The research is done within the diocese of Kanyakumari of the Church of South India. It
examines the viability of the following training programmes to socio-political factors: the
Church Workers Theological Training Programme, the Sunday School Programme, the
Vacation Bible School Programme, the parish-based training programmes - for example
retreats and workshops, the Women’s Fellowship Programme, the Christian Endeavour
Programme, the Programme of Communication and Revival as well as that of the Student
Christian Movement of India, and the Union of Evangelical Students of India. The
practitioners of these programmes felt the need for guide-lines to transform their
programmes to be more relevant to their socio-political contexts. Hence the present
qualitative-oriented research was undertaken.
The preliminary interviews and reading of the related literature enabled the researcher to
identify some promoted theories, regarding the relationship between the socio-political
factors and the programmes; this assisted him to set up a questionnaire for semistructured
interviews. A sample for interviews was chosen with the help of the organisers
of the programmes. A pilot study was conducted using the questionnaire, which led to the
semi-structured interviews. The respondents narrated their experiences and reflections
related to the socio-political factors. The information was organised, scrutinised, and the
findings were recorded under six different pointers, which enabled the researcher to
exhibit and explain the connections between the training programmes and the sociopolitical
factors. Then the findings were evaluated, using the puzzle-solving method.
Consequently, some guidelines were devised. These guide-lines indicate the limitations
and the possibilities in making a socially-oriented training programme more vibrant and
viable to its socio-political factors. Moreover, they highlight the possibilities for the
existing pietistic-oriented programmes to become more relevant to the context. They also
guide the practitioners to construct alternative approaches in training that are more
relevant.
The research is a small incentive to the emerging cooperation among the practitioners of
the various training programmes in CSI Kanyakumari diocese. It will hopefully
encourage them to join hands with people of other faiths and Non Governmental
organisations in facilitating the social transformation in India today. Proposals are made
for further related research work. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / (D.Th. (Practical Theology))
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/1710 |
| Date | 30 June 2006 |
| Creators | Samuel, Selvanayagam Donald |
| Contributors | Van Wyk, A.G. (Dr.), djagegjj@unisa.ac.za |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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