The aim of this study was to investigate the specific role that the nuclear family as a primary faith unit has to play in a postmodern context, and the challenges that confront it, as well as the ways in which the church can support the family in this.
The study was done through a basis-theoretical investigation of Biblical evidence about the family and about its destiny as well as about the historical development and vicissitudes of the family over the past two millennia, through a meta-theoretical investigation into and analysis of sociological and psychological evidence and views about the relationship between the family and value transfer and faith formation, and through a qualitative empirical investigation into the situation of a number of families in a suburban reformed church, the latter part being informed by the insights derived from the basis- and meta-theoretical study. On the basis of the aforesaid a practice theory was formulated that aims to support the ministry to families.
In the basis-theoretical study of Biblical evidence it was indicated that, in spite of widely divergent family forms and situations over many centuries, there were a number of basic functions always common to families, among which the most important is that of the family as the conduit of salvation, as well as its role of nurturance and education. Strong emphasis was also put on the interactive relationship between the church and the family, not only in the family being a part of the church but also in it being a metaphor for the church. On the basis of an analysis of the history of the family over centuries, certain basic aspects of the family were again identified. In this part of the study specific attention was paid to the postmodernism as phenomenon and its implications for the experience of community and for the family.
In the empirical study interviews were conducted with six families on the basis of a number of essential themes identified from the study thus far, to determine what their experience of and problems with those facets of their family life are. An interview with a focus group about the same themes was also conducted. On the basis of these conversations the basic themes were further reduced to six in number, and a variety of common concerns or problems, or merely ways of handling certain matters, were identified.
In the development of a practice theory emphasis was put on the fact that the address of such a theory or model cannot be in the first place only the church as it performs its work through its offices, but it needs also be the faithful, with the family itself as the autonomous body. Without running the risk of making to rigid a distinction between the various responsibilities of these three, recommendations were made about a number of fields in which the ministry to families can concentrate to counteract the growing danger of privatisation and isolation of families, and again to make families viable building blocks of the church of Christ. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/3664 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Larney, Thomas |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | Afrikaans |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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