Save the Date for the 9th Annual Center for Practical Theology Lecture!
You are warmly invited to
The Center for Practical Theology
9th Annual Lecture and Reception
Dean Bryan Stone will deliver the lecture on the topic of
“Evangelism, Religious Pluralism,
and the U.S. Military Chaplaincy”
Wednesday, October 12th, 2016
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Boston University School of Theology Community Center
(Lower level of School of Theology, located at 745 Comm. Ave, Boston, MA)
Reception begins at 5:30pm, with the lecture to follow.
Heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks served.
Please email cpt@bu.edu with any questions.
We hope to see you there!
Overturning Tables: Freeing Missions from the Christian-Industrial Complex, by Scott A. Bessenecker
Review by Francisca Ireland-Verwoerd in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research at: http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/2015-02/2015-02-098-bessenecker.html
Social Justice Institute Official Program
The Social Justice Institute is designed to reclaim the role of the prophetic voices in public life, pulpits and sacred spaces that are essential to continue to move forward issues of social justices. This 5 day intensive continuing education institute is designed to train seminarians, clergy and laity with diverse views and thought leadership through conversations, lectures, worship, and fellowship. The institute endeavors to deepen their thinking and preaching by gleaning from scholars and practitioners on poverty, race, religion, sexuality, and theology.
Please find the full program for the Social Justice Institute below.
Work From Consultation on Preaching and Postcolonial Theology Published in Homiletic
The work from the Consultation on Preaching and Postcolonial Theology (hosted by the Center for Practical Theology in Fall 2014) has been published in the journal, Homiletic.
The articles published from the consultation include work by Yohan Go, David Schnasa Jacobsen, Duse Lee, Kwok Pui-lan, Pablo A. Jiménez, Lis Valle, Timothy Jones, and Sarah Travis.
Access to these articles is available at http://www.homiletic.net/
A special thanks to respondents: Shelly Rambo, Crisitian De La Rosa, Jungsun Oh, Yohan Go, and Duse Lee whose responses helped shape the articles.
Social Justice Institute: Poverty, Race and Sexuality
The prophetic voices of ecumenical faith leaders became the catalyst for the Civil Rights movement for a 'Righteous America.' These faith leaders used their pulpits and sacred spaces to address their concerns for the least advantaged amongst them. The American society--founded on a hunger and thirst for religious freedom--was turning a deaf ear to the pleas of the marginalized people. At the same time, a group of leaders, spanning racial and religious identities, led the charge for equality. These interfaith leaders debated, protested, collaborated, and led the way to the historic signing of the Civil Rights Act of July 2, 1964 and Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. These "Acts" brought us closer to realizing the lofty ideals of the American experiment, rendering equality under the law a closer reality for all people regardless of color, sex, or religious beliefs.
The Social Justice Institute aims to reclaim the role of the prophetic voices in public life, pulpits and sacred spaces. These prophetic voices are essential to move forward issues of social justice. This five day intensive continuing education institute is designed to train a diverse group of seminarians, clergy, and laity through conversations, lectures, worship, and fellowship. The institute endeavors to deepen their thinking and preaching through insights from scholars and practitioners on the issues of poverty, race, religion, sexuality, and theology.
The Social Justice Institute will be held on the campus of Boston University, August 3-7, 2015. Application are due by May 15, 2015.
Space is limited to 30. The cost of $500 includes program, campus housing and meals. Scholarships are available. Up to 2 CEUs are available.
Participants will have a week to think deeply about these issues. The demanding schedule includes:
- Plenary sessions on social justice and the prophetic voice
- Lectures on poverty, race and sexuality
- Worship Services around the thought leadership of Samuel Proctor, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pauli Murray
- Town Hall on Faith & Justice: The 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
- Access to Boston University's archives and libraries and Charles River campus
- Three defined daily reflection periods
- Facilitated group discussions
Event Highlight:
Town Hall on Faith & Justice: The 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, August 6, 2015
The Town Hall will convene on the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. It will be made up of leaders who understand the role of faith that emerged across religious and racial identities and was the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. It examines how the discourse was framed through a collective prophetic voice of justice, advocating equality for the betterment of all.
Boston University is a leading private research institution with two primary campuses in the heart of Boston and programs around the world. It traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839, and was chartered with the name "Boston University" by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869. The University organized formal centennial observances both in 1939 and 1989.
Boston University's founders opened its doors to all students without regard to religion, race, or gender. Building and sustaining a vibrant community of scholars, students, and staff remains essential to our mission of contributing to and preparing students to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.
Boston University School of Theology is one of about 15 university-based seminaries in the United States. It is a premiere small professional school nestled with access to all the resources of the country's fourth-largest private research university. It has been home to some of the foremost religious thought leaders of their time to include Anna Howard Shaw, Howard Thurman, Samuel DeWitt Proctor, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The school's history of marrying academic rigor with social justice is still vital and effective nearly two centuries later. It continues to attract students who seek the best theological training to take action in their local, national, or global context. This is a major distinguishing factor of our school: we believe that to "want to change the world" is more than cliché--it is actually possible.
