Nurturing agency in emerging adults of local churches: a case study from Soshanguve

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Nurturing agency in emerging adults of local churches: a case study from Soshanguve
 
Creator Kabongo, Kasebwe T. L.
 
Subject Practical theology agency; emerging adults; inclusiveness; local church; marginalisation.
Description Emerging adults (age 35 and below) are the majority of the African population. In South Africa, for example, emerging adults make 63.9% of its population. This age group seems to be marginalised in Christian congregations of the township of Soshanguve where this research was conducted. This research is a case study that interviewed 30 de-churched emerging adults from different denominations to make its conclusions. It is stressing how the church could see the emerging adults’ empowerment as its contribution to building an inclusive society. It was found out that many people under the age of 35 years are leaving their local churches because they feel that their voices are undervalued, and they do not have fulfilling roles to play. It was concluded that some de-churched emerging adults are eager to exercise their agency in making their voices heard and playing fulfilling roles in a missional community structure outside their previous congregations. Many others just complained about the marginalisation they experienced in their previous congregations, but they did not exercise their agency to help build a church they would love to be part of. Marginalisation could, therefore, be an opportunity to create an inclusive community. It could also remain an eternal wound for other people who may just be finger-pointing perpetrators of marginalisation without demonstrating a different praxis.Contribution: This is a practical theology article that is strengthened by sources from political sciences and development studies to stress the need for the church to model inter-generational inclusiveness in how it operates.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor N/A
Date 2023-04-17
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Case study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v79i1.7925
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 79, No 1 (2023); 8 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7925/24885 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7925/24886 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7925/24887 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7925/24888
 
Coverage African community of poverty Post-apartheid South Africa Youth, black Africans
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Kasebwe T.L. Kabongo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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