This study was inspired by the ever growing need for significance expressed both by my life coaching and pastoral therapy clients as well as the need for existential meaning reported both in the lay press and academic literature. This study reflected on a life that matters with a group of co-researchers in a participatory action research context. The study has been positioned within pastoral theology and invited the theological discourse into a reflection of existential meaning. Adopting a critical relational constructionist epistemology, the research was positioned within a postmodern paradigm. The implications for meaning and research were explored and described. My fellow researchers were invited to reflect on what constitutes a meaningful life or “a life that matters” to them personally. These stories of meaning were explored and situated within personal meaning histories. Meaning discourses introduced to the discussion of “a life that matters” were deconstructed, their effects externalised and embedded in life long meaning stories. In the process outsider witnesses were introduced to these stories, enriching these as we did. Together the research community made up of me and my fellow researchers, reflected on the meaning discourses introduced to the conversation on a life that matters in this way. These discourses included spirituality, purpose, and being meaningful in somebody else’s life. Only then did the group decide that perhaps these discourses were complemented by identity discourses. When we reflected upon the value of the research process as meaning enhancing action in their lives, my co-researchers suggested that it was the reflection process which added most value to their own experiences of meaningfulness. Throughout the research process, the voices of literature were invited into the conversation, exploring their perspectives on existential meaning. These voices acted as outsider witnesses, authenticating the stories of meaningfulness which were introduced by my fellow researchers. This study may serve to revive the conversation both in the practical theology discourse and the pastoral theology discourse. It positions existential meaning within an uncertainty discourse and suggests that reflexive co-construction in the manner suggested previously, can contribute to the meaning enhancing multilogue. Meaning making is introduced in a non-totalitarian way, strongly suggesting that an experience of meaningful living is possible even in postmodern times often described as confusing and potentially relativistically or nihilistically meaningless. This study creates space for spirituality in the existential meaning conversation; perhaps even strongly proclaiming that it should be part of any conversation on meaningfulness. Meaningfulness has been introduced as a local experience devoid of the power discourses of meta narratives and do-it-yourself recipes. Local process rather than universal content was positioned as meaning enhancing in the study, thus opening space for local life knowledges and negating the need to conform to meta-narratives of meaningfulness which may in effect be alienating and disempowering in that they relegate the life knowledges of objectified people into anecdotal and fictional. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This dissertation develops a public practical theology of education. It argues that education is a practice that “schools the imagination,” forming individuals and communities to operate within social imaginaries that have been shaped by a latent, anti-material, and individualistic worldview. This project aims to show that public education is a viable site for theological reflection and that the results of that reflection can generate proposals for the transformation of both religion and education. It considers how the American social imaginary is maintained by educational practices and the ways these practices influence conceptions of knowledge and human purpose. The assumption is that the shaping influence of the imaginary is not manifested so much in the content of school curricula, but tacitly exists in pedagogical processes and the explicit and implicit goals of the US educational enterprise. Using a qualitative and quantitative mixed-method approach, the project develops the construct of conscientização natal, a pedagogy of birth with utopian anthropological dimensions. Grace Jantzen’s theology and philosophy of religion and the liberative pedagogical insights of Paulo Freire are central to the constructive work. Jantzen and Freire provide a way to interpret the telos and practice of American public education with their respective analyses of “necrophilic imagination” and “objectivizing worldviews.” Additional insights are drawn from educational sociology and history, as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Cornelius Castoriadis’ concept of the social imaginary. The dissertation begins by developing a theology of education, doing so with practical theological methods informed by liberation and public theologies. It proceeds to provide historical and cultural-sociological studies drawn from educational literature, amplified by a quantitative study of 125 survey participants on their understandings of the relationship between education and spirituality. The primary discoveries in these three studies are analyzed, then reflected upon theologically, yielding proposals for the transformation of practice and theory in both education and religion. For practical theologians, the project develops a robust understanding of practice that links patterns of action to social imaginaries, providing an example of how practical theology might consider issues of broad public concern.

