Sacred love negotiations: A qualitative approach to equality and mutuality, and negotiating around needs in marriage and family life in the experience of Australian mainline Christians

Qualitative research was conducted on the attitudes and behaviors of Christians in Australian mainline churches in relation to equality, mutuality, and negotiating around needs. Using an interpretive phenomenological method, four themes emerged. The themes, with paradigmatic statements, are these: (i) Negotiation is a difficult conversation: I go out of my way to make everybody happy. It puts me in a bind; (ii) The struggle to achieve a balance between giving and receiving: Sometimes I'm selfish, and then my husband leans forward on the teeter-totter; (iii) Equality and complementarity: We're equal in different ways; (iv) Shared leadership: Sometimes he's the leader, and sometimes I would be the leader

Partnership in the Workplace: Covenant and Management-Labour Relations

This article represents the standpoint that the relationship between employers and employees has to be characterized by the term “partnership”. A genuine partnership is based on trust. On the other hand, trust results from constructive dialogue. Concerning the issue of employment, that kind of dialogue can only take place if two conditions are fulfilled: firstly both parties have to commit themselves to listen to each other in a sympathetic way. Secondly both parties have to keep their promises. The author argues that the ideals needed for such a relationship can be found in the theology of covenant

Presence and shame in pastoral care and counselling

There are two key terms in this thesis, namely presence and shame. 'Presence' is used broadly to refer to all forms of authentic 'being-with'. That is, it describes genuine relationality, real meeting. Shame indicates that the self is evaluating itself as defective, flawed, inferior in some way (e.g. morally, intellectually, or physically).The aims are threefold. There is an intention, first, to develop an understanding of how genuine presence functions within pastoral care and counselling. The second aim is to develop an understanding of how distorted forms of presence operate in pastoral care and counselling, with a specific reference to their shame-inducing potential. In this way, attitudes and behaviours (often subtle) which militate against effective care (especially through lowering self-esteem in the recipient of care) are identified in order that they may be guarded against. The third aim is to show that shame has an important role to play in the process through which a pastor or counsellor moves from distorted to genuine presence.In order to interpret presence, use is made of two notions developed by the so-called 'dialogical philosophers', Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber: availability and confirmation, respectively. Availability is essentially the giving of self for the sake of the other. One disposes of oneself in the service of another. Confirmation is a process in which one challenges the other to reach for his God-endowed potential.While pastoral presence is often construed in terms of empathy and acceptance (Carl Rogers), it is contended that Marcel and Buber offer us rich conceptualisations which, while being closely related to Rogers' relational keys, also take us beyond them. The primary thesis that will be argued is that in pastoral relationships availability is before skills and techniques and confirmation is beyond acceptance and empathy. That is, it is contended, first, that availability is foundational in pastoral care and counselling. Without it, the use of counselling techniques will be only minimally effective. It is also argued that while one must ground care in acceptance of the other, it is necessary to go beyond this to sensitively challenge her to grow into her God-given spiritual, moral and psychological potentialities.In moving to the relationship between distorted presence and shame, attention will be given to the shame experienced by both the provider and the recipient of care. The secondary thesis is that the shame feelings a pastor or counsellor experiences as a result ofhis distorted way ofbeing present have a potentially positive function, namely, moving him to a period ofcritical introspection in which he may grasp a vision of a higher capacityfor genuine presence

Outsiders and insiders: personal reflections on methodology in Studies in Religion at The University of Queensland, 1986-2010

The author offers a personal reflection on some developments in the approach to methodology in the study of religion at The University of Queensland over the past twenty-five years. In the process, he covers issues such as methodological atheism versus methodological agnosticism, the relationship between faith and reason, and mutual critical correlation

From self-doubt to assurance: The psychological roots of John Wesley's early spiritual development

Explored the link between J. Wesley's psychosocial experience and his spiritual development. His mother's "conquer the will" parenting strategy left Wesley with a strong propensity for shame and doubt (understood in the Eriksonian sense). Following a psycho-historical method, cultural factors impacting on Wesley's psycho-spiritual development are identified. The approach to parenting adopted by Mrs. Wesley reflects her social milieu as well as the tendency in the 18th century Church of England to stress the importance of sincerity in the process of salvation. Such an understanding was bound to aggravate Wesley's problem with doubt. Wesley resolved his autonomy crisis through 3 decisive events, namely the Aldersgate experience, hearing the good news of the Great Awakening, and the success of his field preaching at Bristol

Conjugal loss and ambivalent feelings: A theological reflection and a pastoral sermon

It is exceedingly difficult for most people to acknowledge let alone express their ambivalent feelings towards a deceased partner. It may even be more difficult for a Christian person to accept negative feelings about a lost loved one. There is a tendency amongst Christians to adopt the (unrealistic) view that with the grace of Christ a person of faith should be able to rise above such feelings. In this article, use is made of Gordon Lynch's approach to the Christian life through the ironic imagination. With such an imagination, it is possible to hold together opposites in a creative tension: faith and unfaith, good and bad, loving and hating feelings. It will be my argument that a bereaved Christian person who has lost a spouse will find it much easier to accept her or his ambivalent feelings if she is able to internalize the ‘analogical’ vision of the Christian life that Lynch sponsors

Healthcare organizations: corporate spirituality

There are now dozens of books and hundreds of articles available on the topic of organizational spirituality (OS). When one engages with this literature, it very quickly becomes obvious that there is no concensus either on what 'spirituality' means or on what the term 'organizational spirituality' means. [Extract

Participation as a Christian Ethic: Wojtyla’s Phenomenology of Subject-in-Community, Ubuntu, and the Trinity

Participation is defined as being-with and acting-for others with the aim of advancing the common good. Karol Wojtyla’s philosophy of community and the Sub-Saharan ethic known as Ubuntu are used to describe a participative ethic. These philosophies approach participation in a particular way—namely, through positing both an ‘I-Thou’ and a ‘We’ dimension. Neither in Wojtyla’s philosophy, nor in Ubuntu, do we find references to Christian theology. Though it is evident that these philosophies incorporate certain moral values embraced by the Christian community, it is necessary to make the theological alignment explicit. The main aim of the essay is to do just that. It is argued that participation is rightly construed as a Trinitarian ethic