Henderson, Ian Wilson

2018-05-22T12:42:31Z

2018-05-22T12:42:31Z

1997

A field-survey indicated that gesture forms used in Protestant Church liturgy arc not identified with the general culture among Kankana-ey, Northern Philippines. Based on an open-system approach to communication, the project identified two categories of gestures, ceremonial and spontaneous, within which eighteen gestures were compared between their use in Sunday church services and the general culture. In a sample of respondents, quantified data was obtained through in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation conducted in four selected congregations, within two denominations: the Episcopal Church and the Assemblies of God. These denominations represent two end points in the Protestant Church liturgical spectrum and results indicate that a difference exists in the forms used in both categories of gestures by both denominations between church and culture.

Two reasons are offered to account for this difference in findings between gestures used in the liturgy and their use in culture: the slow pace adopted by Protestant missions to contextualize the church in the Philippines; and a "culture of dependence" that still existed in Protestant churches after independence from their parent body. Further research is needed to determine the level of contextualization on other forms of communication in the church such as preaching, teaching, counselling.

The study findings indicate: that an emphasis on contextualization by Protestant misions at church planting level will help to avoid possible conflict between liturgical church forms and culture; that local church bodies must continually adapt forms of communication to the cultural context where they are located, while avoiding blandness, or the alienation of followers who are used to particular forms.

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30265

The University of Edinburgh

Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2018 Block 19

Already catalogued

Contextualization of Protestant church liturgical gestures, among the Kankana-ey people, Benguet, Northern Philippines

Thesis or Dissertation

Doctoral

PhD Doctor of Philosophy