October 14, 2018
Dear APT Members,
Greetings there early days of fall. It is with gratitude that we, the APT Executive Committee, received your vote to serve you for the next two years, the 2018-2020 term. We are particularly concerned to support you in the three areas of research, teaching, and governance that was mentioned during our last meeting at the 2018 Biennial meeting. This letter will focus primarily on these areas, but first a word of appreciation for our 2018 Biennial meeting.
Kudos and sincere thanks to Joyce Ann Mercer, APT past president, for a fantastic 2018 Biennial Conference at Yale Divinity School, on the theme “Making Justice: Practical Theology, The Arts, and Transformation.” Music, theater, and the visual arts were engaged in provocative ways in plenaries, panels, performances, and paper sessions as well as tours to art galleries. We are especially excited that work is underway to publish the proceedings from the 2018 Biennial. The publication of peer reviewed papers from the 2018 Biennial is an excellent start to thinking about ways to advance current research of the APT membership.
In light of a focus on research, the APT Executive Committee wants to support the research efforts of the membership by utilizing our website to gain access to various resources that can advance the scholarship for our members. This will include the notification of various grants and fellowships available for our research as practical theologians.
In similar manner, we seek to support teaching among APT members through a relationship with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion as well as think strategically about other resources to support our teaching in the regions where we work. We are particularly proud of the 2018 Biennial pre-conference workshop “Using Theater of the Oppressed Methods in Teaching Practical Theology” that was supported by a grant from the Wabash Center. A follow-up with workshop participants is forthcoming this fall.
Lastly, as we move ahead to serve the APT membership we are concerned about governing the organization with optimal efficiency. While we continue to update responsibilities of the Executive Committee given the needs of the membership, we welcome recommendations and suggestions from you about ways we can optimize governance.
Given our focus on research, teaching, and governance as discussed above, please email your concerns, suggestions, and recommendations to Evelyn Parker at eparker@smu.edu
Early next year I will update you on the responses of the APT membership and plans for addressing the recommendations.
We look forward to seeing you in Denver at the AAR/SBL meeting November 17-20, 2018. The APT session is Saturday – 12:00 PM-3:00 PM
P17-111
Association of Practical Theology
Theme: Practical Theology and Futuristic Reclamations: Following Dale P. Andrews to the Leading Edges of Scholarship, Practice, and Activism
Sincerely,
Evelyn L. Parker
Evelyn L. Parker, PhD
President
Association of Practical Theology