By: rhbaker275 on February 7, 2015
I recall a number of years ago, while preparing for a mission assignment, my wife and I attended a missionary training institute in Colorado. We attempted to prepare for the many situational experiences that awaited us in a country and culture that we knew very little about. I recall our discussions about “place, presence, participation”…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 7, 2015
In Ethiopia, most non-believers associate Protestant Christianity with foreign aid, Americans or Israel, to segregate believers and disqualify the authenticity of Protestant Christianity. In my Arsi Oromo culture, becoming a believer is equal to denying the values and unity of the clan, because religion is more than just an individual affair. Religion is a shared…
By: Richard Volzke on February 7, 2015
Models of Contextual Theology, by Stephen Bevans, resonated with me because it explains theology within the context of one’s culture and experience. This book explores the differences between traditional and contextual theology. In the opening chapter of his book, Bevan states, “There is no such thing as “theology”; there is only contextual theology: feminist theology,…
By: Carol McLaughlin on February 7, 2015
First of all, I “felt” at home in our reading this week. I realize just how much I have been and am being shaped by Contextual Theology. It just resonates. This is no small matter for me, as I have not seen it quite in the same manner as I did this week. The surprise…
By: Dawnel Volzke on February 7, 2015
Being culturally relevant is an issue that the Christian community has faced for centuries. We each see the world and perceive situations through our own lens, drawing assumptions and developing our own thoughts and ideas. Each of us is unique and acts out our faith in a very personal way. Hence, many intelligent ministry professionals…
By: Julie Dodge on February 7, 2015
How often I have heard the story of the six blind men who were asked to describe an elephant. Each man felt with his hands a different part of the elephant. Each man described the elephant in a different way based on what he felt and what he knew of the world. The man near…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on February 6, 2015
The contextualization of the Gospel of Christ is the continual challenge of the international-cross-cultural missionary. As the representative of God and His message to a people, the missionary has the responsibility to be the embodied message of the one who desires to communicate to all people. The pressure is further exacerbated knowing that, to a…
By: Bill Dobrenen on February 6, 2015
I was a Biblical/Theological Studies major at Biola University in the 1970’s. Biola is located in Southern California, the place where the “Jesus Movement” began in the late 1960’s. I was one of those “Jesus Movement” kids, caught up in the Calvary Chapel movement of the day: Christian Rock and Roll concerts, Hippie clothes, Afro…
By: John Woodward on February 6, 2015
Last Spring, I had the daunting task of preparing lessons for a week of camp for 20 Lakota Sioux teens. Most of these young people had been to our camp once or twice. I had visited their communities, schools, and some of their homes. Most were un-churched. Most were angry. Most were familiar with drug…
By: Michael Badriaki on February 6, 2015
In Bevans’ introduction to his book Contextual theology, the author starts with a story about his time in Roman as a theology student in the late 1960. Consistent with his discussion of contextualization, Bevans shares about a past experience which involved the preparations for the liturgy of the Advent. Bevans writes: The central idea of…
By: Travis Biglow on February 6, 2015
Observations of Theology Only February 5, 15 I really don’ t need to start with any order in the books I have read but clearly the lady from London in Spirit in the Cities really got my attention. She observes culture in a way to me that is demeaning and uppity. I lived in the…
By: Brian Yost on February 5, 2015
As I try to synthesize the readings from the books Models of Contextual Theology, Spirit in the Cities: Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscape, and The Bible, Justice, and Public Theology, the word that keeps coming to mind is “relevance”. Spirit in the Cities paints a landscape of urban life that is often missed…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on February 5, 2015
I received a text message two weeks ago from my sister’s sister-in-law, Jane, asking me if I would “do her wedding.” While this sounds like a reasonable request that would be a note that plays rather readily in the song of my mind and life, it actually has become something sounding like a high pitch…
By: Liz Linssen on February 5, 2015
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7 In this bustling, dynamic, Asian city, the central water landscape passes through the city of 10 million inhabitants, with a further 10…
By: Ashley Goad on February 5, 2015
Though I never would have expected it, the triple play of books this week sent me on a journey down memory lane, and I was left with days of smiling. Context theology! Public theology! Practical theology! Oh My! If you’ll allow me (as if you had a choice), I would like to share my memories…
By: Deve Persad on February 5, 2015
“Who would want to live in that place?” or “Why would he give up all that he has for that place in that part of the city?” or “God would want you to have something left, to be comfortable with, wouldn’t He?” Those are questions that I imagine the people in a community might ask…
By: Mary Pandiani on February 5, 2015
Pastor Ron was a Lutheran pastor in the Salishan/Eastside area of Tacoma, known for its gang affiliation, poverty, and high crime rate. He saw himself more of a parish priest who emphasized the strengths and assets of a community when they rallied together over yet another gang shooting. He ministered all over the city from…
By: Jon Spellman on February 5, 2015
Public Theology So, what did the disciples hear Jesus say? While we have a written record of many things spoken by him,what they heard him say was undoubtedly different than what was recorded and preserved in the biblical texts. Without being present with them, smelling the air, tasting the tastes, feeling the textures of the…
By: Nick Martineau on February 5, 2015
Stephen Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, David Neville’s, The Bible, Justice and Public Theology, and Kathryn Tanner’s, Spirit in the Cities have given me plenty to think about and in a good uncomfortable way they have reminded me that thinking/talking about these things just aren’t enough. I first read Bevans and was drawn in by…
By: Dave Young on February 4, 2015
The list of terms seems endless—contextual theology, public theology, practical theology, pastoral theology—how can we make sense of it all? The three books under discussion (Models of Contextual Theology; The Bible, Justice and Public Theology; and Spirit in the Cities) clearly claimed that theology isn’t just for the Academy or for dusty libraries. It must…
