Pastoral Care with Traveling Showmen. Life-World and Religious Interpretation of the Reality of 'People on the Move'

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Kristin Merle; Professorin Dr. Birgit Weyel
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: from 2013 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 237860743

The aim of this project is to create a practical theology for the pastoral care with traveling showmen. Pastoral care with showmen is an area of practical theology that has barely been researched yet. The particular conditions of the life-world and the religious needs of showmen has neither been observed methodologically nor have they been considered in the theory of pastoral care. Scientifically, a theory of pastoral care with showmen based on solid research is urgently needed since only an empirical foundation can create an approach whose concept is appropriate to the particular life-world of showmen without having to rely on intuition and handed down fragmentary practical knowledge. Centerpiece and novelty of the research project are the perceptions, descriptions and interpretations of the life-world and 'lived religion' of showmen based upon qualitative empirical surveys of religious interpretations with an affinity to life-world and rites of passage typical to showmen. We will survey and interpret expectations, attitudes (relevance of hierarchy) and motives in characterizations of the relationship to institutions by the church and their representatives (pastoral caregivers/spiritual counselors).We expect our findings to motivate research in other areas, as well. On the one hand, the theory of pastoral care will gain significant impulses by an exemplary practical theology of pastoral care with showmen characterized by their life-world: The research project contributes to integrating sociological perspectives into poimenics. On the other hand, the research results will be exemplarily relevant to lived religion of other social groups that are also characterized by a specific religiously ambulatory lifestyle. Besides getting insights important to pastoral care, we also expect to gain knowledge valuable to church theory, i.e. about the religious sociality of social groups who live in movable structures. This is interesting because it has been observed that participating in a parochial organized congregation poses difficulties for people whose lifestyle requires mobility from them. Thus, we expect our research to also offer prospects concerning the question on the relationship between mobility and church organization. An empirical survey of the life-world of this social group is interesting for practical theology as well as cultural studies beyond the scope of our specific research project; this special group offers the possibility to explore the relationship of religious attitude and practices, mobility, and the relevance of church commitment.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants