Today’s world in the new Millennium is a far cry from church and home life for young
people (18-30) fifty years ago, where quantum change on top of change, and
disconnectedness in family structures, have all contributed in various ways to an
exodus of young people from mainline churches throughout the world. To counteract
this ongoing trend, significant effort has been applied by mainline churches throughout
the world, and South Africa in particular, to grow young people in the “Faith”, all of
which has resulted in young people continuing to exodus the church after confirmation
or graduating from high school.
However, the bottom line challenge being faced is not simply one sided with young
people exiting the church - for so called ‘better’ activities, but that the church has also
not found an effective strategy for engaging with non-churched young people (those
who have never been to a church) and those who used to actively participate, but have
now abandoned the church and its ministry. Parents of today’s young people to a great
extent have failed to understand and recognize that it is impossible for their children to
accept the ‘faith and truth’ if they don’t role model and practice it in their homes.
Similarly, if they don’t help their children to see and understand how faith is applied
and has meaning in their everyday lives, then the current status quo between children,
family and church will continue to grow exponentially. The church, and more
particularly parents, need to understand and listen to the young people’s postmodern
views and how it has reshaped their lives, in comparison to the preceding generations.
By adopting the conclusions and broad practical recommendations from this research,
churches may be able to reach out more effectively to parents, children and young
people, to help them discover a life changing relationship – in their walk with Jesus
Christ / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Church history)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27512 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Rose, Howard Richard |
| Contributors | Oliver, Erna, Olivier, E. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (234 leaves) : color illustrations, application/pdf |
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