Faith Practices Research Articles

A qualitative inquiry into Christian faith transmission in the family context

ABSTRACT These empirical findings contribute to knowledge regarding Christian faith transmission in the family context, where assumptions are largely un-tested and ideas frequently accepted with minimal critical engagement. The findings presented are part of a three-year empirical research programme comprising in-depth interviews with parents and children in the UK annually, enabling a longitudinal mapping of the child's faith and examination into how family faith activity and involvement may impact it. Play-based interview activities were devised to access authentic and accurate insights into the child's beliefs, perceptions and faith experiences. The data collected was correlated with information about family faith practices and activities to explore potential connections between the two. The 26 case study Christian families revealed fascinating inferences, including that faith discussion in the home is a more significant influence on a child's faith than church attendance, Bible reading or family prayer time. It was striking that the child participants tended to emulate the faith of the parent that they were relationally closest to, reflecting the notion of attachment theory. Some practical implications of these findings are proposed to contribute to the dialogue amidst churches, Christian families and academic contexts regarding how faith may be most effectively transmitted to future generations.

A study on the lived experience of Koinōnia in a post-apartheid, post-Armstrong congregation: A transition from power-imbalance to Koinōnia

The triune God reaches from within his perichoretic unity (Eugenio, 2014:156), into his creation, inviting all of humanity to participate in the Triune community of “shared participation—a participation together—in the perichoretic community of Trinitarian persons” (Grenz, 2003:268). Within this community, humanity finds it is made-in-God’s-image value and can live in the freedom of God’s communion (Knight, 2007:1).This article considers the experience of koinōnia in a church where membership lived through transitions of both apartheid and legalistic religion simultaneously, based on the research question, “What is the lived experience of koinōnia in the post-apartheid, post-Armstrong Grace Communion International Johannesburg Congregation”. Where genuine, evangelical, Trinitarian koinōnia exists, there appear to be blockages in the progressively deepening life in community. With significant input from the work of Lincoln (Lincoln, 2009) Koinōnia is explored through five considerations: identity, common life of believers, virtuous life, ubuntu, and practical sharing. Koinōnia in the lived experience of people who have traversed the ills of apartheid and the transitions of legalistic religion are encountered, exposing the beauty of diversity, the need for common values, and the commitment of time together in Scripture. Responding to meaning full moments (Frankl, 2006) towards Christlikeness by the power of the Spirit, not the flesh (Galatians 5:13–22), appears to significantly draw believers into the unity that Jesus prays in John 17. A more faithful practice is envisioned where believers build trust in the Spirit’s unifying power and presence and, from within the identity of Christ, are encouraged to explore various responses to meaningful moments towards Christlikeness. As the article and antecedent research suggests, widening and deepening individuals’ awareness of common life may build the connectivity of the visible vessel fulfilling its mandate to reflect God to the world. The Church is like a diverse tapestry attending to the calling of mending what was broken by harmful religious and political practices.

Struggling with and against the Governance of Islam in Spain

The process of accommodation of Islam in Spain is based on the Constitution of 1978, which guarantees the freedom of religion. Regarding Islam, the Cooperation Agreement signed in 1992 between the State and the Islamic Commission of Spain brought with it a formal recognition of the practice of the Islamic faith. Thirty years later, the sole interlocutor appointed by the State seems to be ineffective in the pursuance of compliance with Islamic religious rights. In various regions other actors have engaged in claims-making for rights that include, among others, the access to cemetery space for Islamic burials and Islamic religious education and halal food in publicly funded schools. This paper explores the governance of Islam and Muslims in Spain by presenting a case in which a number of grassroots organizations in the northern region of La Rioja have combined their efforts to achieve compliance with the religious rights they were granted decades ago. Through claims-making outside the institutionalized structure of interlocution with the State, they are contesting the external and internal top-down governance of Islam in Spain. Based on empirical data, we analyzed the nature of their claims, the varied ways of responding to specific practices of governance, as well as the spaces in which this claims-making takes place.

Imagining God

AbstractThis article interrogates the role of the human imagination in ordinary perception and orientation, in encounters with art, and in practices of faith. Philosophers and psychologists have long argued that perception is irreducibly imaginative, in the sense that to perceive intelligibly is, in part, to integrate sensory data into forms or wholes that are not simply given. The ability to do this is what continental philosophy calls ‘the imagination’, and the imagination in this sense is central to how humans apprehend and orient themselves in the world. This centrality introduces an element of risk into all human apprehension of the world, other people, and the divine, which cannot be overcome by spiritual or epistemological safeguards. Rather, such risk is inalienable, not least to a life of faith. The article discusses ways to understand and engage this dynamic, especially through theological encounters with art.

