The agency of the church during COVID-19 and beyond: Koinonia and ubuntu in the context of poverty and unemployment in South Africa
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
Field | Value | |
Title | The agency of the church during COVID-19 and beyond: Koinonia and ubuntu in the context of poverty and unemployment in South Africa | |
Creator | Ngcobo, Themba E. Mashau, Thinandavha D. | |
Description | The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted, affected and changed human lives in many ways, namely: physically, emotionally, financially, psychologically and spiritually. Apart from people losing their lives and the lives of loved ones, others lost their jobs in numbers. Poverty levels and unemployment increased during this period. In order to mitigate the devastating effects of COVID-19, the South African government introduced a relief grant. As we welcome this gesture of goodwill by government, it is argued in this article that the church in every given locality and from every denomination should serve as the agency of change in order to alleviate poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The research question that this article seeks to address is: What role can the church play as a change agent in the context of poverty and unemployment in South Africa? Whilst qualitative literature study is undertaken to unpack issues of COVID-19, poverty, unemployment and church agency, this article is also approached from a broader missiological framework. Tapping into the resourcefulness of the early Christian church koinonia and the African concept of ubuntu, the article locates the church as an agent of change not only as a way of ending poverty and unemployment in South Africa, but also as a way meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1 (UN SDG1).Contribution: It is therefore the aim of this article not only to call for the agency of the church but to also demonstrate that Christian koinonia as a lived experience of the early Christian church and African ubuntu philosophy can serve as tools for the church to bring about transformation. | |
Publisher | AOSIS | |
Date | 2022-08-12 | |
Identifier | 10.4102/hts.v78i4.7414 | |
Source | HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 4 (2022); 8 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422 | |
Language | eng | |
Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7414/22883
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7414/22884
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7414/22885
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7414/22886
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