Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa
Bibliography: p. 229-245.
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Religious Studies
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613212518645760 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus |
| author2 | Chidester, David |
| author_browse | Chidester, David Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus |
| author_facet | Chidester, David Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus |
| author_sort | Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: p. 229-245. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8770 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:33.381Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8770 Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus Chidester, David Religious Studies Bibliography: p. 229-245. This thesis defines conversion as a process of change management. Individuals and groups mobilise resources and formulate strategies for individual identity and group formation. Strategies are also formulated to manage the process of change for members. In the research done among two churches, one conventionally classified as African indigenous and the other classified as mainline, two models of conversion emerged, the crisis model at St John's and the growth model at the Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCSA). In the crisis model individuals join the group because of some crisis in their lives, e.g., illness or misfortune. The healing practices and rituals serve to manage and mediate the crisis for individuals. Healing is at the heart of the recruitment strategy at St John's and other African Indigenous Churches (AICs). It is through hearing about the efficacy of the healing powers of the leader that people are attracted to the church. On the other hand, the growth model as represented by the RPCSA, is about organic growth and development where new members are mostly recruited among the children of members. Children are groomed from baptism through Sunday school and confirmation classes to membership in full communion. For them conversion is a process of growth and development, where they keep on learning all the time about their faith and who they are. In scholarship the AICs have always been treated ethnographically while, on the other hand, the mainline churches have been treated historically. However, this thesis is a comparative study of the AIC and a mainline church with a special emphasis on their conceptions of conversion. The two churches are both African and Christian. They each draw from both these resources for self-definition. Christianity has become part of the South African religious landscape. None of the members in the two churches consider it as an alien or foreign religion but they consider it as an indigenous one. The two models mobilise resources and formulate strategies for self-definition and what it means to be human in a hostile environment. 2014-10-25T18:57:43Z 2014-10-25T18:57:43Z 2001 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8770 eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Religious Studies Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full | Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_short | Conversion, crisis, and growth : the religious management of change within the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_sort | conversion crisis and growth the religious management of change within the st john s apostolic faith mission and the reformed presbyterian church in cape town south africa |
| topic | Religious Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8770 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT masondosibusisotheophilus conversioncrisisandgrowththereligiousmanagementofchangewithinthestjohnsapostolicfaithmissionandthereformedpresbyterianchurchincapetownsouthafrica |