WBTS Menu

From the Sanctuary to the Street: Theological Education as Incarnational Practice

By Dayan Kennedy on January 26, 2026 | Updated January 26, 2026
From the Sanctuary to the Street: Theological Education as Incarnational Practice
A stunning paradox lies at the heart of Christian faith: The infinite, omnipotent God became flesh and dwelt among us. Yet, for centuries, theological education risked committing a heresy of abstraction—treating God as a concept to be systematized rather than a presence to be encountered in the broken body of Christ. The powerful shift happening today is the re-embodiment of theology. It is learning that moves from the sanctuary to the street. This means the curriculum is no longer confined to biblical languages, church history, and homiletics, though those remain essential. It is now woven with disciplines like: Trauma-informed pastoral care, learning to hold space for suffering without facile theology. Community organizing, understanding power dynamics to build justice, not just charity. Economic discipleship, reading scripture with the poor and interrogating systems of wealth. Ecological theology, seeing creation care as a first article of faith, not a political add-on. The classroom becomes a launching pad. Students learn Greek and then sit with a hospice patient, asking what "peace that passes understanding" (eirēnē) feels like at the edge of life. They study Christology and then serve at a refugee center, seeing the face of the displaced Christ. They parse Pauline theology and then advocate for restorative justice in local courts. This is integration. It answers the critical question: "So what?" It asserts that theology has no meaning unless it kneels in the dirt. The professor is not the sole source of wisdom; the community organizer, the hospice nurse, and the single parent in the church food pantry become co-teachers. The goal is to form leaders who don't just "know about God," but who know how to discern God in the grit and grace of everyday life. They are sent not as walking databases of dogma, but as reflective practitioners, skilled in the art of incarnation—of taking the learned word and letting it become flesh, again and again, in their particular context.

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!

Article Statistics
1
Likes
0
Comments
0
Shares
Recent Comments

No recent comments