Ethnography is a way to tap the deep undercurrents in a community through a process of gathering, analyzing, and sharing data. Fully revised and updated for this second edition, Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice has quickly become the go-to textbook for those in or training for ministry who want to discover how they can use ethnography to help them hear the stories of those to whom they minister. Setting forth the case for ethnography’s ability to galvanize aspirations and heal communal hurt, this book presents the helpful pastoral practice of ethnography in a clear, step-by-step manner and includes many compelling case studies of transformational leadership. Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice invites us to open our eyes, ears and hearts to those in our congregations.

How can qualitative research methods be a tool for social change? Echoing the 'scandal of particularity' at the heart of the Christian tradition, theologians and ethicists involved in ethnographic research draw on the particular to seek out answers to core questions of their discipline. This new edition features a dynamic selection of nuanced and provocative voices in this area of ethics and theology, showing how, in the past decade, the kinds of qualitative methodologies employed have become more varied and sophisticated. The leading and emerging scholars featured in this book have much to share how they approach this kind of work, what they are learning in the process, and what sorts of change is possible as a result. This volume also pays tribute to the life and work of a pathbreaker in qualitative methods for the sake of theological imagination and social change, the Rev. Dr. Melissa D. Browning (1977-2021).

Qualitative Research in Theological Education brings together a diverse group of scholars to consider the theological values arising from and contributing to their use of qualitative research in scholarship and teaching. The book offers a careful consideration of the pedagogical and administrative challenges involved in teaching qualitative research and its various sub-disciplines such as ethnography. As a whole, the book argues that the teaching of QR methods is critical to the theological, ethical, spiritual, and/or pastoral formation of ministers and theological scholars

In Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography Christian Scharen and several other contributors explore empirical and theological understandings of the church. Like the first volume in the Studies in Ecclesiology and Ethnography series, this second volume seeks to bridge the great divide between theological research and ethnography (qualitative research). The book's wide-ranging chapters cover such fascinating topics as geographic habits of American evangelicals, debates over difficult issues like homosexuality, and responses to social problems like drug abuse and homelessness. The contributors together model a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach, with fruitful results that will set a new standard for ecclesiological research. Contributors: Christopher Brittain Helen Cameron Henk De Roest Paul Fiddes Matthew Guest Roger Haight Harald Hegstad Mark Mulder Paul Murray James Nieman Christian B. Scharen James K. A. Smith John Swinton Pete Ward Clare Watkins

Brian Howell provides an anthropology of short-term mission (STM) among American Christians. Providing a history of STM along with an ethnographic case study of a trip to the Dominican Republic, Howell argues that the movement is sustained by a uniquely Christian travel narrative that borrows from the anthropology of tourism and pilgrimage.

Leading pastoral theologians explore a wide variety of themes related to pastoral practice. Pastoral Theology and Care: Critical Trajectories in Theory and Practice offers a collection of essays by leading pastoral theologians that represent emerging trajectories in the fields of pastoral theology and care. The topics explored include: qualitative research and ethnography, advances in neuroscience, care across pluralities and intersections in religion and spiritualties, the influence of neoliberal economics in socio-economic vulnerabilities, postcolonial theory and its implications, the intersections of race and religion in caring for black women, and the usefulness of intersectionality for pastoral practice. Each of the essays offers a richly illustrated review of a practice of pastoral care relationally and in the public domain. The contributions to this volume engage seven critical directions emerging in the literature of pastoral theology in the United States and internationally among pastoral and practical theologians. While coverage of these topics does not exhaust important points of activity in the field, it does represent especially promising resources for theory and practice. This important work: Offers unique coverage of new directions in the field Includes contributions from an exceptional group of experts who are noted leaders in their areas of study Introduces the newest perspectives on pastoral care and offers constructive proposals Filled with case illustrations that make chapters pedagogically useful, Pastoral Theology and Care is essential reading for faculty, seminarians and students in advanced degree programs, and pastors.

Practical theology and theological reflection are growing areas of theological studies. This book aims to create a bridge between pastoral practice and public theology.