Cal S Colt: : abt 1810: Liverpool, England: American: Pacific: Mr. Colt: : abt 1812: Liverpool, England: American: Pacific: Mr. Designed for EMS Supervisors, Training Officers, Administrators, Senior Paramedics, and future leaders within emergency medical services. Part Two Pastoral Issues with Cohabiting Couples in Marriage Preparation Preparation for marriage begins long before the couple approaches the priest or pastoral. A small confederation of just over forty churches, in the tradition of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated). Sunday, July 10, 2011. Guest Writer for This Unit: Christopher Michael Jones, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hillside, NJ. How important is the extended family? How should Christian couples relate to their own and to their spouse’s family. The family today is under great pressure. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner presented this paper to a special meeting of the American Historical Association at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in. Online location: www.cyberhymnal.org accessed 2 February 2008; Talbot, Nellie. Adventist Seminary Releases New Pastoral Position Paper on Homosexuality. October 1. 5, 2. 01. It combines both Bible study that supports the established position of the denomination on this topic and a new, pastoral approach that emphasizes compassion and respect for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. At a meeting on October 9 the seminary faculty voted unanimously to approve a 2. There has also been input from denominational leaders at the Lake Union Conference, the North American Division and the Biblical Research Institute. The paper supports the teachings of the Adventist denomination with careful Bible study from a number of passages in the Old and New Testaments. These include Genesis 1: 2. Genesis 1. 9: 1- 1. Leviticus 1. 8: 2. Judges 1. 9: 2. 3- 2. Ezekiel 1. 6 and 1. Matthew 5: 3. 2, 1. Mark 7: 2; Acts 1. Romans 1: 2. 4- 2. Corinthians 6: 9- 1. Timothy 1: 1. 0; 2 Peter 2: 4, 6- 8; and Jude 6- 7.“While being faithful to biblical teaching about homosexuality, we must also seek earnestly to understand and empathize with the struggles and challenges that face those who struggle with sexual immorality,” the document states. Many have been deeply hurt emotionally by their heterosexual brothers and sisters. We must also be sensitive to the reality of high rates of homelessness and suicide among gay youth. Jesus mingled with and ministered to all who were outcasts (Matt 9: 1. Luke 5: 3. 0; 1. 5: 2). As Christians who are called to love as Jesus loved, we too must be concerned with the real needs of gay youth. Many homosexuals have been bullied, beaten, or even killed in various parts of the world. Gay persons have not felt welcome in some churches and have often been the victims of gossip and crude jokes. Some have been expelled from our Christian schools when they revealed their attraction to the same sex. Most, if not all, have heard sermons that condemn homosexuals as persons, failing to distinguish between homosexual attraction or orientation and the practice of homosexuality. All persons, including practicing homosexuals, should be made to feel welcome to attend our churches while non- practicing gay persons should be welcomed into membership and church office. All should receive spiritual care from the Church (Gal 6: 1). These kinds of attitudes need to be repented of and the Church needs to provide more intentional ministries directed toward gay and lesbian persons (Matt 9: 1. John 3: 1. 7). We should be aware of how easily we might fall into self- righteous judgmentalism. Love also demands that we support them when we see them being treated unfairly.” . Jiri Moskala, the seminary dean. Reflective Paper and a Project Proposal. Joseph Bvumbwe. Presented to: Professor Loren Halvorson- Lecturer Professor Peter Sethre - Credit Advisor. At Luther Seminary As a requirement in D. Min Program. St. Paul, Minnesota, Feb, 2. Introduction One of the ways in which people in Africa have come. This version. of understanding the church grew out of the South Africa's. The church was. actively involved in the struggle giving refuge to the. When one visited the churches, it. In 1. 98. 3 I had the. Rev Soluwane, Dean of the. Lutheran Church in Soweto. It was clear that he was viewed. Government as an enemy because of his involvement in. Both the personage and the church compound. Fear was the way of. Anything could happen to anybody at anytime. Many. lives were in danger. During the week that I was there I. I saw with my own eyes. Children who. left in the morning to fight for freedom were being returned. Others were being treated of. The church. had indeed become a site of struggle in South Africa. The. same would soon be true of former Southwest Africa - now. Namibia, Angola and Mozambique. The whole Southern Africa. The church was not isolated, it was at. Today the struggle still. African Continent. The enemy may. have changed, but the struggle is still there. The question. is how long will the struggle last? When will the children. Africa come to know peace? When shall violence against. This reflective paper does not provide the answers to. It also. lifts for us the challenges that pastoral leadership faces. African context today. Understanding. these challenges helps us to not only appreciate the efforts. Value of the study for the ministry. The study has a dual purpose. It will help both our own. African context today. This will lead. to mutual respect and appreciation of the challenges we face. Christ's mission in the world. Methods used in the study Mostly consultation and dialogue with a lot of note. A list of selected bibliography was provided from. Loren Halvorson's. The challenges are. The study limited itself to the Southern. African region and focused itself on Malawi, a small. Southeastern corner of Africa. The Context: 1. The Southern African, Malawian. Context. The Country Profile. Geography and Location. Malawi is a small country located in the Southern Eastern. Africa. It is land- locked with varying terrain. Sharing borders with it is Zambia to the West. Tanzania to the North and Mozambique to the East and South. It's capital is. Lilongwe. Malawi's major geographic features are the. Lake Malawi, which covers over 1/4 of. People and Economy. Malawi has a population of 1. More than 8. 0% of the people are. Christians compromising of 6. Protestants and 2. Catholics. The remaining 2. Muslims and. 2- 5% belong to traditional indigenous beliefs and other. As a land- locked country, Malawi's economy is. Gross National Product and more than 9. The main crops grown. It is important here to. Malawi is mainly an exporter of primary produce. Malawi therefore is one of the world's. The UNDP 1. 99. 9 Human Development reports. OOUS with more than. Life expectancy is. The illiteracy rate is. Infant mortality is alarmingly high. Profile of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Malawi (ELCM). Historical Background - The Evangelical Lutheran. Church in Malawi was founded November 2. Lutherans while working in the neighboring. Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Finding. little comfort in the existing Lutheran Church of Central. Africa (Zambia and Malawi), the mission field of the. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Lutheranism they were used to in those. Gilbert Msuku who had been. Tanzania for over twenty years, founded the ELCM. The. church, which began without any pastors or missionaries. Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. These arrangements. ELCM ordained its first three. Currently the church has approximately 3. ELCM elected its first Bishop in 1. The church's. officers are in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Evangelism. and lay leadership training is top priority for the ELCM. Each congregation has. Women groups lead the church. Because of its background as. ELCM's self understanding as dominantly a. The most of its congregations are led by lay. The clergy are secondary visiting congregations. Lay people both male. They are very independent and. Right from its inception, ELCM took social improvement as. Parallel with preaching and teaching the. ELCM has been deeply involved in the social well. Malawi. A small. rapidly growing church, the ELCM is an active member of. The creation of the Office of the Bishop in 1. ELCM and its growth throughout. Malawi. The Bishop's major responsibilities in the church. The Context. The context as described above provides the opportunity. ELCM's ministry to be holistic in nature. Most of. its members live in rural areas and are generally poor. The. situation has been worsened by the presence of the killer. HIV/AIDS which is killing mostly productive. Malaria which kills mostly children. In additional to the primary. God, the ELCM can. In this regard, and. Aids orphans and small scale income generating projects. Other projects include: ~ Adult education for women and men who cannot. Provision for clean water wells in villages~ HIV/AIDS care and prevention messages for all ages. Skill training for women and young people~ Feeding centers for under- nourished children. Primary schools and the Girls Secondary school in. Bwengu~ Home economics for women and primary health care in. Family health care and education on family. Care practices and many others such life improving. The mobile clinics will strengthen these. Malawi. The Challenge. The ELCM position is that as long as Africa and its. Churches and governments must continue. The whole international. We. need to work for justice dealings in international trade and. The role of the church in it's. God for. all his people in all countries of the world. The ELCM like. other African churches will need to provide leadership in. The. word of God and his promises remain the source of hope for. The church must. remain strong in its ministry based on the knowledge that. God has promised to be always present with it up to the end. We have the opportunity to join hands and. As you will have noted from above. African continent is a suffering continent. It is there. that the Lutheran Church in Malawi is witnessing and. As already pointed out, the context has a lot to do. Here. unlike elsewhere the church is preoccupied with giving hope. Spiritually. the people are very much alive, but physically they are. The pastors, of which the bishop is one among. This is done. together in small group Bible studies. Each person is taken. ELCM. Pastoral Visits. Bishops are regularly required to visit pastors in order. Most of the pastors find. Here the bishop will visit and offer. This is important for the pastor who must in. The bishop's. visitation program is a time of revival and renewal. It is. also a time of witnessing to a wider community through. During these visits hope is offered through life. This is not so because people have nothing to do, or. They tell. me that: - a). It is good to be in the house of God and. Lord. They wait for these days to come. Their presence at the church with the bishop. The message being shared has been shared with. Through it they. find hope and a purpose for living. Here serious. challenges e. HIV/AIDS is openly discussed helping with. In additional to celebrating sacraments they may. Above all, it is time. You can therefore see that the visits are part of. They form one of the church's major. Bishops visits bring them the wider. Even Christians of other. Our work. in ecumenism is strengthened, witnessing together as. Christians. We speak more of what unites us than what. Our congregations learn to work and cooperate. Pastors will usually cover a number. Congregations that are lead by our lay leaders. These lay. leaders who are both male and female expects regular. Pastoral visits aims at giving hope. This is one of. the fundamental roles of the church in society. We see this. throughout history and it ought to be so even today as we. There are so many. Our nations are very unstable. We fear our. political people are easily intimidated, so just like the. No one is courageous enough to carry out such. Our. Politicians have been known for their readiness to kill. Speaking of HIV/AIDS, we don't. The pandemic is like nothing. It kills mostly. our adults, while Malaria continues to kill children. This challenges. us and remind us to implement all our work as wholistically. When Church and Society is Threatened. On Ash Wednesday 2. Klepas Dumeni, then assistant to. Bishop Aula of Ovambokavango church in Namibia who later. Bishop, sat with him in their kitchen in Geneva. Switzerland and asked him a very difficult question. He continued to inform. Nearly thirty. years later you raise a similar question about your role as. Yes thirty years later the same. There are no easy answers to. There are certainly. Some of the serious. How. long will the African Continent suffer? Children are born. Those who survive. Here the insights given by Lowell are helpful. We also know that there are. Why does God. allow such wide gaps between the poor and the rich? Why do. the rich become richer and the poor become poorer? Poverty. in my view rooted in greed and sin by human beings is the. I. agree with most of the points Halvorson lifted out for us in. I would however add that before we can think of. God to work. everything good for all we believe in him, we must name sin. God provided enough resources for all of. However, greed by the rich. Worse still some leaders of these. For example, the USA. Poverty and Diseases. Over the years, I have tried hard to study the close link. My suspicion was confirmed. I was not suprised to discover the two sides of. The study showed that. HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS has been. Sub- Saharan Africa, with the rate of. Its impact has left no. Individual, families and communities have all. The number of orphans. HIV/AIDS deaths is currently estimated to be over. Africa. Africa is said to have over 7.
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