Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice

Description

Ethnography is a way to tap the deep undercurrents in a community through a process of gathering, analyzing, and sharing data. Fully revised and updated for this second edition, Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice has quickly become the go-to textbook for those in or training for ministry who want to discover how they can use ethnography to help them hear the stories of those to whom they minister. Setting forth the case for ethnography’s ability to galvanize aspirations and heal communal hurt, this book presents the helpful pastoral practice of ethnography in a clear, step-by-step manner and includes many compelling case studies of transformational leadership. Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice invites us to open our eyes, ears and hearts to those in our congregations.

Sujets

• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780334059981
• Langue: English

Extrait

Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice: An Introduction
Second Edition
Mary Clark Moschella






© Mary Clark Moschella 2023
This edition published in the UK in 2023 by SCM Press
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Published by The Pilgrim Press in the United States of America in 2008 First Edition and 2023 Second Edition
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The Author has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of this Work
“When Christmas Angels Tweet: Making Matters and Practical Theology in Researching Mission Online” by Steve Taylor. Used by permission.
“The Ecopolitics of Truth-Telling: An Ethnographic Case” by Ryan Juskus. Used by permission.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978 0 334 05996 7
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd




Contents
Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction
1 . Getting Started: Understanding Ethnography
2 . Religious Practice: Clarifying the Questions
3 . Research Design: Sketching Out a Path
4 . Caring for Relationships: The Ethics of Pastoral Research
5 . Keeping Track of Findings: Notes from the Field
6 . Ears to Hear: Pastoral Listening in the Field
7 . Organizing Data: Methods for Analysis
8 . Writing It Up: Composing the Story
9 . Sharing Results: Weaving a Theological Narrative
10 . Ethnography and Transformation
Appendix 1 : When Christmas Angels Tweet by Steve Taylor
Appendix 2 : The Ecopolitics of Truth-Telling by Ryan Juskus

Selected Bibliography




Preface to the Second Edition
I wrote the first version of this book in 2008 with this (im)modest claim: here is a way for religious leaders to harness the power of ethnographic research to transform a group’s common life and its purposeful work in the world. My thesis was, and to a large extent remains, that ethnography, when employed as a pastoral practice of listening, allows pastors, rabbis, and other religious leaders to hear a community’s shared stories, told in many voices and versions. By analyzing these stories and composing ethnographic accounts, such leaders can “read” the theology and values expressed and enacted in the everyday life of the group. I argued, further, that this form of disciplined listening and reading can create a shift in relationships within a congregation or group, so that the process of study (involving all phases of research and writing and sharing results back with the group) becomes itself a pastoral practice, rich with possibilities for increasing the group’s level of interpersonal trust, theological and sociopolitical engagement, and spiritual growth. Thus, pastoral ethnography can sow the seeds of spiritual and social transformation within the faith community and beyond.
In the almost fifteen years since the first edition of this book was published, I have been delighted to see its wide use in teaching in theological education programs in both the United States and other countries. At the same time, new streams of ethnographic and qualitative research have been developing both within the umbrella field of practical theology and in fields such as theological ethics and systematic theology, as well as in congregational studies. New articles, books, journals, book series, collegial networks, and websites devoted to this kind of work have sprung up. 1 Different methodologies for theologically grounded qualitative research have also been developing, such as participatory action research, autoethnography, and feminist research methods. 2 At the same time, the use of digital methods in ethnography has expanded, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. I offer this second edition in the hope that students learning the basics of pastoral ethnography will have a comprehensive and up-to-date grasp of the research field.
Changes for this second edition include a general sharpening of descriptions of key concepts and practices throughout the book, with added attention to digital and hybrid forms of ethnography. About half of the chapters have been significantly revised, while the basic structure of the research journey described here remains intact. Footnotes and the “for further reading” sections at the end of each chapter are updated to link readers to new developments in the field. Additionally, the appendices contain two scholars’ descriptions of their recent projects, explaining their research journeys in accessible language. These essays demonstrate some of the variety and scope of current theologically motivated ethnographic research projects.
For more than twenty years, I have had the privilege of teaching classes in pastoral ethnography, first at Wesley Theological Seminary and since 2010 at Yale Divinity School. In these classes, students have engaged in research projects of their own design and reported on eye-opening encounters within the congregations or agencies they serve. Students ask members of their faith communities straightforward questions about their religious practices, such as, “Why do you come to church?” and “What do you do there?” This type of research is tilted toward the concrete, material, cultural, and social dimensions of faith. In observing and listening, and in studying related historical documents, students gather broader views of the congregations, schools, or agencies that they serve. Student researchers look at issues of social and financial power, intercultural relationships, race, religious difference, gender, and sexual orientation, to name just a few. Through their research, students probe for values that lie beneath the level of cheerful or grudging compliance to official religious teachings, and probe dissent as well, eliciting new information and honest responses that often surprise and move them.
To my joy, some of this honest and deep sharing spills over into our classroom discussions. I am privileged to hear about lifechanging experiences and insights gleaned through students’ ethnographic endeavors. This sometimes sparks a kind of parallel process in the classroom, wherein students’ personal stories and vocational hopes and dreams, fears, and frustrations are spoken out loud. The classroom then becomes a community of trust, where rigorous analysis and searching questions are shared and met with mutual encouragement and engaging discussion. My hope is that scholars, pastors, rabbis, chaplains, and others using this book will also experience a kind of parallel process, in which the practice of honest dialogue and open sharing enlivens the experiences of teaching, learning, and collegial peer review.
It was my students who first convinced me of the necessity of writing this book. Students asked for a “roadmap,” a guide that brings together practical tools with pastoral theological reflection on the processes of conducting, writing, and sharing pastoral ethnography. 3 Because my students’ ethnographic projects have been so remarkable, I refer to many of them here with their authors’ permission. 4 These projects appear as case studies that exemplify the topics covered in each chapter, demonstrate a range of contexts for such study, and illustrate notable results.
The practice of pastoral ethnography can be invigorating because there are so many surprises involved in the research process. Where we thought there was unanimity, we find oppositional views. Where we thought people were tedious, we hear outrageous stories. Where we thought we understood a certain tradition or dynamic, we turn up new questions.
Ethnography can also be muddy and confusing for the pastoral researcher. In the face of this perplexity, it may be tempting to rush in and impose a unified theological vision or a structured business-model program upon the congregation, school, or agency. But research methods teach us to slow down and hang out for a while in the messiness, paying attention and suspending judgment as we begin to get our bearings. The research projects presented here show that it is worth the time it takes to listen to and to watch people as they perform their faith, trying to see what they are doing or saying through their actions and interactions.
This is not to suggest that social research will yield a unitary, fixed, or final picture of group life, a completed puzzle where all the pieces fit. People—and groups—are more complicated than that. Yet through ethnographic research, we can glimpse a kind of snapshot of group life. 5 It will represent only an oblique and partial view of the group, to be sure. There are limits to what anyone can see from a given place in a given time. 6
Nevertheless, this snapshot in time offers sufficient material to work with in order to begin to move into more honest engagement with the people we serve. “This is how it looks to me,” we say in our summary of the study. “Have I got that right?” And, “What am I missing?” For religious leaders, entering into the pastoral practice of seeing and being seen, hearing and being heard on this deeper level is unsettling at times. We might experience cognitive or emotional dissonance when a disagreement opens u