Practical Theology as a Practice

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     Is “practical theology” an oxymoron? The debate often states that theology deals with “theory” while practice deals with “real” life. Subsequently, practical theology gets a bad rap—sometimes referred to as “hints and tricks” of the trade or orthopedic shoes for the minister, merely methods, techniques, and strategies. And many practical theologians carry an inferiority complex whenever they enter academic conversations.
    The 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.
    “Practice” is a key term for practical theologians these days, for it expresses a robust understanding of the holistic nature of our task.
    • Like a pianist playing the scales, practicing leads to being an artist — a way of being.
    • Medicine is a big word — Doctors have a practice.
    • Law is a big word — Lawyers have a practice.
     Dorothy C. Bass defines a Christian practice as a formative activity that “Christian people do together over time in response to and in the light of God’s active presence for the life of the world in Christ Jesus.” In other words, “a way of life” or the patterns of people’s lived experience. Bass lists four key components:
    1. Practices are meaningful clusters of human activity (including the activity of thinking) that require and engender knowledge on the part of practitioners. Practices resist the separation of thinking from acting, and thus of Christian doctrine from Christian life.
    2. Practices are social, belonging to groups of people across generations—a feature that undergirds the communal quality of the Christian life.
    3. Practices are rooted in the past but also constantly adapt to changing circumstances, including new cultural settings.
    4. Practices articulate wisdom that practitioners keep even though they do not think of themselves as theologians.
    There is a robust harmony between theory and practice. Harmonies do not have “either/or” polarities but “both/and” melodies 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 regarding “belief-shaped practices” and “practice-shaping beliefs.” To 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.