Sexual misconduct amongst evangelical leaders: a practical theological reflection

ABSTRACT A number of recent examples of sexual misconduct by prominent evangelical leaders has stimulated conversation regarding why Christian men exhibit such behaviours. This article adopts Osmer’s practical theological method to analyse the phenomenon and suggest more faithful practice for the Church and Christian organisations. Resources for the practical theological activity include three recent prominent cases of sexual misconduct by evangelical leaders brought into dialogue with biblical resources and wisdom related to male hegemony, psychology, power and accountability. The research concludes that sexual misconduct is connected with a faulty hermeneutic, self-justification/rationalisation, power differentials, and the failure of accountability structures. It suggests that safeguarding principles be implemented in evangelical organisations to foster safer environments for members.

Origins of the Journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association: Integratus

A MISSION WITHIN A MISSION As the inaugural issue of Integratus: The Journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association is published, we celebrate the actualization of one of the dreams of the founding members of our organization. The Catholic Psychotherapy Association (CPA) grew out of a small group of professionals in the Atlanta, Georgia, area who began meeting to support each other in the ethical integration of the Catholic faith in clinical practice. This original group gained recognition as a Catholic organization by Archbishop John Francis Donohue in 2002. Upon joining together with others across the United States, the first meeting of the professional organization that we now know as the CPA occurred in 2007. At that time, the eventual publication of a scholarly journal was high on the list of dreams of how the organization may one day bloom. To our knowledge, Integratus is the first journal to integrate Catholic theology and anthropology with the mental health sciences and fills a gap in the respective spheres of professional and theological scholarship.

Mediatization of Dangerous Faith Practices in the New Prophetic Churches in South Africa

Mediatization of Dangerous Faith Practices in the New Prophetic Churches in South Africa

Heroism of the Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope and Love in the Light of the Beatification Process of the Servant of God, Rev. Aleksander Woźny

The aim of this study is to present the heroic character of theological virtues in the light of the beatification process of Rev. Aleksander Woźny, launched on January 25, 2014 in the Archdiocese of Poznań. The whole Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis. Posnaniesis beatificationis et canonisationis Servi Dei Alexandri Woźny sacerdotis dioecesiani (1910-1983) was elaborated to provide an objective judgment of theological consultors, and subsequently, of the ordinary congregation of cardinals and bishops of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The wealth of available sources concerning the candidate for the altars in the form of his teaching, letters and memories allowed to pose the question whether in the life and teaching of Rev. Aleksander Woźny, the practice of faith, hope and love towards God and towards one’s neighbour was proven to be heroic, and therefore whether it is possible to form an opinion about the sanctity of the Servant of God. This study presents the theological virtues that the Servant of God excelled in in his life. The above research problem was elaborated on the basis of substantive study and thorough analysis of the collected documentation, which is reflected in this article.

Impacts of religious faith on the mental wellbeing of young, multi-ethnic Pacific women in Aotearoa

Aim: By employing a multi-faceted approach in the disciplines of Theology and Pacific Studies; three key areas of investigation were examined and included: how young Pacific women perceived images of God and faith; how it impacted upon their mental resilience and their responses to mundane and significant life events; and their personal constructs of mental wellbeing.
 Method: Qualitative group interviews (talanoa) were conducted with participants aged between 17-24 years old; identified with multiple ethnicities, with at least one being Pacific; identified as Roman Catholic, with varying degrees of faith practice; and were based in Auckland, Aotearoa. The Praxis Model methodology was employed throughout the research process and speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of the project. The theory of Intersectionality was utilized as the lens to view each research participants’ multi-layered self-identities.
 Findings: There were a total of 64 research participants. Out of the 64 participants, 82% (n=52), generally agreed that their image of God aided a positive state of mental wellbeing, five women were unsure and six stated, that it was something else in their faith practice which primarily supported their mental wellbeing. Part of the reason women felt their image of God offered hope for their future, derived from their belief in an afterlife beyond physical death, which they felt, reduced anxiety about their family members who had died or experienced sickness and trauma throughout their lives
 Conclusions: There is a need for more denomination-specific and culturally responsive foci around mental wellbeing, therefore recognising the unique experiences of faith traditions and the challenges faced, particularly, by multi-ethnic young Pacific women.
 Key words: Mental wellbeing, Pacific, Theology

A review of judicial enforcement of arbitral awards in South Africa

AbstractThis article postulates the constitutional ethos of upholding contracts entered between parties on the principle of good faith in practice. This is aligned to the international principle of respecting party autonomy between parties in court. A party cannot easily negate upon a contract that stipulates that a dispute must be referred to arbitration and furthermore that the arbitration award is binding upon the parties and not subject to appeal. This article aims to discuss that there is judicial enforcement of arbitral awards in South African courts. There is no distinction between national and international enforcement of arbitral awards. The principle of party autonomy is the cornerstone of the enforcement of arbitral awards. From a South Africa perspective, both national and international legislation supports the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. This article elucidates the intricacies of the enforcement of arbitral awards and the protection of party's interests to the proceedings. This article explores the consequences of the antithetical approach to arbitration agreements and proceedings. The judiciary's practice is to uphold the contractual principle of consensus between the parties, as opposed to allowing parties to walk away from awards on frivolous reasons and renegading upon contractual terms.

