This work models a creative exercise in ecclesiology based on a Latino/a practical theology of the Spirit, which designs theological discourse based on its encounter with the Spirit in human culture. Hence, it is a theology appreciative of and attentive to the multiple matrices and intersections of the Spirit with cultures. Garc'a-Johnson offeres an appreciative and critical analysis of the uses of culture among Latino/a theologians, followed by the proposal for a postmodern Spirit-friendly cultural paradigm based on the narratives of the cross and the Pentecost. He develops a practical theology for a Latino/a postmodern ecclesiology based on three native Latino/a theological concepts: mestizaje, accompaniment, and ma–ana eschatology. The resulting ecclesial construct-The Mestizo/a Community of Ma–ana-reflects a transforming ma–ana vision and models the visible cruciform community in which the transforming praxis and historical transcendence of the Christ-Spirit works from within. The work sets forth practical guidelines for implementation of the ecclesial construct in the urban context of devastated communities and offers suggestions for further development in Latino/a theology.

The new edition of the standard resource for those teaching or learning Latinoax theology Now in its second edition, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology remains the most up-to-date, fully ecumenical collection of scholarship in the field. Bringing together contributions by a diverse panel of established scholars and newer voices within various theological disciplines, this comprehensive volume challenges Western readings of Christianity and offers fresh insights into theological truth from varied cultural and ethnic perspectives. The Companion addresses a wide range of Latinoax contexts while highlighting the thought of female, male, and LGBTQ+ Latinoax scholars in theology, introducing readers to this significant movement. Each chapter provides the historical background of a particular topic, explores its treatment by Latinoax theologians, discusses the current state of the topic, and offers the unique perspective of internationally recognized authors. The revised second edition incorporates recent developments within Latinoax studies, featuring new and expanded chapters that reflect numerous traditions of thought, up-to-date sources and methodologies, diverse intra-Latinoax communities, and contemporary Latinoax theologies and theologians. This invaluable and unique companion: Provides a systematic account of the past, present, and future of Latinoax theology Features new essays by the most influential voices in the field, incorporating recent research from Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical scholars Addresses the Latinoax experience of alienation and marginalization Represents the wide range of ecclesial and theological traditions Discusses Latinoax in timely contexts such as politics, immigration, feminism, gender, queer theory, and social and economic justice Edited by one of the world’s leading Latino theologians, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for academic scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and instructors in universities and seminaries covering courses in theology, political thought, Latinoax studies, religion in the United States, and related topics.

"This handbook is organized by various themes with the study of U.S. Latina/x/o Christianities. Keeping in mind that the Oxford Handbooks are geared toward graduate students and professors, the organization and layout of this handbook provides a thorough examination of interlocking themes within the academic study of Latina/x/o Christian histories, sociologies, and anthropologies. These essays, taken individually and collectively, pay attention to both the diachronic (over time, historical) as well as the synchronic (contemporary). Moreover, the essays cover the major U.S. Latina/x/o ethnic groups as well as major Christian denominations and movements. Finally, essays in the handbook attend to important intersectional realities that include empire, migration, diaspora, hybridities, borderlands, and gender"--

Oscar García-Johnson explores a new grammar for the study of theology and mission in global Christianity, especially in Latin America. Moving to recover important elements in ancestral traditions of the Americas, he discerns pneumatological continuity between the pre-Columbian and post-Columbian communities. With an interdisciplinary, narrative approach, this work offers a constructive theology of mission for the church in global contexts.

Latino/a Theology The one-volume Companion to Latino/a Theology presents a systematic survey of the past, present and future of Latino/a theology, introducing readers to this significant US theological movement. Contributors to the Companion include many established scholars of the highest caliber, together with some new and exciting voices within the various theological disciplines. A mixture of Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical scholars, they discuss the publications and contributions of theologians who reflect from, and participate in, the faith and realities of US Latino/a communities. Providing unparalleled breadth and depth in the discussion of the key issues, each chapter begins with a summary of the theological publications and thought within Latino/a theology, and then proceeds to develop a constructive contribution on the topic. This invaluable and unique Companion, edited by one of the foremost Latino theologians currently working and writing in the field, is fully ecumenical, comprehensive, and wholly representative of the wide range of ecclesial and theological traditions. It will become both an important resource for scholars and an unparalleled introduction to the entire discipline.