Social Justice Institute Confirmed Faculty & Presenters
- Adam Bond, Assistant Professor of Historical Studies, Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University
- John M. Borders, III, Bishop & Senior Pastor, Morning Star Baptist Church, Mattapan, MA
- Burns Stanfield, President, The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization; Senior Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church
- Delman Coates, Director, The Black Church Center for Justice and Equality; Senior Pastor, Mt. Ennon Church, Clinton, MD
- Iva Carruthers, General Secretary, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference; Professor Emeritus, Northeastern Illinois University
- Andrew Davies, Director, Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion; Professor of Biblical Interpretation, University of Birmingham, England
- Chris Evans, Professor of History of Christianity & Methodist Studies, Boston University School of Theology
- Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College
- Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, President/C.E.O., Institute for Advanced African Christian Thought and Research Fellow, Cooley Center, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
- Sheila Jackson Lee, Congresswoman (TX-D), United States House of Representatives
- Alisha Lola Jones, Research Faculty in Ethnomusicology & Sociology of Religion, Indiana University
- Pamela Lightsey, Associate Dean; Clinical Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology & Practice, Boston University School of Theology
- Marvin A. McMickle, President & Professor of Church Leadership; Director of Black Church Studies, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
- Peter Morales, President, Unitarian Universal Association
- Mary Elizabeth Moore, Dean & Professor of Education, Boston University School of Theology
- Khalil Muhammad, Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
- Diana Swancutt, Director, Boston Poverty Consortium; Research Associate Professor of Bible, Religion, and Global Justice, Boston University School of Theology; Global Justice Fellow, Yale University
- Jonathan Walton, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals & Pusey Minister, Memorial Church; Professor of Religion and Society, Harvard University
Invited
- Peter Edelman, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy; Faculty Director, Center on Poverty and Equality; Georgetown Law
- Myrlie Evers-Williams, Civil Rights Activist, Evers Institute
- Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader & Civil Rights Activist, United Farm Workers
- Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African American Studies; Chair, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
- TD Jakes, Bishop & Senior Pastor, The Potters House
- Spike Lee, Film Director, Producer, & Actor, 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks
- Peter Morales, President, Unitarian Universal Association
- Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and Founding & Executive Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.
Leadership
- Keith Magee, Convener, Social Justice Institute & Visiting Researcher, Boston University School of Theology; Distinguished Senior Fellow of Social Justice & Religion, University of Birmingham, England
Co-Sponsors
- Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center
- Howard Thurman Center
- Inclusion Initiative | Third Sector New England
- Museum of African American History, Boston & Nantucket
ONLINE APPLICATION
Applications are due by May 15, 2015. To apply click the link below.
https://www.bu.edu/cpt/?p=2588
For more information or for questions, please contact:
- Keith Magee
- Social Justice Institute
- Center for Practical Theology
- Boston University School of Theology
- (e) kmagee@bu.edu
- (p) 617.358.1113
- (f) 617.353.3061
Recent Graduate, Dr. Susan Forshey, Promoted to Assistant Professor of Discipleship and Christian Formation at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary
Susan Forshey joined the faculty of University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in August 2014 and was recently promoted to Assistant Professor of Discipleship and Christian Formation. She brings twenty years of experience in congregational lay ministry, administration, retreat leadership, spiritual direction, and Christian education, and ten years experience in higher education.
This past January, Susan completed a Ph.D. in Practical Theology with a concentration in Spirituality. While at Boston University School of Theology, she worked in the Center for Practical Theology as coordinator of the Spiritual Formation and Church Life project, and as a Marsh Chapel associate, pastoring students and leading retreats. Her Ph.D. dissertation, “The Role of Prayer in Theological Education for Ministry: Toward a Contemplative Practical Theological Pedagogy,” focused on creating a framework in which academic inquiry, first-person reflection, interpersonal dialogue, and practices of prayer can be intentionally explored in the theological classroom.
Dr. Forshey continues as a facilitator with Museum Without Walls, an educational non-profit which connects students with survivors of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice, co-leading summer trips to Northern Ireland on the history of the Troubles and religious reconciliation. Her current writing and speaking focuses on spiritual disciplines in conversation with education and cognitive studies, and she blogs about contemplative living and prayer at the contemplativecottage.com.
Connect with her through LinkedIn.
Facebook www.facebook.com/susan.forshey
Twitter @susanforshey
Feminist Practical Theology Event April 7, 2015: Mothering, Public Leadership, and Spirituality: Reflections in Dialogue with Jarena Lee, Dorothy Day, and Dolores Huerta
All are welcome to join us in the STH Community Center on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 from 5:00-7:00pm for a presentation and open discussion on the topic “Mothering, Public Leadership, and Spirituality: Reflections in Dialogue with Jarena Lee, Dorothy Day, and Dolores Huerta." This will be an opportunity to open up conversation and theological reflection about mothering and “motherwork”, particularly in relationship to women’s public leadership, vocational tensions, cultural contexts, narrative strategies to gain voice, and the mixed role of the church in women’s vocational lives. There will be a presentation by Claire Wolfteich followed by open discussion and all are invited to share experiences and reflections.
