Spirituality experience of members in charismatic congregations

Rad se bavi konceptom duhovnosti i njezinom ulogom u oblikovanju osobnog i obiteljskog života kod pripadnika karizmatskih zajednica »Dobri Pastir« i »Maranatha«. Uvodno su opisani procesi koji zahvaćaju postmoderna društva, a u nekim segmentima i hrvatsko tradicionalno moderno društvo (sekularizacija, revitalizacija religioznosti, duhovni pluralizam, pojava novih eklezijalnih pokreta). Definirani su pojmovi religioznosti i duhovnosti u širem i užem smislu, te je u kontekstu kršćanske duhovnosti ukratko predstavljen karizmatski pokret. U središtu rada je prikaz rezultata kvalitativnog istraživanja čiji je cilj dobiti uvid u način na koji pripadnici karizmatskih zajednica žive osobnu duhovnost i duhovnost u svojim obiteljima. Istraživanje je provedeno metodom dubinskog polustrukturiranog intervjua s 12 sudionika, od kojih su šest članovi karizmatske molitvene zajednice »Maranatha«, a šest su članovi karizmatske zajednice »Dobri Pastir«. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da za sudionike istraživanja duhovnost ima veliku važnost u osobnom i obiteljskom životu. Intenzivnim prakticiranjem vjere u svakodnevnom životu, sudionici istraživanja svjedoče o autentičnim duhovnim iskustvima, o duboko proživljenom osobnom odnosu s Bogom. Duhovnost je za njih osobno razumijevanje stvarnosti koje oblikuje njihov doživljaj identiteta i smisla života, ulijeva im nadu u teškim životnim trenucima te potiče na djelotvorne akcije i zauzetost za bližnjega. Zajednička vjerska uvjerenja i vrijednosti, zajedničko održavanje religioznih praksi u obitelji, te aktivno sudjelovanje u životu karizmatske zajednice, doprinose jačanju kohezivnosti i zajedništva unutar njihovih obitelji.The paper deals with the concept of spirituality and its’ influence on personal and family life shaping among the members of charismatic congregations. Introduction describes different processes that include the post-modern societies and in some segments the Croatian traditionally modern society as well (secularization, the revitalization of religiosity, spiritual pluralism, new ecclesial movements). Terms of religiosity and spirituality are defined in the broad and narrow sense. The charismatic movement is also briefly introduced in the context of Christian spirituality. The main focus of the paper is on the results of a qualitative research. The goal of the research is to gain insight the personal and family spirituality of the charismatic communities’ members. The survey was conducted by in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 participants. Six persons were members of charismatic prayer groups »Maranatha« and six were members of the charismatic community “Good Shepherd”. The results show that spirituality has a great importance in personal and family life of the charismatic community. Through intensive religious practice in everyday life, participants testify about the authentic spiritual experiences and about the deeply experienced personal relationship with God. Participants emphasize that spirituality gives them specific personal understanding of the reality that shapes their identity and life meaning perception. Also spirituality gives them hope in difficult moments, encourages them for giving a concrete help and commitment for others. Joint religious beliefs and values, common maintenance of religious practice in family, and active participation in the charismatic community life, contribute to strengthening the cohesion and togetherness within their families