Ubuntu Apologetics in Faith Formation: An Ethnography of Youth Ministry in Nairobi

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kevin Muriithi Ndereba
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Faith Formation ◽  
Affective Development ◽  
William Lane Craig ◽  
African Context ◽  
African Youth ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Theological Methodology

Abstract Faith formation is a crucial area in youth ministry. Although the area of apologetics may be a helpful bridge, the theory and praxis of apologetics in the African context is scanty. The work of apologists such as William Lane Craig, John Frame, Ravi Zacharias, and John Lennox has responded to the post-Christian context of Europe and North America. Much needs to be done in light of the African contextual realities. Using a practical theological methodology, this paper considers how ubuntu apologetics – which honors both the cognitive and affective development of adolescents – can lead to holistic faith formation of African youth. This research paper will 1) consider youth ministry contextual realities in Kenya and Africa; 2) analyze foundational methods of apologetics; 3) utilize an ethnographic methodology in analyzing the data and 4) offer recommendations for youth ministry education and practice in Nairobi and Africa at large.

scholarly journals A (South) African voice on youth ministry research: Powerful or powerless?

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantelle Weber
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
International Research ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Faith Formation ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context ◽  
African Perspective

Research on youth ministry in Africa and specifically South Africa traces its origin to much research conducted in America and Europe. Many African scholars also draw on research and practices within these international spheres. Empirical research on youth ministry in Africa is however of great importance. For this purpose, comparative analysis research provides a research methodology in the social sciences that aims to make comparisons across different countries or cultures. A major problem in comparative research is that the data sets in different countries may not use the same categories, or define categories differently. This article makes use of a faith formation case study conducted in South Africa to highlight the value of this methodology when reflecting on international research from an African perspective. The main argument of this article is that international research on youth ministry is valuable in an African context but this research needs to be culturally contextualised through using comparative analysis as a research tool. This will reflect that there are many similarities between international youth ministry and the African context but there are also many cross-cultural disparities. After comparison, differences that are unique to the African context are noted. The article focuses on South Africa as a reflection of youth ministry within the broader African context.

scholarly journals The career youth pastor: A contemporary reflection

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Garth Aziz ◽  
Malan Nel ◽  
Ronnie Davis
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Youth Worker ◽  
Youth Pastor ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Theological Argument ◽  
To Receive

There has been an increase of discussion and focus on matters of theological significance in the area of youth ministry. An area that remains neglected concerns the professional youth worker in Southern Africa. This focus on professional youth work has gained a great amount of urgency from the office of the presidency of Southern Africa, who in collaboration with the Commonwealth desk have prioritised the focus on youth work in South Africa. Unfortunately, the focus on the professional youth worker, the career youth pastor, within the church in Southern Africa fails to receive a similar amount of attention. The article will highlight the need to pursue a theological articulation around the office of the career youth pastor by building a practical theological argument for the office of career youth pastor. The article will address a case study of a mainline evangelical denomination regarding its theological articulation of the career youth pastor.

scholarly journals Doing theology with children through multimodal narrativity

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Adawu
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theological ◽  
Theological Methodology

Doing theology with children, in a systematic and focused way, is a new practice. This article contributes to this theological practice by examining its emergence, nature and mission and proposing multimodal narrativity as a practical theological methodology for doing such theology. The article argues, from a practical theological standpoint, that doing theology with children should be understood as a synodal event – a journeying together with children about their faith; as a way of seeing the mysteries of God through the eyes of the child and of encouraging a robust understanding of God and God’s plan for humanity and the entire creation; and as a way of seeing the faces of children and hearing their voices, thereby accounting for their suffering and hope. Children themselves are sources and disruptors of hope. The use of multimodal narrativity creates space for these narratives and disruptions of hope and encourages children to theologise their experiences in the midst of their different communities.

