Leavening Public Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-53
Author(s):  
Larry Abbott Golemon
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Public Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Social Discourse ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Theological Schools

From the beginning of theological education in the United States, pastors, priests, and rabbis have been educated as leaders in public life by being producers of culture. This chapter describes how theological schools prepared clergy for leadership in five social arenas: families, congregations, schools, voluntary societies, and published media. Families were the seedbeds of religious identity and character, congregations became charismatic communities of piety and action, schools developed cultural capital and moral practices, voluntary societies mobilized resources and mass movements to reshape society, and popular media built national communities of religious identity and reform. These five social arenas also operated in harmony for clergy and religious communities to influence public morality and social discourse. Through their leadership in family life, educating youth, writing and publishing, and leading voluntary associations, the clergy mobilized aspects of their religious traditions to shape public narratives, symbols, and practices. In turn, this wider social engagement helped expand and renew the religious traditions they represented.

Latinos/as and Religious Identities in the Twentieth Century

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene M. Sanchez-Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Central American Immigrants ◽  
Cuban Americans ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the complex melding of traditions that make up contemporary religious identities among Latinos/as in the United States. Although Latinos/as are largely still Catholic, Protestantism is a growing presence. Examining various Latino/a groups by nationalities (such as Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans), geographic regions (such as Caribbean or Central American immigrants), and religious traditions (Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims), it becomes evident that transnational links have shaped, maintained, and propelled religious life for over a century. Transnationalism does not alter religious identities evenly. Some Latino/a groups maintain stronger ties for longer times; for others, the rates of acculturation mean that there are generational differences that affect one’s religious identity. The chapter concludes with a look at the impact of the “nones” among American Latinos/as.

What Is Black Organizing?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent W. Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Theological Critique ◽  
Scholarly Attention

There has been much scholarly attention paid to faith-based community organizing. Such organizing efforts often understand themselves as “broad-based,” drawing support from a range of religious communities, racial groups, and neighborhoods. In doing so, these organizing efforts often elide the specificity of racial and religious difference. This chapter draws on feminist critiques of community organizing traditions to develop a black theological critique—and the beginnings of an alternative approach to community organizing that draws on the longstanding organizing traditions already present in black communities. By bringing together secular and religious traditions of black organizing, and by coupling black organizing with black theological reflection, this chapter shows how black community organizing can move beyond pragmatic appeals that sideline racial and religious identity.

Introduction

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Bean
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Public Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
Party Loyalty ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The 1960S

This introductory chapter presents a new perspective on how white evangelical Christians have become an important constituency for the Republican Party in the United States. Sociologist Robert Wuthnow has described this shift as part of a larger restructuring of American religion that took place within local congregations, denominations, and public life. Before the 1960s, voters were socialized from birth into ethnoreligious communities—Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish—that instilled certain assumptions about party loyalty. Protestants identified with the Republicans and Catholics with the Democrats. But since the 1960s, religious identity has become more voluntary and disconnected from tight-knit ethnic communities. Americans are now divided by the values and lifestyles that they have chosen for themselves, rather than by inherited ethnoreligious loyalties.

scholarly journals Collection Development for Theological Education

2012 ◽  
pp. 112-127
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Little
Keyword(s):  
Theological Education ◽  
Pastoral Ministry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Collection Development ◽  
Association Of Theological Schools ◽  
Theological Schools ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Ministry Leadership ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Library Collections

Students in graduate theological programs working toward ordination and a career in ministry in the Christian church require library collections that support their study of scripture, doctrine, ancient languages, and Biblical history and interpretation, as well as the practice of pastoral ministry, leadership, and administration. This chapter will discuss how to build collections at theological libraries measured against standards set by the Association of Theological Schools, the accrediting organization for theological schools in Canada and the United States; the importance of print and online reference works such as language dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias in theological library collections; indexes and databases for theological studies; important journals; the different categories of theological monographs; collection development policies; special collections in theological libraries; dealing with gifts and donors; and professional development resources for theological librarians.

