Cultural and ethnic diversity is the reality of our world, and much more so in this age of heightened globalization. Yet, do our ways of doing theological education match with our current reality and hopes for a colorful and just tomorrow? How shall we do theological formation so it helps give birth to a culturally diverse, racially just, and hospitable world? This edited volume gathers the voices of minoritized scholars and their white allies in the profession in response to the above questions. More particularly, this volume gathers the responses of these scholars to the questions: What is the plight of theological education? Who are the teachers? Who are our students? What shall we teach? How shall we teach? How shall we form and lead theological institutions? It is the hope of this volume to contribute to the making of theological education that is hospitably just to difference/s and welcoming of our diverse population, which is our only viable future. When we embody this vision in our daily educational practices, particularly in the training of our future religious leaders, we may help usher in a new, colorful, and just world.

This book provides theoretical background and pastoral strategies for pastors, lay leaders, and congregation members to foster a restoration of the human dignity imputed by God and the good community God desires. It addresses issues in pastoral care and pays particular attention to Korean and Korean American contexts. Some of the specific issues addressed include wisdom for common life (Chung Yong) as a theological and pastoral task, tension between Confucianism and feminism, care of the abused and abusers in intimate violence, ageism and elderly care, racism and cultural identity of Korean youth, sexual ethics among Korean young adults, and depression and addiction among Korean American youth and young adults. All of the contributors have a strong background in clinical and/or pastoral practices in addition to theoretical expertise.

Contains a general introduction to the discipline, featuring classic and pioneering essays that address the history, methods, issues, and exemplary illustrations of research, teaching, and practice Presenting a diverse collection of landmark essays, The Wiley-Blackwell Reader in Practical Theology explores the turn-of-the-century renaissance of practical theology as an academic discipline and shows how the discipline has advanced a steady epistemological insurgency in theology throughout the twentieth- and twenty-first century. The text provides scholars, students, and ministerial professionals with easy access to original seminal sources that represent major milestones, growing edges, and useful classificatory rubrics. A handy, one-volume primer to practical theology, the book: Offers an excellent bird’s-eye-view of the discipline’s essential foundational contributions Provides significant introductory overview material helpful in guiding both new and experienced readers to practical theology Includes brief overview introductions before each essay to situate the reading and highlight key contributions and occasional limitations Features essay selections that consider race, gender, sexuality, age, and other differences as a critical subtheme The Wiley-Blackwell Reader in Practical Theology is an indispensable resource for students, faculty, and professionals in practical theology and colleagues in related cognate disciplines in theological education and religious studies.

In Creating Resistances: Pastoral Care in a Postcolonial World, Melinda McGarrah Sharp studies the concept of resistance to outline what postcolonial pastoral care can look like in practice, particularly for people who feel more removed from the urgency of today’s postcolonial realities.

Decolonizing Interreligious Educationexplores multiple injustices, focusing on the lived experience, unaddressed grief, and acts of resistance and resilience of populations most impacted by coloniality and white supremacy. It lifts up the voices of those speaking from embodied experience of suffering multiple oppressions based on negative constructs of race, religion, skin color, nationality, etc. Engaging ideological critique, construction of knowledge beyond dominant lenses, and acts of resistance are presented from the perspective of those most impacted by systemic injustice. It challenges interreligious education to frame encounters where the impact of intergeneration trauma and the realities of power differentials are recognized and the contributions of all voices are truly integrated. It challenges the fields of religious and interreligious education to imagine a broadened view that includes recognition of the role played by religion in harm done and to take a leadership role in engaging processes of accountability and redress.

People are on the move all across the globe and the student population is becoming increasingly more diverse. This has brought about new opportunities and challenges for educators, and teachers. In this series teacher educators a) deconstruct and problematize what it means to educate new teachers for increasingly diverse schools and classroom contexts, and b) highlight experiences of teacher educators as they attempt to bridge the theory to practice divide often encountered in teacher education. In these challenging times when public education is under attack, culturally responsive, antiracist, critical multicultural, social justice and all forms of teaching that are inclusive and equitable must be supported and encouraged. As schools continue to be spaces where ideas and values that promote equity and justice in society are contested, teachers must be proactive in engaging in pedagogies that respond to the needs of a diverse student population. Transformative Pedagogies bring together the work of teachers, scholars, and activists from different countries and contexts who are seeking to transform teacher education. This book will be useful to all educators seeking alternative and innovative approaches to education and meeting the needs of students. Teacher educators examine what it means to be transformative and drawing on experiences from different contexts.

A unique introduction to the developing field of Theology and Qualitative Research In recent years, a growing number of scholars within the field of theological research have adopted qualitative empirical methods. The use of qualitative research is shaping the nature of theology and redefining what it means to be a theologian. Hence, contemporary scholars who are undertaking empirical fieldwork across a range of theological subdisciplines require authoritative guidance and well-developed frameworks of practice and theory. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research outlines the challenges and possibilities for theological research that engages with qualitative methods. It reflects more than 15 years of academic research within the Ecclesiology and Ethnography Network, and features an international group of scholars committed to the empirical and theological study of the Christian church. Edited by world-renowned experts, this unprecedented volume addresses the theological debates, methodological complexities, and future directions of this emerging field. Contributions from both established and emerging scholars describe key theoretical approaches, discuss how different empirical methods are used within theology, explore the links between qualitative researchand adjacent scholarly traditions, and more. The companion: Discusses how qualitative empirical work changes the practice of theology, enabling a disciplined attention to the lived social realities of Christian religion and what theologians do Introduces theoretical and methodological debates in the field, as well as central epistemological and ontological questions Presents different approaches to Theology and Qualitative research, highlighting important issues and developments in the last decades Explores how empirical insights are shaping areas such as liturgics, homiletics, youth ministry, and Christian education Includes perspectives from scholars working in disciplines other than theology The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research is essential reading for graduate students, postgraduates, PhD students, researchers, and scholars in Christian Ethics, Systematic Theology, Practical Theology, Contemporary Worship, and related disciplines such as Ecclesiology, Mission Studies, World Christianity, Pastoral Theology, Political Theology, Worship Studies, and all forms of contextual theology.