Abstract

BEUKES, Jacques W.. Diaconate and youth in Afrikaans-speaking Reformed congregations in South Africa. Verbum Eccles. (Online) [online]. 2023, vol.44, n.1, pp.1-6. ISSN 2074-7705.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v44i1.2762.

South Africa is characterised by various socio-economic and socio-political challenges (fractures) not easily met (or healed). 'Fractures' refer to social, economic, religious, spatial, ecological, environmental, and economic injustices and other issues. Within this context, the church is confronted with her vocation. The unique vocation of a congregation is that the members become a 'new community' (koinonia) in which they not only care for one another but also develop relationships featuring care for, and mercy and solidarity (diakonia) with the weak, poor, and marginalised in society. Several researchers prove that the current South African youth could be classified as vulnerable and marginalised. Since the church does not preach the gospel in a vacuum but in relation to specific human realities, the theme of the youth and diaconate in the Afrikaans-speaking Reformed churches in South Africa is examined in this study, based on Osmer's Practical Theological Interpretation. INTERDISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS: The interdisciplinary nature of this contribution is spread across the two fields of youth ministry and diaconate. The sub-disciplines of both the youth in general, and youth ministry and youth work within the academic discourse of the diaconate are studied, specifically in the Afrikaans-speaking Reformed denomination

Keywords : youth; diaconate; Afrikaans-speaking Reformed congregations; DRC; RCSA; NRCA; URCSA; marginalisation; transformative diakonia; human dignity.

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