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An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

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The church as an organization <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> church as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community, part <strong>of</strong> society, is<strong>the</strong> subject <strong>of</strong> multiple expectations regarding leadership. Spiritual leaders throughout <strong>and</strong><strong>spiritual</strong> leaders today rely on a <strong>the</strong>ological context in which to live, work <strong>and</strong> makedecisions. They accept that <strong>the</strong>re are eternal parameters for temporal decision making, but<strong>the</strong>y are also required to comply with <strong>the</strong> corporate <strong>and</strong> legal policies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization,<strong>and</strong> to enable o<strong>the</strong>rs to do <strong>the</strong> same. There are some similarities in <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> wisdom <strong>and</strong>skills <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>spiritual</strong> leader <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> wisdom <strong>and</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional judgement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>health care pr<strong>of</strong>essionals. There are also differences in that <strong>the</strong> healthcare pr<strong>of</strong>essionalshave <strong>the</strong> added knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> homeostatic operations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> human body, but have torely on wisdom in <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> this knowledge. The <strong>spiritual</strong> leader relies primarily on <strong>the</strong>wisdom <strong>and</strong> guidance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spirit <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> experiences <strong>of</strong> delivering healing.The Pastor <strong>of</strong> COGIC is chosen <strong>and</strong> trained through a long process (up to seven years) <strong>of</strong>apprenticeship <strong>and</strong> a demonstration <strong>of</strong> life commitment <strong>of</strong> service to God <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> people.This training does not always include paper qualifications. The URC minister is trained fora minimum <strong>of</strong> three years <strong>and</strong> allocated to a church as an apprentice, followed by salariedemployment within <strong>the</strong> organization. Some ministers in <strong>the</strong> URC are trained in <strong>the</strong> sameway as a paid minister but appointed as non-stipendiaries. The main difference is that notall COGIC ministers go through a formal academic training program. The older ministersmay demonstrate <strong>the</strong> skills <strong>of</strong> leadership in practice but not on paper.The view within both congregations tends to follow <strong>the</strong> mainstream view outlined byClebsch <strong>and</strong> Jaekle (1983) that <strong>the</strong> four main areas <strong>of</strong> pastoral function are healing,sustaining, guiding <strong>and</strong> reconciling. Ministers with a vocational call are expected to havepersonal qualities such as <strong>the</strong> ability to heal, discern, heal, counsel <strong>and</strong> generally care for177

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