Faith practices
In many churches and faith communities, children and young people are present and involved in liturgical and other religious practices. The way in which these function and are designed differs quite a bit. A recurring research question for the OJKC is: how can we describe and understand the diversity of faith practices in which children and young people participate?
Belief in practice
For a long time there has been talk of two types of religious practices with children and young people, namely the multigenerational practice and the practice aimed at one or more specific age groups, such as the 'children's service'. In practice, there is usually a mixture. At the OJKC we not only investigate what happens in these practices, but we also investigate the underlying values: what theological and pedagogical values are there and how does this theological and pedagogical normativity influence the design of the religious practice of children and young people?
Participation of children and young people in faith practices
Research at the OJKC often focuses on the participation of children and young people in religious practices. To what extent is there active participation and what does the active participation of children and young people look like in religious practices? And what contributions do children and young people make through their participation in the religious experience and practice of the entire faith community? From our involvement with practice, we try to gain more insight into this.