I hope this study will bring hospitality into the communities of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa (EPCSA) and will also bring the gospel to the people within their context. I hope this study will not only be fruitful to the EPCSA, but also to outside readers or other churches or congregations that might experience growth in their congregations that might come with language challenges. The principal aim of this research is to develop more inclusive liturgy praxis for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa. The main focus of this study is the Sunday liturgy of the EPCSA, known as Magandzelelo Ekerekeni. Magandzelelo Ekerekeni is a Sunday liturgy for the EPCSA and is exclusively in the Tsonga language. It consists of five (5) Sunday orders of service, i.e. one for each Sunday of the month. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis and the church to the readers. The motivations for the chosen research are discussed as well as the relevance and the importance of the research. This chapter also states its aims and objectives of the research, the problems to be researched, methodologies and the expected outcomes. Chapter 2 introduces the history of the church (EPCSA), looks at the profiles of the founders of EPCSA and the possible influence they might have had on the Sunday liturgy of EPCSA. This chapter also considers the influence of the community on the development of the EPCSA in the past. Chapter 3 introduces the liturgy of EPCSA; it looks at John Calvin‘s view on liturgy and his influence in the EPCSA, discusses the historical development of the liturgy of EPCSA, analyses the liturgical inculturation in the township and city churches within EPCSA and concludes with a critical review of the liturgy. Chapter 4 shares Paul‘s theology of being inclusive and how South Africa‘s democracy helps us in this regard (Truth and Reconciliation Commission). This chapter also discusses Christology and inculturation from a biblical perspective and concludes with inculturation and liturgy. Chapter 5 concentrates on data collection and discusses the methodology considered, the ministers‘ view on the inculturation of the church‘s Sunday liturgy, compares the data collected from individual church members found in townships as well as in the villages, provides a brief detail on the meaning and methods of EPCSA and concludes with areas in the EPCSA in need of inculturation based on the collected data. Chapter 6 discusses the findings of the study and the challenges to the EPCSA liturgical team in the twenty-first century and multicultural context found in the church. To give the readers a brief idea on the structure, management and values of the church, I share a quotation from the general secretary‘s office. I found this to be very important to offer background to what I am working with and the kind of Presbyterian Church I am working with: Quote from the office of the general secretary of the church: “The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa —formerly known as the Tsonga Presbyterian Church —is the result of the work of the Swiss Mission in South Africa which that began in the Northern Transvaal in 1875. The gospel was first proclaimed to the Shangaans people by two Basotho evangelists, seconded by the Parish Evangelical Missionary Society. A Network mission station was established in the northern and eastern parts of the Transvaal. As Whilst the rapid growth of the mining industry drew many people to the towns, congregations were established in the Pretoria Reef and later the Welkom (Orange Free State) areas (Orange Free State) and also in Zululand. The church became autonomous in 1962, but still relied on the Swiss churches for financial support. Tsonga is the official language of the church. 1 The church confesses one universal faith, this faith being in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the World: the same Jesus whom God revealed Himself. The church, therefore, worships the ONE GOD, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it strives to foster the advent of the Kingdom on earth and to prefigure God‟s new creation. I acknowledge her (EPCSA) dependence on the Word of God, as contained in the Scripture of the OLD and New Testament. This Word stands in judgment over the Church and constitutes the only foundation of faith and life. She (EPCSA) confesses the faith proclaimed by the early church as embodied in the declaration of the Ecumenical Synods and represented by the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. These are considered to constitute a witness and test of its faith, which the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples and are still confirmed by the Holy Spirit in the church. Activities and priorities:  Evangelism: planting of new churches;  Promoting of spiritual growth of the church;  Playing a leading role in health matters in the battle against HIV/AIDS,  malaria etc.;  Empowerment of ministers—lay preachers and administrative staff with management skills;  Health matters;  Addressing poverty and unemployment.” A quote such as the above from the general secretary of the EPCSA is informative for this research because it provides an understanding of what the church stands for and what its aims are. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Practical Theology / MA / Unrestricted

