That they bear much fruit: Ecclesial lay ministry as spiritually formative?

摘要

This thesis explores how ecclesial lay ministry is spiritually formative for a group of Filipino immigrants in the parish of St. Martin de Porres. The study focuses on how the experiences of the Filipino immigrants' practice of the faith and participation in ecclesial lay ministry reveals their cultural conditioning; how their Christian tradition helps them deal with this; and in turn how culture conditions their living of the faith. Although this research study focuses on the spiritually formative dimension of ecclesial lay ministry, spiritual formation is necessarily affected by culture, more specifically, by the encounter of one culture with another.; The basic theoretical framework used in this study is the model of theological reflection in ministry outlined in Method in Ministry by James and Evelyn Whitehead. The model uses three sources of theological reflection: experience, tradition and culture. I used qualitative research methodology. The research tools used for theological reflection are the questionnaire, the semi-structured interview and the group sessions.