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Who do you say that I am?
Words don’t come easily – like sorry…. [and] forgive me, forgive me. Tracy Chapman Some years ago I was with a group of Christians and Jews travelling to Israel and Palestine at the invitation of the Council of Christians and Jews. The hope was that by visiting together, each of us carrying our incomplete understanding of the situation in the Holy Land, including of course unconscious cultural, religious and political biases, would see things through others’ eyes and return partially enlightened: gifted with a more nuanced understanding and greater openness to other readings of a notoriously complex situation. In Jericho, an ancient and predominantly Muslim Palestinian city which, nevertheless, for people…
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Two Peoples Living in this Land
Born and raised in the US, I have lived in Jerusalem for over 51 years. For many years, I have been involved in inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, and in the Jewish religious peace movement. Israelis – and, I’m told, Jews throughout the world – are still reeling from the brutal atrocities of October 7th. The horrifying, nihilistic attacks were reminiscent of the worst, most painful periods of Jewish history. I would add to that something that has been of grave concern to me, personally, and that is the resurgence of antisemitism in the West, including and perhaps especially on the campuses of North America. I used to have great faith…
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Armed Resistance, Islam, and the Limits of Secular Approaches
Who writes and who doesn’t? I was asked to write about the ongoing assault on Gaza, from a religious perspective (disclaimer: If I write about the topic from a religious perspective, it is not because what we are currently witnessing in Gaza and the region is a religious conflict. Religion may occasionally be part of it, often used strategically by various actors, but at its core, it is a political conflict). One of my first thoughts was if I was the right person to ask. What do I have to contribute that others, especially those most affected by the current violence, could not say better, have not already said better?…
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Reflections on Israel and Gaza after October 7th
When the attack by Hamas occurred on October 7th, I was leading a service for the festival of Simchat Torah, the Rejoicing in the Torah, a particularly joyful day in the Jewish calendar. I had heard there was an attack, and mentioned in the service that we were thinking of those who had been killed, but we had no idea of the full extent or horror of the events of that day. Details emerged over the following days, and then Israel began its attack on Gaza and our television screens were dominated by pictures of the terrible suffering there. Like many of my colleagues and friends, I found myself close…
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Join Our Editorial Board!
Would you like to join a diverse team of practitioners, scholars, and students? Would you like to enhance your CV? Would you like to network with others in the field of practical theology? Would you like the chance to shape the future of Practical Theology Hub? Then why not consider joining our editorial board. We are looking for additional topic editors to join our team. Topic editors are volunteers who are responsible for sourcing and reviewing three to five articles for Practical Theology Hub per year. They are typically experts, practitioners, or up-and-coming figures in a given sub-discipline of practical theology. Please send applications (a CV) and queries to the…
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Learning to ask questions of the Status Quo
As I write, the Church of England is engaged in the meeting of its General Synod, deeply immersed in the latest round of conversation and decision-making about its ‘Living in Love and Faith’ process. Understandably, feelings are running high, and the challenge of how the state church can hold together different ways of grappling with theological understanding is inevitably a key strand of these discussions. Estate-based priest and theologian Rev. Al Barrett wrote thoughtfully ahead of this week, ‘It’s important, I think, in these conversations for each of us to try hard to locate ourselves a little – to resist the temptation to speak from an imagined (and illusory) abstract, objective or…
