The thesis argues that there is a need for Christian communal pastoral care and counselling practice beyond the individualistic Western pastoral care and counselling practices. The communal pastoral care model advocated by the author uses culturally gifted care-givers who follow spontaneous caring models. Several of the major books concerning communal pastoral care and counselling were reviewed. The author concludes that the church has been impoverished by ignoring the cultural gifts of the majority of members and the mutual communal care of the community. Pain and its healing in this thesis are understood in a culturally sensitive manner. Pastoral care must be done in context, in this case in the Vhavenda context. Hence the thesis looks systematically at the way in which the Vhavenda understand and heal pain from their cosmological perspective. The thesis engages in empirical research among the Vhavenda people using qualitative interview. The author selected five small communities to test for their understanding of pain and healing. He developed his own interview schedule. Themes encountered in interpreting the research results include pain as part of life. The thesis develops two sub-models of a Vhavenda-Christian culturally gifted model of communal care arguing the need of their incorporation into Christian communal care. They are “Kha ri vangulane” model which pictures pain as a thorn which people help to remove from a person; and the “khoro” or “dzulo” gathering which is family or community care-giving. A case study has illustrated how they are used.Finally, the author argues that the Bible is full of communal pictures which resonate well with the African people. Hence it is fairly easy to correlate the Vhavenda sense of community with the body of Christ model of Christian community as found in the Bible. The conclusion is that members of the Christian community need to reincorporate their culturally gifted care resources and integrate them with the biblical care. / Thesis (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

Text in Afrikaans / Een van die funksies van die Kerk is om vir sy lidmate te sorg. In die praktyk wil dit voorkom asof die Kerk se sorg meer gerig is op die adolessent en die volwassene. Vanwee verskeie faktore ontvang kinders baie min of geen sorg in die vorm van pastorate sorg of pastorate beraad nie. 'n Gespreksmetode van beraad slaag nie altyd as daar met kinders gewerk word nie. In die veld van die psigoterapie en maatskaplike werk word daar algemeen gebruik gemaak van spelterapie wanneer daar met kinders gewerk word. Laasgenoemde kan ook in die pastoraat met kinders gebruik word sonder om die unieke karakter van pastoraat verlore te laat gaan. Die Kerk kan langs hierdie weg ook sy pastorate verantwoordelikheid teenoor kinders nakom. / One of the functions of the Church is to care for people. The children, however, are often neglected with more attention being paid to the adolescent and adult. Moreover, the verbal approach used when pastors work with children who experience difficulties do not seem to address this fully. Play therapy, on the other hand, appears to be a useful means of addressing this deficiency. It is often used in psychotherapy and social work and can be used to good effect in the caring of the Church for children. Play therapy enables the pastor to fulfill the Church's obligation to care for children, without disregarding the unique character of pastoral care and pastoral counselling. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Women and young people who have experienced domestic violence view themselves through an abuse-dominated lens, causing thin descriptions of themselves. Research was undertaken with seven women and eleven young people to explore how they had experienced domestic violence and to co-author and co-construct new stories of identity. This research addressed how a narrative pastoral approach guides therapeutic conversations with people who have experienced domestic violence. A narrative approach has at its heart the notion of decentred practice and an ethic of care. Reflective letters after each group meeting played a central part of the research. The letters were structured to tell the alternative stories emerging during and between sessions. These stories were told and retold and in each telling the women artd young people experienced alternative views of self and joined others in this re-writing. Participants spontaneously continued to meet beyond the completion of the research / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

張亦農. / 論文(神學碩士) -- 香港中文大學硏究院宗敎及神學學部, 1997. / 參考文獻: leaves 71-74. / Zhang Yinong. / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 香港的單親家庭 --- p.5 / Chapter 第三章 --- 牧養個案探討 --- p.30 / Chapter 第四章 --- 家庭 --- p.49 / Chapter 第五章 --- 單親家庭的牧養 --- p.59 / 參考書目 --- p.70 / 附件

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-249).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-249).

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<p> With divorce rates increasing among Christian marriages, it is important to identify the significant factors of this phenomenon. At the time when this study was conducted, there was a need to explore the impact of religiosity in Christian marriages on the likelihood to divorce. Religiosity was expected to affect a couple&rsquo;s interaction, which plays a fundamental role in the partners&rsquo; relationship and marital satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine whether and to what degree there is a relationship between the level of religiosity of married Christians in the United States and those couples&rsquo; likelihood to divorce. The theoretical foundation of the study was the concept of religiosity as a cognitive dimension. The researcher collected predictor data for religiosity using the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire and criterion data for the likelihood to divorce using the Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT). The study sample was comprised of 100 Christian individuals from the United States. The data analysis involved bivariate correlations and simple linear regression. The results showed a significant negative correlation between the level of religiosity and the likelihood to divorce of married Christians in the United States, <i>r</i> = -0.26, <i>p</i> = 0.004. The level of religiosity was a significant negative predictor of the likelihood to divorce, <i>F</i> (1, 98) = 7.16, <i>p</i> = 0.01, <i> R²</i> = 0.07. The findings of this study may be used in premarital and marital counseling to facilitate marital adjustment and decrease the likelihood to divorce. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Divorce, marriage, religiosity </p>

