An Investigation of Modes of Family Functioning and Pastoral Care and Counselling:

Abstract

The study investigated modes of functioning of Christian families which involve wife, husband and children. The study was provoked by the fear that the instability of the family institution at its contact with the socio-economic environment threatened its own existence and that of the society and yet, there was shortage of data about the issue. Furthermore, the study undertook to determine the characteristics of family functioning and the levels of its flexibility to environmental changes conducted in the Kibogora Parish of the Free Methodist Church. The study used qualitative research method and used the descriptive design. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed as per the research objectives and questions. The following were the findings of the study: Firstly, the family functioning in Kibogora Parish was determined in terms of the level of its dysfunction compared to the sub-themes like joke or laughter and family support to individual plans. Secondly, the level of family adjustment to environmental changes was described through the level of its rigidity to changes, including the rigidity of boundaries in family interactions caused by lack of clear definition of duties, rights and their limitations. Finally, Pastoral care availability was less frequently offered to the members of the church community. The study recommended that an integration of both Pastoral Care and the level of family adaptability to environmental change should be implimented as the major aspect of determining optimal functioning of the family unit, and that further study should be carried out on family, pastoral care and counseling.