Bridging the Gap: Connecting What You Learned in Seminary with What You Find in the Congregation

Integrating one's spirituality, knowledge, and practice is often a lifetime project. Yet many of us--if we accomplish it at all--do so in a haphazard manner. One might say that the process of sanctification aims toward a similar goal of wholeness. Giving people theological tools and ways to facilitate such integration is a worthy goal. Helping pastors, who often take the lead in facilitating other people's journeys, makes even more sense. For Charles Scalise integration is the goal: wisdom is the means; and authentic Christian practice of ministry is the result. He acknowledges various models exist to accomplish the task of integration, but each has necessary limits.

Theological models of integration currently in use today are the correlational, contextual, narrative, performance, and regulative models. In order to guide the pilgrim toward authentic Christian practices of ministry, Scalise argues for "wise eclecticism." The book enables the reader to explore possibilities for his/her own tailor-made approaches to ministry, balancing the strengths and weaknesses of various models rather than relying solely upon one type or no type. By using a tailor-made approach, the minister is more effective in addressing the ever-changing needs of his or her world.

The author's academic contribution lies in the fact that he takes the seminal work of practical theologians Don Browning and Donald Capps as well as pastoral theologian Charles Gerkin one step further. Scalise constructs an "overview of theological models specifically aimed toward the question of the relationship between the seminary classroom and ministry or toward the connections between constructive and pastoral theology." (Bonnie Miller-McLemore in Reader report).

2001 Charles J. Scalise is Associate Professor of Church History at Fuller Theological Seminary. Scalise has built his breadth of knowledge about theological education from his work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Belmont University, Union University, Lutheran Bible Institute of Seattle, and Fuller. He is a member of the Society for Pastoral Theology.