Using the report on the training of elders and deacons of Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ to illustrate the attributes of informal education

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Using the report on the training of elders and deacons of Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ to illustrate the attributes of informal education
 
Creator Rivombo, Alfred M.
 
Subject Education training of elders and deacons; informal education; formal and informal dynamics; training report; servant leadership
Description The ineffectiveness of some elders and deacons of Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ to implement their functions and duties contributed to the deterioration of the spiritual and material sustainability of the church. To counteract this corrosion, the church established a training team that instituted an informal programme as a means of revitalising elders and deacons. After running a pilot project to test the training programme, the team presented its report to the General Church Assembly. A selective interpretation of informal education can contribute to a misguided and limited perception of informal knowledge and acquisition as uncivilised and unsustainable. In this article, the researcher seeks to articulate the formal and informal dynamics of informal education. He employed an exploratory concurrent design of mixed methods research within an indigenous paradigm to analyse the report on training of elders and deacons. The researcher used a convenience sampling strategy to select the authors of the report, namely four trainers and four trainees, with whom he conducted a focus group discussion. Although strategically formulated, the learning activities and resources were continuously innovated in the informal programme for elders and deacons. The conclusion reached is that the learning process in informal education is flexible and mutually edifying for educators and trainees.Contribution: Education for the proclamation of the gospel and church governance is not intended exclusively for ministers or theologians. Despite their diversity, elders and deacons need to be educated on the proclamation of the gospel according to the teachings of their church, using their respective contexts. Informal education, which comprises formal and informal dynamics, can contribute towards addressing the problem of untrained elders and deacons.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Rev JM Motloba
Date 2024-01-15
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — focus group discussions; report analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v80i2.8961
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 80, No 2 (2024); 10 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/8961/26266 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8961/26267 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8961/26268 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8961/26269
 
Coverage Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ in South Africa 21st century 5 males and 3 females between the age of 30 and 50 years
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Alfred M. Rivombo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT