Practical Theology Metaphor


Parenting Is Practical Theology

My husband and I are grateful parents to our amazing daughter Zj.  Like all parents we want the best for our child and we want to instill values and principals which are rich and true for her context, not only for today but for her bright future.  I’m willing to bet that any parent you talk with will express a very similar sentiment of desired inheritance for their child.  Even though we may all have the same prayer for our children the actual physicality or manifestation of that prayer many look different. 

Why is that?


Basically, people are different.  We are unique creations of bloodline, talents, skills, gifts and destiny.  Add in birth country, citizenship, heritage, culture, faith, race, sexual identity, age, education, economics, socialization, time and season, dreams and include our myriad of exposures and experiences which shape our ideals.   We all need and desire differently according to our context. These differences guide us as we approach the practice of parenting.  All the dynamics and demographics inform our decisions and implementations as we parent and direct our child in the path we believe is right for them.


This is also the process of the practical theology practitioner. 


The Science of Practical Theology is a vast academic field which studies religious practices to understand the theological principals of said the practices.  The purpose is to determine how the theory and practice of theology can be more fully aligned, changed or improved.  Like a parent the practical theology practitioner has a wide scope of resources – the tools of Practical Theology; a very specific set of needs – dynamics and demographics; and desired objectives within their ministry field.  As with parenting, paying close attention to the needs of a ministry field and applying suitable practical theological concepts can help provide the desired results for the collective or individual needs of a ministry field.  Recognizing that as a ministry / child grows our application / parenting - tactics and strategies may need to be adjusted, abandoned or may have the need for investigation into new practices as the context of life evolves. 

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