Researching Practice in Mission and Ministry

This book proposes to bring together three elements for the benefit of those researching practice in ministry and mission:• how to design research that enables questions about practice to be answered in a theological framework.• how to address the methodological and epistemological issues that arise in relating empirical research to theology.• how to manage a piece of research as a project alongside other responsibilities.Students in PT mostly rely on research methods books written for social science students which tend to assume that the student is young and full-time. This book will act as a companion to student and supervisor needing to bring all three elements listed above together.

This is a warm, helpful and deeply practical book. Those already engaging in qualitative research as well as those just beginning their journey, will find much wisdom and guidance. An important contribution to a growing area for theological reflection., All those researching practice in ministry and mission, and all of us who supervise them, should be deeply grateful to Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce for this timely, clear, personal, and practical book which is indeed a ‘companion’. This is a book rooted in real-world research and in the real-world problems of research students contending with real-world time-management problems. But it is not just a pragmatic ‘cook-book’; it engages with the underlying issues raised by research in practical theology. I shall be recommending it without fail to all my Masters and doctoral students doing empirical research in practical theology– and to their supervisors., According to Cameron and Duce, research projects come in two types – perfect projects and finished projects. Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission is written to help research candidates plot a path to finish. It is an excellent companion guide for beginning or experienced practical theology researchers, those responsible for training and supervising them, and church leaders who read or consider the lessons learned from their research.

Helen Cameron is a Research Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology of which she was the founding Director. She is Head of Public Affairs for The Salvation Army. Catherine Duce is the Fieldworker of the Action Research: Church and Society project at Heythrop College and the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology.