Abstract:
This research aims to answer the following question: to what extent did the Diakonia Coordination contribute to the development of diaconal praxis in the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil through seminars and publications? To answer this question, it is necessary to structure the research in three chapters. In the first chapter, there is a reflection on the surrounding context of the framework that, in general, shapes the history of diakonia in the Church until the creation of the Diakonia Department. This propitiates knowledge of some historical decisions of the IECLB, as well as an understanding of the goal and purpose for which the department was created. The second chapter deals with national seminars, which were one of the ways that the coordination found to achieve its objective of disseminating diakonia, creating, multiplying and strengthening diaconal actions within the scope of the IECLB. The third chapter emphasizes the publications of the Diakonia Coordination, focusing on those in which there was a leading role of the coordination, whether through its own publication, co-edition or adaptation of translations, mainly of material or courses used by IECLB partner churches in Germany. As references, official documents such as minutes, IECLB newsletters and materials produced as results of events for thematic multiplication are used, in addition to authors such as Ruthild Brakemeier, Rodolfo Gaede Neto, Kjell Nordstokke, Hildegart Hertel and Hulda Hertel for the writing of the chapter that brings the reader closer to the context of diakonia and the creation of the Diakonia Department. For correct contextualization, the 1984 report of the Council of the Diaconal Work of the IECLB was also used. As it is a dissertation that aims to extract a practice from history, through a narrative approach, it uses a methodology of Practical Theology for the writing called Narrative Approaches, by R. Ruard Ganzevoort, which is part of the book The Wiley -Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology. This methodology is characterized by the following steps: structure, perspective, tone, role assignment, relational positioning and justification for an audience. This narrative approach is of crucial importance for two moments of the dissertation. Both the writing and the appreciative analyses that conclude the second and third chapters count on the support that this methodology provides. From this applied method, there is evidence of a journey that leads to the understanding that the Diakonia Coordination sought to contribute to the diaconal praxis, working on fundamental concepts (implicitly and explicitly) for the IECLB diakonia: Empowerment, Diaconal Methodology and Transformation.
