Abstract
Peter Ward (ed.),
Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography
, Studies in Ecclesiology and Ethnography Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2012; 272 pp.: 9780802867261, £32.99/$50.00 (pbk)
This collection is the inaugural volume in a cross-disciplinary series: Studies in Ecclesiology and Ethnography seeks to overcome the divide between empirical and theological analyses of the Church. In response to the disconnection between doctrinal statements about the Church and experiences of local church life, the authors embrace both the ‘theories and principles generated from the theological tradition and careful participative observation of the particularities of an ecclesial situation’ (p. 2). Theological and ethnographic methods take seriously the Church’s theological situation and Christological purpose. This thesis calls on theologians to use ethnography – defined in its broadest sense as any form of qualitative investigation – in order to engage in more disciplined and accurate research.
In Part 1, four of the editors of the series present ‘The Proposal’. Each chapter explores the common view that to understand the Church we should view it as being simultaneously theological and social/cultural. Paul Fiddes, Pete Ward, Christian Scharen and John Swinton explore in different ways ‘how ethnographic research can be informed and shaped from our ecclesial situatedness and how theological ideas are reformed through this process’ (p. 9). These opening chapters present a coherent starting point for an ongoing dialogue, within which themes such as embodiment, hospitable relationships and attentiveness come to the fore alongside discussions about integrated methodology and reflection on practice.
Continuing in this spirit of engagement, the second part is entitled ‘The Conversation’. The contributors form a diverse group of scholar-practitioners who share a common interest in ethnography and ecclesiology, and engage with the proposal by sharing their own fieldwork and research, enriching the discussion with their own emphases, correctives and wisdom. For example, in relation to generating Christian political theory Luke Bretherton states, ‘flux and multiplicity become occasions for refinement and further specificity in theology as judgement on practice. Such judgements are themselves contextual, but … that does not make them relativistic … they are part of the ongoing argument within a tradition about the good’ (pp. 165–6).
This collection is an ecumenical project, shaped by a range of ecclesial, cultural and social situations. In the study of Christian congregations in the American heartland (Elizabeth Phillips), the cultivation of theological vision (Alister McGrath) and in the rethinking of categories in order to interpret situations, the concern for attentiveness and hospitality are reflected. The deep engagement with the meaning of ecclesial embodiment is also reflected in the expression of hopes for practical theology (Clare Watkins et al.), the use of empirical work in relation to family ministries (Richard Osmer) and the exploration of the Church’s distinctiveness in relation to the world (Nicholas Healy).
Pete Ward’s desire to generate a conversation which is both critical and creative is evident throughout the book and made explicit in the suggestions set out by John Webster in relation to ecclesiological principles. He reminds us that ‘theology is not one science among others; it is inquiry into God and all other things ordered in some way to God’ (p. 222). This collection is the start of a series encouraging us to engage more deeply with the social, cultural and theological reality of the Church as, in Healy’s phrase, ‘the world’s Christian expression’ (p. 199). This calling demands attentiveness and hospitable conversation rooted in doctrinal and material engagement.