Graceful Work: Practical Theological Study of Spirituality

Horizons ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Claire Wolfteich
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
Theological Study ◽  
Contemporary Situation ◽  
Ministry Students ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Practice Of Teaching

AbstractThis article calls for closer conversation between two growing academic fields: the scholarly study of spirituality and practical theology. Practical theology investigates the contemporary situation as it relates to questions of faith, ministry, and public religious leadership. Practical theology loses its center when it neglects the critical study of spirituality. Practical theological study of spirituality can help to integrate the three dominant methods in spirituality scholarship: the anthropological, the historical-contextual, and the theological approaches. The integration of these three approaches promotes a mutually critical correlation between the Christian tradition and the contemporary situation. Reflection on the practices of ministry students and teachers further reveals the importance of practical theological study of spirituality, which should inform the practice of teaching, the conception of theological education, and the formation of ministry students.

scholarly journals Theological Field Education as a Bridge across Disciplines

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Kristina I. Lizardy-Hajbi
Keyword(s):  
Education Program ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Field Education ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
Theological Field Education ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Transformative Curriculum

Theological field education—also known as contextual education—operates as the explicitly embodied nexus of seminary-based learning, placing both practical theological and broader theological, religious, and/or spiritual educational frameworks in dialogue with one’s experiences within a particular site context. Drawing upon the example of the events that took place in March 1965 at the Edmund Pettus Bridge connecting Selma to Montgomery, as well as the bridge’s enduring function as a material and symbolic site of transformation, connections are made to the ways that theological field education bridges both practical theology and other areas of theological education, generally and as actualized specifically within one theological school’s field education program, through three overarching themes: Embodiment, reflection, and formation. In the acts of bridging that occur in each of these areas, points of commonality are discussed and illustrated. Finally, initial suggestions for further bridging between disparate academic fields and theological field education are offered toward the cultivation of a more integrative, transformative curriculum.

scholarly journals Sexual abuse: A practical theological study, with an emphasis on learning from transdisciplinary research

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Human ◽  
Julian C. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Adult Survivors ◽  
Female Adult ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Practical Usefulness ◽  
Theological Study ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Brain

This article illustrates the practical usefulness of transdisciplinary work for practical theology by showing how input from an occupational therapist informed my understanding and interpretation of the story of Hannetjie, who had been sexually abused as a child. This forms part of a narrative practical theological research project into the spirituality of female adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Transdisciplinary work is useful to practical theologians, as it opens possibilities for learning about matters pastors have to face, but may not have knowledge about. A short retelling of Hannetjie’s story is given to provide information about the context of the research. Next, the transdisciplinary process that was followed is mentioned, and the questions that the transdisciplinary team had to respond to are discussed. Following that, I focus more specifically on the occupational therapist’s answers, and the knowledge gained from her contribution, as an example of how a co-researcher from a divergent discipline can inform a theological study. In this case, knowledge was shared about sensory integration and how the brain processes traumatic stimuli, such as sexual abuse. Lastly, the interrelationship between Hannetjie’s body stories, mind stories and spirit stories is discussed to show how the learning received from occupational therapy affected my thinking about Hannetjie’s stories and the relationships between them. Thus, it is concluded that transdisciplinary work has great value for practical theology, especially in the pastor’s daily work with people who are struggling with difficult stories, because we cannot listen to people’s spirit stories in isolation. They are inextricably intertwined with all our stories about ourselves.

scholarly journals The Openseminary Methodology: Practical Theology as Personal, Local and Transformative

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 652
Author(s):  
Brian Macallan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Education Today ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Theological Methodology

Theological education continues to be subject to rapid social and technological change, which is further exacerbated by the recent global pandemic. Practical theology as a discipline continues to grow, being well placed methodologically to engage with diverse contexts and these global realities. The task for theological education is whether it can meet these challenges and be part of the transformation required. Openseminary as a methodology and program was developed in the early 2000s by Wynand De Kock to enable students to both learn practical theology as a methodology, as well as reflect theologically in their own context. Over the last two decades, it has run in South Africa, at Tabor College in Australia, as well as Palmer Seminary in the United States. In what follows, the methodology and program are explored in terms of their genesis, history, and current articulation. It is argued that it is a practical theological methodology well suited to the personal, local, and transformative goals of theological education today.

scholarly journals Deconstructing masculinity: Dominant discourses on gender, sexuality and HIV and AIDS from the experience of the adolescent male orphan

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanita Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Narrative Therapy ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Adolescent Male ◽  
Theological Study ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Dominant Narratives

As a postfoundational practical theological study, this article is interested in the description of the co-researchers’ experiences, as these are continually informed by various traditions of interpretations. It listens to and describes the current narratives of three co-researchers and deconstructs these narratives by looking at various concepts of masculinity and sexuality. It looks specifically at how these concepts are created and maintained through various socio-cultural dominant narratives related to gender, sexuality, and HIV and AIDS, and how these dominant narratives influence the creation of self- and alternative narratives of the co-researchers. This article employs research methods from the qualitative and case study research design and works from the theoretical viewpoints of a postfoundational practical theology and narrative therapy.