The foundational hypothesis to this study is that congregations which have a healthy perception and a greater understanding of conflict will develop more effective responses to conflict that will translate into more effective conflict resolution and reconciliation. The process and sustainability of the development of a missional church, the context of the study, is pregnant with potential conflict. Untamed conflict has the propensity to retard, jeopardise or even destroy the development of a missional church. When conflict arises, it must be understood and dealt with theologically. The inherent problem is that conflict appears to be neither understood nor appreciated sociologically and theologically. This knowledge and praxis vacuum has the potential for conflict to translate into inappropriate or ineffective responses that do not always make for effective resolution and reconciliation. The research focuses mainly on an empirical study based on the four practical theological questions of Osmer (2008). Participants for this study were randomly selected from specific sectors of Methodist congregations in the wider Pretoria area. The research explores congregants’ perceptions, understanding and views of conflict; their responses to conflict; and some felt and observed outcomes of conflict. The presupposition is that the development of the local missional church would be more effective and efficient when the management and process of conflict resolution and reconciliation are well led and well managed. This study confirmed that conflict, despite its normalcy and necessity, carries a negative undertone and is mostly avoided in congregations. This is compounded by the evidence that there is little, if any, theological or scriptural understanding of conflict. There is also no indication that churches intentionally and purposefully educate their members to appreciate and understand conflict. In so doing, churches are harming their innate calling as the glory and manifestation of God’s divine grace through faith communities for the transformation of all peoples. Yet, the church understands the dangers of unhealthy conflict, and on occasion even expects conflict to arise, although deeming it inappropriate. Practical theological discernment is sought as to why this may be so and remedial action is proposed to address the problem of conflict within congregations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

This study sought to find out if there is a correlation between the wellbeing and work performance of Christian managers and support from their families. Based on Don Browning’s revised correlation approach to practical theology, the study employed a mixed methods research design (quantitative and qualitative). This study involved an empirical study with thirty-two (32) Christian managers in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. The participants in the empirical study either completed a questionnaire or participated in an interview. Additionally, six biblical leaders and other key scriptures were selected to draw theological principles related to Christian managers’ wellbeing and work performance in relation to family support. The results revealed that Christian managers’ experiences at work, at home and at church affect their physical, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual wellbeing; wellbeing affects the work performance of Christian managers, family support plays a significant role in the wellbeing and work performance of Christian managers; most Christian managers do receive support from their families, but families can do much more; Christian managers have a role to play in gaining support from their families; the church has a part to play in enhancing family support to address the wellbeing needs and work performance of Christian managers. Based on the findings, the study culminated in the designing of a model to enhance the wellbeing and work performance of Christian managers, which can be used by Christian managers, Christian managers’ families and Christian practitioners such as pastors and counsellors. Osmer’s four tasks of practical theology were found to be especially useful for pastoral intervention. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / University of Pretoria / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Humility is an integral virtue within Benedictine spiritual traditions. It is also the subject of a burgeoning body of empirical literature in the field of psychology. This dissertation undertakes an interdisciplinary dialogue between Benedictine spirituality and contemporary psychological science, exploring the potential for both fields to mutually inform as well as critique respective understandings of humility. Scholarship in Benedictine spirituality has not shown substantial engagement with the field of psychology around the topic of humility since the 1980’s. Likewise, no in-depth analysis of the Benedictine spirituality of humility has been conducted within psychology, despite increasing interest in interdisciplinary projects among psychologists of spirituality and religion. In the body of this dissertation, chapter one sets out to locate this project within the disciplines of practical theology, spirituality studies, and the psychology of religion and spirituality. It also describes the methods used in this dissertation, with particular focus on the dynamics of mutually critical correlation, a method that gives room for both fields to inform, critique, and question the other around their positions regarding the theory and practice of humility. Chapter two presents an in-depth exploration of Benedictine humility, focusing in particular on themes in the Rule of St. Benedict as well as different contemporary interpretations of humility that have emerged over the last thirty years. Chapter three then offers an exploration of the contemporary state of the psychology of humility, documenting the growing body of research on this subject over the last two decades. Chapter four moves into the interdisciplinary analysis of this dissertation, inquiring how contemporary psychological research on humility could potentially inform Benedictine spirituality. Chapter five then switches to consider how insights and perspectives on humility from Benedictine traditions can also inform theoretical perspectives on humility within psychology, as well as applications in psychological interventions that integrate spirituality. Finally, a concluding chapter highlights some points of learning regarding interdisciplinary research on humility in spirituality and psychology, along with questions for future research and a final selection of key points for practice in both fields.

