Towards an authentic local church among the Lozi people of Western Province, Zambia

• Main Author: Chishimba, Celestino Diamond
• Other Authors: Saayman, W. A. (Willem A.)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Inculturation; Christianity; Church; Culture; Religion; Mission; Localization; Authentic; Ancestor; Sacraments; 291.096894; Christianity and culture > Zambia > Western Province; Christianity > Zambia > Western Province; Christianity and other religions > Zambia > Western Province; Missions > Zambia > Western Province; Lozi (African people) > Zambia > Western Province > Religion; Lozi (African people) > Zambia > Western Province > Rites and ceremonies; Western Province (Zambia) > Religious life and customs; Western Province (Zambia) > Rites and ceremonies; Christian union > Zambia > Western Province
• Online Access: Chishimba, Celestino Diamond (2015) Towards an authentic local church among the Lozi people of Western Province, Zambia, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/21038>; http://hdl.handle.net/10500/21038

The most important part of the research or the central part of this work is the inculturation which may be understood as the emergence of a local church in a place (Bate 1994, 100). By a local church I mean the manifestation of the one church of Christ as the community of faith in a particular context. Essential for this emergence are two apparently opposed forces whose dialectical resolution motivates the inculturation process. The first of these forces is the unifying, creative and redemptive power of God seeking the oneness of creation and salvation, so that God may be all in all. The second is the incarnational locus of all creation and salvation which moves the Word to take on flesh in a time, place and culture and the Spirit to take the church to the ends of the earth. The resolution of this dialectic may be expressed as the emergence of unity in diversity or as a communion of communities. The papal document emerging from the African Synod, Ecclesia in Africa, describes the resolution of this dialectic as showing respect for two criteria in the inculturation process, namely ‘compatibility with the Christian message and communion with the Universal Church’ (EA62; cf RM 54). These two criteria highlight the importance of unity in the inculturation process. They affirm the relatedness of all Christian consciousness, ethos and mission which is expressed so well by Paul: ‘There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and the father of all, over all, through all and with all’ (Eph 4: 6). === Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology === D. Th. (Missiology)