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

This book aims to introduce a distinctively evangelical voice to the discipline of practical theology.

This book articulates a perichoretic pastoral theology, offering a pastoral theological response to the question of how ministering persons practice ministry in communion with the triune God.

Presents a comprehensive treatment of the relationship between the doctrine of the Trinity and pastoral care and counselling. This book contends that an in-depth reflection on the relational dynamics in the Godhead has the capacity to radically renew pastoral practice.

This book aims to introduce a distinctively evangelical voice to the discipline of practical theology.

Presenting a fresh approach to Deaf people, theology and the Church, this book enables Deaf people who see themselves as members of a minority group to formulate their own theology rooted in their own history and culture. It shows how the Church unconsciously oppresses Deaf people through its view of them as people who can't hear.

The editors of this volume have assembled the material contained within it in an attempt to recover the main lines of development of the history of congregational studies in the UK, to showcase some of the most interesting recent work in this sphere, and to take stock of congregational studies as a whole.

What are the ways of exciting and engaging the young so that they begin to entertain the possibility of the religious life? This book addresses the privileging of secularism that affects RE in countries influenced by modern western thought. It argues that a more engaging form of RE would emerge if religious life were to inhabit centre stage.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Presents theological reflections on the changing nature of church mission and Christian identity within a theology of 'Blurred Encounter' - a physical, social, political and spiritual space where once solid hierarchies and patterns are giving way to more fluid and in many ways unsettling exchanges.

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.

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.

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.

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.