| abstract |
The enthusiasm for God has saved the group of faith before lots of historical crisis. The earnest enthusiasm for God and cry to God have changed the crisis to the opportunity of grace. However, this enthusiasm for God is breaking the group of faith in this Korean Church field. We have a lot of collapsed field with all kinds of conflicts and divisions as we cannot narrow down difference between ideologies, generations, and culture. Those who oppose have enough enthusiasm for God. But, in the pastoral field, as they have and express more enthusiasm, they have more conflicts among them. This time is not enough by having the earnest enthusiasm for God. This generation needs the pastoral attitude which empathizes and serves more each other, so that the enthusiasm for God would save and strengthen the group of faith.
The empathy is more necessary for 3040 newly-married family generation. They are ambiguous generation between young and old generations. Nobody defines the characteristic of their generation and accepts their identity. While they have feelings of alienation and cannot find out where they belong to, they just try to keep their faith. If they don't exist, the next generation of church won't exist, too. They are the only hope and the connection of young and old generations. 3040 newly-married family generation is the essential part of our future church. Therefore, we have to carefully watch them and give them pastoral attention.
This researcher has found out their social and cultural characteristics and things to do to save 3040 newly-married family generation. I analyzed their social characteristics by using six stages of Family Life Cycle theory of Carter and McGoldrick and their cultural characteristics by using Epic theory of Leonard Sweet. And I specified the pastoral methods by applying the concept of empathy. For the social pastoral empathic method, I devised Newlyweds' School, 10th Parish, and Family Worship. For the cultural pastoral empathic method, I ran programs of Counsel Visit, Image Notice, Men of Church, and Women of Church. I have seen a big possibility that they can settle in church and connect each other well by participating these programs.
Surely, we keep trying to eliminate the cultural and ideology differences between 3040 newly-married family generation and the other generations. I hope those pastoral empathic methods would help a lot to hold up 3040 newly-married family generation and make them to be a strong group of faith.
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