Joel Robbins (2003) described Pentecostalism as both continuous, taking into account local ontologies, and discontinuous, rupturing against certain social structures or epistemologies. He refers to ...this as Pentecostalism’s double paradox. In this framework, Pentecostalism is local in that it often addresses the questions and issues emerging from a particular context. However, there is also a global Pentecostal identity which is reinforced through conferences, mission partnerships, shared music, and sermons.
Roma Pentecostals in Southeastern Europe are also in the process of negotiating their Pentecostal identity. On the one hand, Pentecostalism is the dominant form of Christianity spreading among the Roma in Serbia because of its flexible ecclesiology, its openness to miraculous signs and wonders, its non-hierarchical structure, and its emotive personality. On the other hand, there is a rising number of mission agencies and Western missionaries working with Roma churches. Roma leaders are often negotiating what to accept and what to reject in terms of Christian theology and praxis, teaching, and programs and activities. Thus, the Pentecostal identity of their churches is being shaped in response to their own local questions and needs but also in response to the partnership from others, both through good experiences and negative ones.
This paper will explore this church identity negotiation, looking at two case studies of Roma churches in Serbia. First, this paper will establish the wider conversation in Pentecostal studies regarding the relationship between inculturation and globalization. Next, this paper will analyse some of the factors of the decisionmaking process regarding how Roma leaders decide what to accept and what to reject in terms of outside influences. This analysis will bring to the foreground the operating cultural and religious values and how that contributes to the dialectical process of Pentecostal identity.
The life stories of Roma Pentecostals in Croatia and Serbia reveal both significant hardship and resilience, which notably impacts how they incorporate a Pentecostal identity and the ways in which ...they transform their daily lives in accordance with Pentecostal theology.
A “Religionless” Mission? Wachsmuth, Melody J.
Kairos (Zagreb, Croatia),
12/2023, Letnik:
17, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
Naš je svijet pod utjecajem munjevitih promjena potaknutih velikim otkrićima u tehnologiji i znanosti, sve većim klimatskim problemima i pomacima u geopolitičkoj dinamici. Ako misiju definiramo kao ...stalan Božji rad na pomirenju, iscjeljenju i obnovi svega stvorenog, Crkva se mora ozbiljno posvetiti razmišljanju o tome što Bog trenutno čini i kako najbolje sudjelovati u tome. Dinamična misijska praksa proizlazi iz robusne misijske teologije koja promišlja o stvarnostima u lokalnom i globalnom kontekstu i stoga se uvijek mora kreativno prilagođavati. Ovaj članak evanđeoskim crkvama u Hrvatskoj predlaže da promisle o vlastitom razumijevanju misije u prošlosti i upuste se u misijsku hermeneutiku koja uključuje svjedočanstvo Svetoga pisma, kontekst i teologiju Crkve. U tom pogledu, naglašava glavno pitanje u sadašnjoj misijskoj teologiji i praksi, naime, izostanak nauka o tvorevini u evanđeoskoj teologiji. Ovo je stvorilo Crkvu s bestjelesnom misijom koja nije spremna progovoriti o današnjim krizama. Međutim, u svjetlu sadašnjih izazova, postoji i značajna mogućnost za misijski utjecaj u Hrvatskoj.
Our world continues to change as a result of things such as rapid technological and scientific advances, the rapidly spiraling climate crisis, and shifting geopolitical dynamics. If mission is defined as God’s ongoing work to reconcile, heal, and renew all of creation, the Church must spend serious time reflecting on what God might be currently doing and how to best participate in it. Dynamic missional praxis emerges from a robust missional theology reflecting upon the realities in both local and global contexts—thus, missional praxis must always be creatively adapting. This paper urges evangelical churches in Croatia to reflect on their past understanding of mission and engage in a missional hermeneutic involving the witness of scripture, the context, and the theology of the church. In this regard, it highlights a central issue in current mission theology and praxis—a missing doctrine of creation in evangelical theology. This has contributed to a church with a disembodied mission ill-equipped to speak to the crises of today. However, because of the current challenges, there is also a significant opportunity for missional engagement in Croatia.
Mission and the Reformation Wachsmuth, Melody J.
Kairos,
12/2017, Letnik:
11, Številka:
2
Journal Article, Paper
Odprti dostop
Scholarly interaction has ranged from arguing that the Reformers were indifferent toward mission to asserting that both Luther and Calvin had theologies of mission embedded in their understanding of ...the gospels and emphasis on preaching the word of God. On the other hand, during the same time period, the Anabaptists emerged as a movement with a radical and deliberate mission praxis. How can strains of a new and emerging Protestantism, in similar socio-political contexts, develop such different mission praxis? This paper explores this discrepancy between these two movements and then offers implications and questions for the 21st century church-in-mission.
Znanstvena interakcija kretala se od rasprave da su reformatori bili indiferentni prema misiji do tvrdnje da su Luther i Calvin imali misijsku teologiju ugrađenu u njihovo razumijevanje Evanđelja i davanje naglaska na propovijedanje Božje riječi. S druge strane, tijekom istoga vremenskog razdoblja anabaptisti su se pojavili kao pokret s radikalnom i promišljenom misijskom praksom. Kako strujanja novonastaloga protestantizma u sličnim socio-političkim kontekstima mogu razviti toliko različitu misijsku praksu? Ovaj članak istražuje taj raskorak između dva pokreta, a zatim nudi implikacije i pitanja relevantna za misijsku Crkvu 21. stoljeća.
