Theology and Religious
Education:
Relational,
Practical, and
Interfaith
Dimensions
November 22-24,
2009
Crowne Plaza
Hotel (near the
Galleria in
Addison)
Dallas, TX.
In the middle of
the twentieth
century (1950),
Randolph Crump
Miller wrote
that theology
should stand in
the “background”
of Christian
education, with
faith and grace
in the
foreground; and,
of course, he
was famous for
naming theology
as the “clue.”
Thirty-two years
later, he
continued to
challenge
religious
education
theorists to
take their own
stands on two
key questions:
“(1) What
theology can
provide the
background for
religious
education? (2)
What should be
the relation
between theology
and education?”
(Miller 1982,
30)
Miller wrote
amid heated
debates
regarding
competing views
of theology and
the nature of
theology’s
influence on the
theory and
practice of
religious
education. Now,
in the
twenty-first
century, we are
keenly aware of
the power of
religious
beliefs and
motivations to
shape actions in
a globalized,
postmodern, and
ecologically
threatened
world. We’ve
seen this power
used in ways
that build up
and foster
unity, and sadly
we have also
witnessed how
religion can
become a force
for division and
violence.
As religious
educators, we
are committed to
the world’s
flourishing, and
seek to embody a
vision of the
Divine, the
human, and our
place within a
dynamically
evolving
creation. Our
theologies,
especially our
understanding of
how God is
active in the
world, is likely
to shape our
practices of
religious
education in
major ways; yet,
the converse may
also be true.
Thus we can hope
to benefit from
a renewed
dialogue that
highlights
theology from
the vantage
point of our
field of
religious
education.
In this REA
annual meeting,
I invite your
consideration of
the theologies
that shape and
are shaped by
religious
education today,
with particular
emphasis on the
relational,
practical and
interfaith
dimensions of
this theme.
-
The
relational:
what is the
nature of
the
intersection
between
theology and
education?
How is faith
formed and
expressed
within
religious
communities,
and how are
religious
traditions,
doctrines,
core
teachings,
and central
practices
treated
educationally?
-
The
practical:
how does the
emerging
understanding
of practical
theology” as
a vital
sensibility
for theology
inform our
understanding
of religious
education,
and is
religious
education,
in turn, a
form of
practical
theology?
-
The
interfaith:
do the
“theological”
questions
engaged by
Christian,
Jewish,
Muslim and
other
religious
educators
translate
sufficiently
to allow
conversation
with one
another, and
what is at
stake for us
and our
world in
such a
dialogue?
The plenaries
at this year’s
annual meeting
will be designed
to address each
of these
dimensions in
turn. I believe
there are
multiple and
rich
possibilities
for papers and
colloquia to
address the
theme. These
could include
such topics as:
-
Ethnographic
and other
qualitative
research
studies that
focus on the
theological
presumptions
among
participants
and how
those
contribute
to religious
education
practices
-
Studies of
the impact
of
postmodernity
on theology
and how this
affects
religious
education
(e.g., its
challenges
to creeds,
catechisms,
and other
compilations
of the core
beliefs of
religious
communities)
-
Theologies
in dialogue:
models of
religious
education
that are
explicitly
interreligious,
and how
theology
shapes and
is shaped by
them
-
Practical
theology
vis-à-vis
religious
education:
understandings
of praxis,
practices,
and the
theological
“root
metaphors”
that
influence
these in our
pedagogies
-
Diverse
cultural
expressions
of religious
beliefs and
their impact
on education
-
Use of media
and new
technologies
in religious
education
with an eye
to the
implicit
theologies
underlying
them
Re-engaging
the work of
prominent
twentieth–
and
twenty-first-century
religious
educators on
theology to
assess their
value in our
contemporary
contexts
-
Exploring
the
political
dimensions
of our
theologies
in shaping
our
approaches
to religious
education,
especially
for the sake
of
transformation
in religious
community,
academy and
society
Theology is
succinctly
described as
“faith seeking
understanding.”
Join us in
Dallas, November
22-24, 2009, to
rediscover how
we can educate
for deepened
understanding of
our faiths in
relationship, in
practice, and in
interfaith
dialogue.
We hope to
see you in
—-Maureen
O’Brien REA
President-Elect
and 2009 Program
Chair
Questions
and comments about the theme and offers to assist in the design of
the meeting may be directed to President-Elect, Dr. Maureen O’Brien.
Email:
obrien@duq.edu
Call for Papers
Crowne Plaza
Hotel
