Practice Led Theology

Following a series of economic and political changes in the late 1980s, art/design schools and performing arts academies were incorporated into the university system. To justify their teachings as academic research, they developed the idea of practice‐led research. Practice-led research recognizes two or more languages--that is, the validity of both explicit/propositional knowledge and embodied/tacit knowledge--allowing for the researcher's corresponding output, expressed through both the written word and relevant practice. Christians often find themselves living a life of two languages: a set of intellectual beliefs and the practice of being a Christian. This book develops this methodology and translates it for use in theological research. Most importantly, it clearly develops key elements of this methodology using a comprehensive model and detailed definitions. This is a book which not only presents a fully articulated and flexible model of practice‐led research, but also presents Christian researchers with an approach they could incorporate into their theological work.

Following a series of economic and political changes in the late 1980s, art/design schools and performing arts academies were incorporated into the university system. To justify their teachings as academic research, they developed the idea of practice‐led research. Practice-led research recognizes two or more languages—that is, the validity of both explicit/propositional knowledge and embodied/tacit knowledge—allowing for the researcher’s corresponding output, expressed through both the written word and relevant practice. Christians often find themselves living a life of two languages: a set of intellectual beliefs and the practice of being a Christian. This book develops this methodology and translates it for use in theological research. Most importantly, it clearly develops key elements of this methodology using a comprehensive model and detailed definitions. This is a book which not only presents a fully articulated and flexible model of practice‐led research, but also presents Christian researchers with an approach they could incorporate into their theological work.

For the past fifty years, scholars in both pastoral and practical theology have attempted to recapture human religious experience and practice as essential sites for theological engagement -- redefining in the process what theology is, how it is done, and who does it. In this book Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore shows how this trend in scholarship has led to an expanded subject matter, alternative ways of knowing, and richer terms for analysis in doing Christian theology. Tracing more than two decades of her own search for a more inclusive discipline -- one that truly grapples with theology in the midst of life -- Christian Theology in Practice shows not only where Miller-McLemore herself has traveled in the field but also how pastoral and practical theology has developed during this time. Looking forward, Miller-McLemore calls on the academy and Christian congregations to disrupt conventional theological boundaries and to acknowledge the multiplicity of shapes and places in which the "wisdom of God" appears..

Prophets come in many varieties—ecstatic worshipers, inspired preachers, social justice advocates, and even political pundits. Their messages vary accordingly. The purpose of this book is to dig beneath the message to understand the how. How do modern-day prophets experience the prophetic impulse? The phenomenological study at the core of this book answers that question directly by examining the experience of Canadian Pentecostals. From there, the experience of modern-day prophets is compared with Old Testament prophets, with special attention given to Jeremiah. It turns out that prophets today share in the same experience as their Old Testament predecessors. This book can benefit three audiences. For the academy, this work provides the first phenomenological study of prophecy in Canada. For pastors, reading this book will be an exercise in empathy, placing you in the shoes of the prophets in your congregation, helping you to understand what goes on when someone prophesies. For everyday prophets, this book will affirm your connection, through Jesus, to the Old Testament prophetic tradition, enabling you to read those Old Testament books in a new experiential light.

Practical theology has become a well-established academic discipline in Britain and Ireland over the past half century, evidenced in its chairs, journals, books, conferences, and contribution to transformed practices. The British and Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT) and its journal, Practical Theology, has had a significant role to play in the story of the discipline. This volume is a celebration of practical theology in Britain and Ireland in all its inventiveness and variety on the occasion of BIAPT’s twenty-fifth birthday. It offers an account of its roots in its emergence from the Scottish Pastoral Association in the 1960s, its trajectories established in the journal Contact/Practical Theology and how human experience has been a constant companion on the journey. The book considers a range of methodologies including engagement with popular culture, public theology, the arts, and the importance of conversation. It explores new shoots in the discipline that consider how sexuality, ethnicity, and different religious traditions may be addressed within practical theology. It concludes by asking how it may be fruitful in the future, by reflecting on the challenges ahead, not least the ubiquity of ignorance. This is a landmark text in the unfolding of British and Irish practical theology in all its glorious distinctiveness, which promises to be a major contribution to international debate in the discipline. The chapters in this book were first published in Practical Theology.

Theology and the New Histories explores how Christianity, as an historical religion, is responding to the challenge of multiple readings of history—women’s history, history written from the perspective of minority groups, new sources of history, including those that are non-Western, and deconstructionist history. These new histories pose challenges to the assumptions of traditional theology. They also affect our understanding of the history of Christianity and of the development of Christian doctrine. Contributors include: Terrence W. Tilley, Justo L. González, Michael Horace Barnes, Vincent J. Miller, Elizabeth A. Clark, Barbara Green, O.P., Ann R. Riggs, Donna Teevan, James T. Fisher, Pamela Kirk, Ann Coble, Franklin H. Littell, Brian F. Linnane, and Margaret R. Pfeil.

This book addresses one of the most exciting and innovative developments within higher education: the rise in prominence of the creative arts and the accelerating recognition that creative practice is a form of research. The book considers how creative practice can lead to research insights through what is often known as practice-led research. But unlike other books on practice-led research, it balances this with discussion of how research can impact positively on creative practice through research-led practice. The editors posit an iterative and web-like relationship between practice and research. Essays within the book cover a wide range of disciplines including creative writing, dance, music, theatre, film and new media, and the contributors are from the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The subject is approached from numerous angles: the authors discuss methodologies of practice-led research and research-led practice, their own creative work as a form of research, research training for creative practitioners, and the politics and histories of practice-led research and research-led practice within the university. The book will be invaluable for creative practitioners, researchers, students in the creative arts and university leaders. Key Features*The first book to document, conceptualise and analyse practice-led research in the creative arts and to balance it with research-led practice*Written by highly qualified academics and practitioners across the creative arts and sciences *Brings together empirical, cultural and creative approaches*Presents illuminating case histories of creative work and practice-led research

This book argues for the productive and problematic nature of sharing lived experiences as a political and theological practice, drawing on a case study with anti-poverty activists in the UK to argue for a critical, creative, and collaborative approach to engaging with marginalised experiences in practical theology.