Abstract
This article reports on the first cycle (out of three) of a grounded theory analysis of sermons on poverty with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text. The problem addressed in this research project has to do with the poverty situation in South Africa. The leading research question is: how do preachers deal with sermons on poverty with this text as sermon text. The goal of the first phase in this project is to develop an open coding analytical model from the sermons. Six sermons by Uniting Reformed Church preachers and six sermons by Dutch Reformed Church preachers have been analyzed. Significant sermon segments in the light of the research question were then coded in the analysis. Initial categories could then be formed as they emerged from the data, based on the open coded codes. From the categories an open coding analytical model with hypotheses has been constructed.
Highlights
In this article I want to report on the first cycle of the research project on preaching and poverty with the theme: “A grounded theory analysis of sermons by preachers of the Dutch Reformed Church (D.R.C.) and the Uniting Reformed Church (U.R.C.) with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text.”
The process of grounded theory analysis of sermons develops in a bottom-up approach in three cycles: (1) open coding as an inductive exercise, initial identifying of categories and the development of an open coding analytical model; (2) selective coding that is a deductive exercise in which sermons are selectively chosen for analysis on the basis of the hypotheses that are developed in the open coding analytical model; (3) theoretical coding and the construction of a theory of preaching on the theme of the analysis
The leading research question is: how do preachers deal with sermons on poverty with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text? The goal of the research project is to develop an emerging theory for preaching kingdom parables of Jesus on poverty from the collected sermons working with a grounded theory approach of qualitative analysis of sermons on Matthew 25:31-46 as an example
Summary
In this article I want to report on the first cycle of the research project on preaching and poverty with the theme: “A grounded theory analysis of sermons by preachers of the Dutch Reformed Church (D.R.C.) and the Uniting Reformed Church (U.R.C.) with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text.” The grounded theory approach, developed in sociology (cf. for instance Glaser 1978; Glaser 1998; Charmaz 2006), has been applied in empirical homiletics by F.G. In this article I want to report on the first cycle of the research project on preaching and poverty with the theme: “A grounded theory analysis of sermons by preachers of the Dutch Reformed Church (D.R.C.) and the Uniting Reformed Church (U.R.C.) with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text.”. The goal of the research project is to develop an emerging theory for preaching kingdom parables of Jesus on poverty from the collected sermons working with a grounded theory approach of qualitative analysis of sermons on Matthew 25:31-46 as an example. In this article I am going to state my theological approach to the field of research (2); data collection, data analysis and the forming of initial categories (3); the development of an open coding analytical model built on the categories (4); and a conclusion (5)
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