Children and servants, loving and service: The Lord's Prayer and vocational discernment with young people

Through a theological commentary on Matthew 6:9-13 (The Lord's Prayer) this dissertation constructs both a curriculum for young people to discern who they are in relation to God and how they might live out this identity in their work lives, and an enchiridion for adults helping them make these decisions. The basic contention is that young people find the answer to "Who am I?" and "What should I do?" and "How do I know this?" through a sustained communal engagement with the Lord's Prayer. Starting in Karl Barth's unique understanding of the doctrine of election, the theological trajectory within this dissertation moves onto vocation and theological anthropology, ending in prayer. Chapter One introduces the basic problem: North American young people must choose a career path but do so within an overwhelmingly complex environment and with little adult aid. Chapter Two argues that Karl Barth's systematic theology offers a faithful and relevant understanding of how God interacts with humanity. While some practical theologians dismiss Barth's potential contribution to contemporary discussions of work and young people, this dissertation argues that the motifs of personalism, objectivism, and realism found within his theology allow Barth to fuel significant practical theological work. Chapter Three addresses the problem of understanding vocation. Popular understandings of vocation are neither faithful theologically nor adequate experientially to give a Best Account of work. Barth's understanding of vocation as a human action within limits and in correspondence with God's election offers a significant correction to prevailing views. Chapter Four describes the inter-subjective reality that constitutes all humans as true persons. This reality, rooted in Barth's personalist Christology in conversation with psychologist Robert Kegan's work, requires adults to enter into particular kinds of relationships with young people to most fruitfully offer aid in discernment. Finally, Chapter Five outlines discernment from a distinctively Reformed position. Barth points beyond popular understandings of discernment which tend to narrow the scope of discernment to understanding God's Will found within an individual's affect. Through praying the Lord's Prayer within a community of believers young people discover how they are to love and serve God and others.