Introducing Practical Theology: Mission, Ministry, and the Life of the Church

by Pete Ward

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2017

Overview

This introduction to the field of practical theology reclaims a theological vision for the life and work of the church. Pete Ward dispels the myth that practical theology is a distraction from the “real” tasks of ministry or from serious academic theological work. He argues that practical theology is part of the everyday life of the church and that its location in congregational life provides an orientation and a methodology based on how practitioners pray, witness, act, and live out their faith. Ward challenges the distinction between applied theology and practical theology, thereby reintegrating a doctrinal orientation to the discipline. He argues that there are a variety of possible approaches to practical theology, helping readers evaluate the approach that is most appropriate to their ministerial context and theological tradition. This reliable, accessible resource will work well for those in training or in ministry.

Key Features

• Presents practical theology as something that is already very much part of the life of the Christian community
• Develops a way of doing practical theology that is fundamentally ecclesial and theological in nature
• Argues that practical theology must start by helping students recognize how they exercise their ministry and Christian lives by making use of practical theology in their everyday lives

Contents

• Practical Theology as the Ordinary Life of the Church
• Practical Theology as Faith Seeking Understanding
• The Gospel and Practical Theology
• Practical Theology and Lived Theology
• Practical Theology as a Conversation about Practice and Theology
• Theological Reflection
• Practical Theology and Theological Disciplines
• Practical Theology as a Conversation about Culture
• Beginning Small-Scale Empirical Research
• Producing Practical Theology

Praise for Introducing Practical Theology

An excellent introduction to practical theology that brings the church and academy together. Most importantly, it is rooted in the gospel and mission of congregations.

Richard Osmer, Ralph B. and Helen S. Ashenfelter Professor of Mission and Evangelism, Princeton Theological Seminary

Introducing Practical Theology is a rich and intellectually significant account of the fundamentally practical character of theological knowledge. Author Pete Ward displays this practicality through a groundbreaking exploration of theology’s biblical and tradition-shaped wisdom, its shaping by secular disciplines, and its redemptive function, as well as its grounding in God. Ward’s constructive proposal emerges from a critically respectful review of the field of practical theology, offering an account that transcends its boundaries in deeply profound ways.

Mary McClintock Fulkerson, professor of theology, Duke Divinity School

Introducing Practical Theology does much more than you might think from the title. It no doubt introduces practical theology, but it goes much further, introducing a whole way of thinking about the field. Pete Ward is a unique thinker that uncompromisingly demands that practical theology attend to real people’s experiences by respecting their tacit and meaningful lived theology. Ward champions the belief that ordinary people in our churches are indeed attending to God's action. In this volume you’ll find a beautiful way for attending to theology in the everyday.

Andrew Root, Luther Seminary; author of Faith Formation in a Secular Age

Product Details

• Title: Introducing Practical Theology: Mission, Ministry, and the Life of the Church
• Author: Pete Ward
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 188
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Theology, Practical
• ISBNs: 9781493410835, 1493410830
• Resource ID: LLS:NTRDCNGPRCCHRCH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-10-31T21:12:22Z