Global theology represents one of the most important trends in theology today. What does it mean to do theology in a global context? How can Christian theology be understood as a conversation between different parts of the world and various streams of Christian history? This concise introduction explores the major issues involved in rethinking theology in light of the explosion of world Christianity. Combining the voices of a Western and a non-Western theologian, it integrates Western theological tradition with emerging global perspectives. This work will be of interest to theology and missiology students as well as church leaders and readers interested in the changing face of world Christianity.

Sharon E. Heaney describes how the life-giving interruption of Latin American poets, novelists, artists, and theologians changed her life in a conflict-ridden Northern Ireland. An outsider, in this study she provides an engagement with a stream of theology in the United States she takes to be exemplary. Latino/a/x theology is teología en conjunto (collaborative theology). It models ways to examine complicated and contested histories and identities, and it resists dominant assumptions about theological points of departure in favor of also valuing the everyday as locus theologicus. Identifying major themes and foundational thinkers, alongside more recent developments, Heaney offers an overview and invites readers to further reading, study, and formation. Modelling what it esteems, each chapter closes in conversation with a Latino/a/x leader in the church. The conclusion is written by practical theologian, Altagracia Pérez-Bullard. She affirms, this “is not just an intellectual exercise, . . . this engagement . . . is the practice of our lives as we journey with God and as we journey with one another. . . . It is an exciting journey. It changes us.”

In the Upper Amazon, mestizos are the Spanish-speaking descendants of Hispanic colonizers and the indigenous peoples of the jungle. Some mestizos have migrated to Amazon towns and cities, such as Iquitos and Pucallpa; most remain in small villages. They have retained features of a folk Catholicism and traditional Hispanic medicine, and have incorporated much of the religious tradition of the Amazon, especially its healing, sorcery, shamanism, and the use of potent plant hallucinogens, including ayahuasca. The result is a uniquely eclectic shamanist culture that continues to fascinate outsiders with its brilliant visionary art. Ayahuasca shamanism is now part of global culture. Once the terrain of anthropologists, it is now the subject of novels and spiritual memoirs, while ayahuasca shamans perform their healing rituals in Ontario and Wisconsin. Singing to the Plants sets forth just what this shamanism is about--what happens at an ayahuasca healing ceremony, how the apprentice shaman forms a spiritual relationship with the healing plant spirits, how sorcerers inflict the harm that the shaman heals, and the ways that plants are used in healing, love magic, and sorcery.

Becca Whitla uses liberationist, postcolonial, and decolonial methods to analyze hymns, congregational singing, and song-leading practices. By way of this analysis, Whitla shows how congregational singing can embody liberating liturgy and theology. Through a series of interwoven theoretical lenses and methodological tools—including coloniality, mimicry, epistemic disobedience, hybridity, border thinking, and ethnomusicology—the author examines and interrogates a range of factors in the musical sphere. From beloved Victorian hymns to infectious Latin American coritos; congregational singing to radical union choirs; Christian complicity in coloniality to Indigenous ways of knowing, the dynamic praxis-based stance of the book is rooted in the author’s lived experiences and commitments and engages with detailed examples from sacred music and both liturgical and practical theology. Drawing on what she calls a syncopated liberating praxis, the author affirms the intercultural promise of communities of faith as a locus theologicus and a place for the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit.

Motherhood provides a crucial place for exploring human life and its meaning. Within motherhood lies a deep tension between the pain, crisis, and association with death in motherhood and the joy, transformation, and life in motherhood. Few metaphors in Scripture (or in life) stand so firmly between life and death, love and loss, and joy and deep pain. After all, motherhood's meaning in part comes again and again at these crucial crossroads. Thus, motherhood has powerful implications for our biblical and theological understanding. Bringing together Jewish and ecumenical Christian scholars from North America, Oceania, and South America, this edited volume provides biblical and theological perspectives on understanding motherhood. The authors reflect upon a selection of biblical texts, systematic theologians, and Christian spiritual traditions to dialogue with the experience of maternity in its diverse manifestations. The purpose of the book is to provide essays that--through these biblical and theological lenses--engage the question of motherhood today, from the experience of pregnancy and birth, to raising children, to losing children and coping with grief. In this way, this volume helps to "make sense" of the complexity of motherhood.