Abstract:
The research is a hermeneutic interpretation in practical theology on the communitas phase through which the DR Church in South Africa has been moving since 1994. It would seem that the church is currently close to the limen of reintegration at the end of such a communitas phase. A contextual analysis was made of the events before and during the communitas phase to gage the influence thereof on the section of society that falls under the ministry of the DR Church. The study upheld the hypothesis that the transitional phase that was heralded for South Africa after 1994 has placed the DR Church in a late communitas phase, before the limen of integration. In this phase, leadership identity and development could be defined more clearly in terms of a structural model as support mechanism The shift from an authoritarian office structure that before 1994 was politically entwined with the government and clearly visible, to a structure that seems to prefer to be largely invisible and without voice in the current dispensation, has strongly influenced the way in which the various offices in the church are viewed, as well as church leadership. St Paul linked leadership to the broad milieu within which leaders were required to function in the early church. This means that leadership in the church should be driven by the charismata, because it does not depend exclusively on good management. The study makes it clear that although leadership and management are related, the gift of leadership differs from management skills. As the church is responsible for assisting its members to make informed decisions in a postmodern world, strong church leadership comes with visionary leadership. With regard to contentious issues of our time, judgemental pronouncements that are made without thinking tend to push people further towards the edge of the church and the Christian faith. Leadership identity within a team (in which relationships are also important) is supported by the specialised leadership tasks for which pastors are responsible. The research sees this premise as a broadening of the Primus inter pares principal. A structural model defines the various tasks within the parish and makes leaders responsible for their work. In the process, leadership can be confirmed and empowered. The DR Church has reached a strategic inflection point in its history and to remain relevant in the future the church will have to give serious thought to paradigm shifts with regard to church leadership. Particularly in the growing number of peri-urban congregations, the church has no choice but to appoint senior pastors who have specialised leadership abilities (gifts) to lead the church in an attempt to bring order in the chaos that currently surrounds the ministry. Well-planned models for the ministry will serve as mechanisms of support and once again clearly define the identity of the pastor.
