Congratulations to Carson Reed

For thousands of years religious communities have depended on scholars to read, interpret, and analyze faith and the scriptures it is based on. The field of theology is highly academic, but it also influences peoples’ lives on a deep, spiritual level, and the most...

Who are the 81%

Recently, the blogosphere has pursued the topic, “the value of a seminary education.” One of the statistics that has grabbed the headlines is “81% of all incoming students do not expect to have a full-time position in parish ministry according to the Association of...

African American Preaching

Recently, two resources directly related to black preaching were developed in order to serve churches. Black Preachers Archived at Duke Chapel provides audio examples of some of the best of black preaching and is located here. Duke University press release is...

Contextual Theology

     While not the first, Stephen Bevan’s Models of Contextual Theology in 1992 mapped the field in a widely used way. Practical theologies relationship with context and the importance of location emerged as a primary conversation partner in the field.      The...

A Brief History of Practical Theology

  Many historians ironically look to Fredrick Schleiermacher (1768–1834) as the father of modern practical theology and also the initiator of its demise as a discipline. Schleiermacher’s proposal is often summarized by the metaphor of a tree. The roots of the...

Teaching Preaching

I love preaching. I preached my first sermon when I was 13 years old. The congregation allowed me to preach any Sunday night I wanted as long as our preacher read every sermon before I preached it. One deacon drove me to nearby towns so I could preach.  Others in the...