Local Faith Communities Research Articles

Parents of Children with Disabilities: Strengths and Frailty of Human Faith Journeys

Although studies have been conducted regarding the faith journeys of people with disabilities, little is known of those nurturing and accompanying them, their parents. The faith journeys of parents of children with disabilities are a critical yet underattended source of theological insight. In this qualitative research study, we interview and study the perspective of seven married parents of children with disabilities who actively participate in ministry at their local faith communities or a national arena. While these criteria limit the number of parents caring for children with disability, they gave us greater insight into the challenges and graces received throughout their faith journeys, the role of their immediate family, their faith communities, and the universal Church. Five emerging themes were identified reflecting the rich yet complex strengths and frailty of their faith journeys. This study intends to amplify the stories of parents of children with disabilities becoming key conversation partners. Their hope-in-tension narratives inform and challenge the understanding of Christian anthropology, the centrality of faith, and the vocation of marriage, and in turn lead to concrete pastoral recommendations in three critical dimensions: ecclesiological, catechetical, and ministerial.

Testing the ‘Faith Moves Mountains model’ to increase Alzheimer’s disease awareness, detection, and diagnosis among rural, racially, and ethnically diverse older adults

Objectives Racially and ethnically diverse populations have recently contributed to the majority of rural and small-town growth. Consequently, the disproportionately high risk and prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) among rural and minoritized older residents will likely increase. To address this threat, we tested the hypotheses that (1) a faith-based, resident-led approach would increase basic ADRD knowledge and diagnosis, and (2) older age, female gender, lower educational levels, and more years lived rural would predict number of referrals, new dementia diagnoses, and treatment. Methods An adaptation of Schoenberg’s Faith Moves Mountains model, previously successful in detection and management of other chronic illnesses in rural settings, guided this community-based participatory research. Local faith community members were trained as research assistants to recruit, administer surveys, conduct brief memory assessments, teach brain health strategies, and follow-up with residents. Outreaches were offered virtually during the pandemic, then in-person monthly at rotating church sites, and repeated ∼1 year later. Results This rural sample was racially and ethnically diverse (74.5% non-White), with 28% reporting eight or less years of formal education. Findings included that referrals and years lived rural were significant and positive predictors of new ADRD treatments [(b = 3.74, χ 2(1, n = 235) = 13.01, p < 0.001); (b = 0.02, χ 2(1, n = 235 = 3.93, p = 0.048)], respectively, regardless of participant characteristics. Conclusion Resident-led action research in rural, diverse, faith communities is a successful approach to increasing ADRD disease knowledge, detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

How a Public Health Crisis Created an Impetus for Change: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems: Expert Roundtable.

How a Public Health Crisis Created an Impetus for Change: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems: Expert Roundtable.

Night to Shine and Inspiration Porn: An Examination of Practices in Disability Ministry

ABSTRACT While the Tim Tebow Foundation is celebrated by community members for the outreach to the disability community, others have questioned both the intent and the impact. Specifically, some critics have argued that a Night to Shine is “an embodiment of our highly celebrated, rarely challenged paternalistic relationship between those with disabilities and those without. In the disability community, this type of message… is known as Inspiration Porn”. This investigation examines the concept of “Inspiration Porn” as developed by Stella Young and used by disability rights advocates to determine whether it is an apt descriptor. Upon examination of Night to Shine considering the concept of Inspiration Porn this examination will seek to apply Tumeinski and McNair “What would be better?” framework in order to evaluate both “Night to Shine” and similarly situated events intending to determine what local faith-communities could do better in their efforts to serve, support, and minister to adults labeled with disabilities.