Magister Artium - MA / This study is situated in the field of Practical Theology with specific reference to empirical studies on the God-images that lay people operate with in their daily lives. It is often observed in the discourse on theology and development that the images people hold of God reflect a sense of power or powerlessness but may also influence the way lay people respond to their social environment. This applies irrespective of religious or denominational affiliation, age group, gender, occupation or socio-economic standing. In particular, this study focusses on two congregations, namely St Dominic’s Anglican Church and the Pentecostal Protestant Church, both located in Hanover Park. These are selected because they represent diverging theological traditions that may or may not shape people’s God-images. The assumption is that whether people see God as law-giver and law-enforcer, a strict judge, an advisor, an advocate, a close friend, a problem-solver or dispenser of goods and services, that this would make a significant difference to how people view themselves in relation to their world. Whilst this interest in understanding the types of God-images and the influence these God-images might have on particular groupings of people is not new, the interest in God-images is new within the field of practical theology (Counted 2015; Hoffman 2005; Lawrence 1997). The God Image Scale that was developed by Richard T. Lawrence (1997), is used in this study. Lawrence (1997:214) a Roman Catholic priest, who served as a pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Baltimore Maryland, developed two instruments namely the God-Image Inventory (GII) and the God Image Scales (GIS). Whilst the GII is used within clinical and pastoral counselling, the GIS has been more widely used in empirical studies in the field of religious psychology and, especially in North America, on the ways in which images of God function amongst specific groups of people. These instruments have not been widely used in the African or the South African contexts although Africa is widely regarded as “notoriously religious”. Such findings on God-images may be significant for Christian education in violence-ridden communities, not only in Hanover Park. The significance of this study on God-images within a specific community context is tied to the complexities of attempting to measure the quality of an individual’s God- image across different denominations, religious beliefs, religious practices and religious educational frameworks. Of equal importance is the need to distinguish between the influence that different doctrinal teachings and religious practices have on the formation of God-images and God-concepts. Whilst people who are social beings learn from their contexts, are influenced by their experiences and make choices based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, the corpus of God-image literature recognises the pivotal role and influence that one’s God-image have on religious knowledge, attitudes and behaviours within any given context.

This dissertation develops a liberationist practical theology of white emotioned resistance to critical anti-racist education. Its central argument is that white resistant discourse and emotional reactions in response to anti-racist pedagogy reflect the influence of social location on white people's psychological development, which forms comfortable intuitive attachments to the white hegemonic social milieu. These attachments constitute psychic incentives to preserve that milieu, which operate alongside conscious anti-racist commitments, resulting in disorientation and distress when the contradictions between those motivations are exposed in anti-racist classroom settings. This psychodynamic analysis serves as the basis for examining the theological implications of white resistance and, by extension, white social formation, which devalues mutual encounter across difference and constrains white people's ability to conceptualize shared culpability in generating oppressive social norms. This dissertation employs an interdisciplinary method that integrates theories of social practice, critical whiteness theory, and developmental psychology. The first chapter examines the relationship of habitual practices to structures of oppression, drawing upon Sally Haslanger’s theory of practice and Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of habitus. The second chapter reviews qualitative research conducted in the field of multicultural anti-racist education, which analyzes white resistant behaviors and discursive patterns in the classroom. The third chapter engages with critical whiteness scholars Barbara Applebaum, Jennifer Mueller, and Linda Martín-Alcoff, specifically as they theorize the nature of white resistance as a series of strategies to preserve moral identity and social power. The fourth chapter responds to these theories with a psychodynamic approach developed in conversation with Phillis Sheppard’s reformulation of Heinz Kohut’s self psychology. This analysis is followed in the fifth chapter by a theological interpretation of white resistance and the oppressive potential of social norms, drawing upon the work of Willie James Jennings, Katie Walker Grimes, and Mayra Rivera. The final chapter outlines pastoral and pedagogical concerns relevant to helping white people process the vulnerability inherent in having one’s sense of self implicated in structural oppression. Analyzing white resistance through a psychodynamic lens provides new directions for research within practical theology and critical whiteness studies on strategy and efficacy of anti-racist pedagogy.

