Can ethnography open new possibilities for theology in the often unlikely places where we live our faith? This book breaks new ground by using reflexive ethnographic methods to get academic theologians and everyday Christians talking to each other about theology. Drawing on the author's research in the Baptist church where she served as a minister, the resulting ethnographic theology produces constructive theological insights and proposes creative alternatives for Christian thought and action.
This text crosses multiple genres - from critical theological methods to experimental doctrinal theology, from creative non-fiction to reflexive spiritual autobiography - making a compelling read for academic theologians, laity and clergy alike. By rigorously outlining an ethnographic theological method and demonstrating that method's fruits with extensive constructive theological work in ecclesiology, social transformation, embodiment, sanctification, and more, Ethnographic Theology opens new possibilities for how contemporary theology can be done.
Review: Theological page-turners are rare, but Natalie Wigg-Stevenson's debut outing is just that. In addition to being substantively rich, this book is a pleasure to read: creative, moving, and deeply honest in a risky way, combining an impressive theoretical grounding with an authentically pastoral sensibility.
It engages head-on the unresolved challenge of how theology relates to those whose world in both the academy and the church. This is a discipline-defining work from a major new voice. - Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary, USA Natalie Wigg-Stevenson's work is only now emerging into the wider academic and ecclesial conversations, but I predict it will become very influential.
Her outstanding book is the first fully-realized 'ethnographic theology' to be published. It consolidates and moves forward a very vibrant set of conversations at the intersection of ecclesiology and ethnography. Her work demands wide readership, but more importantly, wide emulation as a model for how theology - everyday and academic - ought to be produced. - Christian Scharen, Vice President for Research, Auburn Theological Seminary, USA Contrary to what academic theologians think, our work does not easily connect with so-called 'ordinary believers', nor does it necessarily recognize their wisdom.
Advancing these connections and the growing importance of ethnography for theology, Wigg-Stevenson investigates her own teaching in a Baptist church to complicate categories of everyday faith and academic theological knowledge. This book offers unique insights into the intersection of these categories and the way in which ethnographic theological reflection is itself a Christian practice. - Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Professor, Theology, Duke Divinity School, USA
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