Youth Ministry as a Third Ecclesial Logic? Negotiating Experiences of Ambivalence in Youth Ministry on the Intersection between Intentionality and Intentionality
This research paper presents the main findings of a three-year-long research project (2020-2023) on post-confirmation leadership training in the Church of Norway. It discusses the dilemmas that emerge from these findings in a theoretical manner. The project was an ethnographic study exploring how leadership training in local congregations develops over time and how parachurch organizations and local congregations interact within the practice of leadership training, particularly at camps.
One of the project's key findings was that the practice of leadership training and the identity formation that takes place within the practice is characterized by experiences of ambivalence: Leadership training as a phenomenon is open for interpretation and multivocal and offers rich experiences of ambivalence through community and leadership training. Interestingly, however, the interactive and relational learning and development of faith within the practice are challenged and promoted by these complex traits of ambivalence. For those who participate in leadership training, their faith and relationship with the church seem to be strengthened by the richness of the practice.
Drawing on the findings from this research project and engaging other empirical research and relevant theory on youth ministry, the paper explores how experiences and patterns of ambivalence may be negotiated in the youth ministry context. With the help of pedagogical and theological theory, it further discusses dilemmas and possibilities pertaining to youth ministry`s situatedness between intentionality and institutionality, suggesting that youth ministry may operate as a sort of strategic, third ecclesial logic.
One of the project's key findings was that the practice of leadership training and the identity formation that takes place within the practice is characterized by experiences of ambivalence: Leadership training as a phenomenon is open for interpretation and multivocal and offers rich experiences of ambivalence through community and leadership training. Interestingly, however, the interactive and relational learning and development of faith within the practice are challenged and promoted by these complex traits of ambivalence. For those who participate in leadership training, their faith and relationship with the church seem to be strengthened by the richness of the practice.
Drawing on the findings from this research project and engaging other empirical research and relevant theory on youth ministry, the paper explores how experiences and patterns of ambivalence may be negotiated in the youth ministry context. With the help of pedagogical and theological theory, it further discusses dilemmas and possibilities pertaining to youth ministry`s situatedness between intentionality and institutionality, suggesting that youth ministry may operate as a sort of strategic, third ecclesial logic.
Publisert i The bi-annual conference of IASYM - the International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry, 2024
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