Cowards, Critics, and Catholics

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Feltmate
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
American Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
South Park ◽  
The Way ◽  
Matt Stone

Throughout its history South Park has had a contentious relationship with Catholicism, frequently using Catholic doctrine, rituals, and popular practices as a foil for humor. This article examines the way that a Catholic parachurch organization, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, has criticized South Park and its creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone as cowardly and not the satirical mavericks they are frequently portrayed as in popular media. Using the sociologies of religion, humor, and culture, this article demonstrates that this conflict reflects deeper conflicts over the limits of free speech, the place of Catholics in American culture, and the importance of humor in criticizing and controlling religious traditions in the United States.

Theological Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel O. Aelshire
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
General Study ◽  
Baccalaureate Degrees ◽  
Theological Schools ◽  
Post Baccalaureate

Theological education in the United States has developed as a function of religious practice, American culture, and conventions of higher education. It began with the general study of classics in colleges and universities during the colonial period and the early decades of nationhood. It developed through a process of specialization that involved the founding of freestanding theological schools and seminaries and the development of a specialized curriculum and theological disciplines and patterns of scholarly work. By the mid-twentieth century, the education of ministers had developed into a normative form of graduate, professional education for which post-baccalaureate degrees were granted. Because theological education is embedded in religious, cultural, and higher education conventions, it changes as they change, and all three are changing in ways that will impact the future forms and practices of education for ministry.

Religious Education in the Traditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Hicks
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Community Of Faith ◽  
Demographic Shifts

This chapter explores the history, purpose, and aims of religious education in the United States, defined as devotional-based education that promotes religious identity formation. The chapter first differentiates between secular education and religious education in the United States, then considers how issues of theology, social culture, expression of religious freedom, civil rights, personal identity, technology, and demographic shifts shape religious identity formation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how rituals within religious traditions connect the aspirations of a tradition with instructional practices. It examines how religious education, from a devotional perspective, teaches people how to practice a religious way of life and informs their beliefs, behaviors, and acts of belonging. Religious education, the author describes, is an act of learning by which children, youth, and adults are moved toward living the ultimate values of a community of faith. While the nature of that journey varies widely depending on the aims of a particular religious group, religious education is primarily rooted in the hope that the learner can transcend a particular human socialization in order to achieve an aim that is important to their religious tradition.

scholarly journals A Theological Engagement with the Science of Science Skepticism

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh Reeves
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Science Of Science ◽  
Scientific Experts ◽  
Scientific Expertise ◽  
Conservative Christians ◽  
Political Turmoil

When Christians reject the claims of scientific experts, are they being irrational? Much of recent discussion in scholarly and popular media have discussed science denialism by conservative Christians, linking a low view of scientific expertise to the United States’ current political turmoil. This paper will focus on scientific explanations of science skepticism, asking whether there is anything unique to religious communities that make them vulnerable to misinformation.

scholarly journals Praktisk och pastoral teologi i Svenska kyrkans prästutbildning

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Rubenson ◽  
Elin Lockneus
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Pastoral Theology ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
The United States ◽  
Church Of Sweden ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Theological Schools ◽  
The Church

In this article, we discuss practical and pastoral theology in relation to Swedish theological education for future ordained clergy in the Church of Sweden. We look at how pastoral theology is understood in the Church of Sweden today and its relation to Practical Theology as an academic subject. We problematize the split between "academic" and "pastoral" theology and argue that pastoral theology should be understood as a part of the academic discipline Practical Theology. Practical Theology today is heavily theoretical and methodological, not least in the United States, the origin of much literature used in the Swedish context. Interesting as this may be from a research perspective, the discipline runs the risk of losing some of its relevance for undergraduate theological education. Here we discuss different aspects of pastoral and practical theology, and how they may feed into each other. We highlight the potential problems with a practical theology distancing itself from what has been called "the clerical paradigm" (in Sweden: pastoral theology), but also point to the importance of Practical Theology as an academic field in relation to ordination training. In Sweden, academic theology is still understood as supposedly "neutral", which complicates the relationship between "academic" and "pastoral" theology, as this obscures the influences from explicit normative and constructive practical theology on Swedish theological education. Drawing on practical theologians such as Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore and Mary McClintock Fulkerson, we discuss the normative and constructive ambitions in some practical theological schools of thought today. A changing understanding of Practical Theology may contribute to pastoral theology as a part of the ordination training in the Church of Sweden, but the normative assumptions need to be made explicit.

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