Abstract
Christian Print Media in Kenya and their Coverage of Political Events in the 1980s and 1990s
Beatrice Mbogoh
OCMS, PhD
The thesis argues that the Christian press in Kenya played an equally significant role as the secular press in bringing selected political events to the attention of the public. It explores the presentation of political news by Christian publications in comparison to secular publications. The focus was on four Kenyan political events, namely, the Mlolongo 1988 elections, the Saba Saba political riot of 1990, the Kenyan land clashes of 1992 and the Constitutional Reform process in 1996.
In all, 617 articles from both Christian and secular publications were read, content analysed and discussed, and relevant conclusions and recommendations made. The content analyses indicated that Christian publications presented alternative views to those of the secular publications. The political involvement of the Christian publications brought sections of Kenyans such as clergy and opposition politicians into the limelight. Thus, the clergy stood out as key players in Kenyan politics from 1988 onwards, especially with the coverage of Mlolongo in Beyond.
Analyses of the articles allowed for comparisons in the discussions of coverage. Thus Christian and secular publications point to differing presentations of the political use of violence and power struggles as the major themes in Kenyan politics in the 1980s and 1990s. These were used by Kenyan politicians for the acquisition and maintenance of the status quo. Overall, Christian publications augmented the coverage of Kenyan political events.
This thesis adds to the analysis of political news in publications. The examination of Kenyan publications resulted in the identification of a rich social and political history, which Christian print media publicly expressed as distinctive perceptions and interpretations. The study provides a broad and exciting area of exploration, making it possible for an examination of factors key to the churches’ mission in the public forum of Kenya.
A Comparison of the Evangelical Movement in Russia in the 1920s and the 1990s
Alexander Yuchkovski
OCMS, PhD
This thesis is devoted to a comparative study of the evangelical movement in the territory of the former Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1990s. The possibility to compare the two periods is due to their common historical trends of liberalization in government policy in relation to religious organizations, as well as the nature of the evangelical movement at this time. The thesis is to identify and analyse three key aspects of the development of the evangelical movement inherent in both periods, i.e. the desires of the cultural establishment in East Slavic society under the domination of other religious or ideological systems; the dynamic development of relations with the state; and the development of church structure and solving of church matters. In the study, the author argues that the gospel spiritual awakening in the 1920s and 1990s is directly related to the temporary decline in the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, which treated religious minorities as competitors, as well as the weakness of the state ideology.
However, even after an active spiritual awakening the evangelical movement remained a minority and covered no more than two percent of the population. The author explores the relationship between evangelical churches and the state, which in both historical periods was undergoing transition and crisis. A significant difference which was found in the relationship for the two study periods is shown. The research investigates the particular church development and explains the reasons for the differences and similarities in the nature of church life and ministry of the evangelical movement in the 1920s and 1990s.
Dialogue, Argumentation, and Belief Revision: A Study of Apologetic Conversations in West Cameroon
Gary Allen Stephens
OCMS, Ph D
This work studies dialogue, argumentation, and their relationship to belief revision in person-to-person apologetics in five West Cameroonian dialogues. The seeming irrelevance of western apologetics to West Cameroonian thought is the problem that stimulated the study. The primary methodological steps of the study include obtaining meticulously transcribed scripts of unrehearsed conversations, and subjecting those transcripts to an inquiry about the presence and nature of dialogue, argument patterns, commitment, questions, rhetoric and belief revision in the conversations. These primary tools are drawn from Commitment in Dialogue (1995), Argumentation Schemes (2008), ‘A truth maintenance system’ (1979), ‘Reason maintenance and belief revision’ (1992) and related sources. The initial premise, to be tested by the research, is that those variables are discernibly present, and that the theories and data are useful in understanding the dialogues’ rationality. The second, but no less important, premise of the study is that this research contributes to an understanding of the nature and role of the cumulative case in the practice of person-to-person apologetics in West Cameroon and a relativistic world. Chapter 1 introduces the background of the research and the questions of the inquiry, which I call ‘tools’. Chapter 2 questions the significance of the tools and the analysis of the data for person-to-person apologetics in pluralistic contexts. Chapters 3–7 document the analysis of the dialogues. And Chapter 8 ends with a summary of the evidence for the thesis of the work: ‘A belief’s entrenchment, the result of argument patterns converging into a cumulative case for the belief, is primarily sensitive to understanding and revision in the context of dialogue’. This work contributes to the understanding of modern African rationality, and the relationships of dialogue, argument, belief revision and the cumulative case in relativistic contexts.
