Der Begriff „Geistlicher Missbrauch“ bezeichnet eine Form von Machtmissbrauch im religiösen Kontext, die sowohl im katholischen als auch im freikirchlichen Raum beschrieben wurde. Bisher gab es aber ...kaum empirische Studien des Phänomens. Befragt wurden 105 Personen aus dem freikirchlichen Umfeld, die in einer Online-Umfrage angaben, einen spirituellen Missbrauch erlebt zu haben. Bei sieben Befragten wurde zudem ein ausführliches narratives Interview durchgeführt, das dann aufgrund der Methodik der Grounded Theory systematisch ausgewertet wurde. Folgende Formen des Missbrauchs wurden beschrieben: Bevormundung und Beschämung, Kleinhalten der Person, Machtansprüche aufgrund der Position, Missbrauch der Bibel oder von „Geistesgaben“, unangemessene Einmischung ins Privatleben, Ausbeutung, Gesetzlichkeit und Vermittlung eines falschen Gottesbildes. Keine Person beschrieb einen sexuellen Missbrauch. Die Auswirkung eines spirituellen Missbrauchs zeigt sich neben verschiedenen spirituellen und psychischen Auswirkungen in einer signifikanten Verminderung des Interesses an der Kirche (von 82 vor der Missbrauchserfahrung auf 33.9 Prozent danach), während die selben Personen weiterhin den persönlichen Glauben als wichtig erachteten (82 gegenüber 92 Prozent vor dem Missbrauch). Die Aussagen der Betroffenen in der Online-Umfrage und in den Interviews geben Einblicke in ihre Strategien der Bewältigung des Traumas mit den Schwerpunkten Abgrenzung, Eigenverantwortung und Veränderung der Führungskultur in den Kirchen.
Bristol Baptist College, founded in 1720 on the basis of a deed of gift of 1679, is the oldest Baptist theological college in the world. It absorbed the influence of the Enlightenment and was ...dedicated to growth through the energetic preaching of the gospel. The college served as an international agency and at home became a pillar of the Baptist establishment. During the first half of the twentieth century it functioned as a Free Church institution and in the second half became more broadly ecumenical. It adapted to the needs of the twenty-first century.
This article analyses the range of positions among Evangelicals in the context of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The “silence” characterizes evidence of the evangelicals’ strategies that had long been ...developed in the context of continued marginalization of religious minorities by the Russian authorities, with the state’s determination to create a loyal contingent of religious leaders. Some of the Evangelical leaders who were close to the centres of power were caught in a so-called trap of patriotism and have been compelled to demonstrate their support and solidarity to officials. However, public silence is far from heterogeneous and has many shades and nuances. This article analyses the anti-war statements of Evangelical leaders and shadow communication strategies in different evangelical communities. Particular attention is paid to a “guide” who suggested that Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Russia should take a consistent position, based on theological and political arguments, in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Experiences of being LGBTQ1 within Swedish free-church environments have not been highlighted to any great extent. In the autumn of 2020, I participated, as an observing researcher, in a study group ...consisting of LGBTQ persons and LGBTQ allies focusing on LGBTQ in the Christian free-church environment. The discussions took their point of departure in the question how we ensure that congregations are a welcoming and safe place for LGBTQ people. This article is based on the conversations that took place during these meetings. In the articleI will examine how power relations and tensions were described and investigate how LGBTQ persons and their allies handle and challenge them. The results of the investigation show that free-church contexts are permeated with hegemonic heteronormativity, the structural power of which operates both visibly and covertly. The participants talk about unlivable compromises, emanating from membership always being conditional and subject to certain terms for LGBTQ persons. The participants narrated their experiences, ranging from subtle com- ments or silences to ostracism and exclusion. All participants testified to the existence of various forms of conversion efforts in contemporary free church environments and recounted examples of how they had been pressured in prayer and pastoral care and conversations in which they had been silenced or told that it is possible to change one’s sexual orientation or identity.
Abstract
Similar to most Western nations, Germany has experienced a history of secularization, resulting in church decline. However, some Christian communities have been less affected by decline. The ...historical free churches (Freikirchen), usually of an evangelical nature, have not only developed a more explicit missionary identity than the mainline churches, some of them have also been able to experience church growth against the larger trends. In this paper quantitative and qualitative data are presented based on a study of the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (BFeG) in Germany. These data show that general church growth and conversion growth are correlated, that young churches grow better (in both respects) than older churches, that the net conversion growth (conversions minus decline) of younger and older churches is overall largely the same, and that growth results in Berlin outperform the results in other cities and in the BFeG as a whole. These results are put into context by extended case studies of two churches, one old and one young, and they are discussed with a view to existing studies of (free church) mission in the West.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Did the Labour Party, in Morgan Phillips' famous phrase, owe 'more to Methodism than Marx'? Were the founding fathers of the party nurtured in the chapels of Nonconformity and shaped by their ...emphases on liberty, conscience and the value of every human being in the eyes of God? How did the Free Churches, traditionally allied to the Liberal Party, react to the growing importance of the Labour Party between the wars? This book addresses these questions at a range of levels: including organisation; rhetoric; policies and ideals; and electoral politics. It is shown that the distinctive religious setting in which Labour emerged indeed helps to explain the differences between it and more Marxist counterparts on the Continent, and that this setting continued to influence Labour approaches towards welfare, nationalisation and industrial relations between the wars. In the process Labour also adopted some of the righteousness of tone of the Free Churches. This setting was, however, changing. Dropping their traditional suspicion of the State, Nonconformists instead increasingly invested it with religious values, helping to turn it through its growing welfare functions into the provider of practical Christianity. This nationalisation of religion continues to shape British attitudes to the welfare state as well as imposing narrowly utilitarian and material tests of relevance upon the churches and other social institutions. The elevation of the State was not, however, intended as an end in itself. What mattered were the social and individual outcomes. Socialism, for those Free Churchmen and women who helped to shape Labour in the early twentieth century, was about improving society as much as systems.
Many of the key improvements to social conditions in the United Kingdom have been made by Christians. Most of us would be able to think of such key Anglican figures as William Wilberforce, Anthony ...Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury or Dr Thomas Barnardo, but lesser known contributions were made behind the scenes by significant members of the Non-Conformist Churches. This book traces the Free Church contribution to society from 1800 to the present day. It looks at the work of campaigners, co-operative societies, philanthropists and politicians, and traces the ways in which conditions in slums, education, and industry were improved, including work with women and with black and ethnic minorities.  There is a growing interest in the part the churches can play today in community development and in the building of social capital. This book will show that some of the things now seen as government initiatives had their origins in the work of Free Church pioneers.
Tulisan ini membahas sejarah perkembangan musik gerejawi dalam konteks gereja-gereja Protestan yang bersifat independen (free churches) dan dilihat secara umum pada masa pasca-Reformasi gereja hingga ...masa kini. Dalam perkembangannya, ranah musik gerejawi di dalam gereja-gereja independen selalu diperhadapkan dengan adanya polarisasi pandangan, baik di dalam musik vokal (khususnya nyanyian jemaat dan peranan paduan suara), maupun musik instrumental. Penelaahan secara historis ini mengisyaratkan beberapa implikasi yang dapat dimulai dengan mengembangkan suatu sikap menghormati tradisi dan menghargai inovasi. Implikasi yang lebih konkret dari tinjauan historis ini akan dibahs dalam makalah selanjutnya.
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