Die missionale ontwikkeling van die klein plattelandse gemeentes: ‘n empiriese ondersoek na die VGKSA Vrystaat/Lesotho

𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 I sincerely believe that God wants to reach the world through congregations. Congregations small or large are God's vehicles/instruments to reach a broken world. Therefore, congregations should be missional in their identity, culture, and character. Congregations are in a particular place, time, and context, and should make a difference considering the Missio Dei. A missional church is a church that constantly discerns the question: "What is God doing in the world and how can they participate where God is at work?". Small congregations do not have to aspire to first become big to make that difference. God wants to use them regardless of their size, resources, and physical appearance. There are proverbs in the spoken language that read: "𝘋𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴", 𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴". Scripture expresses it this way in Luke 17:6: "faith as mustard seed". Mustard seeds are small, but if they germinate, they make a large tree. It is a metaphor indicating that although the mustard seeds are very small, they germinate and grow very large. Applied to the small rural congregations, this means that congregations, though small can make a big impact if they rediscover and live their missional identity. The small rural congregations of the URCSA Free State/Lesotho comprise the majority of the congregations in the Synod. Most of the congregations are in a struggle for survival and may be referred to as survival churches. The congregations are mostly vacant or served by a tentmaker or a relieving minister. The small congregation is able to make a difference despite her size and lack of resources. To make this a reality, a deep reflection is needed around questions: Who are we? Where are we now? What do we have? What does the Word say? What does God expect of us in a specific time, place, and context? Where is the congregation going? Malan Nel (2015:89) calls congregations that address these questions identity-driven congregations. A paradigm shift is needed from a maintenance church to a missionally oriented church. In other words, a paradigm shift from an ecclesiological understanding of church to a missional ecclesiological understanding of the church. This means that the church exists for the Missio Dei. Malan Nel (2015:89) emphasizes this: "It is not so much the case that God has a mission for the church in the world, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 - 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯". Small congregations can only develop as missional congregations if there is a move away from a classical leadership style towards a missional leadership style. Small congregations need to rediscover their uniqueness. Dudley puts it this way: 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘋𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺: “𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮”. Indeed, Carroll says: “𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭”. ___________________________________________________________________