Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Men have been experiencing a crisis in masculinity for a number of years now. Lower income white Afrikaans men experience this crisis in a unique way. Performance, especially in the area of work, as well as being able to provide for one‟s family, are integrally related to masculinity. This study takes place in the field of practical theology with an eye on the Sunday service, as practised in the Dutch Reformed Church, as a whole. The study is concerned with the question of how the Sunday service can be used as a space where an alternative masculinity can be nurtured. In this study the researcher makes use of qualitative empirical research in the form of a half-structured interview schedule to ascertain how men in a specific lower income community experience the Sunday service in times of questions about masculinity when in a situation of work loss. The researcher focuses on two areas when speaking about the Sunday service, namely preaching and liturgy. In the interviews the researcher not only finds out about men‟s experiences, but also about their needs with regards to experiences and messages of lament and hope in preaching and liturgy. Although hope is preached during Sunday services, there is little experience of lament. There is, however a need to lament before God and this can be expanded in Dutch Reformed liturgy. A need, coupled by an experience results in a message of hope received. In the next stage a detailed look is given at the Sunday service as a whole, in terms of preaching and liturgy. Different types of preaching are studied, as well as different elements of liturgy. The researcher focuses on a need to reclaim lament in both preaching and liturgy as a way of creating a space for bring one‟s feelings and emotions before God, but also as a way of finding hope. Prophetic and eschatological preaching are ways of bringing lament into preaching. It sees the present in light of the end where God brings everything to fulfilment. In liturgy, lament is reclaimed in music and song and facilitated in rituals. The rediscovery and reclamation of lament is central to the nurture of an alternative masculinity. There are many ways of doing this in the preaching and liturgy of a Dutch Reformed congregation. The researcher gives a few practical suggestions on how to bring lament into the Sunday service. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mans ervaar al vir jare 'n krisis in manlikheid. Die mans van 'n laer inkomste werkersklas ervaar hierdie krisis op 'n unieke manier. Om veral in die area van werk te presteer en vir jou gesin te sorg, is kwessies wat integraal deel is van 'n man se ervaring van sy manlikheid. Hierdie studie vind plaas in die veld van praktiese teologie, met 'n oog op die erediens in sy geheel, soos dit in die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk beoefen word. Hierdie tesis is bemoeid met die vraag oor hoe die erediens gebruik kan word as a ruimte waar 'n alternatiewe manlikheid gekoester kan word. In hierdie studie maak die navorser gebruik van kwalitatiewe empiriese navorsing in die vorm van 'n half-gestruktureerde onderhoudskedule om vas te stel hoe mans in „n spesifieke laer inkomste gemeenskap die erediens ervaar ten tyde van vrae oor hulle manlikheid in 'n situasie van werksverlies. Wanneer die navorser oor die erediens praat, fokus sy op twee areas, naamlik prediking en liturgie. In die onderhoude vind die navorser nie net uit oor mans se ervarings van die erediens nie, maar ook oor hulle behoeftes wanneer dit by ervarings en boodskappe van lament en hoop in die prediking en liturgie kom. Alhoewel daar wel oor hoop in die erediens gepreek word, is daar min ervarings van lament. Daar is wel 'n behoefte om voor God te lament en dit kan uitgebrei word in die liturgie. 'n Behoefte, gekoppel aan 'n ervaring loop uit op 'n boodskap van hoop. In die volgende fase word daar op 'n gedetailleerde wyse na die erediens as 'n geheel, in terme van prediking en liturgie, gekyk. Verskillende tipes prediking word bestudeer, sowel as verskillende elemente van die liturgie. Die navorser fokus op 'n behoefte om lament in beide prediking en liturgie te herwin as 'n manier om 'n ruimte te skep om 'n persoon se gevoelens en emosies voor God te bring, maar ook as 'n manier om hoop te vind. Profetiese en eskatologiese prediking is maniere om lament in die prediking in te bring. Dit sien die hede in die lig van die einde wanneer God alles tot vervulling bring. In die liturgie word lament herwin deur musiek en sang gefasiliteer deur rituele. Die herontdekking en herwinning van lament is van groot belang in die koester van 'n alternatiewe manlikheid. Daar is baie maniere om dit in die prediking en liturgie van 'n Nederduitse Gereformeerde gemeente te doen. Die navorser gee 'n paar praktiese voorstelle oor hoe om lament in die erediens in te bring.

The Church of Sweden had barely 6.5 million members in 2012. Just over 1% of the members visit a church service regularly every Sunday. The number of visitors in worship services has diminished continuously for a very long time. From 1990 to 2010, the annual number of visitors at the main worship services has decreased by 50% from 9 million to about 4.5 million. The service activities can still be maintained at the current level because the many passive members still pays their membership fee. According to the national documents from the Church of Sweden the Sunday service is the most important mission. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the mission to celebrate divine worship as the official church gives local parishes and how this is perceived by the employees and the elected officials of the local parish. What are the similarities, differences and tensions between the mandate given by the Church of Sweden at the national level and the way performers perceive this? The study was based on three main documents: The Church Order for Church of Sweden (Kyrkoordningen), The theological basic principles for preparations for a new book of Common Prayer (2006), and the Explanations for the Proposal of the Book of Common Prayer. Part 1. Finally I analyzed the documentation (2011-2012) for preparation of the parish structural regulation on Northern Gotland. From these documents I formed 26 claims about the service that was presented to the informants in the attitude survey. The claims were then grouped into eight tentative quality dimensions for a "right celebrated worship", namely practical issues, faith, didactics, emotions, ethics, fellowship, diaconal issues and tradition. The empirical study was made in seven parishes in the North of Gotland. The informants were 34 employees and 40 elected officials. To this survey I added ten semi-structured interviews with the same groups. This study has essentially a religious sociological frame of reference. The main contribution of theories has been given by Grace Davie, Per Pettersson, Ole Riis and Linda Woodhead.  Davie analyzes North European churches which has or has had any ties to the State and where the majority of the population belongs to the Church, but very few members makes use of church services. Davie has described this in terms like "belonging without believing" or “vicarious religion”. Pettersson describes the relationship between the Church and the many members in service theoretical terms. He measures the quality of what the Church of Sweden offers as a service organization and from a theoretical perspective of this service. Riis and Woodhead have mainly contributed to this study through their theories about religion and emotions. The result of the study was that the elected officials were slightly more satisfied with the service as it is performed today compared with the employees. Overall, it was a surprisingly unanimous group that shall plan and develop the service. The elected officials emphasize the importance of parish church more than the employees while matters of faith are more important to the employees. The national documents often points to the importance of tradition. This ambition was not found in any of the groups in the study.