It has been a privilege to edit this special 2022 conference edition of Practical Theology on the theme of Flesh and Blood: Embodiment and Practical Theology. The original vision of the conference was (and I quote) to explore how we ‘interact with and construct the world around us’ as embodied beings, because ‘other bodies are the means by which we know, love and welcome others. Our bodies locate us, not only in space and time, but also in the shared narratives of our communities’. During the course of the conference, it was clear that this was a significant area for practical theology thinking, reflection, and research, even if, ironically, we were meeting online.
Two key themes emerged from many of the contributions at the conference, and these are also reflected in this journal issue – the particular experience of being a ‘raced’ body including marginalisation and othering; and the particular set of experiences around reproduction, including reproductive loss as well as birth. However, there was also a wide variety of topics in the workshops and papers from laughter to liturgy to technology. It was not possible to publish all the keynotes, papers, and workshops that were delivered and unfortunately some contributors because of the pressure of work were not able to offer their work for this edition. It was also unfortunate that one keynote speaker, Tessa Henry-Robinson, was not able in the end to attend the conference; however, we were keen to include her perspective as a womanist theologian and so we are delighted that we have been able to publish an interview with her. We have also been able to encourage contributors to expand and develop their work, and so we hope that even those who attended the conference will enjoy seeing how papers they may have attended have developed as well as gaining new perspectives that were not available to them during the conference itself.
In dividing up the tasks, (thankfully for me rather unevenly!) David McMillan, worked the (rather complicated) online uploading system, chased reviewers, contributors, and generally oversaw the project, keeping it on track. However, we did discuss all the contributions at every stage, in between enjoyable and sympathetic conversations about the football and rugby successes and failures of our respective nations. I agreed to write this editorial! However, David’s comments on the papers to me were so insightful and helpful I have included them verbatim, so this editorial is from the both of us. We are both very grateful indeed to Nigel Rooms, the editor for Practical Theology for all of his help and to the staff working for the journal. Their responses to our questions were always immediate and generous and this made our work so much easier. We are also grateful to the writers of the articles for their insightful papers as well as their conscientiousness and willingness to take on board the comments and especially to the anonymous reviewers for their judgment and hard work.
The first article is Karen O’Donnell’s thought provoking and innovative work on reproductive loss. In many ways, this sets the tone for the papers which follow. Her article is rooted in her own experience, offering concrete advice on liturgy and practice. In this, it is a model of how to do the best possible form of practical theology, a model that is both theologically rigorous and practically transforming.
David comments, from his own perspective as a male reader, that O’Donnell’s work and Allison-Glenny’s contribution, take him into ways of thinking about life, death, and theology which could only come out of these unique female experiences. O’Donnell’s reflection on porosity, with life and death intermingled in the body, and her theological perspective that solidarity is not with the bleeding body of Christ but with Spirit-Sophia, is instructive. Her reflection on a ‘gory doctrine of concomitance’ in the context of the Eucharist and the liturgical resources she provides for those experiencing miscarriage, are both provocative and helpful.
Elizabeth Allison-Glenny also writes powerfully from her own experience of perinatal mental illness in ministry, exploring how this impacted the ability to theologically reflect. We see this article as making an important contribution to the literature on theological reflection and is a useful and helpful reminder of how theological reflection cannot happen in idealised spaces and is of its very nature messy. This is a powerful piece that with searing honesty challenges, out of deeply lived experience, the notion that theological reflection is always possible or always productive. Concluding by asking, what if the broken is not the one that needs to change, she raises the hugely important question of the validity of much of the pastoral presumptive images of what a person of faith should look like.
Lucy Dallas’ work is also a powerful reflection, this time on illness, using the metaphor of narrative and drama to develop the way we think about the importance of storytelling and illness in pastoral care. This is another unique contribution coming out of double-sided lived experience – as one who is a sufferer of chronic illness and also involved in pastoral care. Dallas offers a model of pastoral care that can journey with the sufferer as the narrative of their experience moves back and forth through restitution, chaos, and quest.
The next three papers also explore particular experiences of embodiment, exploring marginalisation but also offering hopeful and forward-looking perspectives which are inspiring.
We were delighted that Tessa Henry-Robinson agreed to share her experience with us as a womanist theologian who has researched and explored embodiment in a personal and a theologically rigorous way. This article is in the form of an interview, and Henry-Robinson shares in a moving, honest and challenging way her experiences and her hopes for how she can influence her United Reformed denomination to be genuinely inclusive as she prepares to become its leader, the Moderator of its General Assembly in July 2023. She encourages marginalised people within her denomination, and others to ‘stay and fight to reshape and re-imagine the table’ within all of our leadership structures.
Saiyyidah Zaidi’s article was also a keynote presentation, on the theme of pilgrimage, intersectionality, and embodiment from her perspective as a female, Brown-British, Muslim practical theologian. Zaidi brings to the BIAPT conversations the specific experience and insights of a Muslim scholar in the context of what has largely been and continues to be, a discipline that is overwhelmingly Christian. Zaidi invites the reader to walk alongside her as she, generously, relates her lived experience providing insight and challenge to us both individuals and as the organisation that is BIAPT. Her paper opens up for discussion on the importance of awareness of the social and cultural elements of embodiment and how they can be embraced positively for mutual benefit.
Elizabeth Millar’s article explores the response to the disturbing headlines of the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential schools across Canada in 2021. The horror of the revelation of the many hundreds of unmarked graves found at government-run residential homes for Indigenous children in Canada provides the basis for this theological reflection on the white (Christian) settler response. Bringing together the work of Veiling and Le Blanc, as well as drawing on Indigenous agricultural expertise, Millar provides a reading of first three Beatitudes as a guide to how white settler Christians can begin to move forward in their relationships with their Indigenous neighbours. There is wisdom here that is transferable to many situations and indeed could provide a framework for those wishing to respond to Zaidi’s invitation to walk alongside.
The final two articles offer reflection and resources for embodied liturgical and meditative spirituality. Interestingly, it is only in this section that we have male writers – is this a coincidence, or is our current theological approach to embodiment gendered? The first by John Falcone, entitled Lectio Visceralis originated in the worship Falcone led in the conference, which both David and I found initially a little strange but ultimately powerful and helpful. After demonstrating how the Theatre of the Oppressed and the science of Neurocognition contribute to Lectio Visceralis Falcone not only provides the structure of the liturgy used at the conference but presents the challenge of helping worshippers engage in a more embodied and meaningful way.
The final article by Jeremy Heuslein explores kenosis and embodiment. While acknowledging kenosis as widely contested, Heuslein works through the biblical text in conversation with feminist and Orthodox approaches as he grounds his reflection in the Lord’s Prayer. Focusing on the concept of asking for our daily bread, he demonstrates the dependence and finitude of our existence in the world. If the weight of the significance of kenosis is the taking on of flesh, then it is a relational concept and is ‘all about how we love and are in relationship with one another’.
We hope that you enjoy and benefit from reading these articles as much as we have, and we look forward to seeing how theology and embodiment continue to develop as a theme within practical theology. Perhaps other scholars, especially from identities which are missing from this edition of the journal, might be inspired to reflect theologically on what embodiment means to them.