Evangelische Missionswerk in Deutschland / Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal demostrar que las comunidades pesquisadas en la Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba (IEC) no son entes pasivos que reciben la acción de otros (ya sean líderes laicos o clérigos) sino que son comunidades sanadoras que ejercen el ministerio de cuidado pastoral a través de diversas acciones pastorales. Esto será demostrado mediante los resultados de la pesquisa de campo en dichas comunidades y su correlación con los presupuestos teológicos acerca de lo que define a una comunidad sanadora, además de los aportes hallados en el transcurso de la investigación que puedan guiar la reflexión sobre la práctica de acompañamiento pastoral en comunidades de la IEC. La tesis está estructurada en tres capítulos. El primer capítulo, toma en consideración las diferentes perspectivas que pueden auxiliar a discernir el significado de comunidad sanadora. Explora lo que significa ser comunidad cristiana desde su fundamento bíblico en estrecha relación con la koinonía, la diaconía y la liturgia; también de las categorías teológicas consideradas marcas de la iglesia como comunidad sanadora: pueblo de Dios, cuerpo de Cristo y morada del Espíritu Santo. Además de enunciar las implicaciones que para el Cuidado Pastoral, ejercido desde la comunidad sanadora, se desprenden de dichas perspectivas. El segundo capítulo sitúa a la IEC en su contexto histórico y sociológico. Ofrece una aproximación a la tradición denominacional desde su historia como iglesia, así como las implicaciones que ha tenido ese contexto histórico para la misión. Por medio de entrevistas realizadas en tres comunidades de la IEC, se procura conocer si ellas/os entienden que la iglesia ha sido comunidad sanadora, además de cuáles son las prácticas pastorales que expresan esa dimensión sanadora de la iglesia. El capítulo tercero retoma elementos de la pesquisa de campo bajo las categorías de fortalezas y desafíos, para el trabajo sanador de la iglesia y los relaciona con los aportes teóricos. Establece conexiones entre los resultados que emergieron de la pesquisa de campo con los elementos teóricos de la pesquisa bibliográfica. Esto permitió corroborar que muchos de los presupuestos, puntos de partida acerca de lo que significa ser iglesia como comunidad sanadora, forman parte de la práctica de aquellas comunidades, así como los desafíos que plantea para la educación teológica. / The main goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the communities researched in the Episcopal Church of Cuba (IEC) are not passive beings that receive the action of others (be they lay leaders or clerics) but are healing communities that carry out the ministry of pastoral care through various pastoral actions. This will be demonstrated through the results of the field research done in the aforementioned communities and their correlation with the theological presuppositions about what defines a healing community as well as through the contributions discovered during the investigation that can help guide the reflection about the practice of pastoral accompaniment in the communities of the IEC. The dissertation is structured in three chapters. In the first chapter the different perspectives that can help discern what is meant by a healing community will be considered. I explore what it means to be a Christian community reaching back to its biblical foundations in close relation with koinonia, diaconia and liturgy; as well as the theological categories that are considered marks of the church as a healing community: the people of God, the body of Christ and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Besides this I will enunciate the implications that these perspectives have on Pastoral Care carried out by the healing community. The second chapter situates the IEC in its historical and sociological context. It offers an insight into its denominational tradition based on its history as a church as well as into the implications that this historical context has had on its mission. Through interviews carried out in three communities of the IEC, I seek to discover if they understand that the church has been a healing community, as well as try to find out which pastoral practices express this healing dimension of the church. The third chapter once again takes up elements of the field research under the categories of strengths and challenges for the healing work of the church and relates them to theoretical contributions. It establishes connections between the results that emerged from the field research with the theoretical elements from the bibliographical research. This made it possible to corroborate that many of the presuppositions, the starting points about what it means to be a church as a healing community, form a part of the practice of those communities, just as the challenges that it presents for theological education.

This thesis is about a pastoral theology of participation, guided by the process of participatory action research. It explores through the lived experience of the participants practical ways of doing friendship. On this research journey, I explore the discourse of individualism and how it blinds us to our connectedness as creations in the image of God. Without denying the benefits scientific development have to offer, I argue for a more richly textured individualism, inviting concern for the consequences of our actions on the well-being of others as part of our ethical ways of being. The Fourth Century description of a Christian as `friend of God' was the inspiration for the metaphor of friendship as a powerful counterweight against the isolating forces of a culture where the distorting ideology of consumerism and individualism are prevailing. I argue for the re-membering of this metaphor for God as friend, and the church as community-of-friends. Through the telling of tales of living friendship, interwoven with and giving life to the philosophy of friendship, I build further on the metaphor for the church as community-of-friends. I propose a Friendship Position Map and the metaphor of a circle of concern, arguing that although it comes more natural to us to love those close to us, and reach out to them in friendship, in an ethical spirituality of participation and mutual care, we are to follow Jesus' example and show hospitality towards all others, including strangers and enemies. Where many authors write about the importance of community, this thesis is about how to create the nourishing community we long for. It explores practical ways in which communities can overcome obstacles in their way to connect to each other through ethical ways of loving and doing friendship. It offers some ideas about learning to be friends in the inner circles of the circle of concern with those close to us, in order to do friendship in the outer circles. I explore the role of the church and faith communities as habitat for the nurturing and/or cultivating of living friendships, in inviting faith communities to live as community-of-friends; friends of God and of one another. / Practical Theology / D.Th. - (Practical Theology--Pastoral Therapy)

This thesis is about a pastoral theology of participation, guided by the process of participatory action research. It explores through the lived experience of the participants practical ways of doing friendship. On this research journey, I explore the discourse of individualism and how it blinds us to our connectedness as creations in the image of God. Without denying the benefits scientific development have to offer, I argue for a more richly textured individualism, inviting concern for the consequences of our actions on the well-being of others as part of our ethical ways of being. The Fourth Century description of a Christian as `friend of God' was the inspiration for the metaphor of friendship as a powerful counterweight against the isolating forces of a culture where the distorting ideology of consumerism and individualism are prevailing. I argue for the re-membering of this metaphor for God as friend, and the church as community-of-friends. Through the telling of tales of living friendship, interwoven with and giving life to the philosophy of friendship, I build further on the metaphor for the church as community-of-friends. I propose a Friendship Position Map and the metaphor of a circle of concern, arguing that although it comes more natural to us to love those close to us, and reach out to them in friendship, in an ethical spirituality of participation and mutual care, we are to follow Jesus' example and show hospitality towards all others, including strangers and enemies. Where many authors write about the importance of community, this thesis is about how to create the nourishing community we long for. It explores practical ways in which communities can overcome obstacles in their way to connect to each other through ethical ways of loving and doing friendship. It offers some ideas about learning to be friends in the inner circles of the circle of concern with those close to us, in order to do friendship in the outer circles. I explore the role of the church and faith communities as habitat for the nurturing and/or cultivating of living friendships, in inviting faith communities to live as community-of-friends; friends of God and of one another. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. - (Practical Theology--Pastoral Therapy)