Abstract:
The challenges facing divorcees when it comes to pastoral care and counselling are among the
toughest to face members of the Reformed Churches South Africa (RCSA) in the Vhembe District
today. There are many people in South Africa who are experiencing the pain of being divorced.
The RCSA in the Vhembe District are also faced with this challenge and it affects their doctrines
and their practical ministries. These challenges also affect the pastors of the RCSA.
The aim of this research is to investigate the challenges that divorcees face regarding pastoral care
and counselling in the RCSA in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa in order to develop
an approach to pastoral care and counselling to support divorcees so that they may learn to cope
with their challenges. Caring and counselling for the divorcees is the primary mission of the church.
The study utilised a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design to obtain data
from the participants within the RCSA in the Vhembe District. A sample of 30 participants
(divorcees) from the RCSA in the Vhembe District was used. Data were collected on an individual
basis by means of unstructured interviews. The qualitative data were collected and analysed using
the six steps of open coding proposed by Tesch in an effort to understand personal experiences of
divorcees.
The research used Graham Redding’s approach to establish trustworthiness. The study adhered to
four criteria to assess the value of the findings of qualitative research, namely credibility, applicability,
consistency, and conformability. The ethical considerations were taken into account.
The findings of this study show that divorcees experience many challenges, and that Reformed
pastors are not equipped and not doing enough to address those challenges. This research helps to
enhance the quality of pastoral care and counselling to the divorcees within the RCSA in the
Vhembe District. The findings and recommendations of the study are useful in guiding all
Reformed pastors in providing pastoral care and counselling to divorcees.
