Completed dissertations

The notion of ‘soul‘ brings solace to many people, especially in the context of death and dying. However, the term ‘soul’ has been heavily criticised by scientific theology, especially during the 20th century. The ramifications thereof for the practise of pastoral care have been problematic. If the concept of ‘soul’ is judged to be theologically unsound, for example in grief counselling, the consequences will include a lack of reciprocal transactions and limited capacity for empathy and expression in pastoral care.
Based on these findings, the dissertation project intends to rephrase the term ‘soul’ in accordance with the conditions governing contemporary history of ideas. In the process, methodologies in the fields of exegesis, philosophy, and systematic theology play a crucial role, in addition to approaches of practical theology. The study proposes that it is necessary to question the rejection of the term ‘soul’ – not only with regard to pastoral care, but also in respect to theology as a whole. At the same time, pastors are encouraged to use a new, plausible concept of ‘soul’, in order to acknowledge the soul and refer to it when performing their care of souls duties.

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For more than two decades now, the Bundeswehr (the German armed forces) has been undergoing a far-reaching transformation process. At one time purely and strictly a defence force, largely sustained by compulsory military service, the Bundeswehr has changed dramatically to become a deployment force engaged in international military intervention, with women admitted to all deployments since 2001, and with recourse solely to volunteer recruitment of soldiers since 2011. These fundamental changes present a major challenge, not only for soldiers and their families, but also for military chaplaincy, which is faced with the need to adapt conceptually and in terms of staffing to the parameter changes. At the Institute for Religion and Society, we are particularly interested in the pastoral care (poimenics) aspect of military chaplaincy work. What questions is it imperative for pastoral care to ask in this special situation? How does chaplaincy understand itself in its tension of loyalties between Bundeswehr and church on the one hand, and Bundeswehr and society at large on the other? How is pastoral care / chaplaincy implemented in the Bundeswehr? What are the special challenges with which military chaplains see themselves faced?
In connection with this project, Isolde Karle and Niklas Peuckmann are both involved with the Theological and Ethical Working Group (ThEA) at the Protestant Church Office of the Bundeswehr in Berlin. With generous sponsorship by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), the project has been realised by Niklas Peuckmann.

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Adolescence is the stage of human development when people embark on a search for answers and directions. They try out and dismiss different lifestyles, until they identify a concept that matches their needs. This process also applies to individual religious development.
The research project aims at analysing the activities and structures that adolescents wish for and seek out while practising and nurturing their faith. At the same time, it is necessary to investigate if the adolescents take advantage of the activities and services on offer because of the explicitly religious nature thereof, or if they are motivated by other factors.
In terms of methodology, qualitative interviews will be conducted with adolescents who are actively involved in the youth church or who take advantage of its activities and services. Youth church constitutes a particular type of ecclesial youth ministry, and it provides a wealth of starting points and connections for adolescents because of the way its activities and services are structured. In view of the statement that adolescents, as a rule, don’t respond well to traditional church activities and services, it is necessary to analyse the questions to what extent the youth church with its specific structure fulfils its obligation in terms of religious care of adolescents and to what extent it offers them a space in which they can express, nurture and experience their religiosity.

The dissertation is coming out soon.

Vergewisserung und Irritation. Evangelische Frauenarbeit heute

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2020

ISBN: 978-3-374-06600-1

This study is dealing with the aims and challenges of the Women's Board within the Nordkirche, the Lutheran Church of northern Germany. Where are its ressources, which obstacles is it currently facing? In order to answer these questions, fourteen focused interviews with experts in the field were conducted and analysed. In consideration of insights from gender research and social studies the results are classified from a practical-theological viewpoint. It shows that gender separate spaces are still an important resource for women within the church. At the same time the field has to develop new concepts that depict gender justice in order to integrate the erosion of a binary gender code.

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In the ecumenical and interdisciplinary research project "Gottes Wort in der Geschichte. Reformation und Reform in der Kirche", Isolde Karle cooperated with Ute Gause (Faculty for Protestant Theology, Bochum), Wilhelm Damberg and Thomas Söding (both Faculty for Catholic Theology, Bochum). The research group explored the question of the central impulses of the Reformation and reflected on their relevance for the current renewal processes of the two major churches. The central question was the effectiveness of "God's Word in history".
Under the title "Reform and Reformation of the Church", an ecumenical symposium was held from 26-28.09.2013 with colleagues from Protestant and Catholic theology, history and media studies and with high-ranking church representatives from both churches. The contributions of the symposium were published in a volume by Herder-Verlag.

