The culture of the twenty-first century can be characterized by discontentment and hopelessness, especially among emerging adults or Millennials. They are generally lost in their orientation in life and are in search of who they are. There are many challenges to identity. Relativism has caused the loss of anchors in life; and individualism in neoliberalism promises freedom but does not deliver. Postmodernism also entails a paradigm shift in the demarcation of the human life cycle. This phenomenon prolongs the transition between adolescence and adulthood. Furthermore, people are suffering under the power of a neoliberal economic system. Men and women are stressed and exhausted by their everyday lived experience. For those who grew up in the immigrant Chinese church, the issue of identity is further complexified by culture and ethnicity. Many of them have chosen to leave the church where they grew up in search of a place of belonging, a home. How can the church be that home for young adults? This dissertation argues that the church can be the caring community where they belong. Caring is paramount to those who are transitioning into adulthood. However, caring is no longer the central narrative in many churches. Today pastoral care in the church has been displaced by institutional needs and a performance-driven mentality. Therefore, theological reflection on the praxis of care in generational ministry is necessary for the Canadian Chinese Church. The message of the holistic gospel speaks of life on earth as much as it does on life after death. Notwithstanding, salvation in Jesus Christ is still the grand-narrative. It is the bedrock of all that pastoral theology proposes. This research affirms that apart from the cross of Jesus, there can be no daily deliverance. The call to care for individual needs is not to preach another gospel but to fulfill it. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Literature on lifelong learning indicates that major life transitions lead to significant learning. However, compared to learning in paid jobs, learning in and through household work has received little attention, given the unpaid nature and the private sphere where the learning occurs. The current study examined the changes and the learning involved in three aspects of household work: food work, childcare/parenting, and emotion work among recent Chinese immigrants in Canada. This study draws on data from a Canadian Survey on Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL), 20 individual interviews, a focus group, and a discussion group with new Chinese professional immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. The results indicate that food work and childcare increased dramatically after immigration due to a sudden decline of economic resources and the lack of social support network for childcare. Emotion work intensified due to the challenges in paid jobs and the absence of extended families in the new homeland. To adapt to the changes in their social and economic situations, and to integrate into the Canadian society, Chinese immigrants learned new beliefs and practices about food and childrearing, developed new knowledge and skills in cooking and grocery shopping, in childcare and disciplining, in solving conflicts with children and spouses, and in transnational kin maintenance. In addition, the Chinese immigrants also developed new views about family, paid and unpaid work, meaning of life, and new gender and ethnic identities. However, these dramatic changes did not shatter the gendered division of household work. Both the qualitative and the quantitative data suggest that women not only do more but also different types of household tasks. As a result, it is not surprising that both the content and the ways of learning associated with household work varied by gender, class, and ethnicity. By exploring learning involved in the four dimensions of household work: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, this dissertation demonstrates that learning is both lifelong and lifewide. By making household work visible, this research helps make visible the value of the unpaid work and the learning involved in it.

Literature on lifelong learning indicates that major life transitions lead to significant learning. However, compared to learning in paid jobs, learning in and through household work has received little attention, given the unpaid nature and the private sphere where the learning occurs. The current study examined the changes and the learning involved in three aspects of household work: food work, childcare/parenting, and emotion work among recent Chinese immigrants in Canada. This study draws on data from a Canadian Survey on Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL), 20 individual interviews, a focus group, and a discussion group with new Chinese professional immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. The results indicate that food work and childcare increased dramatically after immigration due to a sudden decline of economic resources and the lack of social support network for childcare. Emotion work intensified due to the challenges in paid jobs and the absence of extended families in the new homeland. To adapt to the changes in their social and economic situations, and to integrate into the Canadian society, Chinese immigrants learned new beliefs and practices about food and childrearing, developed new knowledge and skills in cooking and grocery shopping, in childcare and disciplining, in solving conflicts with children and spouses, and in transnational kin maintenance. In addition, the Chinese immigrants also developed new views about family, paid and unpaid work, meaning of life, and new gender and ethnic identities. However, these dramatic changes did not shatter the gendered division of household work. Both the qualitative and the quantitative data suggest that women not only do more but also different types of household tasks. As a result, it is not surprising that both the content and the ways of learning associated with household work varied by gender, class, and ethnicity. By exploring learning involved in the four dimensions of household work: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, this dissertation demonstrates that learning is both lifelong and lifewide. By making household work visible, this research helps make visible the value of the unpaid work and the learning involved in it.