Church being a community: implications for catechesis from an educationalist point of view
Dr. A. de Kock, Protestant Theological University (PThU), The Netherlands
Paper presented at the conference “Being surprised by God: embodied ecclesiology in local contexts”, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 21 – 24 June 2010.
Content
1. Introduction 3
2. Religious identity development of Christian youth and religious formation by Christian institutions in the modern context 5
2.1 Processes of individualization 5
2.2 New forms of religious communities 8
2.3 Religious formation of the institutions in the modern context 11
3. Religious identity formation: challenges for the institutions 14
4. Consequences for catechesis practices 19
4.1 Catechesis in The Netherlands 19
4.2 Three models of learning environments applied to chatechesis 20
5. The apprenticeship model: a promising catechetical model for church communities? 23
5.1 Challenges for catechesis in light of youth identity development 23
5.2 Catechesis according to an apprenticeship model: a promising approach? 24
5.3 Possibilities and examples of this model in the practice of catechesis 28
6. Research framework on learning in catechesis practices 34
References 41
About the author
Dr. A. (Jos) de Kock is an education expert and theologian. He worked as researcher, consultant, teacher and senior policy advisor in higher education. His specializations are in the area of curriculum development, educational innovations, professional identity, religious identity, catechesis, and `religion and society´. Now he is head of the master program Learning & Innovation at the Christian University for Teacher Education Driestar educatief, The Netherlands and senior researcher at the Protestant Theological University, The Netherlands. Dr. De Kock is engaged in research on faith learning and catechetical learning environments in church communities, and is leading a research program on religious identity development among orthodox Christian and orthodox Muslim youngsters.
Contact the author at:
1. Introduction
One of the characteristics one might apply to local church congregations is that these are communities of believers. A community implies togetherness among participants: they share more or less their time and life spheres with each other in the local context of the church, both in and in the environment of the church.
As a result of a rapidly changing religious and cultural landscape, local churches in The Netherlands are challenged in their ‘ being a community’ . This is especially true when it comes to Christian youth participating in Dutch churches. The religious identity development of Dutch youth is not merely connected to one local church community anymore and is highly fragmented nowadays.
Not only youth identity development is fragmented, also the local churches become more and more fragmented in what they offer as religious formation. Churches seem no longer to be ´learning communities´ but religious organisations offering a variety of disconnected activities in which both youth and elder people can learn more on diverse religious issues. This tendency is also observed in how catechesis is organised in nowadays Dutch churches and the roles ‘teachers’ and ‘learners’ have in catechesis practices.
Against this background, The central questions in this paper are:
1. How may in the modern context of The Netherlands at the beginning of the 21st century religious identity development of Christian youth and the functioning of the institutions of the church, the family, and the school with regard to religious formation of youth be described?
2. What challenges are the institutions of the church, the family and the school facing when it comes to the formation of religious identities of Christian youth?
3. What consequences have these observations for catechesis practices in churches in terms of educationalist approaches?
4. Which of the educationalist approaches fits best the church´ ambition of being a community?
5. What is the outline of a research framework for empirical research on learning in catechesis practices in relation to the church ambition being a community?
2. Religious identity development of Christian youth and religious formation by Christian institutions in the modern context
The first question central to this chapter is: How may religious identity development of Christian youth in the modern context of The Netherlands at the beginning of the 21st century be described? In 2.1 I will first discuss the theoretical underpinnings of assessing contemporary Christianity among Dutch youth in terms of individualization. However, individualization is only half the story of contemporary Christianity. After all, sociality remains an essential aspect of youthful renditions of Christianity, even though the forms of sociality by means of which youthful Christianity organizes itself may differ in many respects from traditional organizational forms. Therefore in 2.2 the development of alternative forms of religious communities among Christian youth is discussed.
The following central question to this chapter is: How may the functioning of the institutions of the church, the family, and the school with regard to religious formation in a modern context of The Netherlands at the beginning of the 21st century be described? This question will be discussed in section 2.3.
