VALUE OF SINCERE VOICES OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE PROCESS OF CHURCH CATECHISATION
VALUE OF SINCERE VOICES OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE PROCESS OF CHURCH CATECHISATION

Author(s): Velina Toneva
Subject(s): Education, Theology and Religion, Pedagogy
Published by: Editura Eikon
Keywords: Church Education; Pastoral Care; Eastern Orthodox Christianity; Pedagogy; Prayer Life;
Summary/Abstract: Contemporary religious education in Eastern Orthodox Christian countries and churches is often closer to catechisation than to comparative religious studies, because that is usually the local tradition and identity-building nature of schooling. On the other hand, recent church catechisation and socialisation are more often combined with recreative, general educational or more specific creative activities, classes and moments. Even new topics in arts and humanities go together with preaching to senior and to “those minor ones” and spiritually caring of children, youths, adults and elderly. When clergy works with people in the specific language and according to their particular interests that dynamically change, flock responds with same attitude to church lifestyle and confession. This paper is about the key value of understanding the way how children perceive, express and practice what they had actually understood, remembered and learned from parish school or monastery or convent camp. Based on my collection and exploration of small pieces of children’s prayer and creative texts and on comparison with such studies in Orthodox and other contexts, this study argues that spontaneous children’s responses and further feedback are of considerable value in the process of inchurching, as well as in religious dimension of personal and social child development.

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