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Month: May 2010

Die kerk: stad en sout

Matt 5:13-16.  Ons is die kerk (die kerk is nie ‘n gebou nie) op twee wyses. Kerk as stad                                                                                                                   Kerk as sout   Waar ons saamgeroep word om die Here te aanbid,...

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South Africa: The Good News

South Africa: The Good News

Every week, we produce a weekly newsletter that highlights a topical, relevant and interesting issue that affects South Africans and includes a summary of the week’s good news.
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The contribution of Appreciative Inquiry on the attitudes of church members towards a change in strategic focus

By Francois Retief

Dissertation as part of MBA studies

July 2009

The business management focus of the study was on researching the attitudes of members of an organisation towards the implementation of a change in strategic focus. The organisation studied had been a congregation in Ermelo in Mpumalanga. The possible contribution of Appreciative Inquiry as a change management model formed the basis of this study.

The proposed strategic focus of the congregation had been described by the leadership as “being a positive and healthy presence in society.” This new approach entailed a move away from an inward focus on the needs of the members of the congregation to a focus on the needs of the community.

The congregation studied has a history going back almost 140 years. Traditionally, congregations with long histories have been viewed as being extremely resistant to change. This is all because of attitudes such as “we have always done it like this…”; “our traditions are important to us…” and “this is who we are…”

The beauty of the Appreciative Inquiry model of change management is that it works with exactly these. Appreciative Inquiry calls it the “Positive Core” of the organisation. The research question was whether this model would have a significant impact on the attitudes of members when the leadership makes a shift in the strategic focus of the congregation.

The objectives of the study were to determine members’ attitudes towards the proposed change and to then determine the contribution of the Appreciative Inquiry concept of discovering the Positive Core on their attitudes.

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Verder Geluister: Joh 16: 12 – 15

Drie-eenheidsondag - 30 Mei 2010 ~ Joh 16: 12 – 15 Jesus is nog besig met die laaste dinge voordat Hy “opvaar”.  Hy werp verhelderende lig op die persoon en plek van die Heilige Gees. As ons dink hoeveel spanning en verdeeldheid die verskillende vertolkinge van die...

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PMC Southern Africa at 5 years! By Patrick Keifert

Chance encounters that later appear the work of the Holy Spirit leave me filled with wonder and gratitude. Take for instance a chance encounter at the Center for Theological Inquiry in 2000. My dear friend of blessed memory, Donald Juel, was taking a leave of absence from his teaching New Testament at Princeton, to work on his continuing project of messianic exegesis, the origins of messianic expectations in the various forms of Palestinian Jewish religion before the life and work of Jesus, our Lord and how they help us understand the New Testament record. He and I were working on a ten year project on the Bible and Theological Education funded by the Lilly Endowment through CTI. I was visiting him for our continuing work and he introduced me to Coenie Burger, a member of the faculty at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Donald, in his usual unassuming but gleeful way suggested Coenie and I might have some things in common. So, while Donald did some other work on our project, Coenie and I sat in Don’s office and talked.
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God sal nooit te veel van jou vra nie

Was jy al ooit in ’n situasie waar jy met nood of seer gekonfronteer was, geweet het jy moet help, maar self so vuisvoos was dat jy net nie kon nie. Lewensdruk en soms net “te veel” bring jou by ’n punt waar jy net nie die energie en  krag het om te help nie. Dit kan...

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Claassen tas mis wanneer hy oor geloof praat

Die Christelike geloof in God is soos ‘n skat in kleipotte (vergelyk Paulus in 2 Korintiërs 4:7) – kleipotte wat die aardsheid, feilbaarheid, die mensheid verteenwoordig. Claassen buit hierdie aardse komponent van die Christelike geloof uit om sy ongeloof in God en geloof in die wetenskap “met al sy gebreke”  (sy woorde) te bevorder. ”Die wetenskap is nie absoluut nie” getuig Claassen tydens die openingsgeleentheid van die Teologiese Fakulteit van die Universiteit van Pretoria. “Die volgelinge van Christus is nie volmaak nie, George”.

Claassen sonder individue verteenwoordigend van die Christelike geloof uit as geloofskwakke en misleiers. Hy tree myns in siens onwetenskaplik op om op so ’n growwe wyse te veralgemeen en gelowiges soos Angus Buchan en Jannie Pelser se integriteit te bevraagteken en hul waardigheid en geloofwaardigheid aan te tas.  Sy mening word as waarheid verabsoluteer.

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