This stream of grants supports teacher-scholars as they do scholarly research that shows promise to serve worshiping communities by strengthening Christian public worship practices.
Teacher-scholars in many disciplines have a unique role to play in strengthening and nurturing the life of Christian worshiping communities. Teacher-scholars in many fields have
- access to sources of significant wisdom from many disciplines, cultures, and historical periods.
- deep understanding of historical, theological, and cultural contexts in which the church ministers.
- time, skills, and resources for artistic and musical engagement of all kinds.
- ability to integrate theological reflection and praxis, or orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
- natural points of integration as people who both reflect upon worship and personally engage in worship.
- ecumenical relationships and perspectives.
To serve worshiping communities well, teacher-scholars need
- reflect directly on the church as the particular subject of
and audience for their work. - plan strategically for how their unique personal expertise can shape and deepen congregational life.
- participate in conversations and collaborative networks with ministry leaders and others involved in congregational life.
- renew their vocation as teachers of and presiders in worship/liturgy.
The focus of the program is the public worship life of congregations, parishes, or other worshiping communities in USA and Canada. The scope of the program
- includes a broad range of practices: prayer, preaching, music, architecture, visual art or culture, media use, Lord’s Supper, baptism, links between public worship and pastoral care, social witness, evangelism
and mission. - might involve a broad range of types of worshiping communities: congregations, parishes, campus ministries or chapels, worshiping communities in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, camps, or military bases.
- might involve a broad range of disciplines. We invite proposals not only from traditional fields in theological education (Bible, theology, history, practical theology, ethics, preaching, pastoral care, missions, etc.), but also from across the spectrum of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences (history, economics, sociology, psychology, political science, music, drama, dance, art and architecture, and the sciences, such as urban geography, cross-cultural studies, disability studies, and so on).
- This might include a variety of angles of inquiry, including reflections on the economics of worship practices, insights from social or individual psychology on worship participation, sociological or anthropological insights on the cultural context of worship, history of or theological rationale for particular practices, models of leadership and accountability, implications of technology and social media, and so on.