Background

Existing literature emphasised the spiritual value of grandparents in a child’s faith nurture, but this was not reflected in contemporary understandings or practices of the Christian community.

Purpose

The discourses surrounding the perceptions and practices of grandparents themselves, the local church and wider Christian society were investigated; uncovering the dynamics of cross-generational relationships and interactions with a child’s spiritual journey.

Methods

Data was gathered from Christian media, resourcing organisations, denominational websites and focus group interviews with grandparents and church representatives, to reveal the discourses conveyed by individuals, institutions and the wider Christian community. Critical discourse analysis was used to investigate perceptions and implications.

Results

Grandparents unanimously reported collective worth and purpose in their grandparent-grandchild relations. However, church representatives observed barriers and tensions regarding their involvement in faith nurture, citing a culture of privacy surrounding faith. Denominational websites and Christian media indicated that grandparents were not integral to church strategies, being rarely mentioned, resourced or empowered. The dominant discourses were of grandparents being passive agents with background involvement. Resourcing primarily conveyed romanticism and nostalgia rather than addressing contemporary family life. For some, these relationships facilitated discussions about faith, whilst others said their family’s faith identity was unspoken. The grandparents were primarily motivated personally and independently of external bodies, often adopting a ‘trial and error’ mentality, suggesting a highly individual rather than collective approach to faith nurture of grandchildren. The local church rarely championed grandparents in this role, leading to grandparents being passive and feeling excluded. Many lacked confidence and were disengaged with faith nurture.

Conclusions and Implications

The value of grandparents needs better communicating, moving them from being minor contributors at the periphery of the team to being more actively and intentionally involved. This requires enhanced understanding at institutional and societal levels of grandparents’ role, and improvement in the functionality and efficacy of interactions between grandparents and their grandchildren. Redressing of the power dynamics at play within congregations and society is required to bring grandparents more equally into the equation. A paradigm shift is required at all levels to equip, empower and include grandparents more fully. This would lead to improved Christian faith transmission.

中文翻译：

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排除在外还是团队的一部分？使用话语分析调查祖父母在基督教信仰培育中的作用

背景

现有文献强调祖父母在孩子信仰培养中的精神价值，但这并未反映在当代基督教社区的理解或实践中。

目的

调查了围绕祖父母、当地教会和更广泛的基督教社会的看法和做法的论述；揭示跨代关系的动态以及与孩子精神之旅的互动。

方法

数据是从基督教媒体、资源组织、宗派网站以及对祖父母和教会代表的焦点小组访谈中收集的，以揭示个人、机构和更广泛的基督教社区所传达的话语。批判性话语分析用于调查看法和影响。

结果

祖父母一致报告了祖孙关系中的集体价值和目标。然而，教会代表注意到他们在参与信仰培养方面存在障碍和紧张，并指出围绕信仰的隐私文化。宗派网站和基督教媒体指出，祖父母并不是教会战略不可或缺的一部分，很少被提及、获得资源或授权。占主导地位的话语是祖父母是有背景参与的被动代理人。资源配置主要传达了浪漫主义和怀旧情绪，而不是针对当代家庭生活。对于一些人来说，这些关系促进了关于信仰的讨论，而另一些人则表示他们家人的信仰身份是不言而喻的。祖父母主要是个人动机和独立于外部身体，经常采用“试错”的心态，建议采用高度个人而非集体的方法来培养孙辈的信仰。当地教会很少支持祖父母担任这一角色，导致祖父母变得被动并感到被排斥。许多人缺乏信心，脱离了信仰培养。

结论和启示

祖父母的价值需要更好的沟通，将他们从团队外围的次要贡献者转变为更积极、更有意识的参与。这需要在制度和社会层面加强对祖父母角色的理解，并提高祖孙之间互动的功能和效率。需要纠正会众和社会内部的权力动态，以使祖父母更平等地参与进来。各级都需要进行范式转变，以更充分地装备、授权和包容祖父母。这将导致改善基督教信仰的传播。