Practical Theology

BIAPT’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are a networking opportunity to share a theological interest in a particular field of practice or research.

There is a new Children and Families Special Interest Group in development and other opportunities. See the BIAPT site or contact groups@biapt.org.

Walking beside soldiers: Swedish military chaplains and their questions This study explores the questions encountered by Swedish military chaplains (MCs) in their role of providing Military Soul Care within the Swedish Armed Forces. While Swedish MCs are deeply rooted ...

Qualitative research to find out more about the work of Swedish military chaplains @practicaltheology.bsky.social
Walking beside soldiers: Swedish military chaplains and their questions www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@militarytimes.bsky.social @biaptheology.bsky.social

Guest editor Eeva John hopes the articles will inspire those in theological education to ponder the goals of their work

Adult theological education special issue 18-06 Published in Practical Theology (Vol. 18, No. 6, 2025)

Adult theological education special issue with articles that Guest Editor Eeva John hopes will inspire theological educators to ponder the goal of their work www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @biaptheology.bsky.social

Editorial Published in Practical Theology (Vol. 18, No. 5, 2025)

Latest @practicaltheology.bsky.social with editorial from Dustin Benac 'Practical theology is, after all, a richly contextual and collaborative discipline and practice, such that our work is as much a craft as it is a formal academic discipline.' @biaptheology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1756...

Autistic Christians and their experiences of faith, worship, and community in Evangelical churches in the UK This study explores what autistic Christians who attend evangelical churches in the UK find both valuable and challenging about how they experience faith, worship, and community within these contex...

Autistic Christians tell their experiences of faith, worship,
and community in Evangelical churches in the UK @biaptheology.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/ full/10.1080/1756073X.2025.2553263#abstract

Retail loyalty schemes: a practical theological response to surveillance capitalism and its construction of the flawed prosumer This paper argues that retail loyalty schemes lie at the intersection of three sites of struggle: datafication, competitiveness, and commodification. It is where these overlap that the production o...

Retail loyalty schemes: a practical theological response to surveillance capitalism and its construction of the flawed prosumer www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @biaptheology.bsky.social

Inconceivable! economic conversion, nonpoor Christians, and how to teach debt-forgiveness more effectively How can religious educators and pastoral leaders help congregants reimagine what’s normal and possible in economics: in business, in government, and in their own household finances? There’s no lack...

Can we reimagine economics in a way that does not privilege profit-making and private property rights? A question in the
article @practicaltheology.bsky.social on economic conversion
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @biaptheology.bsky.social @routledgebuseco.bsky.social

Comfort in the ashes: explorations in the book of Job to support trauma survivors Published in Practical Theology (Ahead of Print, 2025)

A book for those who sit with Job and realise his friends might not respond in the best way
Comfort in the ashes: explorations in the book of Job to support trauma survivors www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @ivpacademic.bsky.social @biaptheology.bsky.social

Practical economics – what capitalism's toxic assumptions and buying god have to say about money, economics and practical theology This paper will argue that money is best understood as information flows in the context of power and politics. This reading makes Jesus’ sayings about money feel particularly modern, particularly w...

Theology and your bank statement: Practical economics – what capitalism's toxic assumptions and buying god have to say about money, economics and practical theology, From @biaptheology.bsky.social 2024 Conference www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Open access article @practicaltheology.bsky.social Growing in wisdom in old age- the need to research wisdom from the perspective of older people living in care @biaptheology.bsky.social @tandfresearch.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

See @practicaltheology.bsky.social review here
doi.org/10.1080/1756... @scmpress.bsky.social

Lived mission in 21st century Published in Practical Theology (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Key questions about what mission is and what mission could look like in Britain in the 21st Century #practicaltheology @scmpress.bsky.social @tandfresearch.bsky.social

Full article: Lived mission in 21st century www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A sideways glance – being on an editorial board for 25 years: personal and theological reflections This theological reflection is based on 25 years of membership of being on the editorial board of the first CONTACT, now Practical Theology. Autoethnographic in style it focuses on the key role of ...

Practical theologians are not from a production line - the first task of any practical theologian is to identify what their lived theology is. A sideways glance – being on an editorial board for 25 years: personal and theological reflections from Alistair Ross www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Chaplaincy: contemporary and global perspectives Published in Practical Theology (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Latest book review @practicaltheology.bsky.social
Chaplaincy: contemporary and global perspectives by (eds) Grace Thomas and Kim Vasey from @scmpress.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hospitality, social identity, and baptism This paper examines one aspect of my ethnographic study of a congregation welcoming new members from a different ethnic and cultural group as part of a dissertation for a Doctor of Practical Theolo...

Article @practicaltheology.bksy.social on working against an us-versus- them dynamic through the process of sacramental hospitality and inclusion towards mutuality.
Full article: Hospitality, social identity, and baptism www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The church as a field hospital: toward a theology of mental health This study examines theological perspectives on mental health difficulties across different historical periods, from the church fathers to the emergence of modern mental health theology in the twen...

Full article: The church as a field hospital: toward a theology of mental health www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Theology matters: What is trauma theology? Karen O’Donnell explains the growing interest in the area

Check out my beginners guide to Trauma Theology in this week’s Church Times (and the brilliant companion piece by @jodolby.bsky.social on trauma-informed yoga!)

www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...

New AI article @practicaltheology.bsky.social questions the experience of creating multimodal art to explore theological questions in Ephesians using generative AI www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Dancing with wisdom towards shalom: what I learned from older people living in residential care homes Wisdom is associated with older age in psychosocial and spiritual models of development. However research in this area does not include the voices of older people living in residential care homes. ...

New research article @practicaltheology.bsky.social explores a growth in wisdom through the voices of care home residents
doi.org/10.1080/1756...

Research article from Iran on the spiritual dimensions and encounters of children with cancer and their perceptions of God - magical God, trading God, veiling God and meaning-bestowing God
doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2439635

Research article - from ordinary to academic theology. How students engage with sin as a theological concept when beginning undergraduate studies @practicaltheology.bsky.social @biaptheology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1756...

Reimagining theological education: online theological education in the Hong Kong diaspora This article demonstrates how theological education can be transformed through the systematic integration of structured theological reflection methods derived from spiritual direction practices. Dr...

Research article on experimental approaches to theological reflection to revitalise theological education, particularly for diaspora communities @biaptheology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2446086

Belonging and longing to belong: being LGBTQ+ in the Church Belonging is an essential human need commonly understood to be the experience of being a valued part of a group or an insider. A sense of belonging, or belongingness, has been found to be influence...

Research article @practicaltheology.bsky.social on the precariousness of LGBTQ+ Christians belonging to the Church and inviting further reflection on how hospitality might be offered @biaptheology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2024.2437282

Details on how you can join colleagues at Highgate House Northamptonshire July 8-10 for the @biaptheology.bsky.social 2025 conference - 'From Age to Age' you can book and find out options to offer a paper or a workshop
www.biapt.org/event/2025-a...

Editorial Published in Practical Theology (Vol. 17, No. 5, 2024)

Adult theological education special issue now online @practicaltheology - guest editor EevaJohn
'...theological education at its best can help bridge the gaps...' doi.org/10.1080/1756...

Front covers of two SCM Press books: God the Child by Graham Adams, subtitle 'Small, Weak and Curious Subversions' and God, Me and Being Very Old, subtitle 'Stories and Spirituality in Later Life', edited by Keith Albans and Malcolm Johnson

Just highlighting a couple of our titles on the theme of age: both ends of the spectrum represented!
- God the Child by @grahamadams.bsky.social
- God, Me and Being Very Old, edited by Malcolm Johnson and Keith Albans