Junge Menschen in einer sich ändernden afrikanischen Gesellschaft: eine Fallstudie über die presbyterianische Jugendarbeit und die Akan von Südghana

Abstract

This doctoral thesis deals with the changes the youth grapple with in Southern Ghana today. These changes permeate all fabrics of society, from the traditional society with its values to the modern society that is undergoing radical social changes.

The First Part presents to the reader the traditional Akan Society. It points out how it has assisted young people to get into the world of the adult. It gives an insight into the traditional religions, the rites and practices associated with them and their relation to young people.

The Second Part deals with the History of the Presbyterian Youth Work from its inception to the present day. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana was set up in the early 20th Century from the toils of the Basel Mission and the United Free Church of Scotland. This new Christian way of life brought a clash between two world views: the traditional African Religion (ATR) and the Christian Religion that brought about, so to say, farreaching consequences to the culture and the development of the country.

Part three focuses attention on the present changes in the Ghanaian Society. It shows the effects of migration and the economic conditions on the Ghanaian Society at the turn of the 21st Century especially for young people.

Part four sums up the findings and discusses them on the basis of two leading concepts: Contextualization and Identity. I evaluated a contextualization project of a church parish in southern Ghana. Here are, in my opinion, the first signs that could show the way into the future, i.e. a way of preaching the Gospel within the context of the traditional mindset of the local people by taking into account the Ghanaian Culture and with due regard to the feelings of the youth.