Claire Wolfteich

Claire Wolfteich is Professor of Practical Theology and Spirituality Studies at Boston University School of Theology. Her teaching and research interests include Christian spirituality; religion and public life; theology and practice; theologies of vocation, work, and family; lay spirituality; spiritual autobiographies; and American Catholicism. She co-directs the Center for Practical Theology and is Project Director of the Creative Callings research grant project and innovation hub, funded by the Lilly Endowment. Dr. Wolfteich is a past President of the International Academy of Practical Theology and of the Association of Practical Theology. She also is a past President of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

Her most recent book is Motherwork, Public Leadership, and Women’s Life Writing: Explorations in Spirituality Studies and Practical Theology (Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publishers, 2017), a monograph that explores mothering as spiritual practice through the life writing of women from the medieval mystic Margery Kempe to twentieth-century lay leaders Dorothy Day and Dolores Huerta. She also has designed and edited two volumes on Catholic scholarship and practical theology: Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, 2016), co-edited with Annemie Dillen, and Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions (Paulist Press, 2014). With colleague Bryan Stone, she wrote Sabbath in the City: Sustaining Urban Pastoral Excellence (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), the fruit of a five-year grant project funded by the Lilly Endowment. In addition, she has authored several other books on spirituality: 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).

Dr. Wolfteich serves on editorial boards for several scholarly journals, including International Journal of Practical Theology; Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality; and The Way: A Review of Christian Spirituality Published by the British Jesuits. In addition, she is on the Editorial Board of the Theology in Practice Series (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishers). She enjoys integrating teaching and scholarship and connecting the academy with the lives of faith communities.

Publications

Books

Motherwork, Public Leadership, and Women’s Life Writing: Explorations in Spirituality Studies and Practical Theology. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publishers, 2017.

Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, BETL (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium) series, 2016. Co-edited with Annemie Dillen.

Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2014. Editor.

Sabbath in the City: Sustaining Urban Pastoral Excellence. Louisville, Kentucky: 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. New York: Paulist Press, 2002.

American Catholics Through the Twentieth Century: Spirituality, Lay Experience, and Public Life. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001.

Journal Articles

“Building International Scholarship in Spirituality: Introduction to the Special Issue on Global and Intercultural Studies in Spirituality.” Spiritus: A Journal in Christian Spirituality 16, no. 2A (January 2017): viiii-xi.

“Humility: Empirical Psychological Research in Dialogue with Practical Theology-Part 1.” First author, co-authored with Callid Keefe-Perry, Steven Sandage, and David Paine. International Journal of Practical Theology 20, no. 1 (June 2016): 143-155.

“Humility: Empirical Psychological Research in Dialogue with Practical Theology-Part 2.” First author, co-authored with Callid Keefe-Perry, Steven Sandage, and David Paine. International Journal of Practical Theology 20, no. 2 (November 2016): 1-19.

“Teaching Spirituality: Context, Practice, Scholarship and Formation,” in The Way: A Journal of Christian Spirituality published by the British Jesuits [Oxford] 53/4 (October 2014): 17-28.

“A Comparative Research Conversation: American Catholic and German Protestant Spirituality Studies.” Co-authored with Jörg Schneider.

International Journal of Practical Theology 17, no. 1 (August 2013): 100-130.

“Time Poverty, Women’s Labor, and Catholic Social Teaching: A Practical Theological Exploration.” Journal of Moral Theology, 2, no. 2 (June 2013): 40-59.

“‘Practices of Unsaying’: Michel de Certeau, Spirituality Studies, and Practical Theology.” Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 12 (2012): 161-171.

“Standing at the Gap: Reading Classics and the Practices of Everyday Life.” Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 10, no. 2 (2010): 250-255.

“Animating Questions: Spirituality and Practical Theology.” International Journal of Practical Theology 13 (2009): 121-143.

“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, no. 2 (2005): 158-175.

“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.

“Attention or Destruction: Simone Weil and the Paradox of the Eucharist.” The Journal of Religion 81, no. 3 (July 2001): 359-376.

“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.

Book Chapters

“Reframing Practical Theology: Assessing Catholic Contributions to the Discourse.” In Conundrums in Practical Theology, edited by Bonnie Miller McLemore and Joyce Mercer, 276-304. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishers, 2016.

“Spiritual Traditions, Mystical Theology, and Practical Theology.” In Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Claire E. Wolfteich and Annemie Dillen, 101-116. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, BETL [Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium] series, 2016.

“Catholic Theologies and Practical Theologies: Sketching the Landscape,” co-authored with Annemie Dillen. In Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Claire E. Wolfteich and Annemie Dillen, 1-13. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, BETL [Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium] series, 2016.

“Embodied Knowing and the Unspeakable Sacred: Practice in Christian Spirituality.” In Sacrality and Materiality: Locating Intersections, edited by Ralph Kunz and Rebecca Giselbrecht, 61-73. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015.

“Hermeneutics in Roman Catholic Practical Theology.” In Opening the Field of Practical Theology, edited by Kathleen Cahalan and Gordon Mikoski, 133-151. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.

“Introduction: An Invitation to Practical Theology.” In Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions, edited by Claire E. Wolfteich, 1-24. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2014.

“Catholic Voices and Visions in Practical Theology: Contributions and Future Directions.” In Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions, edited by Claire E. Wolfteich, 329-344. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2014.

“It’s About Time: Rethinking Spirituality and the Domestic Church.” In The Household of God and Local Households, edited by Thomas Knieps-Port le Roi, Gerard Mannion, and Peter De Mey, 127-144. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 254. Leuven: Peeters, 2012.

“Spirituality.” In The Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, edited by Bonnie J. Miller McLemore, 328-336. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2011.

“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, 247-258. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 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.

“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.

“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: 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 J. Miller-McLemore, 105-115. Cardiff, Wales: Cardiff Academic Press, 2003.

“Spirituality.” In Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, edited by J. Wentzel Vrede van Huyssteen et al. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003.

“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.

“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.