South African people love sport. In a context where sport events like the Soccer World Cup or a Super 15 rugby match can draw crowds of up to 95 000 people, we cannot ignore the importance of sport. In contrast to the popularity of sport events and the huge crowds they manage to attract, most churches struggle to get 500 people to church on a Sunday morning.This situation raises two questions, namely: “What draw people to sport?” and “Can theology and Liturgical Studies in particular, learn something from sport?”<p< In order to pursue these and similar questions I used a practical theological model to guide me in my observation of the South African context. I’ve chosen the practical theologian RR Osmer’s model to work with. He works with the four tasks of Practical Theology and suggests four questions to guide a researcher or minister in their interpretation and response to situations. Answering each of these questions is the focus of the four core tasks of practical theological interpretation. The first question is: “What is going on?” Gathering information that helps us discern patterns and dynamics in particular episodes, situations, or contexts is the descriptive-empirical task of practical theological interpretation. I gathered information since the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010. I identified ten moments in our sport contexts that will be looked at more closely within the framework of Osmer’s model. The ten moments are: <ul> <li>the need to predict the future</li><li> rituals</li> <li>physical contact</li> <li>tribal and together</li> <li>symbols</li> <li>tole models</li> <li>performance</li> <li>the meeting space</li> <li>Godly role</li> <li>defying death</li> </ul> The second question is: “Why is this going on?” Here we try to make sense of what we’ve found. What theories might help us to better understand and explain the patterns and dynamics we’ve begun to discover? These are the key questions of the interpretive task of practical theological interpretation. Here I’ve used theories from the arts and sciences to better understand and explain why the ten moments I identified in sport are occurring. The third question is: “What ought to be going on?” This is the normative task of practical theological interpretation. Here theological concepts are used to interpret particular episodes, situations, contexts or in this study, the ten moments. The aim of this task is to construct ethical norms to guide our responses, and to learn from “good practice”. The fourth question is: “How might we respond?” This is the pragmatic task of practical theological interpretation. The aim is to determine strategies of action that will influence situations in ways that are desirable. Here I looked into the possibility of the liturgical inculturation of the ten moments. In conclusion suggestions for the liturgical praxis were made./ Copyright / Dissertation (MDiv)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Text in Afrikaans / Lofprysing en aanbidding, wat die kern behoort le vorm van elke erediens, omdat God sentraal staan daarin, en wat ook die middelpunt van die erediens van die !ewe behoort le wees, omdat dit die reaksie van dankbaarheid op God se goedheid is, word in die Gereformeerde tradisie heel dik els met groot skeptisisme bejeen. Deels gebeur dit omdat die begrippe "lofprysing" en "aanbidding" dalk nog nie duidelik gedefinieer is nie en daar dikwels baie subjektiewe betekenis daaraan gegee word. Dis 'n groat jammerte omdat dit baie van die vreugde, die hartlikheid en die warmte van byeenkomste van die geloofsgemeenskap ontneem. Verder het dit tot gevolg dat sommige lid mate - en veral jongmense - hulle heil elders gaan soek, waar hulle behoeftes aangespreek word. Aangesien hierdie 'n studie is wat fokus op die Skriftuurlike en teologiese begronding van lofprysing en aanbidding, asook die behoeftes van jongmense, word aandag geskenk aan belangrike tendense wat 'n invloed uitoefen op hulle behoeftes, voor- en afkeure en algemene lewensuitkyk. Sake wat aan die orde kom is onder andere kultuur - met verwysing na subkulture en pop-kultuur - die sogenaamde Generasieteoriee en spiritualiteitstipes. Laastens word aanbevelings gemaak oor hoe gemeentes en kerke, met in agneming van veral die behoeftes van jongmense, lofprysing en aanbidding op 'n Skriftuurlike en teologiese verantwoorde wyse kan beplan en aanbied, terwyl jongmense in die proses bemagtig word om mede-verantwoordelikheid daarvoor te aanvaar. / Praise and worship, central to every church service, as a grateful response to God's goodness and mercy, is frequently met with scepticism within the Reformed tradition. This is, partly, due to different definitions, resulting in a variety of subjective interpretations. It deprives the faith community of the joy and warmth expected to be experienced at gatherings. It furthermore results in youth having to seek alternative pastures for their specific needs. This research focuses on the Scriptural and theological foundation of praise and worship, as well as the needs of the youth, relevant trends influencing their needs, their preferences and dislikes as well as their attitude towards life in general. Aspects such as culture and the so called Generational theories and types of spirituality will come under scrutiny. Lastly recommendations are made for planning and presentation of Scriptural sound praise and worship, whilst, at the same time, empowering them to take joint responsibility. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Diac. (Jeugwerk)

Text in Afrikaans / Lofprysing en aanbidding, wat die kern behoort le vorm van elke erediens, omdat God sentraal staan daarin, en wat ook die middelpunt van die erediens van die !ewe behoort le wees, omdat dit die reaksie van dankbaarheid op God se goedheid is, word in die Gereformeerde tradisie heel dik els met groot skeptisisme bejeen. Deels gebeur dit omdat die begrippe "lofprysing" en "aanbidding" dalk nog nie duidelik gedefinieer is nie en daar dikwels baie subjektiewe betekenis daaraan gegee word. Dis 'n groat jammerte omdat dit baie van die vreugde, die hartlikheid en die warmte van byeenkomste van die geloofsgemeenskap ontneem. Verder het dit tot gevolg dat sommige lid mate - en veral jongmense - hulle heil elders gaan soek, waar hulle behoeftes aangespreek word. Aangesien hierdie 'n studie is wat fokus op die Skriftuurlike en teologiese begronding van lofprysing en aanbidding, asook die behoeftes van jongmense, word aandag geskenk aan belangrike tendense wat 'n invloed uitoefen op hulle behoeftes, voor- en afkeure en algemene lewensuitkyk. Sake wat aan die orde kom is onder andere kultuur - met verwysing na subkulture en pop-kultuur - die sogenaamde Generasieteoriee en spiritualiteitstipes. Laastens word aanbevelings gemaak oor hoe gemeentes en kerke, met in agneming van veral die behoeftes van jongmense, lofprysing en aanbidding op 'n Skriftuurlike en teologiese verantwoorde wyse kan beplan en aanbied, terwyl jongmense in die proses bemagtig word om mede-verantwoordelikheid daarvoor te aanvaar. / Praise and worship, central to every church service, as a grateful response to God's goodness and mercy, is frequently met with scepticism within the Reformed tradition. This is, partly, due to different definitions, resulting in a variety of subjective interpretations. It deprives the faith community of the joy and warmth expected to be experienced at gatherings. It furthermore results in youth having to seek alternative pastures for their specific needs. This research focuses on the Scriptural and theological foundation of praise and worship, as well as the needs of the youth, relevant trends influencing their needs, their preferences and dislikes as well as their attitude towards life in general. Aspects such as culture and the so called Generational theories and types of spirituality will come under scrutiny. Lastly recommendations are made for planning and presentation of Scriptural sound praise and worship, whilst, at the same time, empowering them to take joint responsibility. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Diac. (Jeugwerk)