Learning to love: Pastoral care as mission at church-based, intercultural initiatives by Sue Holdsworth explores how love of God and love of neighbour was expressed by staff and volunteers undertaking intercultural initiatives in Australian churches.
Holdsworth was inspired by her experience as a migrant and working with intercultural churches. She also recognises that there can be a lack of resourcing and support for volunteers and hopes this research will alleviate that. She is committed to using research for good and strengthening local communities for service.
This article is based on four churches in Melbourne, Australia and finds that intercultural initiatives can best be understood as pastoral care projects, rather than mission.
Holdsworth makes use of multiple methods: participant observation, interviews, and document searches. Her work is grounded theory: she studied each of the four churches sequentially and developed her analysis as she worked with each.
Holdsworth’s research continues: she is looking more at the realities of church-based life in the 21st century, and is also hoping to publish her research as a monograph.
Read the full article here: https://ecclesialfutures.org/article/view/14831