Browsing by Author "Chabala, Silas"

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    Affirming and Promoting the Authority and Order of the Church in the Face of Dissenting Views and Practices in Lusaka Conference
    (Adventist University of Africa, 2016-08) Chabala, Silas
    This research considered the above topic in relation to Lusaka Conference. The conference is located in the Republic of Zambia in southern Africa. Zambia has had a history of both fanaticism among church members and dissentious activism by off-shoot private ministries. While taking into account the phenomenon of dissident private ministries, the research was more inclined toward investigating the causative factors that tended to trigger dissenting views and practices among church members in local congregations. The problem of dissidence needed a methodical delineation so as to proffer solutions using empirical approaches. The above considerations led to the researcher’s employing of a mixed research approach that incorporated mainly the quantitative methodology coupled with some qualitative elements. This entailed the use of a questionnaire among members of three focus groups constituted in each of the three selected local church congregations. Orientations and group discussions preceded the admittance of the questionnaire so as to understand the churches as well as to enable the participants to yield accurate data for analysis. It was deduced that dissention in religious organizations was not unusual. The biblical records revealed a pattern symptomatic of flawed character traits among the perpetrators of dissention. Satan and human agents like Korah epitomized the aforesaid profile. The above conclusions were drawn from group discussions, the admittance of the questionnaire and intervention measures tested in the three focus groups during this research. These measures included the formulation of dialogue and reconciliation committees, teaching of selected doctrines, engendering practical fellowship and nurture as well as following the stipulated grievance and disciplinary guidelines. All these were undergirded with redemptive considerations. The results from the interventions showed a greater appreciation of church order and authority. The above program needed to be implemented by churches in the conference using, and supplementary to, the existing church structure and policy guidelines in the Church Manual.