This is a major in-depth qualitative study of congregational use of film. The use of film by the young people of St. Quaratus' Episcopal Church, New Martinton, Pennsylvania, signals a convergence of the practice of religion and the practice of cultural consumption. What this thesis shows is that these religious young people are avid film viewers and that film functions in religion-like ways in their lives. Film operates primarily as implicit ordinary religion offering a means by which they orient themselves in the world and in a limited way as extraordinary religion, in that much of the film-watching documented herein, took place in the context of their traditional religious community. For these young people, film is a significant resource for implicit theological themes, role models and vernacular by which they orient themselves in the world and express religious meanings and values. However, although much of their film viewing takes place in the context of their traditional religious community, when assessedin the light of the Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888, which has been affirmed repeatedly as a core doctrine of the Episcopal Church USA for more than 120 years, their traditional religious practice is not explicitly traditional Christianity in its theological underpinnings. Furthermore the data suggests that the leadership of the parish and in particular those working amongst the youth, offered the young people little help for making explicit connections between their implicit theologies found in popular culture and the explicit theologies in traditional Anglican/Episcopal Christianity. As a result, amongst the many potential implications that can be drawn from this study, the research calls for greater intentionality on the part of those who engage in religious work with young people, to educate and equip youth to think critically about the power of popular culture and to dialogue with their religious tradition by cultivating a "critical reflexive spirituality".
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:540828 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Gabig, John Stanley |
| Publisher | King's College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/religion-film-and-youth--a-qualitative-study-of-the-use-of-film-in-meaningmaking-and-religious-expression-by-the-young-people-of-st-quaratus-episcopal-church(3692390e-777f-4bc7-b1ba-3dc42e0a0ede).html |
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