Abstract
Helen Cameron, John Reader, Victoria Slater with Chris Rowland,
Theological Reflection for Human Flourishing: Pastoral Practice
, SCM Press: London, 2012; 160 pp.: 9780334043904, £18.99 (pbk)
This book is one of a number produced by Helen Cameron and various colleagues which are the fruits of practical projects in theological reflection. This volume emerges out of what the authors term an ‘action learning event’ (p. xii) under the auspices of the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology, and was designed to generate a dialogue between two groups: those in church-based pastoral ministry and those working in secular institutions, either as lay people or as chaplains. The book is an account of a process of theological reflection, based on the pastoral cycle, which broadly follows a pattern of Experience-Reflection-Theory-Action (p. 4). The authors use the motif of ‘blurred encounters’ (p. 11) denoting situations in which conventional assumptions are challenged across boundaries. Through this exercise, the authors hoped to learn how ‘the very process of engaging in theological reflection can be an experience of human flourishing’ (p. xi).
The strength of this book is that it attempts to capture the richness of conversations as they unfolded. The various situations brought by participants range across issues of addiction, foster care, managing the demands of information technologies and the challenges facing churches as they engage with their local communities. We are presented with a nice spread of issues spanning the personal and organizational, personal care and social action, although these tensions might have been pursued in more depth.
My abiding impression of this book, however, is that it may succeed as an account of a particular event but fails to offer deeper critical analysis of wider substantive issues. While skilfully summarised, the accounts of the conversations feel very dense and self-contained. Although perennial criticisms of theological reflection as failing to engage adequately with Christian tradition or Scripture are acknowledged, the chapter on use of the Bible seems oddly disconnected from the actual process. We are not shown whether it had any significant impact on participants’ understandings or on influencing practical outcomes. Similarly, many crucial questions about the Church’s legitimate role in a simultaneously religiously pluralist and sceptical public realm, and what happens when theology ‘goes public’, are not addressed. Many of the core concepts – human flourishing, blurred encounters – are given too brief and superficial a treatment. And while it is heartening to see lay people involved in serious theological reflection about their public vocations, there is little consideration either of the power dynamics between clergy and laity in such a conversation or of how the Church might actually equip ordinary Christians with the tools for theological reflection, including greater confidence in handling the Bible.
This book shows the rich potential of theological reflection, and may be of some use to those thinking of designing their own exercises. However, it struggles to do justice to the many themes and concepts competing for our attention and adds little that is new to the current state of play.