Poverty and pastoral counselling : design for an extensive research project

Abstract

Poverty is arguably the most common and devastating social disease in the world. It is not, however, only a social, political or economic problem. Knowing how to respond to the calling of caring for the poor is an incredible charge for the church. It is not only a matter of Christian charity but also a matter of pastoral care. Extensive research on such a phenomenon needs careful planning and precise execution. It was therefore decided to conduct participatory action research with informed researchers. It is hoped that the input of these informed participators will help the researcher to design a methodology that will be able to dig deeper than the surface of the problem and to uncover the most important driving forces and basic needs of poverty. This article serves as an introduction to a four-year research project on poverty, financially supported by a generous bursary from the National Research Fund.