This dissertation is about the future of church in the United States. In it I argue that practical ecclesiological reflection on new churches in Seattle yields promising proposals for viable, faithful, ecclesial forms of missional engagement fitting for the U.S. church’s emerging context. In response to the significant decline in religious affiliation and participation in the U.S., major efforts in church planting are underway, but there is little scholarly research on these efforts. Moreover, the literature supporting church planting reflects insufficiently robust ecclesiological and missiological reflection. This dissertation utilizes mixed methods fieldwork and multi-disciplinary analysis to identify and assess the dominant models among new Seattle churches and offers practical wisdom for the U.S. church in its task of ecclesial witness. Within the dissertation I identify national trends exemplified by Seattle that make it a suitable proxy for the emerging U.S. context: urbanization, progressive values, technological culture, and post-Christian culture. On the basis of my fieldwork and the New Seattle Churches Survey that I fielded, I develop the four practical ecclesiological models that I discern among these churches: Great Commission Team, Household of the Spirit, New Community, and Neighborhood Incarnation. I then employ four core ideas of missional theology (missionary Trinity, missio dei, Jesus as paradigm for mission, and the missionary nature of the church) and four priorities for missional church planting (discerning God’s initiatives, neighbor as subject, boundary crossing, and plural leadership that shapes an environment) as a basis for assessment. I find that the Neighborhood Incarnation model best embodies these missional ideas and priorities. In conclusion, I propose practices for renewing each model and highlight five threads of practical wisdom for ecclesial witness: 1) embracing local identity and mission, 2) cultivating embodied, experiential, everyday spirituality, 3) engaging community life as means of witness and formation, 4) prioritizing hospitality as a cornerstone practice, and 5) discovering ecclesial vitality in a diverse ecclesial ecology. / 2023-01-25T00:00:00Z

This practical theological study draws on the theological method of Don S. Browning to implement a mutually critical correlation between the everyday experiences of people with disabilities depicted in six case study narratives and selected texts of two mystical authors, Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. The study brings to light the harsh everyday reality of living with a physical disability, articulates disability as a practice, and outlines the operative effective history of the United States associated with physical disability. This operative history has long kept the harsh reality of embodied vulnerability hidden from view and thus has contributed to the marginalization of people with disabilities. The critical dialogue between the narratives of persons with disabilities and the selected mystical texts provides a new hermeneutical lens through which to read mystical theology and reveals insights into embodiment and marginalization that bear implications for spirituality studies, disability studies, and practical theology. This dissertation argues that scholars in disability studies neglect embodied vulnerability when they define disability only as a social construction. Chapter One proposes that disability is both a social construction and a biological reality. The next chapter illustrates that people with disabilities still experience existential absurdity and that predominant norms in the United States (however unconscious) continue to try to conceal or avoid the negative effects of embodied difference. The study then analyzes the themes of embodiment and marginalization in the mystical theologies of Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. Chapter Three reveals that Julian’s relational conception of the Trinity and God’s immanence in the humblest of needs offer ways to establish dignity for people with disabilities. Chapter Four shows that mystical prayer provides impetus for Teresa’s work as a social reformer, which challenges sixteenth century Spain to welcome conversos and value women. The final chapter shows that the mutually critical conversation offers a starting point for building theological constructs of embodied spirituality to respond to the avoidance of embodied vulnerability and the challenges of living with physical disability.