Learnings from the Adult Religious Education and Faith Development (AREFD) project for initial teacher education of religious educators

Since October 2018, researchers at the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education at Dublin City University have been engaged in the Adult Religious Education and Faith Development (AREFD) project. The overarching aim of the project was to facilitate a re-energising of adult religious education and faith development in Ireland. Working amongst local faith communities with an academic research focus, an area of interest that has emerged is how the insights gained from AREFD project can contribute to initial teacher education, particularly involving students preparing for employment as post-primary religious educators. This paper will outline some of the key themes that emerged from the data gathered in phase two of the AREFD project as it pertains to the initial teacher education (ITE) of religious educators. In phase two, a total of fourteen semi-structured interviews/focus groups were conducted between December 2019 and April 2021, featuring twenty-two people from across the island of Ireland who have a wealth of experience in AREFD across diverse contexts. The purpose of these interviews was to gather together the rich insights from the depth of experience of the interviewees on practicalities and possibilities central to adult religious education. The contexts in which they have worked are all pertinent to both the post-primary Religious Education curriculum in the Republic of Ireland and wider related learning experiences, in Ireland and beyond. Four key findings from this phase of the AREFD project are reported upon in this paper: the specific realm of AREFD as distinct from school-based religious education and catechesis; the need for intentional investment in AREFD; the physicality of religion; collaboration, communication and connection. These findings may contribute to the reflections of and course development by initial teacher education providers as they seek to offer the highest quality opportunities to their students, in the understanding that their students are adults themselves and that education is a lifelong endeavour.

Practicing Toward Unity: Muriel Lester and Worship as a ‘Second First Language’

ABSTRACT ‘Practices’ as method have surged in popularity amongst theologians and ethicists. Despite the criticism raised by their ability to ‘go wrong,’ practices as method illuminates the intrinsic connection between local faith communities and doctrinal theology. This article explores practices understood in light of Alasdair MacIntyre’s concept of learning a ‘second first language’ as a means of bridging inter and intra religious contextual divides. This article will examine Muriel Lester’s work in the East End, particularly her practices of worship, prayer, communal living, and voluntary poverty, as examples of learning a ‘second first language’ that enabled her to bridge the social divides between herself and the East Enders and the religious divides between herself and Mahatma Gandhi.

Spiritual ambiguity in interfaith humanitarianism: Local faith communities, Syrian refugees, and Muslim–Christian encounters in Lebanon and Jordan

AbstractLiterature on faith-based responses to forced displacement has described, but not fully unpacked or theorized cross-religion humanitarian aid in ‘South–South’ contexts. This article interrogates the various ambiguities, particularly spiritual ambiguities, inherent in faith-based humanitarianism where local providers are the minority religion. In unpacking these, we identify three modes of faith-based aid to Muslim Syrian refugees by local churches and Christian charities in Lebanon and Jordan: hospitality, humanitarian, and spiritual development. These may present successively deeper opportunities for fostering openness to spiritual pluralism. We argue for greater appreciation of what we call spiritual ambiguity in interfaith humanitarianism. While humanitarian space is always shaped by a web of power relations, it is vital to develop new, more nuanced ways of thinking about cross-religious faith-based humanitarianism beyond Western neo-colonialism or refugee strategizing.

The impact of a Biblical Fatherhood Programme for faith communities in the Christiana district: A reflective and community engagement strategy

The farming communities in the Christiana district with a population of close to 21 000 residents struggled with issues including poverty, unemployment, financial problems, alcoholism, occultism and Satanism and family issues such as father absence, fatherlessness and single parenting. An intervention that included training and equipping of fathers, who were farm workers from the local faith community, was necessary and crucial. Farm workers (faith communities) responded to the need for a biblical fatherhood programme. Human fatherhood should be recognised and given serious consideration because it gave an anticipation of who God the Father is. If human fatherhood did not exist, then all truth and knowledge about God the Father would be void and insignificant. Fatherhood today is an element of broken families and perhaps the most threatened element in the world. The aim of this article was to lessen the social issue of father absence through the implementation of the Biblical Fatherhood Programme. The programme has a biblical nature to solve social ills within communities. The programme was developed from a practical-theological study on fatherhood, with the primary reason to train and equip participants with fatherhood knowledge. This article presents a reflective and community engagement strategy, based on the author’s reflection of items that arose when a biblical fatherhood programme was presented to farm workers in the Christiana district of South Africa. Reflection as a methodology enabled researchers and practitioners to theorise from their own practice, improving and developing their work. Reflection was a turning back onto ‘a self’ where the researcher was the observer of the scenario. Reflection was also a significant and mental activity for researchers to use in their work with participants. The results and this article presented the reflective, rather than empirical findings of the programme implementation. The training intervention was presented in a narrative form and based on research about the essence of fatherhood. This was conceptualised from biblical truth and perspective. Participants showed immense interest in the programme and the Bible. Their theological views concerning the Bible for answers were crucial to their problems and situations. Participants’ spiritual life was pivotal to enjoy healthy relationships with God.Contribution: The programme contributed monumentally to the lives of participants. It was impossible for participants to live their lives without the Bible. The Bible is not just an authoritative source of teaching, but it speaks of human fatherhood and serves as a guideline to enunciate the care of God the Father.

