: The following essay has as point of departure the changes which, by the introduction of all-day schooling, are imposed on schools themselves and on parishes. Against the background of the discussion on religious education in all-day environments and the debate on conceptions for the pedagogy of religion, one suspects to find reciprocal transformation processes in both the school system and religion when clerical actors are taken into account on the conceptual level of all-day schooling. Up to the present, there are hardly any investigations on the involvement of clerical actors, the services they render, and the way in which they are integrated into the conception of school programmes. The current essay fulfils this need by presenting the results of an empirical investigation into religious and church-related services rendered in various types of schools with all-day programmes in Germany/North Rhine-Westphalia, taking into account curricular and extra-curricular activities in the schools. Among other things, it shows a wide range of religious programmes in the curricular as well as extra-curricular activities, and also a wide variety of different religious and clerical collaborative partners. In addition, the programmes show up differences pertaining to school types.

Solidarity Education: How the Christian Religion Can Contribute to It?: Solidarity is a fashionable term nowadays. It can be encountered in almost all areas of social coexistence; mostly in contexts where (more) solidarity is being called for or in discussions about cohesion in modern society. While this has led to some devaluation in the meaning of the word, there are two underlying questions to be answered: 1. What is exactly behind the term ‘solidarity’? 2. To what extent are individuals able to display solidarity by themselves and can solidarity be taught with the help of training and educational processes? The present paper discusses both questions. The main focus will be placed on the connections between acts of solidarity and religious attitude or conviction and on pointing out how religion contributes to the learning process of solidarity. In this respect the thesis statement of the present study is as follows: religion is not a prerequisite for the ability of solidarity; nevertheless, due to the strong relationship between Christianity and solidarity, it can provide an important source of motivation. Following an extensive review of terminology, the study goes on to discuss pro-solidarity, which is a special form of solidarity aimed at the interest of others. In the next section a number of biblical examples are analysed in order to examine the relationship between solidarity and the Christian religion in detail and to identify solidarity as a religious and moral duty based on the principle of mercy. After these introductory theological considerations we will turn to presenting some practical perspectives in learning solidarity and argue for the unparalleled credibility and potential that Christianity has in teaching and consolidating solidarity. Although the Christian religion is not an indispensable medium of teaching such patterns of behaviour, it can make a significant contribution to the training and educational processes involved.