Towards A Contextual Transformational Practical Theology For Leadership Education In South Africa

"Towards a contextual transformational practical theology for leadership education in South Africa is a courageous effort by a prominent South African practical theologian to develop a framework for the theory and practice of leadership education in an African context. Taking the harsh realities of South Africa as point of departure, the author demonstrates how an indigenous South African practical theology can be developed through a critical interaction between `Western' and African ideas." (Prof. Jaco S. Dreyer, Professor of Practical Theology, University of South Africa)

The preacher's weekly assignment is brutally repetitive: Fill the blank page by Sunday, at least twice a month, if not, even more. This book offers a biblical, theological and empirical grounding to support the preacher's self-reflective, listening, and sermonizing practices in order for the preacher to be aware of his/her spirituality of listening and discernment.

The social and cultural challenges posed by the increasing threat to creation (climate change, destruction of biodiversity, etc.) are the starting point for new philosophical-ethical and theological reflections on the relationship between God, human beings and the world, as presented in this volume. God's creative impulse, which transforms anew, is at work in the actions of human beings and challenges us, in view of the threat to the "house of life" earth, to go new ways that make a common and good life possible. Creation and transformation are interrelated; an ecological theology of creation and practice of sustainability to be developed in the European context is to be embedded in the horizon of a global, liberating theology.

Interreligious learning is viewed as a key educational task today. Increasing religious plurality in our societies and associated risks of societal tensions and conflicts necessitate that students deal at school with other religions, their belief systems, and the social reality of those who believe in them. Although several international studies have shown that some categories of students are at risk to be disadvantaged at school because of social inequality, this problem is currently not considered in theories of interreligious learning. Therefore, the present study investigates whether or not categories of students are disadvantaged in interreligious learning. In addition to theological and pedagogical insights about the problem of social inequality, this book presents an empirically validated action-theoretical model which helps to understand why some students have better or worse opportunities in interreligious learning. The action-theoretical model further proposes strategies to address unequal learning conditions in interreligious learning.

Although there has not been war in Swedish territory for many years, this does not mean that the country has no veterans who have experienced the challenges of war zone deployments or suffer from combat trauma. The Invisible Wounded Warriors in a Nation at Peace gives a rare look at the international operations of the Swedish military, while offering the reader a unique and deeper understanding of life with PTSD. The book uses terms such as moral injury to further describe the complexity. Complex PTSD after deployment in a conflict zone is a uniquely complicated web of problems that can have medical, psychological, moral, existential and spiritual dimensions. The book discusses what this might mean from an identity and pastoral care perspective. Jan Grimell is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology at Uppsala University. He has also conducted postdoctoral research in spiritual care at the Unit for Research and Analysis within the Church of Sweden. He is affiliated with Linnaeus University and the Amsterdam Centre for the Study of Lived Religion at Vrije Universiteit.

John Fernandes walked on Unbeaten Paths and presents a theologically reflected autobiography on it. He studied in Mangaluru, Pune, Innsbruck and Trier. As Pastor and Professor of Theology in India he committed himself to justice and peace. Living on the Periphery, Crossing Borders, Building Bridges aptly summarises the author's life. This book includes a lived Liberation Theology, examples of ecumenical and interfaith cooperation and commitment to justice, peace and ecology. Thus it is a contribution to narrative mission theology. The Indian artist Jyoti Sahi has illustrated the book.

The battle of the heart can be seen as the core problem of the Christian religion in modern culture. According to Augustine, the complex mixture of longings are the driving forces of human lives. These longing are not an intellectual puzzle, but rather a craving for sustenance. The contributions locate the battle for the heart and transformation of society and church in the context of an ethnic, multi-religious, socio-economical divided Africa. Where are the authentic voices of leaders who can change the heart? How to mend a 'broken' heart? How to transform congregations towards inclusion of difference? Can we embrace the dignity of difference as attitudes that enable transformation of church and society?