Pastoral care and counselling to and with children

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This thesis is an attempt to present a prop~r modd and methodology of pastoral care &mucounselling of children. Chapter I starts with the concept of childhood and traces the history ofchild care and examines the present situation of pastoral care and counselling. The importanceand necessity of pastoral care and counselling of children is emphasized. Chapter 2 locatespastoral care and counselling of children under the umbrella of Practical Theolob'Y· It proposesan interdisciplinary model and argues th<:t pastoral care is a theological issue. In chapter 3 theancient Israelite society is examined 11s an example of a therapeutic environment for growingchildren. Her.~ the family provided a social structure through which children experienced astrong sense of belonging, security, love and self-identity. In the family circle God's covenantallove was conveyed by means of storyte.lling.Children have their own world and language which differ in many ways from the adult world.Chapter 4 explores the personal world and language of children and gives an exposition of thedifferent developmental stages between the ages of six and twelve. Chapter 5 deals with theworld of children, the family and the immediate environment of growing children.Healing in pastoral care is exercised through faith care. The research proposes the storytellingmethod as a most effective vehicle to convey God's love to the child. Chapier six explains thenecessity for a storytelling technique through which the horizon of the child's environmentmerges with the horizon of God's unfailing love and grace.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University