Our final issue of 2021 gathers seven articles together from the UK, USA, and Hong Kong. Two, especially lead to thinking about how practical theology happens, three focus on different aspects of liturgy and worship, and the others engage with aspects of autism and chaplaincy. Once again, the breadth and depth of our discipline is on display – which is also evident in our annual publication of doctoral dissertation titles which number over twenty again.
Graeme Smith and his colleagues at Cardiff and Brandeis Universities have done us a great favour in foregrounding the ‘working theology’ of Filipino seafarers in the first article in this issue. As I write a lack of personnel to transport goods is causing major problems in the UK and we should, therefore, be thankful for the thousands of seafarers – many of whom are Filipino who bring goods from all over the world to us. As part of an inter-disciplinary research project with a much wider brief, this study engages with the ‘lived religion’ of the ship workers as they travel the world’s seas in what is a highly dangerous profession. As such it crosses over into new departures in the sociology of religion which raises questions of how to theologise in such a case. Perhaps it is no surprise then that the researchers’ investigation of the interview data reveals a faith in God understood as protector amongst these men and the way they make religion work for them. The second half of the article engages with how, if at all we can evaluate this working theology of the seafarers and avoid accusations of academic elitism in the process. This is vital work if practical theology as a discipline is to slip its moorings in the West and travel around the world – a project we are intentionally working on at the moment at the journal. I thoroughly recommend engagement with the dilemmas presented here as they are highly apposite to our task as a discipline just now.
The next article begins a trilogy of reflections in this issue on questions of Christian liturgy and worship which fall serendipitously together here. First Jeffery Porter connects the fertile work of his fellow American, James K.A. Smith with a range of neuroscientific discoveries in recent decades to create a highly original piece in what is becoming known as the field of neurotheology. It is good that we can showcase something of the thinking in this fairly new area in the journal. Porter demonstrates convincingly that Smith’s focus on thick rituals and cultural liturgies affect what Charles Taylor has named as our ‘social imaginary’ which is rooted not only in epistemology, but also now, we can add, in contemporary neuroscience. The essay will be of particular importance in the study of the content and significance of ritual in relation to the defence of theology against ‘scientism’, ritual, and liturgical studies. In particular, it constitutes a fresh approach which links liturgical studies to neuroscience, thus deepening the consequences of studying the relationships between ritual, human consciousness, and our perception of the world. I and the reviewers (who I acknowledge here for both their expertise in neuroscience and liturgical studies, and their comments) think this work is a key contribution to our understanding of how Christian worship relates to wider questions of Christian formation and truth.
While these three articles are broadly in the field of worship and liturgy, we move in the second one to a much more practitioner-based reflection utilising field research in congregations on the place and nurture of children within them. This is Liverpool-based Sarah Holmes’ second article in the journal and continues her research interests in this area. While the notion of child theology and the placement of the ‘child in midst’ in worship has been around for a very long time, I have seen less research on what actually happens in churches so it is good to have this description of the operant theology of church leaders, parents, and children. There is an overall continuing affirmation of the place of the church in the development of children and their faith, but the picture is not wholly rosy and the espoused and formal child theologies do not always match up with what Holmes finds actually happening. I suspect, many a worship leader, like myself on reading the data presented here will recognise themselves and their congregations often missing the needs of individual children by inviting them to participate in unhelpful, even cringeworthy ways. What is also noteworthy in the research is Holmes’ innovative methodology where she is able to engage the children at home with their parents in a respectful and even fun way while generating significant research data as a stranger meeting them for the first time. The article is instructive, therefore, for both the church and research community and I commend it for further reflection in these constituencies.
Let’s face it, what Christians do in worship on any objective view of the outsider in our contemporary world looks pretty weird. This remains the case for some insiders crossing traditions too. Therefore, in the third article, Tatiana Kalveks from Oxford has done us a service in presenting the case for negotiating a particular worship practice of a particular church tradition, namely what is believed about the consecration of the bread and wine in Anglican, Anglo-Catholic piety and practice. I suspect what Kalveks is addressing here is much more prevalent than we think (especially we clergy!) – that the people arriving at worship from whatever background have a great deal of work to do to make sense of it and decide on what level of participation they will allow themselves. Using the practical theology method of ‘writing the body of Christ’, Kalveks creatively works with three imagined potential new worshippers (who are composites of actual subjects she has interacted with) and addresses their needs in turn. Drawing on the sacramental theology of Rowan Williams she is able to connect theology with practice in this exemplary case study. Thus, I trust that the particularity of this work will generate much more general and even universal interest.
We have been publishing recently a number of articles around the subject of what people with autism bring to theology, the Church, and our practice of research. It is with pleasure then we are able to publish a version of Stewart Rapley’s 2020 BIAPT MA Prize dissertation in this issue of the journal. The paper makes a substantial contribution to thinking about the place of autistic people in the worshipping community as well as to the wider question of how autism impacts theology per se. Rapley as a person who identifies as autistic writes in a way that will communicate with autistic readers, while at the same time he is highly informative for those of us who need to know more about people who are not neurotypical. Here is a practical model for engaging in real dialogue which seeks solutions to what can be very difficult issues for autistic people and congregations. While the model clearly needs to be tested in practice (and we hope to hear more on that from Rapley in due course), one reviewer noted their appreciation of the recommendation here for formal engagement between all parties in a structured manner.
Caroline Yih is studying, through Aberdeen University her own professional practice setting of palliative care chaplaincy in Hong Kong and shares an aspect of her work with us in the next article. She introduces the idea of disenfranchised grief – a state of the carer which appears when dealing with multiple unresolved bereavements in professional life. Yih complexifies this further in the case of Hong Kong where Christian chaplains are acutely marginalised and disempowered in relation to other healthcare professionals. By foregrounding and drawing attention to this complex phenomenon, Yih has taken the first step in addressing the issue, that of naming it. Her article also adds an important international dimension to the literature on chaplaincy which is regularly published in our journal.
We presumably are well aware of the constancy of change in our lives, which has been underlined most recently by the pandemic. Practical theology as a discipline is very often interested in not just change but transformational change where what emerges from the hermeneutic circle makes a difference from the starting point. Emma Pavey from Roehampton University makes a case in the final article in this issue for understanding transformation by drawing on the open and relational theologies of scholars such as Monica Coleman, Catherine Keller, and Thomas Oord in conversation with Otto Scharmer’s approach to charting transformational change via his ‘Theory U’. What emerges is a highly original piece which takes the lived experience of constant change utterly seriously including its implications for our understanding and belief in God as well as the complexity and messiness of our life together.
As we come to the end of another fruitful year for the journal, I can share some editorial changes that are happening for 2022 and beyond. I have always thought that having a good exit strategy is important in any role and that one can outstay a welcome. The Trustees and I agreed to appoint an Associate Editor for the journal with the expectation that the appointee will step up to be editor at the appropriate point. I noted in the previous issue that our current Book Reviews editor, Dustin Benac is appointed to be Associate Editor from January 2022. We have also, therefore, identified a new Book Reviews editor and this is to be Eve Parker from Durham University, UK, who will bring a strong network and an important internationalising brief to that role.
Looking ahead to 2022 we have another important and potentially ground-breaking double issue to start the year, which hopefully will match the interest in the Covid-19 issue at the start of this year. Drawing on a day conference in April 2021, we have a wide range of articles being prepared on Critical White Theology under the guest editorship of Al Barrett and Jill Marsh. There will also be an issue showcasing the best material from the BIAPT 2021 conference on Eco-theology as well as the usual Adult Theological Education special issue.