Abstract:
Compare diagram 1: ‘n Paradigmaverandering van teorie na praktyk en van gemeente na gesin en gemeenskap” and diagram 2: “Die siklus van geloofsbemiddeling”. The family is the most important building system in the church, the society and the whole world. The family is also the cradle and even the womb of the symbolic way in religious education. Almost all families stay in a community where interactions of faith take place. Teenagers leave the church because there are not enough exciting activities in the community to be part of a transformation process for a better life. For that reason the paradigm in this research emphasises an event-driven teenage and family ministry within the community. That means a ministry that accentuates processes, people and relations. Faith development cannot find a place outside the relationship of human beings. Relationship is the password to understanding and the most natural form of relationship is the family. The covenantal family is the most important building system in the church, the society and the whole world. To develop a model for teenage and family ministry for this purpose, the research will emphasise practicing more than theorising, although the dialogue between these two factors in practical theology is of utmost importance. Better relationships within the family, congregation and the community needs better communication. For that reason symbols and rituals are a necessary part of the whole process of teenage and family ministry which is community-directed. God acts within the lives of individuals and groups, but planned the family as the most important unit for interaction. No religion can be without a God and no religion can be without people. All people are born into one or another kind of family and have a God-given need to be part of a group even when ostracised by families or the society. The community of faith never lives in a vacuum - it is always in the midst of cultural reality which is a powerful influence. The faith of this community is embedded in the context of symbols, rituals and narratives. To be busy with practical theology, with this paradigm in mind, needs a threefold exegesis: an exegesis of the Bible, an exegesis of the culture, and an exegesis of the self and the community. Strengthening the inner life of churches and their relation to their immediate communities should be the first priority of the leaders of churches. Churches have a covenant responsibility to help people develop and sustain strong and healthy families.