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The topic of Church reform has been one of Isolde Karle's main areas of research for many years. She was involved in the EKD discussions on the reform paper "Kirche der Freiheit" ("Church of Freedom") at various conferences and congresses from the very beginning. She organized an interdisciplinary conference on Church Reform, financed by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, and published the lectures in an anthology. This was followed in 2011 by the monograph „Kirche im Reformstress“. ("Church in Reform Stress") on the same topic.
Afterwards, Isolde Karle cooperated with the sociologists of religion Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl Gabriel and Prof. Dr. Detlef Pollack (both from the University of Münster), in order to carry out the research project "Kirchenreformen im Vergleich" ("Church Reforms in Comparison"), financed by the DFG. The project examined and compared church reforms that have been sought and implemented at the operational management level of the regional churches and dioceses and free churches over the past 15 years. To this end, interviews with experts from the respective church managements were conducted, analyzed and interpreted. At a final conference of the project in October 2014 in Münster, initial results were presented and discussed with representatives from science and the churches. Central results were published in a dedicated issue of the journal "Evangelische Theologie" ("Protestant Theology") 1/2016.
Stefanie Brauer-Noss completed and published her dissertation in 2017 under the title Kirchenreformen im Vergleich. Eine empirische Studie zu drei evangelischen Landeskirchen ("Church reforms in comparison. An Empirical Study of Three Protestant Regional Churches").

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As part of the Northrhine-Westphalian Excellence Competition for the Humanities and Cultural Sciences „Geisteswissenschaften gestalten Zukunftsperspektiven!“ ("The Humanities shape Future Perspectives"), the project "Interpretations of Illness in Post-Secular Society" by Prof. Dr. Dr. Günter Thomas (Systematic Theology/Ethics) and Prof. Dr. Isolde Karle was fully financed until the end of 2006. The results of the research conferences were published in a volume by Kohlhammer-Verlag. As part of the research project, about 60 guideline-based interviews were conducted, mainly with patients, but also with nurses and physicians. These interviews were systematically evaluated in a dissertation by Sabine Winkelmann under the title: Religiöse Deutungen in schwerer Krankheit. Eine Analyse und Auswertung leitfadengestützter Patienteninterviews.
("Religious interpretations in severe illness. An analysis and evaluation of guideline-based patient interviews").

Practical theological interest is focused on the question of the connection and difference between salvation and healing, religion and health. In the pastoral discussion, but increasingly also in worship practice, inspired by the ecumenical discussion, much emphasis has been placed in recent decades on the interdependence of salvation and healing. Our aim is to analyze the opportunities, but also the problems of such postulated connections (and causalities) in a differentiated way and to encourage responsible church practice in dealing with the sick.

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Kirchenreformen im Vergleich. Eine empirische Studie zu drei evangelischen Landeskirchen

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2017

ISBN 978-3-374-05382-7

The Evangelical regional churches have come under pressure. Decline of membership, financial uncertainties, and break with tradition are only the most obvious factors which affect for some decades the regional churches, forcing them to change. The study analyses the reform processes of the regional churches of Central Germany, the North Elbian region, and Württemberg, since the beginning of the 1990s, particularly taking into account the perspective of the leaders of the reform processes.

The focus is on the question of the catalysts of the concrete processes, of the goals and their achievement, of the actors and their perceptions of the situation, and the solution approach. Comparing three very different regional churches, the correlations between framework conditions and approaches to reform are analysed.

The dissertation was carried out within the framework of the DFG-funded research project "Kirchenreform im Vergleich" ("Church Reforms in Comparison") led by Prof. Dr. Isolde Karle and sociologists of religion Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl Gabriel and Prof. Dr. Detlef Pollack, both from the University of Münster.

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Seelsorge und Kognitive Verhaltenstherapie. Plädoyer für eine psychologisch informierte Seelsorge

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2017

ISBN 978-3-374-05215-8

A reception of psychological theories and psychotherapeutic methods in pastoral care has been taking place for a long time. Methods of cognitive behavior therapy are only marginally considered in the German-speaking area. In university psychological research, however, these methods have dominated for decades and have proven to be highly effective for a wide range of psychological disorders.
Therefore, the study enters into a constructive and critical dialogue with theories and methods of cognitive behavioral therapy from a pastoral perspective. It focuses on theological-anthropological aspects of freedom, on the topic of "effectiveness" and on more methodological questions of conversation. The goal is a "psychologically informed pastoral care".

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Religiöse Deutungen in schwerer Krankheit. Eine Analyse und Auswertung leitfadengestützter Patienteninterviews

LIT Verlag

Published in 2016

ISBN 978-3-643-13185-0

In pastoral care for severely ill people, the perception of individual religious practice and different theological views is of great importance. This study aims to raise awareness of the diversity and complexity of religious interpretations. To this end, interviews with those affected and previous scientific findings will be brought into discussion. The focus is on the topics of prayer, the image of God, illness, the significance of Christian tradition and pastoral care. This will provide indications for successful pastoral care, not only for the elderly.

