Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

R. Clifford Jones

Second Advisor

Trevor O'Reggio

Third Advisor

Martin Klingbeil

Abstract

Problem

Most Adventist churches in South Africa live in isolation from their communities. Christianity in general and Adventism in particular are becoming irrelevant to the needs of the church, with serious implications for church growth.

Methodology

Tembalethu Adventist church in Gugulethu Township in South Africa was used to pilot a community services program by adopting a school nearby. A mixed approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used. This consisted of structured interviews, both personal and by telephone, and questionnaires. An analysis of a government census was also done.

Results

Tembalethu started an after-care program which was attended by 150 learners. The program has been running for more than three months (as of the date of the dissertation) and accepted with enthusiasm by the school.

Conclusions

The Adventist Church has to create an awareness of the importance of community involvement. Meeting the needs of the learners is the only way they will have interest in Christianity and the Church.

Subject Area

Thembalethu Seventh-day Adventist Church (Gugulethu, South Africa); Seventh-day Adventists--South Africa--Gugulethu; Mission of the church; Community-based social service; Church and the world; ublic relations

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/632

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