ReVisioning Sexuality: Relational Joy and Embodied Flourishing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Kate Ott ◽  
Lorien Carter
Keyword(s):  
Sexuality Education ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Major Aspect ◽  
Positive Dimension ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
Holistic Approaches ◽  
Teen Sexuality

Abstract Sexuality and relationships are a major aspect of teen development. Youth Ministry programs that embrace relational joy and embodied flourishing promote healthy, holistic sexuality for the teens they serve. Yet, many youth ministry programs treat sexuality as a risk (or sin) to be reduced or about which to remain completely silent. Sexuality is part of our created goodness that youth need help to understand and embrace. Faith leaders can influence how teens understand their sexuality and relationships, either as a positive dimension of joy and flourishing or as an inhibitor to health and thriving. In addition to this theological conversation, this article describes increased risks to adolescents who experience high levels of disapproval from families and faith leaders with regards to their sexuality and suggests specific ways to integrate healthy and holistic approaches to faith-based sexuality education that cultivates joy and flourishing related to teen sexuality and relationships.

scholarly journals Church Networks and Localisation Practice in the Pacific

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Lauria ◽  
Aloysius Canete ◽  
Rebekah Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Local Staff ◽  
The Road ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Humanitarian Response ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
The Pacific

The localisation agenda is the largest humanitarian reform in decades. Global research, advocacy and adaptations of localised approaches continue to mature following the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. The Summit produced The Charter for Faith-based Humanitarian Action, recognising the unique position and comparative advantage of local faith actors (LFAs) in humanitarian settings, owing to their presence in communities before, during, and after crises. More than 80% of the world’s population professes a religious faith, and international development and humanitarian work takes place within communities deeply influenced by faith, with local staff often themselves people of faith (cited in Fletcher 2018, p. 4). LFAs have consistently been among the top implementing partners of UN Agencies in undertaking humanitarian response (UNHCR Partnership Note on faith-based organizations, local faith communities and faith leaders 2014, p.8). Despite this recognition, little has promulgated on the role of LFAs in the localisation agenda and the primacy of LFAs' voices in contextualising the agenda for their communities. Accordingly, CAN DO (Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations) a network of Australian churchbased agencies with established relationships in the Pacific, is building an evidence base to inform international actors and affirm the significance of LFAs in localised humanitarian response within the Pacific region, thereby contributing towards the Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action commitments. This paper is a critical reflection of the 2017-2018 localised response to the Monaro Volcano eruption in Vanuatu. Key learnings frame future collaborations with Pacific churches and pave the road ahead in shifting power differentials, including the advancement of LFAs' role within policy and decision-making at all levels of humanitarian response (Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action 2016, p.2).

‘If You Cannot Control Yourself’

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anaïs Bertrand-Dansereau
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Condom Use ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Sexuality Education ◽  
Health Messages ◽  
Aids Patients ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Public Health Messages

In Malawi, as elsewhere in southern Africa, faith-based organisations (FBOs) have been integrated in the official response to HIV/AIDS. This new role, and the funding that accompanies it, has professionalised their traditional care activities around AIDS patients, widows and orphans, and it has also put them in charge of HIV prevention. As HIV preventers, they are asked to bridge epistemic differences between conflicting notions of sexuality and morality by reconciling public health messages, Christian teachings and local cosmologies. This becomes challenging when it comes to the question of sexuality education, specifically the promotion of abstinence, and condom use. Many FBO leaders’ response to this challenge is nuanced and defies stereotypes, as they try to balance their concern for young people, the demands of donors and the moral imperatives of their faith.

scholarly journals Discerning the role of faith communities in responding to urban youth marginalisation

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reginald W. Nel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Doctoral Studies ◽  
Youth Movements ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Urban Theology

Urban youth marginalisation became a key consideration in scholarly and policy literature in the 1990s. This entailed a shift from an emphasis on youth in relation to activism in the struggle to overcome colonial racism – popularly known as ‘the struggle against apartheid’ – to an emphasis on youth as the object of social inquiry and social welfare programmes. Irrespective of how we valuate this shift, the question in this article is how urban faith communities and youth ministry research are to respond to the agency of youth as dialogue partners – with a focus on social cohesion. This article explores this shift in scholarship on urban youth movements, especially for the period since 1994. It draws from the perspectives of my recent doctoral studies (Nel 2013) in constructing a creative dialogue with youth movements. The ultimate aim of this article is to provide a grounded basis for constructing a methodology for a postcolonial urban theology. In addition, it aims to inform the ongoing Youth at the Margins (YOMA) comparative study on the contribution of faith-based organisations to social cohesion in South Africa and Nordic Europe, with the Riverlea community, in Johannesburg, as one of the case studies.