The impact of a Biblical Fatherhood Programme for faith communities in the Christiana district: A reflective and community engagement strategy

The farming communities in the Christiana district with a population of close to 21 000 residents struggled with issues including poverty, unemployment, financial problems, alcoholism, occultism and Satanism and family issues such as father absence, fatherlessness and single parenting. An intervention that included training and equipping of fathers, who were farm workers from the local faith community, was necessary and crucial. Farm workers (faith communities) responded to the need for a biblical fatherhood programme. Human fatherhood should be recognised and given serious consideration because it gave an anticipation of who God the Father is. If human fatherhood did not exist, then all truth and knowledge about God the Father would be void and insignificant. Fatherhood today is an element of broken families and perhaps the most threatened element in the world. The aim of this article was to lessen the social issue of father absence through the implementation of the Biblical Fatherhood Programme. The programme has a biblical nature to solve social ills within communities. The programme was developed from a practical-theological study on fatherhood, with the primary reason to train and equip participants with fatherhood knowledge. This article presents a reflective and community engagement strategy, based on the author’s reflection of items that arose when a biblical fatherhood programme was presented to farm workers in the Christiana district of South Africa. Reflection as a methodology enabled researchers and practitioners to theorise from their own practice, improving and developing their work. Reflection was a turning back onto ‘a self’ where the researcher was the observer of the scenario. Reflection was also a significant and mental activity for researchers to use in their work with participants. The results and this article presented the reflective, rather than empirical findings of the programme implementation. The training intervention was presented in a narrative form and based on research about the essence of fatherhood. This was conceptualised from biblical truth and perspective. Participants showed immense interest in the programme and the Bible. Their theological views concerning the Bible for answers were crucial to their problems and situations. Participants’ spiritual life was pivotal to enjoy healthy relationships with God.Contribution: The programme contributed monumentally to the lives of participants. It was impossible for participants to live their lives without the Bible. The Bible is not just an authoritative source of teaching, but it speaks of human fatherhood and serves as a guideline to enunciate the care of God the Father.

What’s faith got to do with it? A scoping study on local faith communities supporting child development and learning

In a scoping study on the role of local faith communities in relation to child development and learning in low- and middle-income countries, we note the need for more scholarly attention on this topic, especially in the areas of ECD and primary and secondary education. We find very little literature that explores the current contributions of these faith communities or the impact of interventions. Most literature focuses on interventions driven by international actors that engage faith-actors in instrumentalist ways. We argue for an approach that seeks to recognize and support faith-communities as existing systems that support child development and learning, and believe such an approach will be more sustainable, respectful, and effective.

The Role of Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe in the Fight Against Coronavirus

Practical theology, according to Stone (2002) posits that churches should care and sacrifice for the community. Consequently, Christianity has been handling epidemics for more than 2000 years. This paper seeks to assess the role that is being played by the leadership in Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFMZ) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The term leadership in this paper refers to those in charge of the congregants and this includes church pastors, reverends, bishops and elders. Church leaders are people who play influential roles within their faith communities and the broader local community. They benefit from trust and exercise moral authority over members of their local faith community, and shape public opinion in the broader community and even at the national or international level. The paper argues that the church and its leadership play an important role in providing moral guidance to tackle COVID-19 and also to dispel fear that stalks communities alongside the disease. In order to evaluate the role that AFMZ leadership is playing in the fight against COVID-19, the paper employs a qualitative research approach in its exploration and analysis of data gathered through an online survey method. The paper found out that the church is playing a vital role in communities by communicating messages of hope in the midst of severe fears of COVID-19. It also found out that the church leadership is playing a vital role in changing people’s attitudes toward COVID-19 by providing in depth discussions of safety measures in times of the pandemic. Lastly, the paper found out that the church leadership is not doing enough on the practical matters like providing food to the most vulnerable groups in their respective communities and for quarantined patients, maintaining clear communication with families and ensuring that basic primary care is not undermined due to limited finances. The paper therefore recommends that more finance should be availed to church leadership especially from the main church coffers to enable them to meet the above-mentioned demands.

