receiver, researcher and researched, student and teacher, become companions on the road to getting to know God better and this could only be achieved in a practical way.Patton (1993:238) wrote that practical theology involves a 'two-way movement between theory and practice'. From this context, it becomes evident that Patton, as well as Browning (1985:16), sees practical theology mainly as a 'practical theology of care'. Not only is this theology practical in its care, we want to urge that this theology should also find its praxis in the area of the public domain. Browning (1985) also dwells on this when he states that the practical theologian should communicate to the church, but also to those outside of the church: What we call pastoral care should be reconceived as a practical theology of care and should address not only the pastoral care of those within the church but an attempt to both criticize and fulfil the care structures of the larger society. Similar statements could be advanced for the other regions of practical theology-ethics, worship, and preaching. Both the inner-ecclesial and public foci of these activities would be part of the concerns of practical theology. (Browning 1985:16)This quotation quickens the concept that practical theology falls within the arena of theology, yet it positions theology in a practical way to those in the church, as well as to those not within the defined structures of church. The church's theological conviction will explain and motivate its praxis of faith lived out from day to day. Only once practical theology becomes critical in its theological analyses of what is happening in our communities, can it assist Christians to motivate positively their engagement in pastoral care.Hence, through philosophical and critical analyses of what is happening in communities, practical theology will not only motivate faith communities to offer pastoral care, but will also assist in creating models or praxes of this care. In addition, because these praxes would be motivated from within a well-formulated theology, they will become sustained by their existence, because faith leads to action.This understanding poses a major challenge to students of practical theology. How can students motivate people both inside and outside the church in a theological way to care pastorally for their neighbours in need, unless this motivation is also accompanied with a practical model on how best to demonstrate this care? Until practical theology urges its students to dwell in the arena of actual theology, this question will remain unanswered. Practical theology: A means of practical interpretation of theological convictionsAden and Ellens (1988) ask whether one could separate the notion of being part of the church from that of offering pastoral care; could one claim to be part of the church and its faith traditions, yet turn one's back upon pastoral care towards people? By merely being part of the church and its faith tradition, the believer, to a more or lesser extent, interprets his or her own theological convictions. The important question in practical theology is whether this interpretation brings the believer to a point of offering pastoral care. Aden and Ellens