God's Mission and the Christian Assembly: The Search for an Alternative Practice of Worship

Abstract : The search for something alternative characterizes the practice of worship in many contemporary Christian assemblies. Although “alternative” is often set in opposition to “traditional,” it is better understood in response to “conventional” worship. Five such alternative movements are described here: liturgical movement, contemporary worship movement, liberation perspectives, Pentecostalism, and postmodern approaches. The alternative impulse in all of these perspectives has to do with a fuller realization of the Christian assembly in relation to God's mission.     

The Holy Spirit in Mission

God initiated mission and intends to achieve it by work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, mission—which God commands his church to accomplish—belongs to God, not to human agency. Prior to ascending to heaven, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and asked them to wait in Jerusalem. This Holy Spirit is given to enable them to be witnesses of Jesus from Jerusalem to the end of the world. This implies that the church has to partner with the Holy Spirit to fulfil this mission. Missionaries need to consciously work together with Spirit and be directed and guided by the Spirit.     

The Double Face of Christian Mission and Education in India from Dalit and Decolonial Perspectives

Missionaries from Europe came to India starting in the 15th century to preach the gospel. Their mission works have both intended and unintended consequences that affect people even today. Missionaries brought modern education to India and gave Western education to Dalits, leading to the social uplifting of Dalits, who were denied education by the oppressive caste system. Some missionaries also spoke against the social evils during their time. On the other hand, some missionaries’ work at times highlighted the Brahmanic religion as a pan-India religion which placed popular religions in a disadvantaged position. Furthermore, their work also helped the British colonial government to maintain control and become powerful. The translation work of the missionaries and the educational institutions helped the colonial government to strengthen its control over the local population. This article discusses the mission work of Robert de Nobili, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, and William Carey and evaluates their mission works from Dalit and decolonial perspectives.     

The Revival of Orthodox Mission in New Borders and the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

One of the critical issues emphasized at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016 was that of the witness of Orthodoxy in the modern world, as expressed in the Message and Encyclical of the council, and in the council document on the Mission of the Orthodox Church. This paper traces the revival of foreign mission and witness within the Orthodox Church since the late 1950s and how it came to fruition at the council in Crete.     

The Mission of the Church in the Contemporary World in Light of the Decisions of the Holy and Great Council

This article discusses the place of mission in the Orthodox Church. The document “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World,” which was approved by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016, is still in the process of reception, as are the other documents, but it constitutes, without doubt, a new era in Orthodox missiology – as indeed the Great and Holy Council in Crete represents a new era in Orthodoxy. The interrelatedness of unity and mission is not a question of methodology or strategy. It is an ontological one: it is related to the very essence of koinonia as fellowship in the triune God, and to the specific aspect of κοινονια as participation in God's economy in and for the world. Mission is commitment to the work of the triune God incarnated in Jesus Christ. Both are God’s gift and command. It is only in unity with the Holy Trinity that the church is able to fulfil its vocation.     

The Need for a Theology of Resilience,Coexistence, and Hope

In many countries of the world, people are drinking a dangerous cocktail of poisonous ingredients all starting with the letter P: polarization, populism, protectionism, post‐truth, and patriarchy. As Christians, we cannot do other than work against this. In order to do so, we need to make use of the resources we have in spirituality and theology. This article reflects on these resources in the Lutheran tradition, asking how we, together, are church in this world.     

Development of Bimanual Skill: The Search for Stable Patterns of Coordination

In 2 experiments, dynamic systems theory predictions concerning intrinsic dynamics and variability of bimanual coordination were examined at different developmental stages. In Experiment 1, ten 4-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 10-year-old children and adults performed unimanual dominant, unimanual nondominant, and bimanual continuous circle drawing. All tasks were performed at the participants' preferred rate, size, and mode of coordination. The 4-, 6-, and 7-year-old children produced larger circles with longer durations than those of the 8- and 10-year-olds and the adults. That finding demonstrates that younger children display different intrinsic dynamics than older children and adults. The 4-, 6-, and 7-year-old children also displayed more variability in bimanual coordination (more time in less stable patterns of coordination, higher standard deviation in relative phase) and produced more transitions between coordination patterns than the 8- and 10-year-olds and the adults. In Experiment 2, the same participants performed bimanual circles at increasing rates. Consistent with predictions of the HKB model (H. Haken, J. A. S. Kelso, & H. Bunz, 1985), the number of transitions decreased as speed increased. Some support was found for the notion that age-related variables of attention and rate contribute to the increased variability in young children's bimanual coordination.     

Religion,Human Rights,and Neo‐liberalism in a Post‐Humanist Era

In a modern and secularized world, churches and religious groups that fight in the public sphere for social justice justify these actions in the name of defending human rights. This has been the path taken to express in non‐religious language what they understand to be a God‐given mission. Based on the distinction between civil rights, political rights, and social rights, which make up the set of human rights, this article analyzes the relationship between the notion of religious mission and the struggle for human rights; how neoliberal ideology, in an anti‐humanist perspective, criticizes the notion of social rights and social justice with the denial of any human right above the laws of the market; and the challenges that this neoliberal ideology poses for the justification of the social and political action of religious groups and institutions in the contemporary globalized world with a growing post/anti‐humanist culture.     

