Missiones ecclesiae : 'n missionêre visie en strategie in gemeentebou ten opsigte van multikulturele kerkplanting

Abstract

The identity of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ can only be understood when researched from the missio Dei and if its calling is defined as missiones ecclesiae. The primary aim of this research is to define the identity of the church as missionary ecclesiological by formulating basic theoretical principles from the Word of God and applying them to multicultural church planting. The investigation employs Heitink's (1999) method. • The first phase of the research is a hermeneutical process that develops basic theoretical principles. In order to attain this aim, the research focuses on the occurrence of the metaphors Head and Body in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Subsequently, the research investigates the marks of the church as they are formulated in the Nicene Creed. It is firstly a historical inquiry, secondly an exegetical one looking into the occurrence of the marks in Paul's letter to the Ephesians and thirdly a verification, based on revelational history, of how the marks function in John's letter to the Ephesians (Rev. 2: 17). The study subsequently researches ministries of the church (κήρνγμα, λειτουργία, κοιυψυία and δικονία) from the Word. • The second phase is an empirical process investigating the functioning of the basic theoretical principles in a stratified sample population. • The third phase comprises of a strategic process, during which the basic theoretical principles and the findings of the empirical research are applied to multicultural church planting. Subsequently a negotiating model for multicultural church planting is proposed. Multicultural church planting is the obedient answer of the missiones ecclesiae to the command of the missio Dei. In suburban areas where mono-cultural congregations exist, the empirical observation is that they cannot survive because they do not function on the basis of a missionary ecclesiology. In central city areas where cultural transformation changes society from a mono-cultural to a multicultural context, the answer of the church of God is as follows: Multicultural church planting based on a missionary ecclesiology. This research attempts to contribute to that end.