary opposition fuelled its transformation into an institutional church.