Sojourn in South Africa: Pastoral Care as a Community Endeavor

1996 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard W. Stone
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care

Shares impressions of pastoral care as observed and experienced while visiting South Africa, particularly in regard to pastoral care's thoroughly community-oriented nature.

scholarly journals A pastoral psychological approach to domestic violence in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petronella J. Davies ◽  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Psychological Approach ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Male Control ◽  
Delicate Balance ◽  
Pastoral Counselling ◽  
Colonial Oppression

South Africa suffers a scourge of domestic violence. Colonial oppression upset the delicate balance between ‘discipline’ and ‘protection’ in traditional cultures. The full consequence of a patriarchal mindset of male control is unleashed on girls and women. The aim of this article is to investigate how the cycle of domestic violence can be broken and what role pastoral counsellors can play with regard to both victims and offenders in order to prevent history from repeating itself. The article also investigates the extent to which legislation has succeeded in protecting individuals. Pastoral care and counselling comprise both spiritual and emotional support. The combination of two counselling methods compatible with religious themes such as ‘hope’ and ‘new life’, namely logotherapy (Victor Frankl) and narrative pastoral counselling, is presented as an effective response to domestic violence.

scholarly journals A re-reading of John 8:1–11 from a pastoral liberative perspective on South African women

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elijah M. Baloyi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
South African ◽  
African Women ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Gender Oppression ◽  
Jewish Society ◽  
South African Women ◽  
The Church

The inception of democracy in South Africa faced the oppression of women as one of the challenges. The duty to improve women’s position in society is not the responsibility of a few people alone, but of everyone. According to the researcher, the church has not done enough pastorally in this regard. In denouncing the oppression of women, the Christian community should also support the victims of abuse. This article intends to unmask collusion with patriarchal societies including the Jewish society in Jesus’ time by mapping out the forms of harassment and embarrassment inflicted upon women. The study shows how pastoral care can help victims of oppression. A re-reading of John 8:1–11 will inform the, how can the verses above be used in counselling the victims of gender oppression. This study will formulate pastoral guidelines from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees, the Scribes and the woman.

scholarly journals Monastic retreat and pastoral care in the Dutch Reformed tradition

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.H. Schutte ◽  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Spiritual Formation ◽  
Narrative Research ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
The Subject

Of late, there has been a growing interest in retreat among clergy and members of congregations in the Dutch Reformed tradition in South Africa. The article investigates the relevance of the monastic traditions for this growing interest in Reformed circles. It focuses on aspects of retreat such as the role of holy places in the monastic traditions (e.g., monasteries, cathedrals, retreat centers) and the experience of silence, solitude, regeneration, divine presence and spiritual formation. Proceeding from an epistemological reflection on the subject as described in a previous article, the aim of this article is to explore the “action of retreat” as a narrative research journey and pilgrimage in order to investigate the relevance of the Benedictine, Franciscan and Taizé monastic-mystic traditions (seen as an associative/mystic spirituality) for retreat in the Dutch Reformed tradition (which is seen as a disassociative/rational/ dogmatic spirituality).

scholarly journals Public pastoral care as nexus and opportunity for a transformed practical theology within decolonisation discourse in South African higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vhumani Magezi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
South African ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
The World ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
South African Higher Education

The discussion on decolonisation of universities that started in 2015 has been raging in different spaces within South Africa and other parts of the world. The question of the relevance of the curriculum in universities, which is a curriculum that is responsive to South African and African issues, has come to the forefront. The discipline of Theology has also been challenged to reflect on its curriculum. Given these developments, this article considers practical theology within the on-going discussion of decolonisation in South African universities. In doing so, it attempts to address the question: What are some of the issues to consider in decolonisation of practical theology in South Africa universities? Firstly, the article sketches the background to the context of the discussion. Secondly, it provides a synopsis of the discussion of decolonisation in universities. Thirdly, it highlights some colonial entanglements of practical theology evident from the current situation. Fourthly, it proposes pointers for basic steps towards decolonisation of practical theology. Fifthly, it concludes by highlighting the threats to the proposed decolonisation attempts. The article assumes a coloniality and decoloniality framework even though it is not explicitly stated.

scholarly journals The cultural aspect in the contextualisation of pastoral caregiving ministry

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Christian Culture ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Pastoral Caregiving

Due to the political changes during the last three decades in South Africa, many voices raised for the post-colonializing of sciences. This is also applicable to the pastoral caregiving ministry. Although the science of pastoral caregiving in South Africa has developed into an authentic recognised science, it seems as if the development followed in the fashion of the Western context and the call for the contextualising of pastoral caregiving for all the people of South Africa was mostly ignored. It was only at the end of the 20th century that the concept of interculturality emerged to indicate that such an approach could be more appropriate that an incultural approach. Since then many scholars wrestles with the aspect of culture in the contextualising of pastoral care and the challenge of staying true to the Word of God. In this regard, the research question concentrates on the interwovenness between the Christian faith and the different cultures of the people of South Africa: How can pastoral caregiving be contextualised in the different cultures of South Africa while staying true to God’s gospel. The central theoretical argument is that the contextualising of pastoral care rest on hermeneutical principles that form a bridge between the Bible text and its application in the circumstances and needs of the people of South Africa. The article unfolds by looking at the compatibility and/or incompatibility of Western and African cultures, the effect of monocultural ethnocentric bias, and concludes with the principles of a Christian culture and its implications for the pastoral caregiving process of addressing certain challenges in people’s experiences of life.

scholarly journals A practical-theological reflection on the usage of symbols and metaphors in intercultural pastoral care in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Research Question ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
The People ◽  
Intercultural Hermeneutics ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
New Democracy ◽  
Different Cultures

The African continent is associated with a variety of problems. Irrespective of having achieved a new democracy more than two decades ago, South Africa still seems to suffer the same fate as the rest of the continent because of the inability to solve its innate challenges. However, at grass roots level South Africans are desperately seeking ways of moving away from this problem-focused paradigm to a more constructive and assertive paradigm where South Africans can truly be reconciled as a ‘rainbow nation’ despite the different cultures. Scholars who have written about this intercultural challenge are of the opinion that intercultural hermeneutics no longer works with a split between Christ and culture, but rather with the interconnectedness between Christ and culture, without the sacrifice of the culture’s uniqueness. One cannot understand religion, faith and spirituality without understanding culture. This article investigates the church’s responsibility to provide pastoral care to the people of South Africa within an intercultural paradigm by using different symbols and metaphors. The research question concentrates on the interconnectedness of the Christian faith and the different cultures in South Africa. It examines how a pastoral approach, using symbols and metaphors, could contribute to the avoidance of the mere ‘Christianisation’ of the culture, resulting in an approach where Christ is the authentic transformer of culture.

Teaching Pastoral Care and Counseling in an African Context: A Problem of Contextual Relevancy

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan T de Jongh van Arkel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
North American ◽  
Pastoral Theology ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Pastoral Care And Counseling ◽  
African Context ◽  
Uncritical Acceptance ◽  
Pastoral Practice

Summarizes the current status of pastoral care and counseling in South Africa and notes the variety of implications resulting from the uncritical acceptance of the Western Europe and North American styles of pastoral care and counseling. Outlines and details the necessary project of contextualizing which now faces pastoral caregivers in South Africa as it attempts to integrate its unique cultural and religious heritages into developing a relevant pastoral theology that will serve pastoral practice and pedagogical necessity.

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