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Auf der Suche nach dem „Anderen Advent“?! Gelebte Religiosität im Weihnachtsfestkreis

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2015

ISBN 978-3-374-04168-8

During the Advent and Christmas season, many people long for the 'other' beyond their everyday experiences. The calendar "Der Andere Advent" ("The Other Advent") accompanies people in the Advent and Christmas season in this search for the 'Other'. In doing so, it aims to consciously bring the Christian message of Christmas into focus - with ever increasing success. But what makes the calendar so attractive? What role do the contents of faith play when dealing with the calendar, but also in the context of modern Christian religious practices on Christmas in general?
The study examines these questions. It begins by introducing the historical, sociological and practical-theological interpretation of Christmas, and then focuses on interviews with readers of the "Other Advent". By means of the empirical results, it is possible to bring late modern Christian religiosity in the majority churches into view, even beyond Advent and Christmas, and thus offer further suggestions for forming theological theory and church practice.

The dissertation project "In search of the 'other Advent'?!" was supported by the association Andere Zeiten e. V..

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Kirchenreform und betriebswirtschaftliches Denken. Modelle - Erfahrungen - Alternativen

Gütersloher Verlagshaus

Published in 2013

ISBN 978-3-579-08166-3

Church reform - for about two decades now, extensive processes of dismantling, reorganization and reorientation have been negotiated under this keyword. Frequently, analyses and instruments based on business management thinking are employed to help overcome challenges. However, again and again this leads to major conflicts or unsatisfactory results. Why is this the case?
Christoph Meyns examines what church management can and cannot hope to achieve by using business management approaches and methods in an effort to adapt church work to declining resources. He makes visible where their use makes limited sense and where it leads into aporias, and shows what possible alternatives exist.

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Ressourcen stärken - Seelsorge für Eltern letal erkrankter Kinder

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2013

ISBN 978-3-374-03173-3

Every year, about 5,000 children die in Germany from life-shortening, so-called lethal diseases. The affected parents know about the imminent death of their child and have to live with this burden. What can comfort and motivate these parents? What guides them through this time? Which feelings, thoughts and behaviors are religiously helpful for them?

Jula Elene Well investigates these questions. She first introduces the topic from the perspectives of sociology, religious psychology and practical theology, then concentrates on the empirical core of the study, the interviews with affected parents. In doing so, she succeeds in developing and interpreting the extremely rich empirical material in a differentiated way and making it fruitful for poimenic discussion. In addition, important impulses for the discussion of the image of God and the question of meaning or meaninglessness of suffering and illness are given.

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Salbungsgottesdienste in der Volkskirche. Krankheit und Heilung als Thema der Liturgie

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig

Published in 2012

ISBN 978-3-374-03102-3

Heike Ernsting examines anointing services as a new phenomenon in the Protestant Church and thus enters new territory in practical theology. The phenomenon of anointing services will be explored from different perspectives: by an empirical study of anointing services in church practice, by the analysis of impulses from church history and ecumenism, by an investigation based on systems theory that illuminates the sociological conditions of a longing for healing and wholeness. Finally, Ernsting unfolds the thesis of the anointing service as a newly emerging casual service, which in a theologically pointed manner thematizes the "case" of illness and threatened corporeality and allows for God's attention to the "weary and burdened" to be experienced.

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Die Bibel als Medium religiöser Bildung. Kulturwissenschaftliche und religionspädagogische Perspektiven

V&R unipress

Published in 2008

ISBN 978-3-899-71427-2

In the "post-traditional" era, studying Bible in religious education classes in schools cannot be taken for granted. The study examines the arguments for a reflected use of the Bible in relgious education in the face of this challenge. The proven Bible didactics of Horst Klaus Berg and Ingo Baldermann form the starting point for the development of a separate educational theory of the Bible. Their approaches are re-read in a surprising way against the background of the theory of cultural memory and a constructivist theory of socialization. The author seeks to overcome the traditional antagonism between subject and tradition. She shows that the Bible is an indispensable resource both for the identity formation of the individual and for culture as a whole, and gives teaching with the Bible a central place back within the educational canon of the modern school.

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Die christlichen Motive des Blaudrucks. Spiegel der Volksfrömmigkeit in Deutschland vom Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts bis heute

LIT Verlag

Published in 2008

ISBN 978-3-8258-1502-8

The dissertation examines the Christian motifs of blue-dyeing. This craft, now threatened with extinction, came to Germany at the end of the 17th century. For the first time, blue-dyeing offered wider parts of the population the opportunity to decorate commonly used textiles with patterns permanently and inexpensively. From the beginning, Christian motifs were also printed and have been handed down within the blue-dyeing trade until today. The unique canon of Christian motifs in blue-dyeing is recorded, their origin is researched and their significance for the piety of their users is presented.

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