scholarly journals Youth ministry at the margins and/or centre as space of the other: Reflections on the resolutions of the Anglican dioceses in the Western Cape 2017

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Klaasen
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
Contemporary Worship ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
The Church

Youth within the context of faith-based organisations carry with them certain power relations and misconstrued connotations. These power relations and connotations can contribute to alienation and marginalisation. The resolutions taken at the recent synods of the three dioceses within the Western Cape reflect and identify the areas - both liturgical and governance - of marginalisation of youth within the Anglican Church in southern Africa. The resolutions also call on the church governing bodies and the leaders to create safe spaces for the youth to be a central part of the mission of the church. Areas such as liturgy, training and formation, contemporary worship and nurturing relationships are identified within the resolutions. Theological notions of personhood within the Anglican tradition are to be investigated as possible motivations for more acceptable power relations of the youth and leaders and governance structures. What implications do such theological formulations have for the space that the youth occupy within the margins of the church? A critical reflection of the synod resolutions answers such questions and points to some contours for sense making of the youth within the margins of the church from a faith-based organisational perspective.

scholarly journals Partnering With African American Churches to Support Families Affected by Dementia Through Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 768-769
Author(s):  
Fayron Epps
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
White Population ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Successful Development ◽  
African American Churches ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
American Churches ◽  
Hispanic White

Abstract African Americans (AA) are disproportionately impacted by dementia when compared to the non-Hispanic white population, yet are significantly underrepresented in research. Often times, families in the AA community turn to their church for help when in distress. Recognizing that churches are frequently the cornerstone of AA communities, they are an ideal setting for health promotion, research, and education. However, many AA churches do not have the resources to support their congregants affected by dementia. To build capacity within churches to address brain health promotion and facilitate research access/participation, we partnered with 6 predominantly AA churches in the metropolitan Atlanta area to facilitate research and develop dementia-related programs. While stakeholders were initially reluctant, continual engagement with senior faith leaders helped to facilitate the successful development of a research registry of congregants interested in participating in faith-based and clinical research and establishment of new programs to congregants around brain health and dementia.

scholarly journals Faith Community and Campus Engagement in Immigrant Integration

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-115
Author(s):  
Felipe Filomeno
Keyword(s):  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Faith Community ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Campus Engagement ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
Faculty Leader ◽  
Volunteer Group

Immigration is one of the most contentious topics in contemporary American politics. This study presents the planning, implementation and evaluation of a program of faith community dialogues on immigration developed in partnership between a public university, a faith-based group of volunteers, and Catholic congregations. Based on data from dialogue transcriptions, exit questionnaires completed by participants, observation notes, and reflections shared by students and faith community leaders, the study shows the outcomes of the program for the congregations, the volunteer group, the students, and the faculty leader. The volunteer group was able to launch a new program that helped immigrant and US-born members of faith communities develop feelings of mutual understanding and collaboration. Students had the opportunity to learn research skills and better understand people’s perspectives on immigration and race. The faculty leader produced community-based scholarship that otherwise would not have been possible. The study concludes that cumulative collaborative learning, the inclusion of a religious dimension, and support from faith leaders are key for the success of partnerships between university and faith-based actors. 

scholarly journals The Role of Faith-Based Organizations and Faith Leaders in the 2014-2016 Ebola Epidemic in Liberia

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78
Author(s):  
Perry Jansen
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Faith Based Organizations

Since the time of Christ, caring for the sick and the poor has been a core distinctive of authentic Christianity.  The response of Christians during many of the great plagues of antiquity played an important role in the spread of Christianity.  In modern history, response to epidemics have been professionalized and, to a certain extent, secularized.  The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa offers an important illustration of the role that faith leaders and faith-based organizations still play in providing a trusted link between communities and international relief workers.  In late 2018, the world was faced with another outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  It is vital to build upon the lessons of prior epidemics as we support local efforts to prepare for, detect and respond to inevitable future outbreaks.

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