Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
BY
Filip De Cavel (DThM, Durham)
INTRODUCTION
Although Pete Wards Participation and Mediation reads like a whos who of
systematic and practical theology, missiology, and cultural studies, Ward writes a a theologian
in his own right offering a blend of theological and cultural voices to support his own project:
How can practical theology in dialogue with systematic theology offer a methodological
model to the church that is missionaly interacting with the flow of theology in popular
culture?1
Besides the likes of other notable theologians like Jrgen Moltmann and Miroslav
Volf, to name a few, Ward writes original and knowledgable for the PostEvangelical/Reformed christian, be he an Anglican who favours Fresh Expressions, or the
charismatic experimenting with alternative worship.
Ward is not particular known for a formal connection to the Emerging Church
Movement (ECM), Fresh Expressions or similar movements, but neither are Moltmann, et al.2
Still all of them, and many more, have influenced the ECMs theology and its sibling
expressions as they developed during the last decade. Wards readers, at the time of writing
PaM, might have expected an easy and welcomed stroll in the park - Ward, being a youthworker and having the classifier Liquid in his book title surely must have set some on the
wrong path.
Pete Ward, Participation and Mediation: A Practical Theology for the Liquid Church,
(London: SCM, 2008), p. 191. (Hereafter PaM).
2
Dave Tomlinson, The Post-Evangelical, Rev. North American edn (Grand Rapids, MI: EmergentYS
Books, 2003), p. 18. Dave Tomlinson is a noteworthy and a similar kind of writer and, in fact, in many ways a
predecessor of Ward. Highlighting problems with British Evangelicalism, The Post-Evangelical, originally
published in 1994 was again printed separately for a North-American audience nearly ten years later, at the peak
of the Emerging Church hype. See also Brian Stanley, The Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism: The
Age of Billy Graham and John Stott, (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2013), p. 244.
John Bolt, An Emerging Critique of the Postmodern, Evangelical Church: A Review Essay, Calvin
Theological Journal, 41, no. 2 (2006), pp. 205-21 (p. 218).
5
A LIQUID CHURCH
It is fair to point out that before PaM there was an earlier attempt by Ward to explore
the themes he presents in PaM. In The Liquid Church Ward stresses the need for the
churches, wether successful or not in terms of growth, to think about the way they make faith
relevant for those outside the church.6 In essence The Liquid Church is a missiological call
for the church to be of relevancy to the wider and global community, a call that has been
reinforced and fully theologically explored in PaM.
It is this writers conviction that Wards PaM is precisely that: A plea for a culturesensitive church in a time where traditional and emerging churches need to find and use
conceptual tools to answer this challenge for contextualisation without loosing their orthodox,
historical, doctrinal or institutional identity.7 Although less visible in PaM, Ward is cautious
not to over-contextualise. Ward, asserts in an earlier reflection on the Eucharist that
[t]he Christian gospel must be expressed within culture otherwise it doesnt come alive. At
the same time, the reality of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ are always transcendent
[italics mine] of any cultural expression of the faith, however powerful or relevant or inspired
that expression may appear to be.8
So the gist of Wards PaM centres around two questions that flow out of this plea for a
culture-sensitive church: Firstly, what is the nature of theology that (in)forms the church
Pete Ward, Liquid Church, (Carlisle, Cumbria Peabody, Mass.: Paternoster Press, 2002). See also
Henk de Roest, De Marge als Vindplaats van Creativiteit: Emerging Churches, Fresh Expressions, in Als
een Kerk Opnieuw Begint, Handboek voor Missionaire Gemeenschapsvorming by Gerrit
Noort, Stefan Paas, Henk de Roest and Sake Stoppels (Zoetemeer: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, 2008), 312-25
(pp. 312-20). de Roest emphasizes Wards influence as the ECM adopts the idea that an ongoing conversation
should result in a church that truly - in christological fashion - communicates Christ to the world.
7
8
Pete Ward, Essentially Strange: Communion and Culture, in Mass Culture: Eucharist and
Mission in a Post-Modern World, ed. by Pete Ward., (Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship, 1999), pp. 14-35
(p. 33).
and, secondly, what is the shape of the practical theology that offers the tools for the fluid or
liquid church?
