Christianity in Newport

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository CHRISTIANITY IN NEWPORT By BEATRICE NAMBUYA BALIBALI MUSINDI A Thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the Degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham September 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis lays the groundwork for Christian congregations engaged in mission. It emerged from my shared experience and reflections of the Christians in Newport engaged in Mission. The focal point of exploration of the thesis was how Christians in Newport in South Wales defined their Christian task and how this affected their expression in the Communities where they lived. This thesis seeks to give a voice to the views of the People in Newport. A detailed overview of the historical and current status is explored and described. This reveals a considerable change and adaptation in missiology, Church expression and new forms of church. The current experience of some groups of Christians in Newport is described based on extensive fieldwork. Three congregations are presented and analysed. The thesis concludes by sowing seeds of a new paradigm in contextual Congregational mission studies. DEDICATION I dedicate my thesis to my family and many friends. A special feeling of gratitude to my grandmother Aileni Lunyolo Pokoto (deceased), my loving parents Mikaya Balibali (deceased) and Jessika Khanakwa Balibali ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To start at the beginning, and with my initial impetus to begin on such a venture, I thank gratefully Archbishop Rowan Williams, who offered me such encouragement and who freely gave his essential support to me to undertake this study. It would not have been possible to carry out the painstaking and intensive Fieldwork without the assistance and the welcomes of so many of the members of the Christian Congregations of Newport. These people participated with me in the Fieldwork Study, sometimes as my willing sounding-boards, sometimes by giving me their liberal and thoughtful assistance; all were very generous with their time and within providing stories and ideas; the information which I needed. They gave to me in a way that I can never adequately repay. In particular I would like to thank the late Tim Pratt; members of Nant Coch Church; Father John Kelly; members of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church; and the Pastors and members of The Kings Church. I thank my supervisor, Prof. Martin Stringer for the patient guidance, encouragement, support and advice he has provided to me throughout my years as one of his students. My completing the writing up of this work would have been all the more difficult and slower were it not for the FCJ Sisters and all the Staff at Stella Maris Convent. They provided me with excellent facilities and a conducive atmosphere in which to finish my revisions on the final drafts. I am indebted to Peter Smith; June Binfield; Michael Hawthorne; and Keith Williams for helping me with the proofing of the papers. I must also acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of Keith Williams and Dr Susan Williams. Their kind support, friendship and encouragement are greatly appreciated. Above all I must express my gratitude to my family; to my husband Philip, and to my three children, Rachel, Hannah and Matthew; for their continued and unequivocal support, patience and encouragement. Theirs was always toleration and understanding as they experienced the ups and downs during my research. For any errors or inadequacies that may remain herein, the responsibility is of course, entirely my own. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 - 9 CHAPTER ONE WHAT IS MISSION 10 - 64 CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY 65 - 103 CHAPTER THREE GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 104-156 CHAPTER FOUR THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION IN NEWPORT 157 - 200 CHAPTER FIVE NANT COCH CHURCH 201 -235 CHAPTER SIX ST MARY’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 236 – 269 CHAPTER SEVEN KINGS CHURCH 270 – 301 CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSIONS 302- 337 APPENDICES 338 -340 Bibliography / Websites 342 -356 INTRODUCTION Christian mission and congregational studies are the central themes of this thesis. From its very beginning the enterprise of Christian mission has been one of the foremost characteristics of the Christian church. In the early stages it was a ‘fundamental expression of the life of the Church.’1 It has been argued that the Church’s commitment to mission is the very reason that the Church exists in the 21st century. It was Bruce who once remarked: ‘Christianity from the first was a missionary enterprise; otherwise it would not have lasted more than a generation.’2 Meyer suggests that, ‘Christianity had never been more itself, more consistent with Jesus and more evidently en route to its own future, than in the launching of the world mission.’3 Christian individuals and congregations alone, and jointly, have always been engaged in mission. The history of mission itself offers a fascinating study, the diverse motivations behind doing mission perhaps being the most interesting aspect; that is trying to understand what happens when mission is being done, what Christian mission itself is, and the ways in which it is being carried on; and why. The ways in which mission is defined influences motivations, means, the goals and the way results are measured and actions of Christians in the community. In terms of my own study, this thesis seeks to add a further dimension to this subject as it explores the nature of mission and issues in mission in the context of the City of Newport. The experience of Newport’s congregations engaged in mission is explored with the aim of establishing the models of mission being applied there, and there is also an attempt to make a contribution towards assessing the effectiveness of congregations in mission in a particular context. 1 Kasting, H. Mission. Munich: Kaiser Verlag, 1969, page 127. 2 Bruce,F.F. Paul: Apostle of the Free Spirit. Exeter, Paternoster Press, 1977, Page 63. 3 Meyer, B. F. The Early Christians: Their World Mission and self discovery. Willington: Michael Glazier, Inc, 1986, Page 206. 1 The varied manifestations of Christian mission occurring over the centuries have rightly provoked considerable amounts of lively debates and scholarly interest. These have been evidenced for example in the World Mission Conferences. The overarching research questions that provide focus for this study flow from the scholarly debate and its evidences. Thus this research asks a primary question, ‘How do the Christians in Newport define their Christian task?’ And so the prime missiological question becomes: How do these definitions affect these Christians’ expression in the communities where they live? More significantly, ‘where do congregations put their emphases: Are these centred on the individual or on the social orientation?’ More so what biblical texts have been used as foundational to their mission activities? It is questions such as these that this thesis seeks to explore. The Christian task is envisaged to be the dynamic of the congregations that enables them to move towards those outside their own groups, and into the realms where promulgation of gospel values has been sufficiently taken into consideration. This thesis will argue that congregations in Newport were perceived by me ‘to be driven by a theological mandate for them to be ‘salt and light’ to those around them; preserving, flavouring and enlightening their local communities.’4 Their strategy appeared to be for them to ‘infiltrate every nook and cranny of secular society.’5 Mother Teresa once said, ‘we must become holy not because we want to feel holy but because Christ must be able to live his life fully in us.’6 The task as suggested by Hirsch consists of ‘transposing Christ into the stuff of their daily existence.’7 This thesis seeks to explore how the Christian congregations in Newport had found ways to translate in this manner the grand themes 4 Matthew 5:13-16. 5 Hirsch, A. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the missional Church . Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2006, Page 275. 6 Web site, http://www.ewtn.com/motherteresa/words.htm Accessed 28 January 2009. 7 Hirsch, 2006, Page 114. 2 of the gospels. It is suggested by Hirsch that ‘such is the journey towards the Kingdom of God bringing redemption, atonement, forgiveness, and love into everyday life in concrete ways; and by means of working to become an embodiment of Jesus that is profoundly relational and which attracts people to new life.’8 Something often assumed in both liberal and also in some more conservative circles is that ‘the Church exists to exercise a benign influence on society, adding an extra religious or spiritual dimension to life, seeking to make society more equitable, just or simply, more Christian.’9 It can be argued further moreover, that because the spiritual manifestations immanent in

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