Mental health and spiritual well-being in humanitarian crises: the role of faith communities providing spiritual and psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic

Across the globe, people’s reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns highlighted, and continued to stress, the relevance of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in responding to crises, including in low-income and emergency settings. They also demonstrated the importance of faith practices and communities of faith as core needs and important coping mechanisms for many affected people in times of crisis. Drawing on data collected by World Vision International, the world’s largest child-focused humanitarian and development organisation, in the course of its response to COVID-19 in 70 different countries, this article explores the ways in which faith groups and faith leaders responded to the perceived needs of their communities. While keen to offer psychosocial support to people suffering anxiety and fear in the context of the crisis, this has often been integrated with spiritual support. Analysing their work from the framework of a rights-based approach to mental health, we conclude that they did contribute to psychosocial support through their MHPSS, in part through their provision of spiritual care. However, spiritual well-being should not be conflated with psychosocial well-being. While faith groups play an important role in MHPSS, their primary role is to offer spiritual care.

Pastoral Theology and the Little Goodness: Rejoice and Be Glad with the Voice of Song

precis: The essay aims to develop the nature of pastoral theology through orienting the Christian life of faith through a Jewish sense of otherness as the little goodness. In particular, together Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), and Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical metaphysics will be a significant inspiration. Perseverance through adversity in the hope of joy and gladness is both a Jewish and a Christian biblical theme giving light to the mysteries and practice of faith. There is much to reflect about holiness and the mystery of God that Christians can learn from Jewish experience, thought, and writings. In pursuit of care for others, God’s presence in the Other reveals an invincible little goodness evidencing a paschal and maternal character. Here, in the unity of prayer and responsibility, the voice and song of a Good Shepherd comes to mind, with stories of faith that impart hope for a little goodness to stir and bless life with joy and gladness from the heart.

“Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Will Prevail”

Marian devotionalism was the most popular faith practice among twentieth-century Vietnamese Catholics. Yet its contents were not uniform but reflected shifting realities of church history and Vietnamese history. In particular, the period 1940–1975 witnessed a monumental movement that associated Marianism with anticommunist nationalism among many Vietnamese Catholics. This development came from a combination of several interlocking factors, some global and some local. The development indeed reflects a pattern of interactions between the global and the local in the history of Vietnamese Marianism. It further illustrates the agency of Vietnamese Catholics, who welcomed ideas and beliefs from the global church yet also actively shaped them to further the destiny of their national church.

The Ritual Fusion

Abstract This article explores domestic religious practices of Iranian Muslim women in Los Angeles. In the diasporic context, Iranian women’s voluntary engagement in vernacular Islamic practices is often associated with an unreflexive pursuit of religion and lack of agency or with complicity with the Islamic Republic’s conservative brand of Shiism. To examine the complexities of such practices in the United States, this research relies on the ethnography of a monthly domestic gathering in LA that offers a hybrid blend of multiple devotional and social genres. The article demonstrates that the event’s performative and affective characteristics cater to a range of individual framings of the shared ritual and allow for complex and multilayered modes of engaging with the practice of faith. Further, it argues that vernacular Islamic practices in the diaspora are not always tied to individuals’ expression of religious conviction and pursuit of piety. By depicting the material and sensory aspects of the space, the article suggests that such rituals can serve as sites for engaging in a mode of diasporic nostalgia that does not commonly have a place in Iranian communities’ nostalgic narratives of the homeland.

Online Religiosity: Faith Practices of Generation M

Göz merkezci bir paradigmayla eş zamanlı gelişen teknik iletişim araçlarının ağ tabanında modern dijital medyayı oluşturmasıyla birlikte çevrim içi ve çevrim dışı ortamlar olarak yeni uzamlar meydana gelmiştir. Çevrim içi ortamlara dâhil olan bireylerin kimliklerinin geniş yelpazede çeşitlenmesinin yanında kuşaklar nezdinde görünümlerinin de farklılaşması; ele alınan çalışmada ilk kez Janmohamed’in kullandığı, modern dönemde yaşayan Müslüman gençleri tanımlayan M nesli üzerinden incelenmektedir. M neslinin çevrim içi ortamlardaki dini kimlikleri ve inanç pratikleri, medyanın teknik ve kültürel içerimlerinin etkileri özelinde medya ve din ilişkisinin incelenmesi, Eken’in eserinin ana temasını oluşturmaktadır. Bu çerçevede yapılan saha araştırması, nitel anlatı analizi yöntemi ile yarı yapılandırılmış mülakat teknikleri kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Kanada, ABD, Almanya ve İngiltere’den 6; Türkiye’den 14 katılımcının yanıtladığı sorular, kartopu ve amaçlı tipik durum örneklem yaklaşımlarıyla seçilmiştir. Yazarın doktora tezinden üretilen bu eser Önsöz ve Sonuç kısımları hariç 3 ana bölümden ve bu bölümleri açıklayan toplam 11 alt başlıktan oluşmaktadır.

