Description
Book SynopsisThe study of lived religion is an enterprise which attempts to elucidate how ordinary men and women in all times and places draw on religious behavior, media, and meanings to make sense of themselves and their world. Through the influence of liberation theology and postmodernism, pastoral theologianslike other scholars of religionhave begun more closely to examine the particularity of religious practice that is reflected through the rubric of lived religion. Pastoral Bearings offers up ten studies that exemplify the usefulness of the lived religion paradigm to the field of pastoral theology. The volume presents detailed qualitative research focused on the everyday beliefs and practices of individuals and groups and explores the implications of lived religion for interdisciplinary conversation, intercultural and gender analysis, and congregational studies. Reflecting upon the utility of this approach for pastoral theological research, education, and pastoral care, the studies collecte
Trade ReviewPastoral Bearings is a richly textured mosaic of lived religion, as practiced in local communities, denominations, and individual lives. The pictures are painful, inspiring, and joyful, providing an earthly view of religious life in diverse communities facing diverse challenges. The concern for pastoral bearings— the pastoral effects of religious beliefs and practices— is addressed in the ethnographic and interview narratives themselves, and also in the probing interpretations that evoke complex pictures of bodies, race, gender, poverty and social class, material culture, illness, dis/ability, and suffering in the religious landscape. Pastoral care-givers and practical theologians will be challenged and informed by this book. -- Mary Elizabeth Moore, Boston University, Boston Univeristy School of Theology
Table of Contents1 Dedication 2 Table of Contents 3 Acknowledgments Chapter 4 1. Pastoral Bearings: Lived Religion and Pastoral Theology Part 5 I. Congregations, Bodies, and Theology Chapter 6 2. Theological Reflection and Theories of Practice: Rethinking Normative Memory as if Bodies Matter Chapter 7 3. Weaving a Communal Narrative: Agape United Methodist Church Chapter 8 4. Culture Coded Care: Ecclesial Beliefs and Practices in Response to Illness Chapter 9 5. Homeless in Seattle: A Lived Religion of Hospitality Part 10 II. Gender Positive Care: Re-writing Dis/ability, Denominational History and Unchurched Religion Chapter 11 6. Resisting Stares and Stereotypes—Affirming Life Chapter 12 7. Baptist Clergywomen's Narratives: Reinterpreting the Southern Baptist Convention Schism Chapter 13 8. "Spiritual But Not Religious"—How Small Groups in America Redefine Religion Part 14 III. Intercultural Nuance Chapter 15 9. Lively Choruses: Relational Dance with God Chapter 16 10. Pastoral Care and Counseling in Independent Evangelical Charismatic Churches in Ghana: A Barthian Theological Perspective Chapter 17 11. Religion in Thailand: Pastoral Theological Reflection from the Perspective of Thai Buddhist Monks 18 Select Bibliography 19 About the Authors 20 Index
