Abstract:
This article deals with the importance of a missional approach to the funeral and bereavement
counselling process in congregational praxis in the midst of a context of secularisation. The
creation of a missional perspective on the funeral and bereavement counselling could support
the nature and praxis of a congregation in a secular society, especially if the congregation
finds its relevance in the expression of the missio Dei. The basic theoretical research for
missional ecclesiology, which is the systematic study directed toward greater knowledge of
the fundamental aspects of missional ecclesiology (National Science Foundation 1953:38), is
based on the premise that God is the source of all missions. The expression missio Dei means
to join God in the mission he is already busy with in the world. As the one who sends, God
the Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit sends the church.
The church only participates in the mission God is already busy with. It is a mission that uses
both words and deeds and brings hope in the midst of tragedy. It is the hope of the kingdom
of God and the incarnation of Christ that can already be experienced and expressed in the
present. It is also the hope of the transformation of everything to form a new heaven and
earth. Hope and mission can therefore not be separated. The concretisation of the expression
of the kingdom of Christ in the world is hope, and a strong emphasis is therefore placed
on mission as action in hope. Hope must be present where tragedy reigns, and the funeral
and bereavement counselling can be used as a vehicle for this hope. Hope can then become
an instrument of healing. The church can thus participate in God’s mission in the midst of
tragedy and make an impact on society by taking on a missional character of hope.
Description:
This article is based on
research done for an MTh
degree by Peter Kotze ‘’n
Missionale perspektief
op begrafnisse en
sterwensbegeleiding in
’n sekulêre samelewing’,
Department of Science of
Religion and Missiology,
Faculty of Theology,
University of Pretoria (2014) under the supervision of C.J.P.N. (University of
Pretoria).