The line of argumentation in this chapter is based on De Kock (2010) and Roeland and De Kock (2010).
2.1 Processes of individualization
There are at least two indicators which are important for describing religious identity development of Christian youth in The Netherlands at the beginning of the 21st century. First, an observation of youth culture, and second, an observation of religious outlooks and faith experience of youth.
Indicator 1: (changes in) youth culture
In comparison with ten, twenty years ago, nowadays youth culture has less connections with the communities around young people: Communities like the family or, in a bigger sense, the local environment or church communities. Furthermore, youth culture is more and more dictated by external factors like the market, leisure industry and media. These factors are triggering the fulfilment of personal needs of young people. The same is true for specific Christian youth. The impact of the ‘triangle’ of family, church and school decreases in comparison with the impact of the media and market (e.g. Vos, 2007). Besides, the church, family and schools are more and more ‘used’ in a consuming way by young people.
Indicator 2: (changes in) religious outlouks and faith experience of youth
Religious outlooks and faith experiences are more and more personally coloured. Young people have more and more an a-dogmatic stance in their religious life. Furthermore, religious outlooks seem to be coloured by functionalist tendencies. A tendency can be observed in which religion or spiritual transcendence should be something which is useful for the person at stake and his direct environment (Kronjee, 2006, p. 79). These a-dogmatic and functionalist tendencies make young people feel more loosely linked with the faith tradition of the family or church in which they are raised. Hervieu-Léger (2006) underlines this development stating that personal commitment and own made choices are much more important than conformation with religious authorities. Autonomy is thus a key concept.
Identity development and religious identity development
Identity development is about two distinctive processes: the process of exploration and the process of making commitments (see e.g. Bertram-Troost, 2006). These two processes are at the basis of the identity status model of Marcia (1966; 1980) which is focussed at late adolescence (18-21 years). Marcia (1966) typifies this late adolescence as follows: “Facing such imminent adult tasks as getting a job and becoming a citizen, the individual is required to synthesize childhood identifications in such a way that he can both establish a reciprocal relationship with his society and maintain a feeling of continuity within himself” (p. 551). This identity development requires different choices, also in the religious area. Religious identity development can therefore be defined as a particular part of identity development in general.
The ultimate goal in the identity status model is that adolescents reach a phase of ´identity achievement´. After a period of ‘crisis’, in the end one has committed oneself to a certain job and ideology.
In opposite of this status is the status of ‘identity diffusion’. In this status one either has not gone through a period of crisis or has not committed to a certain job or ideology. In between there are two other statuses: the moratorium status and the foreclosure status. In the moratorium status one is in a crisis period but has not made clear commitments yet. In the foreclosure status one has not gone through a crisis period but nevertheless has made a commitment for a certain job or ideology.
Meeus (1991) points out that Marcia supposes a development from a low status (identity diffusion) towards a high status (identity achievement). Meeus states that this supposed development is problematic. In his view, identity achievement should not necessarily be seen as the end status of identity development. A certain choice or commitment may namely loose its worth at a certain moment in life. Meeus should lay more accent on the exploration in the identity status model, more than on the terms of crisis and identity achievement. Exploration is a process term which is more in correspondence with the reality of searching again and again for your identity in life. This vision on idenitity development links to the modern way of looking at idenitity development in which identity is seen as a process (see Bauman). Meeus (1991) indeed argues that whether making strong commitments is positively assessed is dependent on the culture or social milieu in which one lives.