Sustainable value for money – a glimpse of the holy grail?

ABSTRACT This practical note presents striking findings from a research project in Malawi, comparing the cost effectiveness of a traditional project approach with a church and community mobilisation approach (CCM). The research found that CCM had the same level of positive impact on quality of life but at 4% of the cost. It also found that CCM communities were almost four times more confident in solving problems themselves, indicating a much greater likelihood of sustainability. To realise the potential advantages of faith in development means funders and faith-based organisations have to mobilise local faith communities. CCM is a challenging but cost-effective alternative to the NGO-project approach.

Church Networks and Localisation Practice in the Pacific

The localisation agenda is the largest humanitarian reform in decades. Global research, advocacy and adaptations of localised approaches continue to mature following the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. The Summit produced The Charter for Faith-based Humanitarian Action, recognising the unique position and comparative advantage of local faith actors (LFAs) in humanitarian settings, owing to their presence in communities before, during, and after crises. More than 80% of the world’s population professes a religious faith, and international development and humanitarian work takes place within communities deeply influenced by faith, with local staff often themselves people of faith (cited in Fletcher 2018, p. 4). LFAs have consistently been among the top implementing partners of UN Agencies in undertaking humanitarian response (UNHCR Partnership Note on faith-based organizations, local faith communities and faith leaders 2014, p.8). Despite this recognition, little has promulgated on the role of LFAs in the localisation agenda and the primacy of LFAs' voices in contextualising the agenda for their communities. Accordingly, CAN DO (Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations) a network of Australian churchbased agencies with established relationships in the Pacific, is building an evidence base to inform international actors and affirm the significance of LFAs in localised humanitarian response within the Pacific region, thereby contributing towards the Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action commitments. This paper is a critical reflection of the 2017-2018 localised response to the Monaro Volcano eruption in Vanuatu. Key learnings frame future collaborations with Pacific churches and pave the road ahead in shifting power differentials, including the advancement of LFAs' role within policy and decision-making at all levels of humanitarian response (Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action 2016, p.2).

60.4 Addressing Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Work With Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

This presentation will enable you to understand the religious and spiritual concerns common in sexual minority youth, especially as they relate to their families and local faith communities.

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Types of Projects Implemented by Volunteer Lay Health Educators in Their Congregations.

This study focused on the association between type of community health interventions and lay health educator variables. Lay health educators are volunteers from local faith communities who complete a healthcare training program, taught by physicians in-training. Lay health educators are instructed to implement health-related initiatives in their respective communities after graduation. Of the 72 graduates since 2011, we surveyed 55 lay health educators to gain insight into their involvement with their congregation and the type of health projects they have implemented. We dichotomized the health projects into "raising awareness" and "teaching new health skills." Using adjusted logistic regression models, variables associated with implementing health projects aimed at teaching health skills included length of time as a member of their congregation, current employment, and age. These results may help future programs prepare lay health community educators for the type of health interventions they intend to implement in their respective communities.

Between international donors and local faith communities: Intermediaries in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

This paper explores the crucial part that faith-based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as intermediaries between international donors and local faith communities (LFCs) implementing humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees. Humanitarian responses to the mounting Syrian refugee crisis have coincided with greater collaboration between international donors and LFCs. This cooperation often is facilitated by a complex web of non-state intermediaries at the international, national, and local level. This study probes the breadth of roles of these intermediaries, drawing on primary data from case studies of two Christian intermediaries supporting Christian LFCs as they deliver aid primarily to Muslim Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The results of the study are connected to the wider literature on LFCs in humanitarian response, revealing how intermediaries address issues of accountability, capacity-building, impartiality, neutrality, and professionalism. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for further research on intermediaries as key actors in the localisation of humanitarian assistance.

