Original Research - Special Collection: The Reformation - Transformation and Change Agency

The church as a transformation and change agent

Jerry Pillay
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 73, No 3 | a4352; | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i3.4352 | © 2017 Jerry Pillay | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 22 October 2016 | Published: 22 May 2017

About the author(s)

Jerry Pillay, Department of Church History and Church Polity, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

This article traces the historical impact of the church in transforming, developing and changing society. It looks at how the church in selected periods in history, mainly in the reformation era, worked towards the transformation of society and communities. Extracting from these the author attempts to show how this can be applied to the church in the South African context. Further, the author explores the changing dynamics and characteristics of being church today and establishes that it is not so much about what the church believes, but in what it does that matters most in this day and age. The author, with the latter thought in mind, expresses that community transformation has to be an integral part of the ministry of the church today.

Keywords

Church; transformation; change agency; reformation; poor; mission

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