Browsing by Author "Klaasen, John"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    A critical analysis of the ordained leadership in the Full Gospel Church of South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Jacobs, Nigel; Klaasen, John
    This research stems from a personal internal conflict and concern regarding the impact the local church is making in the community and on its congregational members. Through personal involvement in the Full Gospel Church of South Africa on a local level, the researcher set out find out what can be done to make the church more effective, relevant, and impactful in its function as a church. The way the world operates today compared to twenty years ago is vastly different. Yet, despite the vast changes that have taken place on a global, national, and even local level, the question remains whether the church has experienced similar strides to remain relevant and effective without compromising its values and purpose.
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    Identity, race and faith: The role of faith in post-Apartheid South Africa
    (AOSIS, 2016) Klaasen, John
    South Africa has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants in the 21st century. Immigration and race have contributed to the raising of important questions of identity and social inclusion. Immigration and race are two crucial phenomena for the church in South Africa because the overwhelming majority of immigrants to South Africa are affiliated to Christianity and active participants in worshipping communities. This article is an attempt to critically engage with the complex phenomena of immigration and race for the role of Christianity in identity. I will attempt to show how mainstream Christianity as an open-ended narrative and can provide the space for creative tension between the �host� and �stranger� for identity formation. I will use the theoretical framework of Don Browning�s correlational approach to demonstrate how the experience of immigrants and minority race groups creates identity of self and the constructive other.
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    Intersection of personhood and culture: A narrative approach of pastoral care to gender-based violence
    (Klaasen, J. (2018). Intersection of personhood and culture: A narrative approach of pastoral care to gender-based violence. Scriptura ,117 (1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.7833/117-1-1348, 2018) Klaasen, John
    What contribution does a narrative approach make to effective care for those affected by gender-based violence? Notwithstanding the contributions of feminist theologians who take experience and identity seriously (Ackermann and Ruether), open-ended narrative includes lived experience, embodied communication, and the identity of the victim as formative community as an effective approach of care. Experience as lived experience or actual reality is not what is interpreted by the dominance of those in the centre, but it is primarily the experience of the vulnerable at the margins. The post-structuralist critique of the structuralist approach to communication and difference and the other within a fluid community will be considered within the narrative approach of care. This article will also address the intersection between gender and culture. I will use Ackermann and Ruether�s feminist lens as theological framework
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    An investigation into the causes and cures of pastoral burnout within the Church of the Nazarene in the Western Cape District
    (University of the Western Cape, 2016) Prinsloo, C.R.; Klaasen, John
    The broad aim of this research project is to establish the root causes of pastoral burnout amongst pastors in the Church of the Nazarene in the Western Cape. This study will seek to determine whether there is pastoral burnout amongst the pastors and to offer corrective measures. The corrective measures may include creating awareness of pastoral burnout amongst the pastors and the hierarchy of the Church of the Nazarene in the Western Cape, suggestions of healthy living, strengthening of support structures to prevent pastors exiting the ministry, and reinforcing matrimonial and family ties and stable financial well-being. Any aspect of a pastor�s life that may cause burnout must be identified and remedied, failing which it may be devastating, not only to the pastor and his family, but also to the congregation.
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    Julian M�ller�s narrative approach to pastoral counselling in the South African landscape
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Joseph, Patrick; Klaasen, John
    The goal of this study is to examine and analyse Julian M�ller's narrative approach to pastoral counselling within the South African context. The objectives include exploring both primary and secondary scholarly resources authored by Julian M�ller, specifically addressing the use and importance of narrative counselling in guiding individuals toward the appropriate sources of human worth and dignity. The research project seeks to contextualise M�ller's work within the global landscape of narrative counselling, with a particular focus on the contributions of Ruard Ganzevoort. The aim is to assess whether South African techniques present a viable alternative to prevailing mainstream counselling approaches and practices. According to M�ller, the significance of individuals and their experiences lies in collaborative meaning-building with "co-researchers". Julian M�ller's approach to narrative counselling considers the perspectives of "co-researchers", emphasising collaborative research with individuals rather than on them. His "seven movements" encourage the remembering and repeating of untold experiences, especially those of vulnerable and marginalised individuals. The strength of this approach lies in its palpable, contextualised, and localised focus, yet it extends beyond the local through cross-disciplinary discussions, resulting in findings that have broader implications. Beyond delving into pastoral counselling as an academic field, this study endeavours to investigate narrative counselling approaches within the South African landscape, specifically focusing on impoverished communities affected by marginalisation.
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    Narrative and personhood: The quest for triad community development
    (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020) Klaasen, John
    This article sets out a Christian theological anthropology for community development. This critical engagement with traditional and doctrinal forms of Christian theological anthropology will analyse two contrasting perspectives of theological anthropology to construct a contemporary community development model that considers the responsibility of communities for community development. The theological model of community development considers narrative as an interlocutor of personhood and community development. This article further investigates conceptual linkages between personhood and community development through classification or categorisation of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views of personhood. I will use the narrative as a lens to interpret the two perspectives and identify foundations for a triad community development model of personhood, narrative, and community development.
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    Practical theology and narrative: Contours and markers
    (Stellenbosch University, 2017) Klaasen, John
    There has been a definite turn in practical theology and theology at large in the last four decades. The inadequacies of the Enlightenment project to keep in tension the rational and non-rational traditions of interpretations, significance of the relative for universal moral appropriation, the importance of lived experiences for identity, the critical engagement of tradition and choice, and the widening gap between the finite and infinite are addressed within a narrative approach. Another voice is added to narrative approaches for the interpretation of person, the world and God. Narrative approach for meaning making of person, world and God through reasoning is embedded in experience. A common thread of narrative theology is that persons can make sense of themselves, the world and God through stories. A narrative approach to theology is much more than a bridge between interpretation and first order language. It is the process, structure, and form of interpretation and reflection of the experience, activities, and communication of the Christian community through stories. An open ended narrative approach engages critically with constants such as reason, particularity, history, community and experience. A brief overview of narrative within theology and within practical theology in particular is followed by a historical overview of the development of the use of narrative. An open ended narrative with specific characteristics makes up the main components of the article.
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    The role of personhood in development: An African perspective on development in South Africa
    (Southern African Missiological Society (SAMS), 2017) Klaasen, John
    The question that this article addresses is the role of personhood in development in post-Apartheid South Africa. Modernisation and Dependency theories have not been successful in the development of South Africa over the past two decades. The gap between rich and poor has widened and South Africa was on the verge of being declared junk status. An approach that considers personhood from an African perspective can lead to more effective development. Effective development that is less dependent and exploitative can emerge from theological markers such as the Trinitarian God, relationship with the other and vulnerability.