The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology

Through a series of essays contributed by leading experts in the field, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology presents an introduction to practical theology as a major area of Christian study and practice, including an overview of its key developments, themes, methods, and future directions.

• The first comprehensive reference work to provide a survey, description and analysis of practical theology as an area of study
• A range of leading scholars in the field provide original contributions on the major areas, issues, and figures in practical theology
• Reviews an extensive range of methods for studying theology in practice, along with sub-disciplines in theological education such as pastoral care and preaching
• Covers developments in the discipline in a range of global contexts and distinct Christian traditions
• Shows how practical theology is relevant to everyday life

Notes on Contributors xi

Introduction: The Contributions of Practical Theology 1
Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore

Part I Way of Life: Shaping Faith among Believers in Home and Society 21

1 Suffering 23
Pamela Cooper-White

2 Healing 32
Susan J. Dunlap

3 Playing 42
Jaco Hamman

4 Eating 51
Dorothy C. Bass

5 Loving 61
Herbert Anderson

6 Consuming 70
Katherine Turpin

7 Blessing 80
Christian Scharen

Part II Method: Studying Theology in Practice in Library and Field 89

8 Case Study Method 91
Daniel S. Schipani

9 Psychological Theory 102
Lee H. Butler, Jr.

10 Hermeneutical Theory 112
Sally A. Brown

11 Quantitative Method 123
Hans Schilderman

12 Congregational Studies 133
James R. Nieman

13 Ritual Theory 143
Edward Foley

14 Social Policy 153
Pamela D. Couture

15 The Use of Scripture 163
Paul Ballard

16 Poetics 173
Heather Walton

17 Emancipatory Theory and Method 183
Nancy J. Ramsay

18 Feminist Theory 193
Elaine Graham

19 Womanist Theory 204
Evelyn L. Parker

20 Narrative Approaches 214
R. Ruard Ganzevoort

21 Ethnography 224
Mary Clark Moschella

22 Participatory Action Research 234
Elizabeth Conde-Frazier

23 Theories of Practice 244
Ted A. Smith

24 Action Theories 255
Robert Mager

Part III Curriculum: Educating for Ministry and Faith in Classroom, Congregation, and Community 267

25 Pastoral Care 269
Barbara McClure

26 Homiletics 279
John S. McClure

27 Worship 289
Don E. Saliers

28 Religious Education 299
Carol Lakey Hess

29 Religious Leadership 308
Michael Jinkins

30 Evangelism 318
Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr.

31 Spirituality 328
Claire E. Wolfteich

32 Ethics 337
Miguel A. De La Torre

33 Contextual Education 347
Emily Click

34 Systematic Theology 357
Mary McClintock Fulkerson

35 Historical Theology 367
James M. Brandt

36 Biblical Theology 377
Michael Joseph Brown

37 Integration in Theological Education 386
Kathleen A. Cahalan

Part IV Discipline: Defining History and Context in Guild and Global Setting 397

Section 1: Issues, Contexts, and Perspectives 399

38 Race and Racism 401
Dale P. Andrews

39 Gender, Sexism, and Heterosexism 412
Jeanne Hoeft

40 Globalization, Colonialism, and Postcolonialism 422
Melinda McGarrah Sharp

41 Economics, Class, and Classism 432
Joyce Ann Mercer

42 Disability, Ableism, and Disablism 443
John Swinton

43 Religious Pluralism and Christian-Centrism 452
Kathleen J. Greider

Section 2: Global Developments 463

44 Continental Europe 465
Friedrich Schweitzer

45 Britain 475
Zoë Bennett

46 French Canada 485
Solange Lefebvre

47 The United States 495
Richard R. Osmer

48 South Africa 505
Jaco S. Dreyer

49 West Africa 515
Daisy N. Nwachuku

50 Brazil 525
Valburga Schmiedt Streck

51 South Korea 534
Meerha Hahn

52 Australia and Oceania 544
Gerard V. Hall

Section 3: Traditions 555

53 Mainline Protestantism 557
Gordon S. Mikoski

54 Roman Catholicism 567
Lynn Bridgers

55 Protestant Evangelicalism 577
Charles J. Scalise

56 Pentecostalism 587
Mark J. Cartledge

Index of Subjects 596

Index of Names 619

“The energy, organization, intelligence, and wisdom of the editor have borne fruit in this very splendid book. It deserves to be widely read and used.” (Reviews Religion & Theology, 7 April 2015)

“The first comprehensive reference work to provide a survey, description and analysis of practical theology as an area of study.” (Native American Encyclopedia, 20 December 2013)

“This Companion has wide scope … and is surely the most definitive definition of what practical theology entails to date … An important addition to the shelves of those who teach practical theology or ministers as well as those engaged in the ministry themselves ... [It] offers a new way of seeing the subject, with sets of essays that are informative, novel, and take theology in new directions.” (Regent's Reviews, 2012)

“This edited collection is a showcase presenting how contemporary scholarship of practical theology has been developed into a wide concept of practical theology ... For those who are interested in teaching Christian theology from a practical theological perspective, this book will be a useful reference.” (Homiletic Journal, 2012)

“Miller-McLemore, a leader in the field, has edited an excellent handbook on Christian practical theology. Though the essays are short, they provide excellent overviews of the various topics and, more important, helpful bibliographies for students who wish to explore certain topics further … Libraries supporting curricula in Christian theology and ministry should acquire this good introduction to the field. It is essential for acquisition for seminary libraries ... Recommended: upper-level undergraduates and above.” (Choice, 2012)

Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion. Winner of a prestigious Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology award, she is a national and international leader in pastoral and practical theologies and widely recognized for research on families, women, and children. Her publications include Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology (1999) and an upcoming collection of essays, Christian Theology in Practice: Discovering a Discipline (2012). The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology offers a comprehensive introduction to practical theology as a major area of Christian study and practice, including an overview of its key developments, themes, methods, and future directions.

There has been a remarkable growth in scholarship surrounding practical theology in recent years. Contributions by distinguished theologians from around the world reflect this growth. Their insightful essays clarify the myriad emerging uses and contributions of practical theology, including an expansion of the analysis of practical knowledge and lived religion in ministerial study, in the study of religion and theology, and in the wider public. In a path-breaking move to clarify a complex term, the volume is organized around four distinct meanings of practical theology: anactivity of believers seeking to sustain a life of reflective faith, a method of understanding theology in practice by religious leaders, a curricular area in theological education, and an academic discipline pursued by scholars.

With its combined organizational clarity and scholarly authorship, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology not only strengthens the discipline of practical theology but gives scholars in other areas and religious leaders in different settings fresh tools to understand the dynamics of theology as a living reality and the knowledge that evolves out of religious practice.

‘This Companion has wide scope. It has fifty-six chapters […] and is surely the most definitive definition of what practical theology entails to date […A]n important addition to the shelves of those who teach practical theology or ministers as well as those engaged in the ministry themselves.’—Regents Review

‘This edited collection is a showcase presenting how contemporary scholarship of practical theology has been developed into a wide concept of practical theology.’—Homiletic Journal