Home and Away: Contextual Theology and Local Practice

Synopsis: Home and Away provides new vantage points in contextual theology. An initial stream looks at the significance of postcodes as a way of mapping local areas as situations for pastoral ministry and theological reflection. A second, but not ancillary, stream of essays considers the local within a range of glocal and global dynamics. The essays do not unfold a single trajectory of thought about context, and at various points they indirectly question and challenge each other. The pieces meld into an international and ecumenical conversation about contemporary Christian ministry. It includes voices from North America, Europe, and Austral/Asia. Although open ended, and constantly crisscrossing questions from one context to another, the collection is emphatic in its common conviction that attention to very local circumstance is crucial for Christian ministry, just as are wider views of a locality's position in broader flows. Endorsements: "Home and Away details why global needs local and 'away' is anchored in home. Ten essays show why the local postcode-zipcode is an essential starting point for theological reflection that matters." --Dean Drayton, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University Author Biography: Stephen Burns is Research Fellow in Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University, Australia. His publications include Liturgy (2006), Worship in Context (2006), Exchanges of Grace (coeditor, 2008), The Edge of God (coeditor, 2008), Christian Worship in Australia (coeditor, 2009), Presiding Like a Woman (coeditor, 2010), and Christian Worship: Postcolonial Perspectives (with Michael N. Jagessar, 2011). Clive Pearson is Head of the School of Theology at Charles Sturt University, Australia. His publications include Faith in a Hyphen (editor, 2004), Thirty Years of Korean Ministry in Australia (coeditor, 2004), Scholarship and Fierce Sincerity (with Allan Davidson and Peter Lineman, 2007) and Out of Place (coeditor 2011).