Collaborative Practical Theology: Engaging Practitioners in Research on Christian Practices(Theology in Practice)

Collaborative Practical Theology documents and analyses research on Christian practices conducted by academic practical theologians in collaboration with practitioners of different kinds in Christian practices all around the world. These practitioners include professional practitioners, everyday believers, volunteers and students in theological education. The book offers rationales for setting up joint investigation groups with different ‘communities of practice’, describes a wide range of collaborative research strategies and methods and also has a clear eye for their limitations. In Christian practices faith is mediated, enacted and nurtured. The aim of the book is to improve the utility of theological research on these practices. It communicates the vision that academic research is for the people of God in today’s world.

About the Author :
Henk de Roest, Ph.D. Leiden University (1998), since 2001 Professor of Practical Theology, currently at the Protestant Theological University, Groningen. He is ordained minister, Dutch Reformed Church, 1987-1999. He has published monographs, and articles on the communal dimension of Christian practices.

Review :
"this is a ‘must read’ for research students and those in the leadership of seminaries. However, as the title suggests, an even more fruitful reading might be experienced in an interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners who would be open to explore the implications for theological reflection in their own contexts; a truly collaborative reading." — Mike Pears, Amsterdam, in: Journal of European Baptist Studies, Volume 21.2 (2021)

"De Roest has succeeded in pointing to new directions for practical theological research in a field that is already packed with methodological handbooks, whilst also providing enough detail on how collaborative research might work to enable people to get to work. And that is precisely what he envisages, doing collaborative research which will be ‘for the benefit of the world’ (323)." — Jack Barentsen, Leuven, in: European Journal of Theology, Volume 30.2 (2021)

"This important work by a leading European practical theologian is a very welcome contribution to the discipline in the 21st century. For two long white men in North America and Europe have carried on as if they had no accountability to the feminist, post-colonial and other critiques of our disciplinary assumptions. Not here. Prof. de Roest has listened, and written an almost confessional work, seeking to portray the way forward for practical theology as only responsible via collaborative and participatory approaches that deeply respect the communities who are impacted by—and more importantly, who benefit from participation in—practical theological research." — Rev. Dr. Christian Scharen, Vice President of Applied Research, Auburn Seminary

"At a time when practical theology in Europe and North America is experiencing itself as established as a discipline, this scholarly work comes as a timely reminder of the risks of such establishment. In order for practical theologians to avoid just becoming another kind of academic, we need, as Henk de Roest's argument makes clear, to persist in and develop participatory forms of research with those engaged in faith practices. Learning from a range of collaborative research practices, and with acute awareness of the pervasive questions of power and politics that such collaboration raises, this book offers an important way of renewal for practical theology's fundamental commitments." — Dr. Clare Watkins, Reader in Ecclesiology and Practical Theology, University of Roehampton

"In writing Collaborative Practical Theology Henk de Roest has constructed a clever and compelling text that opens up the terrain of Practical theology in an imaginative and insightful manner. The central import of the discipline has been its attention to lived experience, collaborative working, interdisciplinary methodologies, the relationship between practice and theory and the necessity of reflecting on and indeed, even changing practice. In this comprehensive intellectual trajectory through the hinterland of Practical theology, de Roest has provided an important book that is a must read for scholars and religious practitioners alike." — Professor Anthony G. Reddie, Extraordinary Professor at the University of South Africa

"This book changes empirical research in Practical Theology. Instead of examining people and groups as objects, they are included as subjects in the research process. What this means hermeneutically and methodically, and how this can be implemented in one's own research practice, is described fundamentally, in detail and in a practice-oriented manner. An essential work for those who want to research together with those who are concerned." — Professor Uta Pohl-Patalong, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel

"Practical theology is a collaborative and interdisciplinary enterprise. Collaborating with those inside and outside of the discipline and inside and out of the academy is what gives it its richness and diversity. However, the theological nature of collaboration and precisely what models, approaches and ideas are best suited to operationalise its goals has to date, not been developed in detail. In this book Henk de Roest offers us a rich and full description of collaboration and provides tools and perspectives that can enable both academics and practitioners to engage in the journey of practical theology in new ways that will bring knowledge and blessing. This is one of those books that will definitely make a difference to the ways on which we do Practical theology." — Professor John Swinton, Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen