The Psychology of Youth Faith Formation:A Care-giving Faith?

The present study explores the individual differences in the experience of faith formation using the framework of attachment theory, as it looks at what inspires attachment behaviours toward God. The experience of faith formation is herewith conceptualised in this study as a care-giving experience, watered by reciprocity of proximity with a divine attachment figure. The findings suggest four individual pathways in which the faith of young people was formed. These pathways were seen as remedies for previous insecure attachment experience with unavailable human attachment figures, and as a means of enhancing an already positive attachment with human relational partners. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen Christian youths of various racial backgrounds who were active members of different church denominations in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa. The data collected from the respondents suggests youth faith formation as an attachment phenomenon

Understanding God images and God concepts:Towards a pastoral hermeneutics of the God attachment experience

The author looks at the God image experience as an attachment relationship experience with God. Hence, arguing that the God image experience is borne originally out of a parent�child attachment contagion, in such a way that God is often represented in either secure or insecure attachment patterns. The article points out that insecure God images often develop head-to-head with God concepts in a believer�s emotional experience of God. On the other hand, the author describes God concepts as indicators of a religious faith and metaphorical standards for regulating insecure attachment patterns. The goals of this article, however, is to highlight the relationship between God images and God concepts, and to provide a hermeneutical process for interpreting and surviving the God image experience.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Given that most scholars within the discipline of Practical Theology discuss the subject of God images from cultural and theological perspectives, this article has discussed God images from an attachment perspective, which is a popular framework in psychology of religion. This is rare. The study is therefore interdisciplinary in this regards. The article further helps the reader to understand the intrapsychic process of the God image experience, and thus provides us with hermeneutical answers for dealing with the God image experience from methodologies grounded in Practical Theology and pastoral care

Millennial identities as emerging ecumenical missional paradigm : a critical study of culture as a crisis and opportunity for mission

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past few decades, discussions around youth identity crisis and missio Dei have become one of the most challenging issues of our time. Given that staying true to self and God is complicated. We seldom come to terms with what our identity should look like in relation to the character and image of God. Just like any experience, a self-discovery experience with the ‘self’ and an attachment relationship with God, is like a rollercoaster ride. The researcher engages the reader in an empirical study that zooms in on the identity crisis of Stellenbosch Christian Millennials in relation to the subcultures of self and God images. Hence, attempting the all-important question: How can a Christian life, lived within the restorative and prophetic context of imago Dei become the milieu in which the youth-in-mission finds an enduring and satisfying identity in a time of crisis? The research is an exhaustive study that draws from the theories of attachment to God, authenticity, and theological anthropology in its exploratory navigations to bring to bear the identity crisis of Christian Millennials who participated in the study. Using a qualitative case study design, the researcher exhaustively gave account to the experiences of the respondents in the study by providing the reader with a robust narrative that explains the identity crisis of Christian Millennials in relation to their self and God images. The hallmark of the study was the observation of a common coping mechanism by way of splitting or self-fragmentation, used by the respondents to deal with their identity crisis as they struggled to remain authentic to self and maintain a positive God image. They dealt with their identity crisis by self-creating a prophetic future within the structural qualities of the self to engage in a relationship between its divine given purpose in an eschatological future and the mission of God. It was this identity crisis that led to an opportunity that enabled the youth-in-mission to interpret their experience in God’s terms. The researcher introduced this opportunity as a coping missional hermeneutic, which is a theological model that allows us to change the frame of our identity crisis to the pattern of the imago Dei in order to tell our stories from the perspective of missio Dei.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tydens afgelope paar dekades het die bespreking rondom die identiteitskrisis van jongmense en missio Dei een van die mees uitdagende aspekte in die hedendaagse lewe geword. Om voortdurend opreg te wees aan die self en God is ingewikkeld. Mense kom nie altyd tot ‘n vergelyk oor die identiteit wat behoort te wees wanneer verwys word na die verhouding tussen die karakter en beeld van God. Soos dit die geval is met enige ander ervaring, kan die ontdekking van die ‘self’ en ‘n persoonlike verhouding met God vergelyk word met ‘n mallemeule. Die navorser betrek die leser by ‘n empiriese studie. Hierdie studie fokus op die identiteitskrisis van Christen jongemense in verhouding tot die subkultuur van die self- en Godsbeelde. Hiermee saam poog die studie om lig te werp op die volgende aspek: Hoe kan die Christen lewe binne die konteks van die imago Dei, ’n kanaal wees vir ‘n voortdurende en genotvolle identiteit tydens ‘n identiteitskrisis? Die studie is komprehensief en is gebasseer op die teorieë van “attachment to God”, “authenticity” en teologiese antropologie. Die teorieë was gebruik deur die navorser om die identitietskrisis van Christen jongmense (Millennials), wie deelgeneem het aan hierdie studie, te beskryf. Die navorser maak gebruik van ‘n kwalitatiewe gevalle studie om te rapporteer oor die ervaringe van die deelnemers aan die studie, deur die leser te voorsien van betroubare stories oor die identiteitskrisis van jong christene in verhouding met die subkultuur van die self- en Godsbeelde. ‘n Uitstaande kenmerk van die studie is die waarneming van die algemene hanterings meganisme van verdeling (splitting) en godsdienstige taal waartydens deelnemers hul identiteitskrisis hanteer en sodoende die ware self te wees en ‘n positiewe Godsbeeld te hê. ‘n Identiteitskrisis het die geleentheid geskep vir jongmense om hul ervaringe van God in Gods terme te interpreteer. Die navorser het deur middel van die geleentheid die coping missional hermeneutic bekendgestel. Dié teologiese model stel ons in staat om die raamwerk waarbinne ons, ons identiteitskrisis beskou, na ‘n imago Dei te verander. Hierdie verandering sal ons help om ons stories uit die perspektief van missio Dei te vertel

Making Sense of Place Attachment: Towards a Holistic Understanding of People-Place Relationships and Experiences

The article is an attempt to make sense of the different interdisciplinary perspectives associated with people’s attachment to places with a view to construct a holistic template for understanding people-place relationships and experiences. The author took note of the theoretical contributions of Jorgensen & Stedman (2001), Scannell & Gifford (2010), and Seamon (2012, 2014) to construct an integrative framework for understanding emotional links to places and people’s perception and experience of places. This was done with the intention of illuminating the meaning of place and the different “places” people get attached to. The paper concludes by incorporating different place frameworks with the intention of establishing a holistic model for understanding the various attributes and perceptions of people-place relationships and experiences

From A Weakspot To A Hotshot: Life Changing Insights on How to Lead and Live A Complete Life

The bible tells us in Revelation 21 of a city, beautiful and complete in its dimensions. The glory of this city, according to John of Patmos who saw this city, was in its completeness. It was not partial nor one-sided but complete in all three sides of its dimensions. In describing this beautiful city, John says that its length, breadth, and height are of equal sizes and complete on all sides. In other words, no side was smaller or bigger than the other. What John was really saying was that life as it should be is a journey that should be complete on all sides. Life should be lived creatively in length (the length of life), empathically in breadth (the breadth of life), and spiritually in height (the height of life) in order to be beautiful and complete as the city envisioned by John of Patmos. In this book, the author takes the reader on a self-discovery journey on personal leadership using practical, real-life experiences and insights to draw the attention of the reader on how to lead and live a complete life. The book gives a spotlight analysis on what it means to live life at three levels of significance and it is designed to challenge the reader to lead, love, and live better in length, breadth, and height