The Local Church and the First Thousand Days of a Child's Life: A Mixed Methods Study from South Africa

Background: Whilst there is a growing body of research indicating the life-long significance of the first thousand days (F1000D) in a person’s life, there is currently limited research regarding the church’s understanding and support of this critical period for human health and wellbeing. Exploratory research was therefore conducted by a Cape Town faith-based organization seeking preliminary answers to the question: What is the specific contribution a local church can make in support of the first thousand days (conception to 2 years) of a child’s life in Cape Town, South Africa? Methods: A mixed-method study was conducted with 194 respondents, seeking to understand knowledge and attitudes of church leaders towards F1000D, current church responses, existing F1000D models, and approaches that may be suited to the church, the role that respondents see for the church in F1000D, and barriers to mothers accessing F1000D services. Results: The research showed that although there is limited knowledge and engagement with F1000D by church leaders, there is broad consensus that the church does have a significant role to play in this life stage. The church has many assets that can be mobilised in support of F1000D and doing so will also serve the church’s missional purpose. Discussion: Key recommendations include the following: F1000D should be included and normalised across all church activities; programmatic responses to F1000D that use the assets of a local church should be developed; the collective voice of the church for advocacy for F1000D support and services within society should be harnessed.

Culture of Safety and Good Health

The growing effect of drugs abuse is today fast becoming a global health concern. This has placed great burden on our society as it affects the economy, the healthcare system, public safety, family life, and as well as church messages to the world. Studies has shown that adolescents in Uyo who believed in drugs abuse often experience array of problems, like academic problems, mental issues, and poor peer relationships, which by extension affect family members, the community, and the entire society. These implications have raised accusing finger on what action the church has taken towards solving this problem that has befallen our society. Thus, this chapter seeks to establish church responses to drug abuse. The study made use of questionnaires in gathering data using purposive sampling technique to select participants. Data gathered were analyzed using simple percentage method and independent t-test. This chapter encourages churches to take concrete action on the issue of non-medical use prescription of drugs and drug abuse.

‘The Men of Violence’, 1976–1981

This chapter is devoted to the prison protests in Long Kesh/Maze Prison. It evaluates Church responses to the evolving protest by republican paramilitary prisoners on their quest for ‘five demands’ for political prisoner status. The chapter will culminate with the 1980 and 1981 hunger strikes which saw the deaths of ten men in the prison, including Bobby Sands, and more than sixty deaths outside caused by heightened community tensions. At this point, the English and Irish Catholic Churches faced their greatest point of division over the issue of hunger striking as suicide; a schism often reported by the British media. Fr Denis Faul, a civil rights activist, effectively ended the 1981 hunger strike by convincing the families to medically intervene. The legacy of the strikes fractured the tenuous relationship between the Church and Irish Republicans, marking a major turning point in the conflict.

Claiming the Shipyard, the Cowboy Hat, and the Anchor for Women: Polish Feminism’s Dialogue and Struggle with National Symbolism

This article examines the evolving role of national symbolism in Polish feminist discourses and activist practices since 1989. Three case studies involving symbolic appropriation are presented; in each, cultural signs of great importance to the national imaginary are put to work for women’s equality in acts of resistance to nationalist rhetoric. The first case is the graffiti reportedly seen on the wall of the Gdańsk Shipyard during the 1980 Solidarity strike: “Women, do not disturb us, we are fighting for Poland.” The sign and the story behind it came to play an important role in feminist debates about national belonging and exclusion. The second example is the 1989 election poster featuring Gary Cooper, twice transformed by feminists. Finally, the article examines the struggle between nationalists and feminists over the “fighting Poland” sign associated with the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The Black Protest of 2016 creatively transformed this symbol, which led to much public debate and several court cases. This article argues that Polish feminism is engaged in contestation of the dominant understanding of nationhood imposed by right-wing, male-centered forces and the Catholic Church. Responses to the post-1989 resurgence of nationalism have constituted key dividing lines between strands of feminist activism and thinking in Poland. The two competing strategies have been pathos and irony. The Black Protest seems to mark a new stage in these developments—one that corresponds to Victor Turner’s communitas, with its characteristic turmoil and symbolic intensity.

A proposition for an integrated church and community intervention to adolescent and youth sexual reproductive health challenges

Adolescents and youth in South Africa comprise about 30% of the total population. This phenomenon is referred to as a youth bubble. Research shows that 52% of young people have had full penetrative sex by age 17, and yet 35% of teenagers who have sex say they only sometimes wear a condom, while 32% who have sex say they never wear a condom. Furthermore, studies show that more than half (52%) of parents of teenagers and youth are unaware of their children’s sexual experiences. This situation is insignificantly different between the youth who frequently attend church and those who do not go to church. Responses by churches to the situation have ranged from denialism and hence only maintaining an abstinence stance to superficial youth sexuality discussions that only scratch on the surface. Data indicate that many adolescents seldom have an opportunity to discuss issues of sexual and reproductive health with a caring, knowledgeable adult and are often confronted with unresponsive health services. In response to the situation, there is growing awareness of the important role that religious communities play in adolescents and youth sexual health. The National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Framework Strategy (2014–2019) encourage parents and faith-based organisations to bridge this gap by empowering adolescents and youth regarding sexuality issues. The fourth priority of the strategy advocates for a strengthening and scaling up of community networks aimed at supporting adolescents. The churches, however, are caught in a dilemma where on the one hand they have to uphold (teaching) the biblical moral values of abstinence and at the same time respond to the realities of youth who are engaging in sex. With the church being a subsystem of society, a question that is posed is: how should a constructive engagement between church and society regarding youth sexual reproductive health be done? A practical theological response of the church to adolescents and youth sexual reproductive health (AYSRH) that is dialectic and juxtaposes the church and its distinctive values and at the same time practically responding to realities of the needs of adolescents and youth is proposed. In such a model, an engagement that upholds the sacredness of the church while observing the public role of the church as a community institution is advanced.