Preaching in occasional services : A tool for changes in Church and society; A case of ELCT Northern Diocese.

Abstract

This study deals with the preaching in occasional services as a tool for changes in church and society in Northern Diocese of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Its research question is “what is the impact of preaching in occasional services to the church and society? Within this question, the study surveyed different occasional services which are mostly practiced in Northern Diocese and the effects of its preaching to the church and society. In doing so, face to face interviews, observations and existing data from different documents have been used to help in answering the research question and accomplish the aim of this study. The study revealed that preaching in occasional services is an important tool which can be used to help in bringing changes to the Church and society. It is highly needed due to the nature of the world especially in this era of globalization. Generally, the study showed that there are achievements realized through preaching in occasional services which are social and spiritual changes. These achievements can be termed as the impact or changes which can be observed behind the preaching in occasional services. Nevertheless, there is still a great possibility of making more changes in the church and society through preaching in occasional services by putting a clear emphasis on the principles of effective preaching which follows the bible teachings and considers the context.