Pastoral Bearings: Lived Religion and Pastoral Theology

by Jane F. Maynard (Editor), Leonard Hummel (Editor), Mary Clark Moschella (Editor), Esther E. Acolatse (Contribution by), Eileen R. Campbell-Reed (Contribution by)

Overview

The study of lived religion is an enterprise which attempts to elucidate how 'ordinary' men and women in all times and places draw on religious behavior, media, and meanings to make sense of themselves and their world. Through the influence of liberation theology and postmodernism, pastoral theologians_like other scholars of religion_have begun more closely to examine the particularity of religious practice that is reflected through the rubric of lived religion. Pastoral Bearings offers up ten studies that exemplify the usefulness of the lived religion paradigm to the field of pastoral theology. The volume presents detailed qualitative research focused on the everyday beliefs and practices of individuals and groups and explores the implications of lived religion for interdisciplinary conversation, intercultural and gender analysis, and congregational studies. Reflecting upon the utility of this approach for pastoral theological research, education, and pastoral care, the studies collected in Pastoral Bearings demonstrate the importance of the study of lived religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739123614
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	06/23/2011
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Leonard Hummel is associate professor of Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Care at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Jane F. Maynard is currently serving as Priest in Charge at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Medina, WA. Mary Clark Moschella is professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Yale Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Pastoral Bearings: Lived Religion and Pastoral Theology Jane F. Maynard Mary Clark Moschella Leonard Hummel 1

Part I Congregations, Bodies, and Theology

2 Theological Reflection and Theories of Practice: Rethinking Normative Memory as if Bodies Matter Mary McClintock Fulkerson 23

3 Weaving a Communal Narrative: Agape United Methodist Church Karen D. Scheib Barbara Hedges-Goetti 43

4 Culture-Coded Care: Ecclesial Beliefs, Practices, and Artifacts in Response to Illness Susan J.Dunlap 75

5 Homeless in Seattle: A Lived Religion of Hospitality Sharon G. Thornton 91

Part II Gender Positive Care: Re-writing Dis/abiiity, Denominational History, and Unchurched Religion

6 Resisting Stares and Stereotypes: Affirming Life Janet E. Schaller 121

7 Baptist Clergywomen's Narratives: Reinterpreting the Southern Baptist Convention Schism Eileen R. Campbell-Reed 143

8 "Spiritual But Not Religious": How Small Groups in America Redefine Religion Jean Heriot 179

Part III Intercultural Nuance

9 Lively Choruses: Relational Dance with God Lonnie Yoder 211

10 Pastoral Care and Counseling in Independent Evangelical Charismatic Churches in Ghana: A Barthian Theological Perspective Esther E. Acolatse 235

11 Religion in Thailand: Pastoral Theological Reflection from the Perspective of Thai Buddhist Monks Siroj Sorajjakool 261

Select Bibliography 283

Index 289

About the Contributors 295

Editorial Reviews

Pastoral Bearings is a richly textured mosaic of lived religion, as practiced in local communities, denominations, and individual lives. The pictures are painful, inspiring, and joyful, providing an earthly view of religious life in diverse communities facing diverse challenges. The concern for pastoral bearings— the pastoral effects of religious beliefs and practices— is addressed in the ethnographic and interview narratives themselves, and also in the probing interpretations that evoke complex pictures of bodies, race, gender, poverty and social class, material culture, illness, dis/ability, and suffering in the religious landscape. Pastoral care-givers and practical theologians will be challenged and informed by this book.

Mary Elizabeth Moore