Text in Afrikaans / Onderlinge sorg is 'n wesenlike bedieningsaspek van die christelike geloofsgemeenskap. Ongelukkig kom daar soms weinig hiervan tereg. Gemeentes het egter geleentheid om in kleingroep-verband (soos in sefgemeentes) 'n effektiewe sorgsisteem te herbou. Die toerusting van groepleiers bied voorts 'n sleutel tot die ontwikkeling van die pastoraal-terapeut1ese waarde van sulke kleingroepe. Vanuit 'n post-moderne diskoersposisie vir die pastoraat (soos dit neerslag vind in 'n narratiewe benadering) is in hierdie navorsing narratief en ko-konstruktief gewerk aan die opleiding van selgemeenteleiers. Daar is spesifiek gefokus op die vestiging van die deursigtige, narratiewe praktyk van veelvuldige refleksiewe en reflekterende gesprekke in die onderlinge versorging in selgemeentes, dus: die benutting van die selgemeente as getuiegroep. Daarmee word aangesluit by die feit dat selgemeentes 'n forum en konteks bied vir die vertelling en hervertelling van stories, 'n narratiewe proses wat die potensiaal het om byte dra tot die generering van ryker beskrywrngs van mense se lewens. / Mutual care amongst believers is fundamentally part of the pastoral ministry of the church. The situation in this regard leaves much room for improvement in many churches. However, churches have the opportunity to rebuild an effective system of mutual care through small groups (ce11s). An important key to the development of the pastoral-therapeutic impact of such small groups, lies in the training of group leaders. This research project used a narrative, co-constructive approach toward the traintng of cell leaders. It was done from a post-modern discourse position for pastoral care. The specific intent was to establish the transparent, narrative practice of multiple reflexive conversations as a basis for mutual care within church cells thus utilizing cells as witness groups. This was done as cells provide a forum and context for the telling and re-telling of stories and th1s has the potential to contribute to the generation of richer descriptions of people's lives. / Practical theology / M. Th. (Praktiese Teologie (Pastorale Terapie))

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Hierdie proefskrif het ontstaan uit die behoefte aan 'n bruikbare huweliksvoorbereidingsprograrn wat op 'n teologiese praktykteorie gebaseer is. Die proefskrif word in die praktiese teologie gedoen waar die interaksie tussen teorie en praktyk met verwysing na die huwelik bestudeer is. Hieruit is 'n teologiese praktykteorie vir huweliksvoorbereiding opgestel. In die definiering van 'n program vir huweliksvoorbereiding moet die vraag gevra word waarvoor die paartjie voorberei moet word. 'n Ander wyse om die vraag te stel, is bloot dit: Wat is 'n huwelik? Die probleem is dat daar nie huweliksvoorbereidingsprogramme bestaan met 'n teologiese basis wat gebruik kan word in die voorbereiding van paartjies vir hul huwelik nie. Daar is heelwat programme wat met verskillende vraelyste en formules byvoorbeeld kommunikasie kan verbeter; maar daar is nie programme wat geformuleer is vanuit 'n teologie van die huwelik nie. 'n Definisie vir die huwelik is saamgestel uit die beoordeling van bestaande definisies en die analisering van huweliksmodelle en -vorms. Daarna is 'n definisie vir huweliksvoorbereiding geformuleer. Hierdie definisie is saamgestel uit 'n literatuurstudie en evaluering van bestaande definisies en omskrywings en 'n beoordeling van die geskiedenis van huweliksvoorbereiding in die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk. Die definisie vir huweliksvoorbereiding word in hoofstukke 4 en 5 verduidelik en in hoofstuk 6 word 'n teologiese praktykteorie geformuleer. In hoofstuk 7 word praktiese riglyne vir die implementering van die program gegee. In die definisie word die noodsaaklikheid van interaktiewe kommunikasie tussen pastor en paartjie verduidelik en die betrokkenheid van die pastor, die gemeente en die kerk by die aanbieding van huweliksvoorbereidingsprograrnme word beklemtoon. Verder plaas die definisie die huwelik binne vier teologiese konsepte, naamlik roeping (die paartjie moet geroepe wees om die ouerhuis te verlaat om in die huweliksverhouding bevestig te word); verbond (die begin van 'n nuwe verhouding); sakrament (die huwelik wat as kerk in die kleine moet funksioneer); en liefdesgemeenskap (die stimulering van die inherente groeipotensiaal van die paartjie). / This thesis originated from the need for a pragmatic pre-marital counselling program based on a theological theory of practice. The research was done in practical theology where the interaction between theological theory and praxis with regard to marital life was studied. Out of this work a theological theory of practice for pre-marital counselling and enrichment was formulated. In defining a program for pre-marital counselling the question is "What to prepare the couple for?'' In other words, the question "What is a marriage?" arises. The problem is that no premarital counselling program based on a sound theological theory of practice (theology of marriage) currently exists that can be used as a program to prepare couples for their marriage. A definition of marriage was compiled from existing definitions and formulations which were analyzed and evaluated in terms of models and forms of marriage. Thereafter a defintion for pre-marital counseling was developed. This defintion was compiled from a study of literature; an evaluating of existing definitions and formulations; and the history of pre-marital counselling in the Dutch Reformed Church. This definition is explained in chapter 4 and 5 in chapter 6 a theological theory of practice is formulated. In chapter 7 a program is presented with practical guidelines for implementation. In the definition the necessity of interaction between pastor and couple is explained as well as the need for the pastor, congregation and the church to participate in adininistering counselling programs. Finally, the definition places marriage in four theological concepts namely, vocation (the calling to leave home and enter a marrital relationship); covenant (commencing a new relationship); sacrament (the marriage as church personified); and community (stimulating the growth potential of the couple). / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th. D. (Praktiese Teologie)