{"id":1048,"date":"2013-06-19T23:29:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T04:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2013-06-19T23:32:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T04:32:59","slug":"the-effective-practice-of-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/the-effective-practice-of-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effective Practice of Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?--><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2013\/06\/Effective-Practice.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1049\" alt=\"Effective Practice\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2013\/06\/Effective-Practice-99x150.png\" width=\"99\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2013\/06\/Effective-Practice-99x150.png 99w, https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2013\/06\/Effective-Practice.png 175w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 99px) 100vw, 99px\" \/><\/a>Recently, the Christian Scholars Conference hosted a luncheon to honor the memory of Charles Siburt. The new release by ACU Press,\u00a0<em>The Effective Practice of Ministry: Essays in Memory of Charles Siburt\u00a0<\/em>was presented to Charles&#8217;s family, Judy, John, and Ben.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The conviction that theory and practice are divided has some ardent supporters. Sometimes it is all about who you footnote to support a hypothesis. And when you can footnote Aristotle as an advocate, you tread cautiously when you disagree. The theory practice divide is in our bones. The theory practice divide is part of our DNA. In many times, in various places, and in multiple ways, the theory practice divide is assumed. And that which is assumed, is taken for granted, unarticulated, and unquestioned. Amnesia leads to silence. That which is assumed is forgotten.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Then along comes a man like Charles Siburt. He saw the harmony between theory and practice. He did not see the \u201ceither\/or\u201d side of the polarities but the \u201cboth\/and\u201d landscape that resides within congregations. Theology is not merely the pursuit of an intellectual vision but a compelling account of a way of life in God. Beliefs and practices are intertwining functions. Miroslav Volf talks about all this in terms of \u201cbelief-shaped practices\u201d and \u201cpractice-shaping beliefs.\u201d\u00a0To separate the two, if possible at all, is to do a disservice to both. Theology is to be known, lived, and experienced by a particular community. For Charles, his academic career was profoundly interconnected in the local life of the church. To know Charles in the academy, was to know Charles in the Church.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And this is how Charles Siburt saw the effective\u00a0<i>practice<\/i>\u00a0of ministry. Ministry is not just a set of skills but a way of seeing the world and a way of being in the world.\u00a0Charles was a\u00a0<i>bricoleur<\/i>, an artisan, or a kind of professional do-it-yourself person who used tools and skills from multiple sources to produce a\u00a0<i>bricolage<\/i>, that is, a pieced-together, close-knit set of practices that provide solutions to a problem in a concrete situation. The\u00a0<i>bricolage<\/i>\u00a0changes and takes new forms as different tools, methods, and techniques are added to the puzzle. He was like a general contractor who refurbishes older homes. There is no telling what one will find when you look between the studs, above the ceiling, or under the floorboards. Yet the general contractor will be able to diagnose and prescribe a beautiful and workable remodeled home. Charles was often called the \u201cChurch Doctor.\u201d He drew upon a vast array of specialties in order to cure, prevent, and promote health within a particular congregation. He was like a virtuous Gregory House of Fox TV fame that specialized as a virtuoso diagnostician. While Charles saw more ugliness in the church than one should, he loved the church. When others were tempted to give up, Charles saw the church as a glorious place of God\u2019s activity partnering with saints. As an academic in the seminary, Charles applied theory to practice everyday for the sake of the church. He refused to treat congregations as places to be reduced to a template or stereotype. He declined to talk about theology in the classroom without a case study, example, best practice, or lived experience.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The contextual nature of theology saturates the pages of\u00a0<i>The Effective Practice of Ministry<\/i>\u00a0that defines not only the chapters, but also the life and ministry of Charles who affected each of the authors in powerful ways. And it is with great pleasure that all the contributors of the volume dedicate this book to\u00a0<i>Charles Siburt\u00a0<\/i><i>the contributors to this volume esteem Charles\u00a0<\/i><i>as their trusted friend, mentor, and teacher.<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, the Christian Scholars Conference hosted a luncheon to honor the memory of Charles Siburt. The new release by ACU Press,\u00a0The Effective Practice of Ministry: Essays in Memory of Charles Siburt\u00a0was presented to Charles&#8217;s family, Judy, John, and Ben. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The conviction that theory and practice are divided has some ardent supporters. Sometimes it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Effective Practice of Ministry - ACU Graduate School of Theology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/the-effective-practice-of-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Effective Practice of Ministry - ACU Graduate School of Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, the Christian Scholars Conference hosted a luncheon to honor the memory of Charles Siburt. The new release by ACU Press,\u00a0The Effective Practice of Ministry: Essays in Memory of Charles Siburt\u00a0was presented to Charles&#8217;s family, Judy, John, and Ben. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The conviction that theory and practice are divided has some ardent supporters. 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