Ritual Practices in Congregational Identity Formation

By (author) Timothy D. Son

Not available to order

Publication date:

08 May 2014

Length of book:

284 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739183113

Ritual Practices in Congregational Identity Formation investigates the educational roles of ritual practices in the process of congregational identity formation. Son identifies and analyzes various kinds of Christian rituals with respect to how rituals influence the formational processes of a congregation’s identity. Based on Victor Turner’s ritual theory, this book also investigates the pedagogical and transformative efficacies of ritual practices within the dynamics of congregational education.

Part I: Discovering the Educational Efficacies of Ritual

Rituals for Congregational Formation
Ritual to Build, or to Deconstruct? Critical Reflection on Victor Turner’s Ritual Theory
Ritual Practice as a Process of Knowing

Part II: Educating Congregations for Identity Formation

Exploring the Anatomy of Congregational Identity: Learning Various Constitutive Elements of Congregational Identity
Painting a Congregation’s Self-portrait: Integrating Worldviews, Church Images and Core Values into a Congregation’s Self-images
Wrestling with a Cultural Goliath: The Challenges and Opportunities of Postmodern Society in Constructing Congregational Identity

Part III: Where Ritual Theory Meets Ministry Practice

Looking into a Portrait Artist’s Palette: Analyzing a Case Study of Ritual of Installation and Its Implications to Congregational Identity Construction
Practical Implications of Ritual Practice for Congregational Ministry

Appendix A—Survey Questionnaires
Appendix B—Worldview Test

Academically rigorous, theologically sound, and spiritually rich, this book offers an insightful proposal for understanding intrinsic dialectics of ritual practices in forming and transforming congregational identity. Son invites and encourages us to have genuine conversations with our past, present, and future, and to discover a new sense of identity.