How role-identity formation sustains Christian youth workers across four seasons of their careers

Beautyman, Paul Harry (2024) How role-identity formation sustains Christian youth workers across four seasons of their careers. DPT thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines the careers of Christian youth workers in Scotland. I will show the value of these careers while outlining the challenges faced in sustaining them, explaining why I describe their development as haphazard. In response I introduce my concept of role-identity formation to show how Christian youth workers can be sustained across four seasons of their careers. Within this claim I will identify how their inner journeys of faith, values and beliefs and their outer journeys of skills, roles and activities are significant, affirming why the integration of these journeys is necessary for role-identity formation. Critically, I uncover a previously unidentified problem that Christian youth work, and consequently Christian youth workers, are falsely understood as short-term, fixed, functional and isolated and I will explain how this affects attempts to sustain them.

The flow of this thesis uses my metaphor of ‘exploring without maps’ which I locate within practical theology, defined as “Exploring the self, exploring the community, testing theological assertions, testing ecclesial assertions, generating new theological perspectives or correcting problems.”¹ Ward’s claim matches the flow of this work, as I begin in Chapter 1 reflecting on my own 30 year career in Christian youth work, revealing landmark issues which I then compare with the experiences of other Christian youth workers who have not been sustained. I broaden this context through the literature review in Chapter 2 and deepen the insights into sustaining Christian youth workers through interviews in Chapter 4, showing in Chapter 3 how they are supported by qualitative research and practical theology. Chapter 5 begins with a theological exploration of involvement and separation and continues with conversations between issues uncovered in Chapter 4 and insights drawn from Brueggemann, Peterson, Rohr, Root and Slee. These conversations create themes of taking time, holistic sense-making, relational formation and involved connections which shape the applications in Chapter 6. In that chapter I make proposals for how to sustain Christian youth workers, rooted in a four seasons framework which I argue fulfils the function of a map. I will show how this is supported by introducing a ‘way-of-being’ as a necessary concept, and why my specific proposal of ‘the way of the desert and the city’ is essential. Linking into this are proposals enabling role-identity formation, formational mentors, growth spirals and involved connections and I will support their use by explaining how they were created and why they can sustain Christian youth workers. Ultimately, I contend the flow of work contained in this thesis supports my claim that role-identity formation can sustain Christian youth workers across four seasons of their careers.

¹ Ward, Introducing practical theology, page 155.

• Item Type: Thesis (DPT)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from the Augusta Lamont Bequest.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Jasper, Professor David and Johnstone, Rev. Martin
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84208
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 18 Mar 2024 12:21
• Last Modified: 01 Apr 2026 15:30
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84208
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84208