Original Research - Special Collection: Belief - church and community

The real crisis of the church

Wim A. Dreyer
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 71, No 3 | a2822 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v71i3.2822 | © 2015 Wim A. Dreyer | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 15 September 2014 | Published: 21 May 2015

About the author(s)

Wim A. Dreyer, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

What is the real crisis of the church? Very often, clergy, churches and congregations experience a ‘crisis’ only when membership is in decline, resulting in financial hardship. Crisis is limited to stress which the church as institution experiences when structures, finance and traditions are under pressure. In this contribution, the point is argued that the real crisis of the church is not to be found in institutional challenges, but in the inability of the church to be what it already is. With reference to Karl Barth’s ecclesiology, this contribution departs from the assumption that the real crisis of the church is not only to be found in external circumstances and influences, but is primarily a question of the church not being able to ‘be church’. Continued reformation of the church is of utmost importance.

Keywords

Church crisis; Apostolicum; Karl Barth; ecclesiology

Metrics

Total abstract views: 6328
Total article views: 8785

 

Crossref Citations

1. Covid-19 Pandemic and the Church in Kenya in the Context of Modern Information Communication Technology
Peter J. Bwire
African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research  vol: 8  issue: II  first page: 138  year: 2024  
doi: 10.71064/spu.amjr.8.II.250

2. Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda: W.A. (Wim) Dreyer and the reformation of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa
Johan M. van der Merwe
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 79  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v79i1.8908

3. Faithful hiring: An exploration of pastoral hiring within the Canadian Evangelical Church
Christopher R. Bonis, Marilyn Naidoo
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 79  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v79i1.8923

4. Mutual care within church congregations based on the paradigm of the family of God
Rika Roeland, Gert Breed, Rudy A. Denton
Verbum et Ecclesia  vol: 46  issue: 1  year: 2025  
doi: 10.4102/ve.v46i1.3356

5. A traditional protestant church experiencing substantial membership decline: an organizational strength analysis and observations to attend or leave the institution
David Fowler, Jon Musgrave, Jill Musgrave
International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior  vol: 23  issue: 3  first page: 207  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1108/IJOTB-02-2019-0012

6. Framework for churches’ response to pandemics: based on a case study on impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on Christians in Zvishavane, Zimbabwe
F. Matsveru, D. Matsveru
Cogent Arts & Humanities  vol: 12  issue: 1  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/23311983.2025.2456344

7. Determinants for the Development of the Activity of the Catholic Church in Poland in the Field of Social Communication
Sławomir Gawroński, Dariusz Tworzydło, Kinga Bajorek
Religions  vol: 12  issue: 10  first page: 845  year: 2021  
doi: 10.3390/rel12100845

8. Observing systemic conflict: The emotional affect on pastors in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa
Frederick J. Labuschagne, Petrus L. Steenkamp
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 79  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v79i4.8780

9. Observing systemic conflict: The emotional affect on pastors in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa
Frederick J. Labuschagne, Petrus L. Steenkamp
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 79  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v79i1.8780

10. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 in the spiritual life of the Church community
Thandiwe Nonkululeko Ngema, Zanele Gladness Buthelezi, Dumisani Wilfred Mncube
Pharos Journal of Theology  issue: 102(2)  year: 2021  
doi: 10.46222/pharosjot.102.27

11. Responding to the crisis: Implications of the challenges and opportunities of being a Church during COVID-19
Dumisani Wilfred Mncube, Thandiwe Nonkululeko Ngema
Pharos Journal of Theology  vol: 104  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.46222/pharosjot.10433

12. COVID-19 Shows the Need to Make Church More Flexible
Jerry Pillay
Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies  vol: 37  issue: 4  first page: 266  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1177/0265378820963156

13. Responding to the crisis: Implications of the challenges and opportunities of being a Church during COVID-19
Dumisani Wilfred Mncube, Thandiwe Nonkululeko Ngema, Zanele Gladness Buthelezi
Pharos Journal of Theology  vol: 103  year: 2022  
doi: 10.46222/pharosjot.10347

14. The necessity of an empirical study to determine if church congregations function as a family
Rika L. Roeland, Gert Breed, Rudy Denton
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi  vol: 58  issue: 1  year: 2024  
doi: 10.4102/IDS.v58i1.3070

15. From marginalisation to mission: Akit’s indigenous ecological knowledge for transformissional ecotheology
Meilanny Risamasu
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 81  issue: 1  year: 2025  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v81i1.10076

16. The Battle for Symbolic Power: Kraków as a Stage of Renegotiation of the Social Position of the Catholic Church in Poland
Dominika Motak, Joanna Krotofil, Dorota Wójciak
Religions  vol: 12  issue: 8  first page: 594  year: 2021  
doi: 10.3390/rel12080594