Ministry in the military: providing pastoral care in response to the unique needs of blended families, 1999
Marks, Lilton J.
1999-03-01
1990-1999
This dissertation discusses the issue of providing Pastoral care to blended families in order to meet their unique needs. Many books and studies have dealt with this subject in the secular environment. There are few materials that deal with this matter from a religious-care perspective to enable the Church to attend to the needs that are unique to the blended-family structure. Both in the military and in the civilian community, the number of blended families has increased greatly in the past two decades. This increase can be attributed to a higher rate of divorce in American society during the 1970s and 1980s. The first chapter addresses the Ministry setting in the United States Army communities. It gives basic descriptions of location, population, and the transience and separation in families. It also describes the diversity in the religious makeup of the parishes served and the diversity of the clergy within the Army. The second chapter concentrates on the Ministry issue. This chapter focuses on the growth of blended families in American society and the United States Army. It highlights the effects that divorce and remarriages have had on the marital structure in the Army. Theologically, many chaplains and congregations treat divorce and remarriage as sinful situations, and blended families are ill-treated in the parishes. The biblical tradition is researched in chapter three to survey if and to understand how blended families existed in the Judeo-Christian context. The Old and New Testaments are studied to surmise the blended-family structure in biblical history and the impact of this biblical history on present-day blended families. Chapter four addresses the psychological and sociological impacts on blended families. Phases of divorce and remarriage are studied. The blended family in relation to Church, boundaries, birth order, structure, and roles are also highlighted. Chapter five contains surveys that were administered to clergy and blended-family spouses, both in the military and in the civilian community. These surveys were used to ascertain the overall perception of blended families and their unique needs by the clergy and by the families themselves. Recommendations to clergy and congregations in attending to the needs of blended families are given in chapter six. Also expressed are areas of concerns affecting blended families that require future research and discussion. Finally, this chapter contains a suggested model and a training program to give chaplains an alternative approach to providing pastoral care to blended families.
text
application/pdf
dissertation
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Interdenominational Theological Center
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/itc.td:1999_marks_lilton_j
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