Our world continues to change as a result of things such as rapid technological and scientific advances, the rapidly spiraling climate crisis, and shifting geopolitical dynamics. If mission is ...defined as God’s ongoing work to reconcile, heal, and renew all of creation, the Church must spend serious time reflecting on what God might be currently doing and how to best participate in it. Dynamic missional praxis emerges from a robust missional theology reflecting upon the realities in both local and global contexts—thus, missional praxis must always be creatively adapting. This paper urges evangelical churches in Croatia to reflect on their past understanding of mission and engage in a missional hermeneutic involving the witness of scripture, the context, and the theology of the church. In this regard, it highlights a central issue in current mission theology and praxis—a missing doctrine of creation in evangelical theology. This has contributed to a church with a disembodied mission ill-equipped to speak to the crises of today. However, because of the current challenges, there is also a significant opportunity for missional engagement in Croatia.
Naš je svijet pod utjecajem munjevitih promjena potaknutih velikim otkrićima u tehnologiji i znanosti, sve većim klimatskim problemima i pomacima u geopolitičkoj dinamici. Ako misiju definiramo kao stalan Božji rad na pomirenju, iscjeljenju i obnovi svega stvorenog, Crkva se mora ozbiljno posvetiti razmišljanju o tome što Bog trenutno čini i kako najbolje sudjelovati u tome. Dinamična misijska praksa proizlazi iz robusne misijske teologije koja promišlja o stvarnostima u lokalnom i globalnom kontekstu i stoga se uvijek mora kreativno prilagođavati. Ovaj članak evanđeoskim crkvama u Hrvatskoj predlaže da promisle o vlastitom razumijevanju misije u prošlosti i upuste se u misijsku hermeneutiku koja uključuje svjedočanstvo Svetoga pisma, kontekst i teologiju Crkve. U tom pogledu, naglašava glavno pitanje u sadašnjoj misijskoj teologiji i praksi, naime, izostanak nauka o tvorevini u evanđeoskoj teologiji. Ovo je stvorilo Crkvu s bestjelesnom misijom koja nije spremna progovoriti o današnjim krizama. Međutim, u svjetlu sadašnjih izazova, postoji i značajna mogućnost za misijski utjecaj u Hrvatskoj.
Roma communities in Eastern Europe have long experienced socio-political and religious marginalization, a current phenomenon resulting from complex factors spanning over centuries. The rise of ...evangelical and Pentecostal movements among the Roma over the last decades have contributed to social uplift and more integration in certain contexts. However, societies in crisis are often an unexpected gauge to assess realities and tensions–in this case, the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 revealed the deep suspicion and prejudice still existing toward the Roma. Nonetheless, a number of Roma Pentecostals and Baptists became actively involved in responding to both crises. First placing the relationship between religion, society, and the Roma in historical context, this paper will explore how Christian Roma reacted to the dual crises and the implications for their relationship to the wider church and society,
Since the Middle Ages, migrating groups of people, one of the largest groupings of which are now most commonly called Romani, have elicited various responses from their host communities in Europe, ...ranging from being honored musicians and craftsmen to facing forced assimilation, b anishment, sia very, or death.1 Throughout the centuries, elements of each host culture, language, and religion became tightly interwoven into their own culture, with each Roma village or group of villages differing in terms of religious expression, dialect and language, and cultural practices. ...the Roma as a pilgrim church acts as a sign and witness to the majority culture.
Misija i reformacija Wachsmuth, Melody J.
Kairos,
12/2017, Letnik:
11, Številka:
2
Journal Article, Paper
Odprti dostop
Znanstvena interakcija kretala se od rasprave da su reformatori bili indiferentni prema misiji do tvrdnje da su Luther i Calvin imali misijsku teologiju ugrađenu u njihovo razumijevanje Evanđelja i ...davanje naglaska na propovijedanje Božje riječi. S druge strane, tijekom istoga vremenskog razdoblja anabaptisti su se pojavili kao pokret s radikalnom i promišljenom misijskom praksom. Kako strujanja novonastaloga protestantizma u sličnim socio-političkim kontekstima mogu razviti toliko različitu misijsku praksu? Ovaj članak istražuje taj raskorak između dva pokreta, a zatim nudi implikacije i pitanja relevantna za misijsku Crkvu 21. stoljeća.
Scholarly interaction has ranged from arguing that the Reformers were indifferent toward mission to asserting that both Luther and Calvin had theologies of mission embedded in their understanding of the gospels and emphasis on preaching the word of God. On the other hand, during the same time period, the Anabaptists emerged as a movement with a radical and deliberate mission praxis. How can strains of a new and emerging Protestantism, in similar socio-political contexts, develop such different mission praxis? This paper explores this discrepancy between these two movements and then offers implications and questions for the 21st century church-in-mission.
Scholarly interaction has ranged from arguing that the Reformers were indifferent toward mission to asserting that both Luther and Calvin had theologies of mission embedded in their understanding of ...the gospels and emphasis on preaching the word of God. On the other hand, during the same time period, the Anabaptists emerged as a movement with a radical and deliberate mission praxis. How can strains of a new and emerging Protestantism, in similar socio-political contexts, develop such different mission praxis? This paper explores this discrepancy between these two movements and then offers implications and questions for the 21st century church-in-mission.
Our participation in God’s mission to the world is a mandate for all followers of Jesus Christ - however, our understanding of thewhat, why, and how of God’s mission is often viewed through the lens ...of immediate historical precedent and personal experience. As mission is intrinsically related to how we understand God, who we are as God’s people, and how we think about God’s purposes in our particular contexts, it is therefore important to reflect upon its Biblical, theological, and historical foundations. In light of this, the article will explore the qualitative nature of God’s mission and suggest some ways in which to think about our participation in God’s mission in a Southeastern European context.
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