Biblical pastoral ministry in Malta

Abstract

Sacred Scripture is an invaluable source whereby every person who desires to live an authentic Christian way of life may draw from its abundant riches to grow, mature and be transformed by the guiding Word of God. The scope of this study is to find out to what extent the Bible is being used by active leaders within Malta's lay religious movements and the influence it is leaving on their lives and the lives of those around them. A random sampling taken from active leaders within our lay religious movements by way of a structured questionnaire, followed by an evaluation has rendered the following indications: 1. Notwithstanding the fact that in their majority, active leaders within lay religious movements in Malta claim to be Bible-readers ( q9, pp 52~ 86) their personal lives it seems are not being influenced by its message. 2. An analysis and evaluation of respondents' answers to various questions has revealed some contradictions in their claims, as a result no radical change seems to have taken place; somehow there is still resistance to the Spirit, no conversion (metanoia), no new person seems to have emerged, Sacred Scripture is still being read in a superficial manner, no serious commitment has been undertaken, neither from the practical side (biblical education, q 18, pp 167-192) nor in the spirit of the Bible message (right moral and social priorities qs 12-14, pp 89-123; q15, pp 124-166). 3. Contemporary biblical pastoral ministry in Malta is still relatively new, may be expectations from these well-meaning leaders has been too much in too short a time, a little overwhelming perhaps for certain Bible-readers. Hopefully, given time and the right disposition towards commitment, leaders within our lay religious movements will learn how to read the Bible with more sensitivity and be able to incarnate the Word of God into their lives (Conclusion pp 200-220).