Claire E. Wolfteich
Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Spiritual Formation
Co-Director for the Center for Practical Theology
B.A. Yale University
M.Div. University of Chicago
Ph.D. University of Chicago
Dr. Wolfteich’s teaching and research interests include Christian spirituality; religion and public life; work and family; lay spirituality; women’s spiritual autobiographies; and American Catholicism. She co-directs the Center for Practical Theology and directs the Spiritual Formation and Church Life Project at Boston University School of Theology. Dr. Wolfteich currently serves as President of the International Academy of Practical Theology; she also is the immediate past president of the Association of Practical Theology. Dr. Wolfteich has served as Co-Principal Investigator on four major grants from the Lilly Endowment. She also was awarded a Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers in 2011-2012. Her publications include Sabbath in the City: Sustaining Urban Pastoral Excellence (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), co-authored with Bryan Stone; Lord, Have Mercy: Praying for Justice with Conviction and Humility (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2006); Navigating New Terrain: Work and Women’s Spiritual Lives (Paulist Press, 2002), and American Catholics Through the Twentieth Century: Spirituality, Lay Experience, and Public Life (Crossroad Publishing Co., 2001). She is a former board member of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and currently serves on editorial boards for several journals: Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality; The Way: A Review of Christian Spirituality Published by the British Jesuits; and Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision for Ministry. Dr. Wolfteich also serves on the American Academy of Religion Theological Education Steering Committee. She received her PhD and MDiv from the University of Chicago. In addition, she holds a Diploma in Pastoral Studies from Maynooth College in Ireland and a BA in Religious Studies from Yale University.
Email: cwolftei@bu.edu
Publications
BOOKS
- Sabbath in the City: Sustaining Urban Pastoral Excellence. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminister John Knox Press, 2008. Co-authored with Bryan Stone.
- Lord, Have Mercy: Praying for Justice with Conviction and Humility. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2006.
- Navigating New Terrain: Work and Women’s Spiritual Lives. New York: Paulist Press, 2002.
- American Catholics Through the Twentieth Century: Spirituality, Lay Experience, and Public Life. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001.
ARTICLES and BOOK CHAPTERS
“Standing at the Gap: Reading Classics and the Practices of Everyday Life.” Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, vol. 10, no. 2 (2010): 250-255.
“Re-Claiming Sabbath as Transforming Practice: Critical Reflections in Light of Jewish- Christian Dialogue.” In Religion, Diversity, and Conflict: Proceedings of the International Academy of Practical Theology, edited by Edward Foley. Berlin: LITVerlag, 2011.
“Spirituality.” In The Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, edited by Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2011.
“Pastoral Excellence: Research Findings and Visions for Future Work.” In Engaging Pastors:Papers and Reflections from the Summative Conference. Elkhart, Indiana: Institute of Mennonite Studies and the Church Leadership Center, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 2010.
“Animating Questions: Spirituality and Practical Theology.” International Journal of Practical Theology, vol.13 (2009): 121-143.
“New Currents in Spirituality and Their Impact on Marital Spirituality.” In Companion to Marital Spirituality, edited by Thomas Knieps-Port Le Roi and Monica Sanders, 47-58. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2008.
“Creation and Newness of Life: Reflections on Formation.” Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision for Ministry 27 (Spring, 2007): 6-18.
“Devotion and the Struggle for Justice in the Farm Worker Movement: Practical Theological Approaches to Research and Teaching.” Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality. 5:2 (2005): 158-175.
“Public Life.” In New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, edited by Philip Sheldrake, 515-516. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.
“Spirituality and the Social Sciences.” In New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, edited by Philip Sheldrake, 68-73. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.
“Work.” In New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, edited by Philip Sheldrake, 651-652. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.
“Modernization and Religion: An Exploration of Women’s Changing Economic Roles as a Practical Theological Challenge.” In Poverty, Suffering, and HIV-AIDS: International Practical Theological Perspectives, edited by Pamela Couture and Bonnie Miller- McLemore, 105-115. Cardiff, Wales: Cardiff Academic Press, 2003.
“The American Experiment: Religious Liberty, Roman Catholicism and the Vision of John Courtney Murray.” Journal of Human Rights 2, no. 1 (March 2003): 31-47.
“Spirituality.” In Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, edited by J. Wentzel Vrede van Huyssteen et al. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003.
“Attention or Destruction: Simone Weil and the Paradox of the Eucharist.” The Journal of Religion 81, no. 3 (July 2001): 359-376.
“The American Experiment: Religious Liberty, Roman Catholics, and the Vision of John Courtney Murray.” In Tolerancija I Tradicija, edited by Adam Seligman and Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, 105-130. Sarajevo: Forum Bosnae, 2001.
“Graceful Work: Practical Theological Study of Spirituality.” Horizons 27, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 7-21.
“A Difficult Love: Mother as Spiritual Guide in the Writing of Susanna Wesley.” Methodist History 38, no. 1 (October 1999): 53-62.
“How Can Churches Help Families Live Safely in a Violent Society?” In Religion and Family: A Practical Theology Handbook, edited by Herbert Anderson et al., 181-186. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1998.
BOOK REVIEWS
Review of Reviving Christian Humanism: The New Conversation on Spirituality, Theology, and Psychology, by Don S. Browning. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, Vo1. 11, no.1 (Spring 2011): 143-146.
Review of Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings, by Wendy Wright. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, vol. 7, no. 2 (Fall 2007): 218-220.
Review of Where Two or Three Are Gathered: Christian Families as Domestic Churches, by Florence Caffrey Bourg. Journal of Religion 85:1 (January, 2005): 145-146.
Review of Sociology, Theology, and the Curriculum, edited by Leslie J. Francis.” Religious Studies Review 27, no. 1 (January 2001): 51.
Review of After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s, by Robert Wuthnow.” Society 37, no. 1 (November/December, 1999): 108-110.
Review of Christian Spirituality: Themes from the Tradition, by Lawrence S.Cunningham and Keith J. Egan, and Understanding Christian Spirituality, by Michael Downey.” The Journal of Religion 78, no.3 (July 1998): 458-460.