{"id":4132,"date":"2019-12-04T16:11:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T21:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/practicalmattersjournal.ecdsdev.org\/?p=4132"},"modified":"2019-12-04T16:11:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T21:11:44","slug":"turning-the-wheel-in-religious-practices-and-practical-theology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmcleanup.ecdsdev.org\/2019\/12\/04\/turning-the-wheel-in-religious-practices-and-practical-theology\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning the Wheel in Religious Practices and Practical Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Download PDF: Curtis, Turning the Wheel<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Practical Matters<\/em> is proud to publish\nIssue 12, Revolutions and Re-Imaginations: New Directions in Religious\nPractices and Practical Theology. We are grateful to the authors, peer\nreviewers, and supportive colleagues who helped us bring this extraordinarily\nrich conversation to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their introduction to Practical Matters<\/em>\u2019 inaugural issue in 2009, founding editors Letitia M. Campbell and Donna S. Mote wrote of the excitement and interest in conversations at the intersection of religious practice and practical theology that were \u201cbubbling up\u201d among scholars.[1]<\/a>  In particular, they noted that this energy seemed to be coming most enthusiastically from doctoral programs\u2014the places that theologians and religious studies scholars of the future were meeting and being trained.[2]<\/a> Ten years after the initial discussions that resulted in that first issue, Practical Matters<\/em> staff wondered: how had things changed? Scholarship in religious practices and practical theology had clearly blossomed in the decade since our first issue, but we found ourselves curious about the methodological innovations, theoretical problems, and practical questions that animated those in the field today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These questions\narose, too, because Practical Matters<\/em>\nis at a crossroads in its life as a publication. Funded since 2007 as part of a\nLilly Foundation partnership with Emory University\u2019s Initiative in Religious\nPractices and Practical Theology, the Journal is moving into a new phase\nfollowing the conclusion of this grant in 2018. Our Editorial Board and staff are\nhard at work preparing for this next chapter, and we expect to share news of our\nplans in the upcoming months. In the meantime, this issue offers a chance to\nreflect on our first ten years, in anticipation of what is to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five pieces in\nthis issue engage directly with how work on religious practices and practical\ntheology has evolved at Emory University specifically, all recorded during the\n\u201cPractical Matters\u201d conference at Emory on the same topic. In a series of brief\nand engaging video lectures, Jennifer Ayres, Greg Ellison, Amy Levad, and\nBrendan Ozawa-de Silva each share a key \u201cbig idea\u201d about what the study of\nreligious practices has meant to them. To complement these videos, David\nMessner\u2019s review of the conference captures a high-level snapshot of the rich\ndiscussions that took place. The energy of the conference, evident in Messner\u2019s\nreview, shows that the field of religious practices continues to grow and\nmature\u2014not only at Emory, but as a conversation among increasing numbers of\nscholars worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This growth is\nalso signaled by the many pieces in Issue 12 that speak to our core theme. In\nreviewing submissions, we were pleased to see developments in both methodology\nand interdisciplinary conversations. Mary Clark Moschella\u2019s review on themes of\nreflexivity in three recent works in practical theology makes clear that\nethnographic methods are not only becoming more common in work on religion, but\nthat scholars are deepening and nuancing their technique in this area. Concurrently,\nwriting about Jewish communities in the United States from the 1960s forward,\nMarc Dollinger offers an example of using historical methods in order to pursue\nquestions about religious identity and social justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to\nthese methodological developments, two pieces in this issue propose\ncross-disciplinary partnerships for practical theology. In her article,\n\u201cBridging the Divide Between the Bible and Pastoral Theology in 2 Kings 5,\u201d\nDenise Dombkowski Hopkins shows how the methods and approach of pastoral\ntheology can be fruitfully combined with biblical interpretation in order to\nbetter support survivors of trauma. In a different though allied vein, Kathryn\nCommon proposes design thinking as an ideal conversation partner for practical\ntheology. The two