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The questions of how social capital is measured and how it is generated have received ample attention in recent years. This article is an attempt at making a modest contribution towards addressing these issues and specifically also as a contribution from the fields of Liturgical and Ritual Studies. It is argued that commensality can be taken as both lens/barometer with regard to the presence or absence of social capital, as well as being a potential generator of social capital. In order to arrive at this conclusion regarding food and the eating habits of humankind, the phenomenon of commensality and its relation to social capital is approached here from three different angles, namely Social Anthropology, New Testament Studies and Ethnography

Illness is a reality that affects all people, and healing is the main reason why people attend worship services in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Ritual Studies scholar Ronald Grimes, illness is a social reality; it is socially imagined and constructed. Healing in the church is something that many believers experience, also in the context of worship and liturgy. In order to explore such healing as it occurs in liturgy a research project was undertaken making use of both empirical work and a literature study. The aim of this research was to take the light off of direct pastoral care and investigate how the liturgy affects individuals within the congregation with regard to healing. A praxis-theory cycle was followed in the research, and a preliminary liturgical theory for praxis was developed based on the insight from the empirical study and ritual theory that healing through worship entails either transformation or reconciliation.

In Zimbabwe, there are different preachers who have great names, but when it comes to prophetic preaching they lag behind as compared to South Africa, which has great preachers in prophetic preaching like Desmond Tutu. In this era, however, we are challenged with a situation of socio-economic and socio-political crisis: the enormous poverty among approximately 95% of the population. This article discusses the circumstances for prophetic preaching in the contemporary context of Zimbabwe, which are a clear understanding of the poverty position and cohesion of the church with the poor, a good understanding of the image of prophetic preaching as a specific type of preaching that encompasses the four elements of preaching: the preacher, as well as the congregation (hearers), the sermon and the Holy Spirit for prophetic preaching.Interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary implications: This article discusses the circumstances for prophetic preaching in the context of Zimbabwe, which are a clear understanding of the poverty position and cohesion of the church with the poor. In our analysis of prophetic preaching in Zimbabwe, the emphasis is put on prophecy, healing, deliverance and prosperity. This article argues that prophetic preaching is approaching the biblical text with a view to interpret it as preaching in a context of poverty. It should be done from the perspective of the poor, therefore in terms of their need for justice and righteousness.

This research article is based on the author�s doctoral research into the question of quality criteria for Christian songs. In many Christian congregations today, the question of music is an emotive issue as the service and its music touch the heart of people�s faith life and shapes people�s theology. Of the many issues that were investigated in the dissertation, this article focuses on one question only, the question of the �cognitive� and the �emotive� value of the songs that are sung in a Sunday service. It will be argued that, in �good� songs, there needs to be a good balance between �cognitive� and �emotive� value. The general question is how to identify songs that can nurture faith and sustain people through life. Characteristic of such songs is, amongst many other criteria, a good balance between the cognitive and emotive value of the text and the tune. In the discussion, the author focusses largely on her own Lutheran liturgical and hymnological tradition as well as on the �Praise and Worship� movement which has a dramatic impact on churches all over the world. The author argues that finding songs that balance the emotive and the cognitive component is an effective way to bridge the divides on worship music within a congregation.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Within the discipline of hymnological studies, the article opens a ground-breaking new way to analyse and critique music used in worship with objective tools for analysis. This is, as far as the author knows, new for this discipline, and it also has an effect on other disciplines.