Hors d'œuvres will be served and childcare will be available on site during the program. With RSVP, please note if you will use childcare and indicate age of child/children.
RSVP to Kaitlyn Martin Fox at cpt@bu.edu
Xochitl Alvizo Accepts Professor of Religious Studies Position at California State University, Northridge
PhD candidate Xochitl Alvizo will continue to bring a feminist focus to theology and religion through her newly accepted tenure track position at California State University, Northridge. She will begin teaching classes in the fall as the Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the area of Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Gender (LGBT), Sex, and Sexuality. California State University, Northridge ranks 10th in the country in awarding bachelor's degrees to underrepresented minority students, fifth nationally in awarding master's degrees to Hispanic students, and enrolls the largest number of deaf and hard-of-hearing students of any US state university. Xochitl looks forward to serving this diverse and vibrant community of students as well as continuing her research with Emerging and other new forms of church.
University of Dubuque hires Chris James as Instructor in Evangelism & Missional Christianity
Evangelism and mission are increasingly important aspects of theological education in seminaries. CGCM student associate and PhD candidate Christopher James will soon start a new position teaching and researching in these areas as a faculty instructor in Evangelism and Missional Christianity at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. James is currently working to complete his dissertation tentatively titled is “New Ecclesial Life in a Post-Christian Context: A Practical Ecclesiology.”
You can connect with Chris and follow his work through: LinkedIn, Academia, Twitter, and his Website.
Visiting Researcher Keith Magee: Prosperity Gospel and the Poor
Keith Magee is a Visiting Researcher at the Center for Practical Theology conducting research on the Prosperity Gospel and the Poor. Keith is a trained economist and religious scholar, and brings this lens to his research, specifically at the intersections of economics and spirituality. His research began with his own interest in religious history considering migrant narratives, ethno-graphic studies, and poverty; more specifically the consideration of interrupting generational poverty where the poor can see and experience life differently. After a friend of his preached on a network broadcast, Keith left the television on as he continued throughout his day when he heard another sermon that indicated those that are poor are poor because they do not have enough faith. Keith was intrigued and alarmed by this sermon and decided to further explore the perspective of this theological lens. Thus leading to his research question, what does the prosperity gospel do and mean for the poor? His research goes further by comparing and contrasting the prosperity gospel with the social gospel. He has identified 57 United States churches that meet the criteria for his research, which includes preaching the prosperity gospel, memberships of at least 3,000, and a minimum of $2 million in annual reported revenue. The next phase of his research will include interviews and surveys with leaders and parishioners. He hopes to host a conference for social and prosperity gospellers, scholars, seminarians, and faith and community leaders this upcoming fall. His ultimate goal, in his words and the heart-beat of Keith Magee, is to “deliver this research into the community in order to empower and equip it.” Social justice through the Civil Right Movement was a call to action for the community, not the individual singularly. His research is motivated by a call to action for the community and bringing the community together to consider, learn and respond.
When asked, what do you want our community to know about your research? Keith began by quoting Saint Augustine in that his research is rooted in comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. His research is in no way meant to be combative or pointing fingers, however illuminating both sides: social justice and the Prosperity Gospel. In the hope that this research will create a space for a new narrative through revisiting, renewing, and rewriting the African American narrative with Howard Thurman as a common ground.
Doctoral research: Urban churches and poverty
Andrew Tripp is a Ph.D. candidate in Practical Theology with a concentration in Church and Society. He currently serves as a hospital chaplain while in the writing phase for his dissertation. His doctoral research is focused on urban churches and poverty. Andrew has sought out to identify churches that are being the church through their embodiment of scripture, especially surrounding economic ethics and social action. Lived religion is essential for Andrew and exactly what he seeks to find within his research related to urban churches and poverty. Through participant observations and interviews, Andrew conducted his research with three Protestant congregations located in the Boston and Cambridge areas here in Massachusetts. He specifically chose the three churches because they each have robust ministries for the poor, consist of an affluent population, and their ministry was established within the surrounding community. The visibility of the poor, in which Andrew defines by homelessness for the purpose of isolating these three congregations, was evident in that walking to and from the T stop one could not ignore poverty and the deprivation of material needs. Engaging in good news to the poor for these three communities meant acknowledging and providing for the material needs of the homeless population; although all that are reached through these ministries are not homeless. One of the three congregations offers a fully functional homeless shelter to include food that is oversaw by laity. The other two congregations provide food as their main source for meeting the needs within their surrounding communities and are also oversaw by laity. Although the immediate need is material, the three congregations also offer space to meet spiritual needs, as well as offering space for artistic expression.
When asked, what do you want our community to know about your research? Andrew stated that “the ministry done by the laity needs far more respect than it gets”. Through this research, Andrew recognized that pastors are in need of resources for ministries of care that include robust resources for the laity.