Against this particular context wherein PaM was written I will offer reflection on
three areas covered in this book: (1) A short summary of PaM based on what I understand to
be the pivotal chapter of the book, chapter 7, Communion and Mediation, (2) a
reflection on the originality of the way Ward addresses Communion as the main emphasis
on dealing with the nature of theology in light of the shape of theology and (3) offering
constructive reflection by way of exploring recent contributions from the field of systematic
and practical theology in particular those contributions dealing with the methodological
questions surrounding the implementation of a practical theology in relation to Wards use of
Social Trinitarianism?9
As for the practical and methodological contribution, I will interact with Helen
Cameron.10 As for the systematic theological part of PaM, there will be interaction with the
work of Jens Zimmermann.11
The Communion (Eucharist) will be the common point of reference in all of these
interaction between aforementioned authors.
To distinguish between practical theology and the other often systematic theology used in PaM, I
will refer to the latter as formal theology in light of Camerons four theological voices.
10
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice: Theological Action Research and
Practical Theology (London: SCM Press, 2010).
11
12
13
Pete Ward, Essentially Strange, in Mass Culture: Eucharist and Mission in a Post-Modern
World, ed. by Pete Ward, p. 33.
In short, in chapter seven, Ward highlights the presupposed connection between the
nature of theology with the shape of practical theology, the interaction between the
participation/mediation and the production/representation/consummation. It is Wards opinion
that the Eucharist offers an embodied performance where doctrine and experience, historical
tradition and the present context transcend the dualistic approaches he warns about in the first
chapter: Culture becomes truly a mediating partner between modern dualistic approaches of
practice and theory, social science and doctrine, and [d]isembodied theology is being
replaced by concern to locate the doctrinal in the practices.14
It is worthwhile noting the similarities but also the evolution Ward made between his
earlier reflection on communion in Mass Culture and this chapter. In Mass Culture Ward
is adamant about the needed connection between the missional church and culture, a
connection that is resourced by communion.15
By reflecting on the history of youth culture since the seventies up until the eighties,
Ward enters the discussion on how a the practice and the theology of the communion can
mutually enrich each other so that a move towards the non-believer and the popular culture in
which he moves, becomes a reality.16 In particular Ward analyses the way Christian youth, and
the way they move between different cultural scenes, whereby [t]he problem is the extent to
which they are able to transport their faith, which is very much alive in the Christian cultural
scene, with them as they journey.17 This problem seems to originate in the overcontextualisation of faith that now needs to be complemented by decontextualization as it is
presented in the bread and the wine of communion.18
14
15
Pete Ward, Essentially Strange, in Mass Culture: Eucharist and Mission in a Post-Modern
World, ed. by Pete Ward, p. 15, 35.
16
Ibid., p. 24.
17
Ibid., p. 33.
18
Ibid., p. 34.
19
20
Ibid., p. 125.
21
Ibid., p. 123.
10
While Ward (unfortunately) never directly addresses the issues of interdisciplinary (how to
relate distinct fields with distinct epistemological perspectives) chapter seven moves in this
direction. Using the Eucharist as a framework the author explores the place of participation
and mediation in this practice, showing the reader the fertile ground for cultural and
theological discourse.22
22
Andrew Root, review of Participation and Mediation: A Practical Theology for the Liquid
Church, by Pete Ward, International Journal of Practical Theology, Vol. 15, no. 1 (2011), pp. 137-139.
(p. 114).
23
Andrew D. Kingsey, review of Participation and Mediation: A Practical Theology for the
Liquid Church, by Pete Ward, Religion & Theology, Vol. 17, no. 1 (2010), pp. 55-59. (p. 58).
24
Ibid.
11
What is, perhaps, less common is an appreciation of how the holding together of descriptive
accounts of church practice with more traditional theological sources can both disclose
something about the nature of the lived reality, and contribute to theological learning and
pedagogy.25
25
Clare Watkins and Helen Cameron, Epiphanic Sacramentality: An Example of Practical Ecclesiology
Revisioning Theological Understanding in Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography, ed. by
Christian Batalden Scharen (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012), pp. 71-89 (p. 71).
26
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice: Theological Action Research and
Practical Theology, (London: SCM Press, 2010). Here one can find a full account of the methodology of
Theological Action Research (TAR), in particular chapter 4.
