Social Work Faculty Publications

Volunteerism, Social Work, and the Church: A Historic Overview and Look into the Future

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 2005

Journal Title

Social Work and Christianity

ISSN

0737-5778

Volume

32

Issue

2

First Page

97

Last Page

115

Abstract

This article sets forth the relationship between volunteerism, social work, and the church as consisting of three discernable periods: 1) recognition of volunteerism, rooted in the church, as the origin of the profession; 2) a general attempt by the social work profession to separate and distinguish itself from volunteerism and religiously motivated services; and 3) periods of reconciliation in times of need. The authors conclude by positing the need for context-specific optimal partnerships between religious and secular professionals and religious and secular volunteers. Two case examples of context-specific optimal partnerships will be followed by implications for social work educators and practitioners.

Keywords

Church, partnerships, religion, volunteering, volunteerism

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