The end of theological education – is wisdom the principal thing?

Holiness ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-55
Author(s):  
Jane Leach
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Community ◽  
The Future

AbstractThis article invites reflection on the theological purposes of the education of church leaders. It is conceived as a piece of practical theology that arises from the challenge to the Wesley House Trustees in Cambridge to reconceive and re-articulate their vision for theological education in a time of turbulence and change. I reflect on Wesley House’s inheritance as a community of formation (paideia) and rigorous scholarship (Wissenschaft); and on the opportunities offered for the future of theological education in this context by a serious engagement with both the practices and concepts of phronēsis and poiēsis and a dialogical understanding of biblical wisdom, as Wesley House seeks to offer itself as a cross-cultural community of prayer and study to an international Methodist constituency.

scholarly journals Die noodsaak daarvan om metateoretiese vertrekpunte ten opsigte van werklikheidsbeskouing in praktiesteologiese wetenskapsbeoefening uit te spel

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F.W. De Wet
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Previous Article ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Horizontal Dimension ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Contemporary Context

The necessity of explicating metatheoretical assumptions regarding the view on reality in cientific practical theological research This article is the second in the research project “Metatheoretical assumptions in Practical Theology”. In this project – as indicated in the previous article − a group of reformed theologians is elucidating and discussing their metatheoretical and other perspectives regarding research in Practical Theology. In this article the necessity to explain metatheoretical assumptions concerning a view on reality, is discussed from a reformed perspective. The practical theological implications of a view on reality with its roots in the sixteenth-century protestant Reformation are critically compared with an alternative view on reality in the contemporary context which focuses more on the horizontal dimension of the action events taking place in praxis. This comparison is done with a view to responding to this alternative view in a responsible way. Essential characteristics of the sixteenth-century reformed view on reality seem to be its Scripture-determined vision and theocentric focus as well as the way in which human life and actions are represented as reflections of the “imago Dei”. The need to critically reflect on these characteristics and to newly align this view on reality with respect to challenges posed in the contemporary context, is explored.

scholarly journals Film as medium for meaning making: A practical theological reflection

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita L. Cloete
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
The Self ◽  
Practical Theological

The reflection on film will be situated within the framework of popular culture and livedreligion as recognised themes within the discipline of practical theology. It is argued that theperspective of viewers is of importance within the process of meaning-making. By focusing onthe experience and meaning-making through the act of film-watching the emphasis is not somuch on the message that the producer wishes to convey but rather on the experience that iscreated within the viewer. Experience is not viewed as only emotional, but rather that, at least,both the cognitive and emotional are key in the act of watching a film. It is therefore arguedthat this experience that is seldom reflected on by viewers could serve as a fruitful platform formeaning-making by the viewer. In a context where there seems to be a decline in institutionalisedforms of religion, it is important to investigate emerging forms of religion. Furthermore, theturn to the self also makes people’s experiences and practices in everyday life valuableresources for theological reflection. This reflection could provide a theoretical framework forespecially empirical research on how film as specific form of media serves as a religiousresource and plays a role in the construction of meaning and religious identity.

Introduction

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Thatcher
Keyword(s):  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
Theological Study ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Method Of Correlation

This Introduction describes the nature, purpose, structure, and methodology of the Handbook. It explains the ‘method of correlation’ and how the method is used. Problems attaching to the theological study of, and the language of, sexuality and gender, are noted. The content of each of the eight parts is described, together with the uses of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. The parts are ‘Methods’, ‘What Theologians Need to Know’, ‘Sexuality and Gender in the Biblical World’, ‘Sexuality and Gender in Christian Tradition’, ‘Controversies within the Churches’, ‘Conversations with Word Faiths’, ‘Concepts and Issues’, and ‘Sexual Theologies for All People’.

scholarly journals Die liminale ruimte vir inkongruensie tussen predikant en lidmaat: ’n Narratief gebaseerde prakties-teologiese ondersoek in gemeentes van die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hein Delport ◽  
Julian C. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Suspension Bridge ◽  
Church Member ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Liminal Space ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unresolved Conflict ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
The Church

Disagreements between pastors and church members in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa (NRCH) require a unique space in the church in terms of a postmodern society. Different perspectives can easily lead to conflict in the Church. Unresolved conflict may jeopardise the work of the clergy in a congregation. In this research, I follow a contextual approach to the pursuit of practical theology. A postfundamental practical theological framework is followed in the research. The social construction discourse and narrative epistemology offer new perspectives for developing a liminal space where more than one perspective can exist. Within a society characterised by secularism and privatisation, I examine the possibility of a space of unity amid diversity in the Church. I involved six fellow researchers who have experienced conflict in a specific context within the Church. We also examined the possibility of an alternative space where moments of communitas can once again occur in these stories. The research found space for this in the description of two metaphors, namely the liminal suspension bridge of grace and the dance of peace. The stories of the fellow researchers are retold within these two metaphors. My research highlights the important contribution of an interdisciplinary conversation in research. In the study, the journey theme plays an important role, and the reader is invited along with the fellow researchers into a (liminal) space to explore the conflict between the church minister and the church member.

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