fields have distinct yet complementary strengths, Common\nargues, and both seek to address \u201cwicked problems\u201d facing the world. Practical Matters<\/em> has always advocated\nfor interdisciplinary partnerships, and these scholars lead the way toward new\nand rewarding conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also notable are\nthe ways that religious landscapes themselves are changing, and the ways that\nscholars and practitioners are beginning to respond. Two pieces speak directly\nto this theme in Issue 12, both highlighting the ways that digital media can\nreanimate longstanding religious practices in new ways. In her\nauto-ethnographic essay \u201cGoing Live: The Making of Digital Griots and Cyber\nAssemblies,\u201d scholar-practitioner Melva Sampson explores possibilities for\ndisruption and freedom in the community of her weekly Facebook worship\nlivestream, Pink Robe Chronicles. In our interview with Harry Potter and the\nSacred Text co-host Vanessa Zoltan, we discuss the practical and ethical\nconsiderations that arise from bringing ancient sacred reading practices to\nlife in a podcast largely followed by non-religious millennials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors in\nthis issue are not only thinking about innovations in practice and scholarship,\nhowever; indeed, a concern for teaching and university life stretches across\nseveral articles. Tom Beaudoin\u2019s essay \u201cFaith in Music\u201d offers a critical\nreflection on the author\u2019s experience teaching a free, open online course on\npopular music through a theological lens. Thinking about the undergraduate religious\nstudies classroom, Elaine Penagos argues for place-based pedagogy, particularly\nwhen teaching African heritage religions, as an alternative to more traditional\ncomparative approaches. Finally, Todd Whitmore reviews the many demands placed\non faculty at R1 universities and asks whether it is possible to live\nfaithfully as a Christian committed to serving the poor and outcast while\nworking in such an environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping back to\nlook at these works as a whole, it is clear that the field of religious practices\nhas not only grown but deepened in its work over the past decade. It is no\nlonger a question of whether<\/em>\nreligious practices will be considered in theological or religious studies\nscholarship, but of how to do so most productively\u2014how to keep deepening and\nenriching the conversation. The scholars and practitioners who share their work\nin this issue do a tremendous job of pointing towards several avenues for\nfurther research and development. The only question that remains is how these\nconversations will continue to evolve, revolve, and be re-imagined  over the next decade of thought and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Issue Editor, I would be remiss not to close with words of thanks for the exceptional work of the Practical Matters<\/em> staff who labored with this issue at every stage of development. Former Managing Editors Layla Karst and Lisa Hoelle Portilla encouraged and shepherded this issue from its very beginning, creating a productive space for staff members to brainstorm and support one another. Reviews Editor Keith Menhinick did an exceptional job soliciting and editing the book reviews for this year\u2019s issue. Furthermore, Assistant Editors Palak Taneja and Chelsea Mak dove in enthusiastically to editorial work alongside the rest of the Practical Matters<\/em> staff. Finally, I extend a heartfelt thanks to Don Seeman for lending his wisdom as Faculty Advisor to this issue. Without each of these capable and kind colleagues, this issue would not have been possible.
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[1]<\/a> Indeed, a \u201cturn to practice\u201d had been building within practical theology and religious studies for some time. See Mary McClintock Fulkerson, \u201cTheology and the Lure of the Practical: An Overview,\u201d Religion Compass<\/em> 1\/2 (2007): 294-304; and Ted Smith, \u201cTheories of Practice,\u201d in Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, ed., The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology<\/em> (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 244-254.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Letitia M. Campell and Donna S. Mote, \u201cA Transdisciplinary Multimedia Journal of Religious Practices and Practical Theology: Introducing Practical Matters<\/em>,\u201d Practical Matters 1<\/em> (2009): 2. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download PDF: Curtis, Turning the Wheel Practical Matters is proud to publish Issue 12, Revolutions and Re-Imaginations: New Directions in Religious Practices and Practical Theology. We are grateful to the authors, peer reviewers, and supportive colleagues who helped us bring<\/p>\n

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