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Pete Ward’s Introducing Practical Theology: Mission, Ministry, and the Life of the Church presents an overall framework that practical theology is “a kind of theology that takes seriously both practice and theology.”[1] But this is offered less as a definition but more as a “rule of thumb” that shapes his inquiry process.  Ward allows this rule, and his unpacking of it, to guide the understanding of his approach to understanding practical theology. As a definition on its own, it leaves much to be desired, but when understood as Ward develops it, much fruit can be gained….

I want to pick up from my last post and consider an implication and approach to ecclesiology that differs somewhat from what is often presented. As I continue to wrestle with questions about the purpose and function of the local church, my conviction is that one of the reasons it exists is to make the community or neighbourhood in which it is located better. And this is even for people who want nothing to do with the church and Jesus and think they never will. I originally wrote most of this in November 2019 and later…

I spend a lot of time thinking about ecclesiology and how it relates to church practice in this post-Christian era. Beyond this, how is our praxis of church shaped by our culture rather than our praxis of culture being shaped by our ecclesiology? I keep asking myself what it means to be a faithful church community and how does this looks in the day-to-day. Ever since I started at Tyndale, I have been thinking about this conceptually. But now after spending several years in pastoral roles, this is no longer merely a thought experiment but survival….