CPT Today
CPT Today is the blog of The Center for Practical Theology. Here you’ll find posts under the categories of Book Reviews, News and Events, Opportunities, Perspectives, Practical Theology Profiles, and Research Reflections. Interested in submitting? Please see our submission guidelines and feel free to be in touch with cpt@bu.edu with any questions!
A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from the Great Migration to Civil Rights (Homiletic Book Review)
Jackie Blue, a doctoral candidate in Practical Theology at BU School of Theology, recently reviewed A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from the Great Migration to Civil Rights by Kenyatta Gilbert. Please see the beginning of Blue's review below and visit the Homiletics website for the full review
Homiletic is a scholarly forum in homiletics and a review of publications in religious communication. It is a freely accessible, peer-reviewed journal. Homiletic is sponsored by the Academy of Homiletics.
Kenyatta R. Gilbert. A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from the Great Migration to Civil Rights. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016. 224 pages. $39.95.
Review Excerpt
What does it mean to preach prophetically? This is the question Kenyatta R. Gilbert,
Associate Professor of Homiletics at Howard University School of Divinity, asks in his second project, A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from the Great Migration to Civil Rights. Building upon his initial work (The Journey and the Promise, 2011) in which he introduced the concept of trivocal preaching, defined as preaching “marked by three constitutive orientations the scriptural voice of prophet, priest, and sage” (Gilbert 2011, 11), Gilbert extends his research with a contextually focused, in-depth analysis into the first voice, the prophetic--more specifically prophetic Black preaching. More
Call for Submissions: Practical Matters Journal
Call for Submissions to Practical Matters
Issue 12 Call for Submissions
New Directions in Religious Practices and Practical Theology: Revolutions and Re-Imaginations
Deadline: December 1, 2018
practicalmattersjournal.org/submissions
At the nexus of practical theology and the study of religious practices, what is the “state of the field”—and where are we going?
The past ten years have seen a blossoming of scholarship in religious practices and practical theology. Practical Matters has served as a meeting ground for these conversations across borders of methodology, religious tradition, and academic training. Reflecting on the field and our own work, what now animates the study of religious practices—and where do we go next? Where are we re-imagining and theory and method; where is there excitement for new movements in scholarship? Where do our revolutions take us back full circle to old themes, forgotten conversations, or neglected ways of approaching religious practice and practical theology that can be taken up in a new light?
Practical Matters is now accepting submissions for Issue 12. The issue will feature articles on the theme “New Directions in Religious Practices and Practical Theology: Revolutions and Re-Imaginations.” Questions to be addressed may include but are not limited to:
- Methodology: how do we continue to deepen existing methods and explore new modes of inquiry? Where do we see innovation within and outside of ethnographic methods, which have been central to religious practices research? What might be the role of documentary film, literary analysis, oral history, archival work, and/or partnerships with cognitive sciences?
- How are we guided by theory? Is practice theory still a primary thought-partner? Where might there be fruitful dialogue with other theoretical conversations?
- State of the relationship between the study of religious practices and practical theology: Practical Matters is designed to bring these together. How has the relationship grown and/or changed? How does interdisciplinarity more broadly continue to play a role in this work?
- Scholar-activism, and the relationship between the classroom/research conversation and the wider world: how should we handle this balance, and how is this best supported?
- How do new directions in religious practices themselves (i.e. secularization, migrations, new religious movements) impact the way we study and think about them?
In all submissions, we are particularly interested in work that shows as much as it tells—i.e. compelling use of exciting theories, methods, and conversations that help flesh out meta-commentary.
We invite contributions on or from any religious or spiritual tradition as well as from any theoretical position or discipline. The journal includes both peer-reviewed articles (Features and Analyzing Matters) as well as non-peer reviewed content that presents the thoughtful reflections of teachers and practitioners (Practicing Matters and Teaching Matters). Practical Matters accepts submissions that incorporate a variety of media and genres.
Submissions are accepted and published on a rolling basis throughout the year. For consideration in Issue 12, submissions must be received by December 1, 2018. For more information, please see practicalmattersjournal.org/submissions or email pm.issue.editor@emory.edu.
A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom (Perspectivas Book Review)
Yara González-Justiniano, a doctoral candidate in Practical Theology at BU School of Theology, recently reviewed A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom, by Teresa Delgado. Please see the beginning of González-Justiniano's review below and visit the Perspectivas website for the full review.
Perspectivas is the online peer-reviewed multilingual (Spanish, Portuguese and English) subscription journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative.
A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom, by Teresa Delgado. Palgrave McMillan, 2017. xv + 204 pages. $99.99. Additional formats available from Palgrave MacMillan.
