Women Finding Their Voices in the Small Town Ministry Context: An Exploration of Values that Undergird Social Justice

grantor: Emmanuel CollegeThe concern of this thesis is with the formation of values for women who find themselves living in a small town in Central Ontario. For many years, I have questioned where our values come from. For example, does the church have any influence over the formation of our values? For people who are non-church members, what influences them? Do our values have anything to do with what we understand as spiritual experiences and social justice actions for our community? The idea for this thesis came to me over years as I observed the caring and compassion of many people in my community. Their selfless acts of generosity were noteworthy especially since many of the people I knew were not connected to my church community. At the same time, I myself was involved with the church and so knew many people there well. Sometimes, the same sense of compassion and generosity was not as evident amongst church people as I had experienced amongst non-church people. I became curious about this. My curiosity has led me to this research and my research question. Research Statement. It is my intention to explore the values which undergird commitment to social justice acts amongst church and non-church people. I wish to discover what kind of connection exists between an individual's spirituality, values and actions.D.Min