Books in the Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology series

Through the unique chaplain's eye view of the significance of their experience for understanding the ethics of war.

Argues that the discipline of practical theology needs to be re-shaped in the light of the impact of various influences created through the encounter with globalization. This book shows how it is in danger of operating with 'zombie categories'.

This study uniquely combines practical theology, pastoral insight and scientific data to demonstrate how Christian congregations can be helped to be resilient in the face of sudden devastating events.

Researching Female Faith is a collection of essays based on recent and original field research conducted by the contributors, and informed by a variety of theoretical perspectives, into the faith lives of women and girls - broadly from within a Christian context.

Identifying, illuminating and enhancing understanding of key aspects of women and girls'' faith lives, The Faith Lives of Women and Girls represents a significant body of original qualitative research from practitioners and researchers across the UK. Contributors include new and upcoming researchers as well as more established feminist practical theologians. Chapters provide perspectives on different ages and stages of faith across the life cycle, from a range of different cultural and religious contexts. Diverse spiritual practices, beliefs and attachments are explored, including a variety of experiences of liminality in womenΓÇÖs faith lives. A range of approaches - ethnographic, oral history, action research, interview studies, case studies and documentary analysis - combine to offer a deeper understanding of womenΓÇÖs and girls'' faith lives. As well as being of interest to researchers, this book presents resources to enhance ministry to and with women and girls in a variety of settings.

Scripting Pentecost explores and develops an analysis of worship and liturgy in Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions around the world. It is organized into two main sections: history and theology, and global case studies. The first section considers early Pentecostal traditions, the influence of the Welsh revival, classical Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Renewal movement and subsequent practices up to the present day. It also provides contemporary constructive theological reflections on sung worship, sacramental theology and liturgical practices. The second section offers a selection of global case studies from America, Europe, Kenya, Myanmar, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea. These case studies focus on contemporary worship and liturgical practices and their significance for Pentecostal and Charismatic studies.

Identifying, illuminating and enhancing understanding of key aspects of women and girls' faith lives, this book represents a significant body of original qualitative research from practitioners and researchers across the UK. Contributors include new and upcoming researchers as well as more established feminist practical theologians.

Exploring how the Bible may be appropriately used in public theology, this book looks at types of modern practical theology with specific emphasis on the use of the Bible. Drawing on the lessons learned through the study of Ruskin, and the case study of the Kairos Palestine Document.

This book discusses questions concerning what face is, how important face is in human life and relationships, and how we might understand face, both as a physical phenomenon and as a series of socially-inflected symbols and metaphors about the self and the body.

Offers an account of who Jesus was/is and what he did/does that is given by Christian believers who have received no formal theological education. This title analyses, and offers a theological appraisal, of the main christologies and soteriologies operating in a sample of ordinary churchgoers.

Ordinary theology' characterizes the reflective God-talk of the great majority of churchgoers, and others who remain largely untouched by the assumptions, concepts and arguments that academic theology takes for granted. Astley coined the phrase in his innovative study, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology.

Explores the ordinary beliefs and practices of Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians in relation to the Holy Spirit.

Grappling with theological issues raised by abuse, this book argues that the Church should be challenged, and ministered to, by survivors. Presenting the interviews with Christian women survivors, it states that through painful experiences of transformation they have surprisingly become potential agents of transformation for others.

Issues of faith and spirituality have been resurgent in the UK since the opening of the twenty-first century. This book charts the impact of shifting attitudes towards spirituality through the experiences of health care chaplains. It also describe a crisis in the nature of spiritual care.

Through the unique chaplain's eye view of the significance of their experience for understanding the ethics of war.

Drawing on studies of church engagement with asylum-seekers in the UK and critical immigration and refugee issues in North America, this book presents an extended theological reflection on both the issue of asylum-seeking and the fears of established populations surrounding immigration.

Surveillance studies is an emerging, inter-disciplinary field that brings together scholars from sociology, criminology, political studies, computing and information studies, cultural studies and other disciplines. This books looks at the surveillance practices and ideologies from a Christian theological perspective.

Building on the concepts of implicit and invisible religion, the author offers a fresh and original interpretative 'take' on contemporary society, appealing to clergy, laity, scholars and all those working in the field of theory and reflective practice in practical and pastoral theology.

Examines the theological foundations of a collaborative approach to Christian ministry. Outlining the challenges for ministry, this book offers an historical perspective on ministry over the last century and develops a theory of collaborative ministry based on a dialogue between theology and science.

Studies Christian theology without words, focussing on theology in the Deaf Community. This book presents and examines some of that theology from the Deaf Community and argues that written texts are not necessary for creative theological debate, a deep spirituality or for ideas about God to develop.

Presenting a rich account of women's faith lives and, mapping women's meanings in their own right, this book offers an alternative to dominant accounts of faith development which failed to account for women's experience. Drawing on Fowler's faith development theory, feminist models of women's faith and social science methodology, the text explores the patterns and processes of women's faith development and spirituality in a group of thirty women belonging to, or on the edges of, Christian tradition.    Integrating practical theological concern with Christian education and pastoral practice, this book will be of interest to all concerned with women's faith development, spirituality, education and formation, and those working in the fields of practical theology, pastoral care, adult theological education, spiritual direction and counselling.

The author attempts to articulate and defend ordinary people's religious understanding and reflections of the divine. Although the majority of contemporary "God-talkers" have not studied academic theology, they are engaged in doing their own theology when they speak and thinking about God.

How do we learn about God? Heywood charts a path through the study of human knowledge, showing how the insights of theology, philosophy and psychology complement and amplify one another, bringing the experience of revelation with the scope of the study of human learning.

Exploring the spirituality and faith of girls on the verge of adolescence, this book presents fresh insights into children's spirituality and their transition to adulthood. It is of interest to those who explore areas of youth ministry, pastoral care, Christian education, nurture and childhood studies, psychology and theology.

With the Christian church in the west in decline, some churches are undergoing difficult transitions as they seek to become relevant, to both themselves and their surrounding cultures. This book details an ethnographic study of a Vineyard congregation making sense of their Vineyard roots.