Review excerpt
Teresa Delgado’s book, A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom, is a contribution to liberation and decolonial theology, but above all it is an invitation to further the conversation of Puerto Rican identity in order to elaborate a robust Puerto Rican theology. Readers will quickly appreciate that Delgado projects the voice of un pueblo (a people) in her narrative. This work challenges the audience, especially Puerto Ricans in the Diaspora, to reconcile their identities as both Puerto Rican and American in ways that promulgate liberation. Delgado holds Puerto Rican theologians accountable for dormirse en las pajas (falling asleep in the hay), that is, she charges them with complacency in not addressing issues of colonialism and identity from a Puerto Rican theological perspective.
Job Posting: Assistant Professor, Practical Theology and Religious Education
Fordham University invites applications for a full-time tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE). Areas of specialization are open. Teaching will include hybrid (campus and digital learning) formats. Applicants must have completed the Ph.D. by May 2019. GRE seeks a highly qualified, diverse applicant pool and especially encourages members of underrepresented groups to apply. Successful candidates will have a knowledge of and a commitment to the goals of Jesuit education. Faculty appointment will begin in August 2019.
Fordham is an independent, Catholic University in the Jesuit tradition that welcomes applications from all backgrounds. Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching philosophy/interest, and three letters of recommendation to Dr. Tom Beaudoin, Search Committee Chair, at tbeaudoin@fordham.edu. Materials will only be accepted electronically. Review of applications will begin on 1 November. Fordham University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.
11th Annual Lecture for The Center for Practical Theology Announced
You are warmly invited to The Center for Practical Theology's Eleventh Annual Lecture and Reception on Wednesday, October 24, 2018. Dr. Kathleen Cahalan, Professor of Practical Theology at St. John's University School of Theology & Seminary, will present on "The Grammar of Vocation: Changing the Way We Talk about Our Callings." The reception begins at 5:30pm with the lecture following. For those of you who cannot attend, we hope you'll be present in spirit via the Livestream. We hope to see you in October!
September Session of FIGS for Christ Initiative
The Center for Practical Theology is pleased to co-sponsor the FIGS for Christ Initiative (Faith & Finance, Inquiry & Identity, Guidance & Governance, Support & Sustainability), a series of workshops exploring collaboration, enrichment and growth for pastors and their lay leadership teams, as well as for contextual education students hoping to serve in pastoral or congregational settings. Rev. Stacy Emerson and Nancy Sayer will lead segments on Stewardship and Finance and Conflict During Times of Transition. We will also engage in times of spiritual practice and worship, a reminder that each of these aspects of church life are ministries that enhance the life and vitality of our congregations. This endeavor will prepare future leaders for some of the challenges they may encounter. All are welcome!
Date: Saturday September 29, 2018
Time: 9:30- 4pm
Location: First Baptist Church in Needham (MA)
RSVP at this link!
2018 Association of Practical Theology Biennial Review
In April 2018, students from the Advanced Research Seminar for Practical Theology, along with Professor Claire Wolfteich, attended the 2018 Association of Practical Theology Biennial at Yale Divinity School. Several doctoral students presented papers, and we are excited to share the following reflection on the weekend from from doctoral student Jasmin Figueroa. More
Association of Practical Theology in Oceania Annual Conference
The Center for Practical Theology is committed to supporting the global scope of practical theological scholarship. We are excited to share news of the upcoming Annual Conference of the Association of Practical Theology in Oceania. More
Congratulations to the 2018 Practical Theology PhD graduates!
The Center for Practical Theology is thrilled to celebrate the following 2018 graduates with PhDs in Practical Theology!
Congratulations to Drs. Benzenhafer, Ireland-Verwoerd, Lee, Theuring, and Williams!
Dr. Holly Benzenhafer: "A Practical Theological Examination of Dream Studies and Christian Spirituality"
Dr. Francisca Ireland-Verwoerd - "John Wesley and Engaged Aesthetics: Transformative Christian Education"
Dr. Min Hyoung Lee: "Parody and Pastiche in the Use of Popular Culture in the Evangelistic Practices of Korean Churches"
Dr. Montague Williams: "Youth Ministry, Race, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Beloved Community: A Practical Theological Critique of Post-racialism"
Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics (AAR Reading Religion Book Review)
Kathryn House, a doctoral candidate in Practical Theology at BU School of Theology, recently reviewed Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics by R. Marie Griffith. Please see the beginning of House's review below and visit the Reading Religion website for the full review.
Reading Religion (RR) is an open book review website published by the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The site provides up-to-date coverage of scholarly publishing in religious studies, reviewed by scholars with special interest and/or expertise in the relevant subfields.
Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics. New York, NY: Basic Books, December 2017. 416 pages. $32.00. Hardcover. ISBN 9780465094752. Additional formats available from Basic Books.
Review excerpt
In Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics, Marie Griffith exposes fault lines in complicated 20th century American debates where sex, Christianity, and politics intersect. “The very meaning of sex, gender, and sexuality” were at the heart of these contentions, she wagers, and a key orienting concern would be whether tradition or change should be embraced on questions of gender, marriage, and sexual norms (xiii). Beginning with the 1920s, a decade of provocative change fueled by the women’s rights movement, Griffith follows a loose pattern of attending closely to one central debate and one or two significant figures per decade.