Individuals‐in‐Communities: The Search for a Feminist Model of Epistemic Subjects

Feminist epistemologists have found the atomistic view of knowers provided by classical epistemology woefully inadequate. An obvious alternative for feminists is Lynn Hankinson Nelsons suggestion that it is communities that know. However, I argue that Nelsons view is problematic for feminists, and 1 offer instead a conception of knowers as “individuals‐in‐communities.” This conception is preferable, given the premises and goals of feminist epistemologists, because it emphasizes the relations between knowers and their communities and the relevance of these relations for epistemic assessments. Furthermore, it provides a sense of epistemic agents as active reflective inquirers, capable of transforming and improving knowledge‐seeking practices.     

公平与效率的辩证结合:中国社会发展的价值选择

公平与效率是社会发展中的基本矛盾,二者的结合机制反映了不同社会的发展特征及其基本价值取向。资本主义以资本增值为根本逻辑,坚持以物（资本）为中心的社会发展理念,形成了公平与效率的尖锐对立;社会主义坚持以人为中心的社会发展理念,能在社会发展中历史地实现公平与效率的辩证结合。中国在改革开放的探索中,在处理公平与效率的关系上不断进行调整,这既反映了中国社会发展观随着历史发展而不断进行的变革,更折射和体现了中国社会发展的根本价值选择。     

How Emotions Regulate Social Life: The Emotions as Social Information (EASI) Model

ABSTRACT— The idea that emotions regulate social interaction is increasingly popular. But exactly how do emotions do this? To address this question, I draw on research on the interpersonal effects of emotions on behavior in personal relationships, parent–child interactions, conflict, negotiation, and leadership, and propose a new framework that can account for existing findings and guide future research: the emotions as social information (EASI) model. I demonstrate that emotional expressions affect observers' behavior by triggering inferential processes and/or affective reactions in them. The predictive strength of these two processes—which may inspire different behaviors—depends on the observer's information processing and on social-relational factors. Examples of moderators that determine the relative predictive strength of inferences and affective reactions include power, need for cognitive closure, time pressure, display rules, and the appropriateness and target of the emotional expression, which are all discussed.     

Towards a Social-Structural Model for Understanding Current Disparities in Maori Health and Well-Being

Colonization has resulted in Maori occupying a vulnerable position in New Zealand society. Comparatively poor health, along with complex social and economic problems, is a reflection of this fundamental insecurity. This article aims to put forward a historical and developmental perspective for understanding some of the current health disparities experienced by Maori, by exploring the concepts of historical trauma, loss of land, and alternative theories of development from post-development theory.     

社区卫生服务的“管理模式”与“治理模式”比较

依据社区卫生服务的提供方与消费方之间的权力关系,社区卫生服务模式可以划分为管理模式和治理模式。在管理模式中,社区卫生服务提供方与消费方之间是建立在行政和技术权威基础上的管理与被管理关系。在治理模式中,社区卫生服务的提供方与消费方则是建立在沟通基础上的合作关系。我国社区卫生服务模式的发展趋势是从管理向治理的转变。     

The Sense of Agency and the Search for a Narrative in Acute Psychosis

The search for a narrative in acute psychosis exists but the result of this search can be insufficient because the stories available do not sufficiently capture the pre-narrative quality of personal experience, and hence the sense of agency may be diminished. The context of reflexivity is lost when a subjugating story blocks an individual off from making a choice from among a multiplicity of stories. Psychosis can also be an escape in order to maintain a sense of agency. When the patient has trouble in creating meaning through narrative action, the aim of therapy and treatment is to open a channel through which the pre-narrative quality of life can become narrated, to create a multiplicity of stories, and so offer the possibility of choice in the construction of a narrative identity.     

Loss,Grief, and the Search for Significance: Toward a Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement

Constructivist theories recently have begun to inform understandings of grief, emphasizing the role of meaning making in adaptation to bereavement. In this article we review empirical studies using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, investigating how three activities of meaning reconstruction are involved in the grieving process: sense making, benefit finding, and identity change. In particular, we consider how critical processes have been operationally defined and how study methods and designs have constrained what can be concluded from this burgeoning field of research. We conclude by positing an integrated model of meaning reconstruction pathways as a heuristic guide to further research and briefly note the implications of this model for clinical practice.     

The Search for Employment: Motivation to Engage in a Coping Behavior1

The search for employment was examined as coping through engagement in motivated behavior. A model predicting social networking and employer contact behavior was tested with a sample of persons anticipating college graduation. Proposed relations among behavioral antecedents were primarily drawn from Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior, with the addition of cognitively appraised challenge. Structural equations analysis revealed general support for hypothesized relations among attitude, norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and behaviors. Cognitively appraised challenge partially mediated the effects of perceived behavioral control on job search intentions. Significant variance in job search attitude was attributed to a valence by outcome expectancy interaction. Findings may be useful in promoting job search efforts, as well as furthering theoretical delineation of the search process.