12
27
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice, Kindle Electronic Edition: Chapter 4, Location
940-64.
28
13
29
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice, Kindle Electronic Edition: Chapter 4, Location
1628-58. Ward, Participation and Mediation, p. 125. Production, however might also involve a
consideration of sociological data.
30
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice, Kindle Electronic Edition: Chapter 4, Location
31
1995.
14
But not so much the examples contributes to our evaluation of Wards approach as
does Camerons own evaluation of the use of the Theology in Four Voices. Especially as she
concludes and concur with Ward that practice indeed does have a transformative impact
on academic (Formal) theology. Cameron asserts that the formal and even normative
voices (or at least, the interpretation of them) is quite properly to be formed by the voices
that arise from faith practice as a complex locus for theological understanding.32
32
Helen Cameron, Talking About God in Practice, Kindle Electronic Edition: Chapter 4, Location
2418.
33
Doornenbal, Crossroads, p. 51. Cf. also Tony Jones who states that [m]any congregations in the
emerging church movement are instinctively using the very relational ecclesiology that Moltmann proposes.
Jones, The Church is Flat, 150. J. Edward Clevinger, The Implications of the Trinitarian Perichoresis for a
Missional Ecclesiology: Lesslie Newbigins Call for Renewing the Churchs Missional Vocation in a Postmodern
World, (MA thesis, Emmanuel School of Religion, 2003), 57.
15
Since one of the aims of this review is one of appropriation it would serve us well to
chose an approach that focusses on the enabling of the practitioner, the practical theologian or
those who feel the tension between the espoused and the operant theology the most. We
believe that this approach draws practice into a dynamic set of other theologies, which are
often more recognised as such.
As to our second question i.e. how does Wards original approach on dealing with the
nature of theology in light of the shape of theology addresses the performance of the
Communion, I propose a further exploration of the interdependency between the nature and
the shape of theology and how both can become transformed by this interaction. Camerons
methodology welcomes a fruitful interaction in which Wards contribution could be explored
through a more thorough research-oriented approach, providing the necessary data to explore
this particular transformational relationship between the nature and the shape of theology.
The last and third part of this paper will be an attempt to sketch the contours of a
conversation based on Camerons methodology, inviting Ward to the table as a the Formal
theological voice, not the only one though, but interacting with particular data offered by
Tony Joness The Church is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging
Church Movement and with a reflection on Jens Zimmermanns appropriation of John
Zizioulass in relation to Wards focus on the Trinity in relation to the churchs dealings with
contemporary culture.34
See also Jens Zimmermann, Recovering Theological Hermeneutics: An IncarnationalTrinitarian Theory of Interpretation, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2004).
16
hermeneutical nature might be underexposed. But some remarks might be in order. In this
particular chapter, Wards sows the seed that will come to full growth in his chapter on
Communion as he asserts that a participation in the Eucharist is a participation in the life of
God. Ward arrives at this understanding through Zizioulass emphasis on the relationship of
the Trinitarian ontological Being and how that reflects in the church.
Wards appropriation of Zizioulas results in how Zimmermann summarises this:
[I]nstead ontology itself is declared to be relational.35 Focusing on this Trinitarian
ontology, Zimmermann borrows also from Zizioulas and other Eastern Orthodox theological
developments and recognises the importance of the Trinitarian conception of the human
subject for the recovery of theological hermeneutics. This recovery is initiated by a relational
ontology at the heart of reality. Miroslav Volf elaborates more extensively on this recovery.
Volf in commentating on Zizioulas, explains that:
to mean that God at first (in the ontological sense) is the one God, and only then exists
as three persons, then the ontological principle of the deity is lodged at the level of
substance, and one still remains entangled in monistic ontology. The trinitarian
identification of hypostasis and person effected by the Cappadocians breaks through this
ontology. This identification asserts that God's being coincides with God's personhood. 36
According to Volf it is only in this way, the non-monistic way, that God the Father
constitutes his own existence in the free personal activity of the divine life. The construction
then of the subject is based upon the notion of perichoresis (participation), which refers to the
reciprocal interiority of the trinitarian persons. Volf explains that in every divine person as a
35
36
Ibid., p. 281.
Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity, Sacra Doctrina
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), p. 76.
17
subject, the other persons also indwell; all mutually permeate one another, though in so doing
they do not cease to be distinct persons.37
As with Zimmermann, Ward could have helped the reader by elaborating more on the
concept of perichoresis and its dynamic that characterises the divine Triune God especially
since the reinstatement of a Trinitarian ontology is much more depending on the concrete and
historical situated Incarnation, a notion that is absent in Wards approach.
For one, in addressing Heideggers concept of being, Zimmermann does borrow from
Zizioulas concept albeit without mentioning the importance of perichoretic thinking: The
essential thing about a person lies precisely in his being a revelation of truth, not as
substance or nature but as a mode of existence.
Mentioning Mirsoflav Volf, Ward could have elaborated more on the concept of
perichoresis as a way to neutralise the tension between a self that is neither individualistic nor
monistically constructed: This reciprocal interiority of the divine persons determines the
character of their unity. The notion of perichoresis offers the possibility of overcoming the
alternatives unio personae unitas substantias.38 It seems then that Zimmermann clearly
being informed by Volfs work is making a case for a Trinitarian relationality whilst at the
same time warns for the speculative nature of it.
We observe in Zimmermann a helpful reluctance to engage fully with a Trinitarian
ontology apart from its Incarnational interpretation. So why bother, as Ward did, with
Trinitarian ontology at all?
To answer this question we may turn to Paul Collins The Trinity: a Guide for the
Perplexed were Zimmermann is being supported by an equally helpful warning. Collins
seems to appreciate Zimmermans strand of critique and means of rehabilitating a
37
Ibid., p. 209.
38
Ibid, p. 211
18
Paul M. Collins, The Trinity: A Guide for the Perplexed, Guides for the Perplexed (New York:
Continuum, 2008), p. 36.
40
Ibid., p. 30.
41
Ibid., p. 5.
42
Zimmermann, Recovering Theological Hermeneutics, p. 305.
43
Collins, The Trinity, p. 37.
44
Ibid., p. 36.
19
solidly against perichoresis as a projection or why the turn to relationality may not be
Trinitarian.45 Vanhoozer has a point when he warns against a use of a Trinitarian relationality
(perichoresis) as the model of human social life.46 The question can be asked if Gods being
as communion has become to much of an all-inclusive onto-theological idea, as well as the
template for conceiving the sociality of human being.47
If Ward wants to offer a robust relational ecclesiology based on a Trinitarian
understanding of how God mediates with the world, we do well to insert Zimmermanns and
Vanhoozers reluctancy to by-pass either the Incarnation (Zimmermann) or speculativeness of
the hermeneutical presupposition that the Trinitarian relationality (perichoresis) as the model
of human social life (Vanhoozer)?
CONCLUSION
There is much to be commended in Wards converging of themes like Communion,
culture and practical theology. Against the background of the ECM and sibling movements,
Ward opens up new avenues for research into the transformative nature of theology in light of
its embodiment within a church that is fully aware of its situatedness in time and location.
The accompanied relational ecclesiology and social Trinitarianism helps Ward not to
over-contextualise. However, because of its speculative nature and detached from the
Incarnational element, the theology infusing Wards PaM could be victim to a pitfall: An
45
20
anthropological navet; Is Ward aware of a possible projection or why the turn to relationality
may not be Trinitarian at all.48
48
Again I refer to Tony Joness The Church is Flat for an in-depth study of similar navit looking and
Moltmann and the human fallibility when developing his relational ecclesiology.
21
Bibliography
Articles
Books
Ward, Pete, Participation and Mediation: A Practical Theology for the Liquid
Church (London: SCM, 2008)
Zimmermann, Jens, Recovering Theological Hermeneutics: An IncarnationalTrinitarian Theory of Interpretation (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic,
2004)
Chapters of Books
Sources Consulted
Zimmermann, Jens, Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture for the
Church in the World, Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012)
Thesis
De Cavel, Filip, A Calibration of Worldview- talk: A Critical Evaluation of James K. A.
Smiths use of Social Imaginary as a Critique of Rationalistic Worldviews (MA.
thesis, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, 2012)