Congregational pastoral care through the lens of the Belhar Confession
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17570/stj.2024.v10n2.12Keywords:
Confession of Belhar, congregational pastoral care unity, justice, reconciliationAbstract
The Confession of Belhar, adopted in 1986 in response to the brutal and traumatic impacts of apartheid and the ensuing faith crisis of the church, demonstrates a deep sense of care for the other. It calls believers to stand with and act on behalf of those in need. Its call to stand with and as God with the downtrodden and marginalized is a call for collective and collaborative care in service of God and His creation. Through its development and content, the confession’s theology offers a potential framework for a community-oriented congregational pastoral care ministry. In this article, the author explores the development process and the content of the Confession of Belhar and argues that, as a statement of faith, the confession guides in terms of both the essence and process of a congregational pastoral care ministry.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Dawid P Mouton

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Please note that erroneous copyright information is given in the PDFs before Volume 9, 2023.