Reclaiming Grace in Catholic Social Thought

Grace is hardly mentioned in the canon of Catholic social teaching. When grace is invoked, it is typically discussed as a gift for personal sanctification, but not a relationship empowering human and divine cooperation for social and ecological responsibility. This essay examines the limited treatment of grace in Catholic social teaching outside of Familiaris consortio and Amoris laetitia before proposing that the traditional emphasis on grace at work in family life can be a model for more intentionally partnering with grace beyond family life. Reclaiming grace as a relationship for cooperation provides a framework for practicing the principles of Catholic social teaching in order to effect change in family life, in local faith communities, and through Catholic NGOs that forge international connections. Grace thus inspires a template for moral formation from the ground up that emphasizes shared practices for participating in “social grace” (in contrast to “social sin”) for integral flourishing as envisioned in Catholic social teaching.

The Indochinese Refugee Movement: An Exploratory Case Study of the Windsor Experience

Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, thousands fled Indochina in small boats to attain political asylum in neighbouring countries. Canada played a leading role in the resettlement of thousands of Indochinese refugees, and a significant part of this national effort was led by the city of Windsor, Ontario. This article examines Windsor’s local efforts to sponsor and integrate Indochinese refugees into Canadian society. In late 1977, Windsor Mayor Bert Weeks established an ad hoc committee on Indochinese refugees. Together with volunteers from local faith communities and non-governmental organizations, the city created a vast resettlement network and assumed the sponsorship of several families, well before the wave of refugees arrived in 1979. As an exploratory work, this article provides evidence of Windsor’s pivotal role in shaping the Canadian response to the Indochinese refugee crisis and may challenge the national narrative that large Canadian cities led refugee resettlement efforts. This study is timely, as important lessons can be drawn from the Windsor experience.

Faith, Secularism, and Humanitarian Engagement: Finding the Place of Religion in the Support of Displaced Communities. By Alastair Ager and Joey Ager.

Emerging questions and concerns about the role of faith in humanitarianism are increasingly being polarized across political and economic interests, particularly and recently evidenced in the highly divided responses to the contemporary ‘refugee crisis’. As such, Ager and Ager’s book is both a timely and urgent contribution to a discourse in need of active and constructive engagement with matters of faith. Indeed, the inclusion of ‘secularism’ in the book’s title is noteworthy in this respect. By offering reflections on faith in humanitarianism as a legitimate field of enquiry, it was necessary for the authors to outline and respond to the dominant secular framing of humanitarianism – a task they effectively undertake. In this book, the authors directly identity the “means to enable more effective humanitarian engagement with local faith communities and their agendas, interests and capacities” (p.vi) in contrast with, and in relation to, dominant secular engagement and understanding. Comprised of four core chapters, the book takes the reader through a logical sequence of ideas related to the role of faith in humanitarianism, ending with a call for more effective dialogue with faith values, beliefs, instruments, leaders, and communities. Each chapter effectively and creatively begins with an account from the field as experienced by the authors, each highlighting the importance of the faith dimension in humanitarian engagement. For instance, Chapter 1 begins with a recollection of a stakeholder consultation in North Darfur relating to child protection. Having introduced and assessed a wide range of factors and concerns, one of the participants suggested that religious education in their community was essential to facilitate the “proper upbringing of children” (p.2). The authors themselves reflect on their “uncritical acceptance of a secular humanitarian ‘script’”, which had silenced the religious concerns of the beneficiaries of the project, “along with any other meaningful engagement with a perspective seeing children as members of local communities of faith” (p.3). This brief vignette, and others that frame each chapter, help introduce the reader to the missed opportunities or limited effectiveness of humanitarianism in practice, which would otherwise be gained through a deeper and more informed engagement with faith and religion.

Interventions with Local Faith Communities on Immunization in Development contexts

Immunization is often viewed as a leading light of public health intervention—a “magic bullet” providing a seemingly straightforward solution to some of our most complex health challenges. The Worl...