Participatory Action Research as Trinitarian Praxis and a Pedagogical Model for the Suburban Congregation

ABSTRACT

This article argues that Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology is both a trinitarian praxis and a helpful pedagogical model for the local, suburban church. The basis of this argument stems from data gathered during a PAR project conducted among suburban Lutheran congregations in 2014. The initial intention of this project was to explore how an increased awareness and understanding of the social Trinity might impact the ideation and praxis of spiritual formation in suburban Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations. The findings of the research team indicated that the process of PAR itself was the way in which the team experienced the social Trinity and was a preferred method of engaging adult learning in the local church context. The primary finding from the data was that the PAR methodology, as it was applied in this project, facilitated deep reflection and reflective action among the research team members, and this was the transformative piece for them. This article will articulate the process of the project and offer some practical implications for religious educators in a suburban church context.

Acknowledgment

This research was conducted as part of a Ph.D. dissertation at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN.

About the author

Dr. Steve Thomason, Ph.D., is Pastor of Family Faith at Easter Lutheran Church, Eagan, MN. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes

1 A fully digital version of this research, along with all illustration and animations, is available at www.deepintheburbs.com.

2 I am indebted to Dr. Patrick Keifert for this important understanding of the nature of theology. This is his modification of David Kelsey's assertion that theological education is done about, against, and for the local congregation (Kelsey 1992).

3 Fishman argues that the country estate in near proximity to the city has been a symbol of status that was once only available to the nobility. The rising bourgeois class aspired to acquire such garden spots just outside the city since the late middle ages.

4 This is a significant result of the automobile and zoning issues. Families live so far away from school, places of worship, and entertainment, that it is unrealistic for children to walk to most places. This forces the children to either rely on an adult to drive them to every place they need to go, or sit at home and seek self-entertainment. The fact that children travel great distances from many directions to attend school and/or church diminishes the likelihood that school and/or church friends will live within walking distance. These physical limitations have fostered the radical individualism and isolation experienced by many suburban youth.

5 Bennett argues that some researchers have used PAR as a “tool” to get participants to agree with or adopt a particular position or policy. This is a danger that the researcher must avoid (Bennett 2004).

6 Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit organization that gathers volunteers to combine dry food goods into “manna packs” for distribution to hunger relief organizations around the world. There is a packing station in one of the suburbs in which the DITB congregations dwell. See the Feed My Starving Children website. https://www.fmsc.org/ (accessed September 12, 2017).