18. Prelude to Practical Theology: Variations on Theory and Practice - Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner

Schleiermacher's tree model, an image of organic unity: roots-philosophical theology, trunk-historical theology, crown (branches, leaves, fruits)-practical theology.
-Emphasis: interconnectedness, healthy interdependency; "there is something that beckons persons into connectedness...underlying our endeavors of self-differentiation in denominations, disciplines, and guilds, we are created to be organically related to others in ministry and theology."  (p.4) "The vital exchange of nurture within the parts of the tree" p.68
-"practical theology bears fruit, offers shade for sojourners, provides a nesting place for wayfarers, and connects its branches to other trees" (p.6); is "a discipline-in-relationship" (p.8)

Image of musicians-in-relationship, playing their individual instruments but in a way that benefits the whole artistic enterprise (performers entering the center stage at different timings and from different directions with different tempos.

-Dynamic symbolism "points to the infinite and incomprehensible; the use of multiple symbols can prevent an overbearing focus on or concretization of any one of them." H. Flanders Dunbar
 (p.9)

Love of God and neighbour.
-"Future questions for the field of practical theology cluster around the multicultural nature, the international audience, and the organic unity of the field. (1) How shall a multicultural or intercultural context influence "exegesis" and practical theology?..." p.20
-Hospitality recognizes the particularity of others as part of the broader interdependence of being and the interconnectedness of learning that characterizes the depths of our reality." John B. Bennett p.20-21

Practical theology concerns itself with movement or direction. p.30
-"An inversion of power has to take place for the world to see how Christ loved the church. The postcolonial mind-set disuses the imagery of slaves and servants and instead prefers the imagery of friends." John 15:12-15 p.32
-The Somalian refugee case: "This space between two lands or countries is likened to an interstice, or crack, between cultures. ...third culture or hybrid culture. Phan depicts this intercultural space as a matrix with a womb-like, generative possibility." p.34 "How might a theologian best enter the land of 'betwixt and between?' First, it would be with humility and with an eagerness to learn. The vision of our call to service would be dialectically related to the discernment of this particular context, that is, the worldview of the transnational migrants or refugees." p. 34
-Theologian Judith Berling: "What makes theological learning distinctive is its development of Christian character, habitus, or wisdom, the deepening of Christian understanding and of Christian lives. As the theological learner learns more about the context of her Christian life--including the impact of religious diversity in it--that learning is folded back into her reappropriation of what it means to be Christian, her sense of the Christian tradition and its language of self-understanding." p. 34
-"Instead of the top-down power movement of colonial powers to to the conquered, we have a circular movement in place." p.35
-"Boundary crossing gives the church more opportunities to be in relationship. This connectedness can yield increase in the love of God and neighbor, sometimes with risk but always with movement. In the end, the purpose of the music of ministry is to hear the overture of God." p.36

P: The purpose of practical theology is connecting theology (biblical teachings, historical theology, doctrine, theology) to how the church can live this out, and when the church encounters discordant notes (unexpected situations) then the church responds as best as they could being faithful to the Word, then also reflect on the situation back into theology.
-"Practical theology is a collaborative exercise between theory and practice." p.44;
-David Tracy: "practical theology is the mutually critical correlation of the interpreted theory and praxis of the Christian fact and the interpreted theory and praxis of the contemporary situation." p.45
-"In practical theology, this ever-deepening reflection is either preceded or followed by action and practice." p.59

-Countermovement in accord with the currents in contemporary practical theology: "There is a shift away from traditional sources of power and authority" ....to redefine power as God-given, innate authority. ...Those on the margins of society are offering up lots of "cold water" if those of us who are nonmarginalized would receive." p.49

-Living human instruments:
"action-reflection" or "theory-praxis";
Praxis=when practice is involved with political powers and injustice or justice issues. p.59
Practical theology="an academic discipline in relation to other theological disciplines. In practical theology, critical reflection is combined with "doing theology": acts of ministering to the poor, the wick, the imprisoned, the subjugated, the despairing, the homeless, and the unjustly treated." p.67

22-28 Mar, 2017
Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008.