"Valuing the Study of Religion" with Practical Theology

From Thomas A. Tweed’s Presidential Address, “Valuing the Study of Religion,” at the 2015 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting — much of which relates more or less directly to different ways of proceeding in practical theology today, inviting further conversation with and among practical theologians:
Below, I’ve excerpted a few sentences that seem relevant for–because of their questions to–some established ways of doing practical theology. I encourage APT members and friends to listen to the whole address, which I find thoughtful, clear, and fair–especially in the context of the rancor that these issues can evoke.
That said, I think Prof. Tweed might find, in some models of practical theology today, creative ways of working with the ‘theology’/’religious studies’ tension in the AAR.
Here is the excerpt:
“…If [AAR members] teach in a freestanding institution that trains religious leaders, they could focus on what a text has to say to one religious community, while de-emphasizing scholarship in university disciplines, including religious studies. Some might even propose–not me–that an ecclecial focus is possible for constructive reflection in a university divinity school or theological department. However, those who attend only, or primarily, to their own faith community have little hope of productive cross-disciplinary conversations […] Those who speak from and for faith communities have to be in conversation with academic colleagues and their standards of adjudication–of course always critically…”
Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University