Description
Book SynopsisPractical 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
Table of Contents
Introduction Part I: Roots 1. Soil, roots and shoots: the emergence of BIAPT 2. Keeping Contact: traditions and trajectories of British and Irish practical theology as evidenced in the history of BIAPT’s journal 3. The human face of God: notes on a journey through practical theology Part II: Methodologies 4. Theology in practice, in an age of wizards, hobbits and vampires 5. Creative arts-based research methods in practical theology: constructing new theologies of practice 6. No longer ‘speaking truth to power’ 7. Conversations in practical theology Part III: Pluralities 8. Shoots of equal marriage and partnership in the Church of England: a harvest rooted and nurtured through practical theology 9. Doing diaspora practical theology: insights into how culture, ethnicity and national identity shape theological practices and expressions of UK-African diaspora churches 10. Pluralising practical theology: international and multi-traditional challenges and opportunities 11. Practical Theology on the Island of Ireland Part IV: Challenges 12. The ubiquity of ignorance: a practical theological challenge of our time 13. Back to the future: intercultural, postcolonial and inter-religious streams in practical theology 14. What comes next? Practical theology, faithful presence, and prophetic witness