The Impact of Spirituality and Religious Practice on Senior Living Leader Career Resilience.

Experienced senior living leaders (SLLs) report the impact of spirituality and religious practice on SLL role adaptation and continuation. The sample included 18 SLLs in 18 skilled care settings representing public, non-profit, and for-profit types of incorporation, with oversampling of for-profit facilities. The average years of SLL experience was 24years. In-depth interviews were examined through a thematic analysis approach using Excel software. Seventy-eight percent described how a higher power, religious beliefs, and faith practices were associated with their role. Their narratives revealed three major themes: Frame (calling and pre-dispositional spiritual beliefs and religious practices), Role Performance (how spirituality informed SLL administrative practice), and Benefits (perceived rewards of adherence to spiritual beliefs and practices). Further analysis of the three themes produced codes that added greater specification for each theme. Implications provided for normalizing the spirituality and work-life intersect and infusing ethical integration of spirituality and work-life in SLL educational programs.

The Bible in the ordinary theology of Christian chaplaincy volunteers: a case study

ABSTRACT Previous researchers referenced Jeff Astley’s concepts expressed in his book Ordinary Theology when exploring the extent to which ordinary Christians (that is, those with no academic theological education) might use the theology taught by their local church. In my doctorate study (DThM) at Durham successfully completed in 2020, I considered Astley’s ordinary theology from the perspective of investigating the practice of faith of Christian volunteers in the world beyond their local church congregation. I asked ordinary Christian volunteers in the Church of England how their faith changed when they practised their faith away from their local church context. This cohort of ordinary Christians used their Bibles as an available source of theological insight into the issues raised in their voluntary work. This enabled them to share a rich and nuanced approach to the theological challenges they perceived to have arisen from their work with the unchurched. Church leaders and the academy may have more to learn from such ordinary theology.

Faith Practices Reduce Perinatal Anxiety and Depression in Muslim Women: A Mixed-Methods Scoping Review.

Higher rates of depression and anxiety are reported among women who belong to racial and ethnic minority groups, contributing to adverse birth outcomes, and remains a taboo topic within the global Muslim community. Non-pharmacological coping mechanisms such as prayer may be employed to reduce perinatal depression and anxiety, however the literature is sparse on the use of this intervention among pregnant Muslim women. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a scoping review examining the use of Muslim faith practices on anxiety and depression in perinatal period. Nine studies were identified that demonstrate that Muslim faith practices reduce perinatal anxiety and depression symptoms. These studies demonstrate that prayers and other faith-based practices, including reciting parts of the Quran, saying a Dua, and listening to audio recordings of prayers are all effective in decreasing anxiety, depression, stress, pain and fear in Muslim women during pregnancy, during childbirth, during an unexpected cesarean section, and when experiencing infant loss. Despite the scoping review's small sample size, findings confirm that incorporation of faith practices effectively reduces perinatal depression and anxiety among Muslim women and should be utilized in clinical settings for non-pharmacological management of perinatal mood disorders.

Review: The Aliites: Race and Law in the Religions of Noble Drew Ali, by Spencer Dew

Review: <i>The Aliites: Race and Law in the Religions of Noble Drew Ali</i>, by Spencer Dew

Family Social Capital in Family Business: A Faith-Based Values Theory

When this study was initiated in 2008, the concept of family social capital was new to the family business discipline. This paper summarizes in-depth qualitative research grounded in owning family experience to understand the nature and source of owning family social capital. Exploratory research began with roundtable discussions among family business owners, advisors, and researchers to understand how owning families sustain positive relationships characteristic of family social capital. These discussions revealed that some family business owners rely on their family faith to sustain and establish ethical norms. A follow-up review in the family studies literature revealed that many families rely on family faith practices and faith-based narratives to reinforce ethical norms that strengthen family relationships. Based on these findings, researchers developed hypotheses to guide additional research. Four owning families affiliated with different Christian denominations participated in in-depth qualitative research that supports hypotheses. Interviews and archival data revealed very similar faith-based practices, beliefs, and values across the four owning families. And additional qualitative evidence indicated positive connections between values-based family social capital and family owner succession, business performance, and community support. Theoretical relationships derived from qualitative data are summarized in a Faith-Based Values Theory of Family Business.