A fragmented identity (development)
How can Marcia´s theory and Meeus´ interpretation help analyze religious identity development of Christian youth in a modern context? In terms of Marcia´s identity state model, in a consumptive youth culture Christian youth make many explorations: explorations which are directed by an ever changing supply of market and commerce, also the reli- market and the great supply of spiritual stuff. An a-dogmatic and functionalist faith experience, may point at the making of ever changing commitments of young people with regard to religious outlooks. This may be called ´fragmented identity development´. A modern context in which youth with a great amount of autonomy want to explore a lot or do not want to make too strong commitments leads to a lot of ‘fragmented commitments’. Thus, in a modern context the status of identity diffusion and the status of moratorium are seen as ‘respectable identities’ which are positively assessed by society and its culture. The modern shift from strong commitments to fragmented commitments can also be explained by a shift in how integrity is conceived. Schachter (2002) suggests a shift not from integrity to fragmentation but rather a “… cultural shift from a preference for a search for integrity through consistency to a preference for a search for integrity through self-actualization” (p. 431).
Liquid life
Thus, idenitity diffusion and moratorium are respectable identities typical for modern life. In his Liquid Life, the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (2005) depicts modern life as essentially ‘liquid’. As he argues, “’[l]iquid life’ is a kind of life that tends to be lived in a liquid modern society. ‘Liquid modern’ is a society in which the conditions under which its members act change faster than it takes the ways of acting to consolidate into habits and routines. Liquidity of life and that of society feed and reinvigorate each other. Liquid life, just like liquid modern society, cannot keep its shape or stay on course for long” (p. 1). Bauman refers here to the massive deinstitutionalization of modern society, arguing that the once firmly established traditions, patterns of action and thinking and institutionalized settings of what he calls a ‘solid’ society ‘melt’ and lose their stability and self-evidence.
In Bauman’s account of the ‘liquidation’ of modern society, deinstitutionalization is accompanied by individualization, which is both a consequence and a booster of this erosion of established institutionalized patterns. Individualization, furthermore, has a structural and a cultural side. Structurally speaking, individualization refers to the weakening and/or loss of ties and bonds between individuals, or, the loss of community. Culturally speaking, individualization denotes the loss of the authority of shared frameworks of meaning, which is both a consequence of the erosion of these frameworks and the rise of modern individualism that prioritizes individuality and authenticity above collectivity and conformity (cf. Taylor, 1989).
However, this grand narrative regarding religious individualization is not entirely convincing. In section 2.2 this statement is elaborated further, especially focusing on the upcoming of other religious authorities in alternative communities for Christian youth. Section 2.2, thus, questions whether religious authority is really disappearing among Christian youth.
2.2 New forms of religious communities
As said, the grand narrative regarding religious individualization is not entirely convincing. First, Christian families, schools and churches continue to exist in contemporary societies, and they continue to turn out faithful youngsters. While it is indeed not always known how loyal these youngsters are to this triangle, the picture of flawed religious involvement drawn by many a sociologist is at the least one-sided. Roeland (2009, chapter 5), for instance, admits that bricolage is indeed one attitude to be found among young Christians, yet he also found that many young people are truly loyal to their religious communities. But second, and even more unnoticed in much of the literature, new forms of sociality and communal religious life have emerged in the post-sixties era – forms which are highly attractive for young people. Among these new forms of sociality are religious events, festivals, concerts, media and online communities – all of which are very popular places in which young people share and celebrate their faith.
Neo-evangelicalism
To avoid the loneliness, postmodern people withdraw into small groups and temporary gatherings, ranging from sport clubs, small groups of friends, local initiatives and festivals (Maffesoli, 1996). Others, referring to Maffesoli, are adding: online communities (Aupers 2008[2004]), pop and rock festivals, dance parties (St. John, 2009[2004]) and temporary communities in the world’s touristic hot spots (D’Andrea, 2009[2007]). One easily recognizes the similarities between the temporary gatherings mentioned here and those offered by contemporary Christian organizers and entrepeneurs – in particular in the (neo-)evangelical renditions of Christianity[1]. One might think of religious festivals, worship and relipop concerts, and web communities. At these sites, evangelical youngsters form temporary, often emotional communities in which their faith is shared, celebrated and expressed.