Beyond 'band-aids' and bootstraps: Toward a womanist vision of Christian education as social transformation

This dissertation seeks to explore a process of Christian Religious education that moves beyond the classroom to confront the social realities of black women across class lines. Specifically, I have linked five middle-class black women from a congregation with five homeless black women in a mentoring relationship. My research was generated from these relationships. My purpose was two fold: to aid in the empowerment of the homeless women and to identify the effects of the mentoring relationships on the mentors for building a transformative mentoring community.;This research is grounded in an understanding of transformation as "seeing in a new way," and an understanding of community that is consistent with the African expression of ubuntu, which emphasizes the interrelatedness of humanity. The goal is to assert a process of Christian Religious education that (1) uses black women's experiences as a source; and (2) seeks to engage black middle class congregations with realities that are different from their own. My hope is to challenge congregations to engage in this type of relational process for the purpose of social transformation. I primarily draw upon Christian education theory and womanist theology to explore this process of Christian Religious education.