New online resource features conversations among theologians, pastors and laypeople
by Paul Seebeck | Presbyterian News Service
So Jung Kim
LOUISVILLE — The Office of Theology & Worship invites Presbyterians to visit its Facebook page for Everyday God-talk with So Jung Kim, Associate for Theology.
In Everyday God-talk, Kim said she hopes to make theology and faith meaningful “for our everyday lives” by talking with prominent theologians about God “in everyday language and through everyday perspectives.”
In the first two installments of Everyday God-talk, Kim interviews Joerg Rieger, a distinguished professor of theology and founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
Kim describes Rieger as a radical but humble theologian who writes academic books about economic justice and the empire.
“But he is also an activist in his everyday life,” she said. “In our two episodes of Everyday God-talk he unpacks decades of academic rigor in language that is easy to follow but never shallow.”
Kim is excited about the conversation she had with Rieger because he didn’t talk about faith in theory. Rather, he applied the practices of his faith while working on issues of poverty, racism and community in Rieger’s home, Nashville, Tennessee.
Joerg Rieger
Because of his unique background — Rieger is a relatively recent immigrant to the U.S. from Western Europe — Kim believes this German Methodist theologian who is critical in his perspective about the U.S. as an empire will speak to many in the church.
According to Theology & Worship coordinator the Rev. Dr. Barry Ensign-George, Everyday God-talk offers a way to engage in the ways that faith shapes lives, drawn out through the conversations and shaped by host So Jung Kim.
“Her reflection questions help us consider in Joerg Rieger’s words, WIJD — ‘What is Jesus doing?’” Ensign-George said.
Ensign-George appreciates Rieger’s high regard for the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions. Sometimes, he said, it takes someone outside those traditions to enable those inside to see things more clearly.
“Rieger does this these first two episodes, helping us gather insight for our everyday lives,” said Ensign-George.
To download the first two Everyday God-talk conversations, click here.
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Categories: Christian Formation, Ecumenical & Interfaith
Tags: christian formation, everyday god-talk, joerg rieger, office of theology and worship, rev. dr. barry ensign-george, so jung kim, theology formation & evangelism, wud
Ministries: Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Theology and Worship, Interfaith Relations