Post-Apartheid Whiteness and the Challenge of Youth Ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 23-34
Author(s):  
Cobus van Wyngaard
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Critical Attitude ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
African Context ◽  
Theological Task ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article seeks to draw from postcolonial missiology and critical perspectives on whiteness in identifying the continuing challenges concerning racialised whiteness facing youth ministry within the Dutch Reformed Church in the South African context. It suggests the development of a self-critical attitude as a central theological task of youth ministry.

scholarly journals The folly of vulnerability beyond epistemic injustice and the power of knowledge: A vulnerable praxis of thinking (practical theological ethos) in global conversation

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Epistemic Injustice ◽  
South African Context ◽  
African Context ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Voice

The diverse and divided South African context of post 1994 is the context in which the texts of reality are read (knowledge is created and reality is interpreted). This particular diverse and pluralistic reading with and within the context is sensitive to the voice of the other and thus provides an inbuilt deconstruction thereby offering a vulnerable practical theological openness to the global conversation beyond certainties. This holy folly of vulnerability was explored with regards to South Africa’s practical theological contribution to the global conversation.

scholarly journals Gesinsbediening in ’n postmoderne kerk: Modelle en metodes

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus M. Van Staden
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Faith Formation ◽  
Family Ministry ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Church

Family ministry in a postmodern church. The aim of the article is to reflect on the necessity for family ministry in the church today, and to explore different models and methods for doing it. This article must be understood against the backdrop of the challenges facing mainline churches, of which the decline in numbers, the lack of support for programmes and initiatives on behalf of families, and the apparent inability to minister effectively to young people, are the most pressing. Since the early church there has been a close relationship between church and home. Not only did rituals and liturgies spill from the gathered congregation into homes; metaphors from family life also provided images and language to the early church. In the last few decades there has been a rekindled interest in the home as the primary incubator for faith formation. Several books, articles, organisations, programs, consultants and churches have described their approach as ‘family ministry’. From a practical-theological viewpoint, there must be a set of criteria by which these approaches could be evaluated. This article aims to contribute in this regard, and to critique different approaches to family ministry.

scholarly journals The connection between youth ministry’s division of evangelism and discipleship, and the lack of retention of youth in North American churches

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Moser ◽  
Malan Nel
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Young People ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Evangelical Church ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
American Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Pastoral Practice

The evangelical church in North America is facing a crisis in its failure to retain young people. Research has shown that young people are dropping out of the church and they are not only leaving but also failing to return once they are older. This crisis did not appear in a vacuum; it is the result of the church’s movement towards a style of programming that has created a division between evangelism and discipleship. This style of programme not only seeks to reach those outside of the church at the expense of those youth in the church but also creates a dichotomy between who we are (our identity) and what we do (our mission). The church must seek to remove this dichotomy between identity and mission and utilise strategies that work with our identity rather than against it.Intradisciplinary and/or Interdisciplinary Implications: This article is an interaction between practical theology and pastoral practice in Christian ministry. The crisis of youth leaving evangelical churches in North America is because of the dichotomy between mission and identity. Once this dichotomy is erased, mission will be a natural outworking of identity in youth ministry.

Normativity in Empirical Youth Ministry Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos de Kock ◽  
Ronelle Sonnenberg ◽  
Erik Renkema
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Normative Considerations ◽  
The Way

Normative considerations are an important part of empirical research on the youth ministry. In the presentation of results in many practical theological studies on the youth ministry, however, rarely a sufficient reflection is provided on the kind of normativity that plays a role in the way practices are investigated or on how normativity is present in the practices that have been studied. Partly based on the case studies of three PhD studies on the youth ministry from the Dutch Research Centre for Youth, Church and Culture, this article aims (a) to give an overview of the layers of normativity that can be distinguished in current practical theological youth ministry research and (b) to give directions for the design, execution, and reporting of practical theological youth ministry research in terms of a sufficient reflection on normativity.

Let them Come to Me: A Youth Inclusive and Missional Perspective in Presbyterian Context

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kevin Muriithi Ndereba
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Education Experience ◽  
Practical Ministry ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Church ◽  
Contemporary Context

Abstract The contemporary context creates complexities for the young person. These include the political and socio-economic realities of African states, the cultural renaissance of Africanism and the reality of postmodernity. From both a practical theological perspective as well as experience in higher education, the author claims that ministers in the Presbyterian Church lack a missional perspective to the contemporary African (Kenyan) youth. The author proposes that theological education in Kenya must seriously consider youth ministry education. Second, Presbyterian ecclesiology must be missional minded by moving from an inward posture to a missional posture that considers the African (Kenyan) youth. This reflection will engage practical ministry and higher education experience, as well as an inter-disciplinary literature survey, to offer a missional perspective for the church and theological education.

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