Pádraig Ó Tuama

Tone Stangeland Kaufman

Elaine Graham

Frances Ward

Andrew W. Hass

Nicola Slee

Bonnie Miller-McLemore

Anthony Reddie

Pamela D. Couture

Fiona Darroch

Simon Hallonsten

Callid Keefe-Perry

Wren Radford

Ariel Zinder

A celebration of and engagement with the work of Heather Walton by colleagues, students and friends in many disciplines.

Engagements with the Work of Heather Walton

Theology Through Creative Practice

How do pastors live their spiritual lives, both as private persons and as professionals? How can their spirituality be characterized and understood? Drawing on in-depth interviews with Norwegian clergy as well as literature from the fields of Christian spirituality, practical theology, congregational studies, and the sociology of religion, this book offers a nuanced understanding of clergy spirituality. Tone Stangeland Kaufman identifies three locations and sources of spiritual nurture for pastors: the ministry itself (vocational spirituality), daily life (everyday spirituality), and spiritual practices located at the margins of daily life (intentional spirituality). The participants in this study engage in classic Christian practices, yet approach them in a subjective and new way that also potentially revitalizes their spiritual lives. Hence, the author makes the case that their spirituality can aptly be described as "a new old spirituality." The book also seeks to nuance Paul Heelas's and Linda Woodhead's Spiritual Revolution claim, and thus engages in the broader spirituality vs. religion discourse. A New Old Spirituality is an exciting example of how qualitative empirical research can be used in creative ways to make a practical theological argument. It is a book for scholars, students, and practitioners.

A Qualitative Study of Clergy Spirituality in the Nordic Context

A New Old Spirituality?

Jonas Idestrom

This volume is about ecclesiology and ethnography and what really matters in such academic work. How does material from field studies matter in a theological conversation? How does theology, in various forms, matter in analysis and interpretation of field work material? How does method matter? The authors draw on their research experiences and engage in conversations concerning reflexivity, normativity, and representation in qualitative theological work. The role and responsibility of the researcher is addressed from various perspectives in the first part of the book. In the next section the authors discuss ways in which empirical studies are able to disrupt the implicit and explicit normativity of ecclesial traditions, and also how theological traditions and perspectives can inform the interpretation of empirical data. The final part of the book focuses on the process of creating “the stuff” that represents the ecclesial context under study. What Really Matters is written to serve students and researchers in the field of ecclesiology and ethnography, systematic and practical theology, and especially those who work empirically or ethnographically—broadly speaking. The book might be particularly helpful to those who deal with questions of methodology in these academic disciplines. This volume offers perspectives that grow out of the Scandinavian context, yet it seeks to participate in and contribute to a scholarly conversation that goes beyond this particular location.

Scandinavian Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography

What Really Matters

Tone Stangeland Kaufman

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