A Holistic Model of Conflicts in a Multicultural Urban Congregation in Britain: Towards a Comprehensive and Systematic Approach
Guichun Jun
OCMS, PhD
This study investigates conflicts in a multicultural congregation in an urban area of the UK. Although diverse types of conflict occur in the research field, there is no theoretical framework to analyse and interpret them from a combined range of perspectives that could produce a comprehensive account of conflict. Furthermore, there is no systematic method to classify the various types of conflict and to employ appropriate approaches to deal with them effectively. This research uses an ethnographical methodology not only to provide a description of conflict in the research field, but also to develop an original analytical tool for categorizing the multidimensionality of conflicts and to propose practical suggestions for application. For a comprehensive understanding of conflict, I used a multidisciplinary perspective synthesizing a sociological and theological approach to the subject in order to analyse and interpret not only people’s social and cultural beliefs and behaviours, but also the structural and contextual issues in the organization. I also used a multidimensional perspective to analyse and interpret multifactorial and multifaceted conflicts in order to provide a more profound explanation of the dynamics of conflict phenomena. For practical application, I established a typology as an analytical process to classify diverse conflict types according to their scales, intensity and nature. I also created a systematic formulation to suggest the most effective conflict approach and its strategies for a particular conflict type. The significant contribution of this research is to establish a holistic model which provides not only rich details of ethnographic stories for a comprehensive understanding of conflict, but also a practical demonstration of how to handle conflicts for peace-making, peace-keeping and peacebuilding in a multicultural congregational setting. This thesis is generalizable to similar multicultural Christian congregational settings in urban areas in the UK as it offers theoretically informed professional practice as well as a theoretical framework to analyse and interpret diverse conflicts in multicultural congregations
Attachment and Abandonment: A Study of Factors Contributing to or Hindering the Development of Trust and Functional Family behaviour
Carol Boyd
OCMS, PhD
This research examines the lives of individual children and adults of diverse ages and ethnicities, who suffer common and uncommon abandonment. The study employs a naturalistic ‘inquiry from the inside’ approach and involves intensive participant observation on the part of the researcher. This allows a form of research to emerge that is longitudinal and dialogical. It includes the collection and analysis of the life histories of participants and allows for comparisons and shared experiences.
The depth of involvement of the researcher in the participants’ lives, together with analysis of their experiences, combine to form a unique methodological model, generating a deeper and more nuanced understanding than commonly available of how the abandoned person views their world, while moving towards relational connection. Analysis of the life histories, field notes, observations and interviews, in concert with ethnographic field data, yields a progressive pattern of trust and development of relationships.
In this process, the language, stages and steps of a non-clinical model of intervention emerges within the life experiences of the individual participants. The resulting paradigm applies most directly to individuals challenged by abandonment, and to their family structure, with the potential application for social agencies (governmental and nongovernmental) and institutional models of care.
The research offers two contributions to the field of study addressing the lived experience of formerly abandoned children and their families, namely: (1) an extended understanding of the phenomenon of attachment through a holistic and dynamic approach to the attachment process, involving life history and ethnographic examination, and (2) a coherent model of intervention revealing the development from abandonment to relational connection. This includes responses of the participant to availability and empathy, and reveals a progression from survival through to vulnerability and trust, to authenticity and relational connection.