Leisure and Personal Development in an Evangelical Christian Theater Group

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate whether participation in an evangelical theater group contributes to the personal development of the participants. The choice of venue and participants was intentional and the number of participants was determined according to the technique of data saturation. Responses were examined by the constant comparison technique. There were six participants, three of each sex, with a mean age of 18.2 (± 1.8) years, all unmarried and belonging to the same Evangelical Baptist Church in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG. The main results demonstrate that participants understand leisure as an activity, that participation in the theater group in the evangelical context can be understood as a leisure experience, promotes the development of outcomes related to spirituality, creativity, communication and socialization. We conclude that participation in a theater group in the evangelical context enables leisure experiences and personal development.