Theological Reflection for Mentored Practice
Below is a simple 5-step process that can be used as a general guide for
writing in your theological journal or responding to verbatim or case study. It
is to be expected that each occasion for reflection will take you in different
directions and lead to different questions.
Regina Coll, C.S.J. has simply called the process of theological reflection,
"Making Faith Connections." Making faith connections is what separates
ministry from mere activism.
1) Description
- What happened? What event, conversation, crisis, resolution, moment of
grace or insight happened in your setting or in your life? Be brief here,
only enough information to relay the essentials.
2) Personal Awareness
How did it feel to me when it happened? Did I have any bodily sensations?
Was I anxious or excited about it? Sad? Afraid? Energized? Upset? Why?
How did I respond? What did I do? What did I say? Why?
3) Religious Insight (Embedded Theology).
Your entry here will probably only include responses to one or two of
the following questions.
- Images: As I review the description, what images appear to me? Do any of
them refer to God and if so, which ones?
- What main issues or values seem to arise?
- Do any scripture stories or Biblical or theological images come to mind?
Do they affirm or challenge my perception of the event or my response to the
event? How?
- Do any Christian ethical issues come to the fore? Sexism, racism, power,
wealth, and class relations, moral issues.
- Where does God seem to be present (or absent) in this event? Where is evil
at work?
- Does this situation make me recall any similar situations in my life, or
from films, books, music, television programs, or conversations?
- How does this event lead me to think about God, Christ, the Spirit, the
church, human nature, sin, salvation, prayer, suffering, grace, and so on?
4) Theological Reflection: (Deliberative Theology)
Your reflection then would move in at most one or two of the following
possible directions. Primary theological sources are named in parentheses.
- Using the tools I am learning in seminary Bible classes I dig deeper into
the Scripture passage, story, or image that came to my mind. Does this study
confirm, deepen, enrich, or challenge my initial thinking? (Scripture,
Tradition)
- Recalling what I know about ethical thinking from my ethics courses, or
doing some additional reading in a specific area, do any of the insights
there confirm, deepen, enrich, or challenge my initial thinking? (Tradition)
- Using what I have learned from my courses in Christian history or
systematic theology, are there specific theologians that come to mind that
spoke about this? Any similar situations in the church in ages past? What
different positions have Christians taken on these issues? Different faith
traditions? (Tradition)
- What may science, psychology, family systems theory, pastoral care,
liturgics, philosophy, spirituality, etc. have to say about my experience?
(Tradition or Reason)
- Is there anything in your personal religious experience or the religious
experience of your church or tradition that can deepen your reflection?
(Experience)
- When I sit down and really think hard about this event and my response and
my initial religious insight, or after I have spent time in prayer about it,
or after I have shared it in conversation with another person, do I reach
any deeper insight? (Reason, Experience)
5) Pastoral Response, Concluding Thoughts
- What questions remain for me? What do I need to talk about to my mentor or
in MP class?
- What feelings remain raw or unprocessed?
- What thoughts still seem unsettled?
- Does my deliberative theology work make a difference in how I may act in a
similar situation in the future? How?
- What new form of ministry or way of being seems to want to emerge from
this process?
- What may I do differently in the future? Has my study and reflection
opened up new possibilities?
- What skills have I learned here?
C Guthrie 2/15/01