Towards Friendship-Shaped Communities: A Practical Theology of Friendship. Anne-Marie Ellithorpe

trends. The systematic stage includes gaining a comprehensive understanding of ideals that have emerged from the normative task, ideals that are typically conveyed in narratives and metaphors.⁸⁰ Consideration is given to revisions in practice and understanding that may be provoked through the fusion of horizons.

While we may never entirely understand our own situation, that part of our situation of which we do have awareness may be described as a horizon. Systematic theology, according to Browning, is the fusion of horizons between the vision of reality implicit within contemporary practices and the vision of reality inherent within normative Christian texts.⁸¹ Browning’s contrast between two visions is helpful yet oversimplified. The horizon of the past has already impacted the present and thus impacted us. Texts of the past are already assimilated in various ways into contemporary understandings and practices; they have already had some impact on us as interpreters. We cannot understand the horizon of the past on its own terms, because we cannot leave ourselves behind.⁸²

Further, the fusion of horizons is an ongoing process. Our horizons are never static, but rather move due to changing conditions and provoke new questions to be asked.⁸³ Nor are present or historical horizons ever isolated. Old and new are continually “combining into something of living value”⁸⁴ in an ongoing process of fusion. Our present horizon is where understanding begins. In the to and fro of dialogical interactions between texts throughout this research, the fusion of horizons does not imply the giving up of one horizon for the sake of another.⁸⁵ Rather, horizons are brought together in a dialogical relationship through a dialectical process of give and take, question and answer, and seeking to understand the perspectives of others.⁸⁶ Within this research, the fusion of horizons through mutually critical dialogue takes place between theological sub-disciplines (including biblical, historical, and spiritual theology), as well as with non-theological disciplines.

      Chapter 6 explores themes of relationality, mutuality, and friendship in relation to doctrines of God and creation, and draws on functional and relational understandings of the imago Dei motif. Chapter 7 explores themes of mutuality, open friendship, and the human vocation in relation to pneumatology, Christology, and ecclesiology, highlighting ways in which theology may contribute to fostering an imagination that promotes friendship in its various forms. The relationship between friendship and love, and the formative potential of friendship, are explored within Chapter 8. Friendship is affirmed as a school of love, and thus also of hospitality, freedom, and wisdom. Spirit-shaped friendships and friendship-shaped communities have the potential to reflect the character of God, and to shape us in the way of God.

      Part IV: Practicing Friendship

The fourth and culminating sub-movement seeks to develop more fully informed practice. Integral to the practical theological enterprise is a “preferential option for practice.”⁸⁷ This move towards transformed action is described by Browning as strategic or fully practical theology, in which the theologian returns to the original issue with ideals that have become better understood in order to determine what additional light can be thrown on the issue and what deeper interpretations are now possible. The crucial test of clarified ideals and norms is their capacity to heal and nurture persons and groups within specific contexts.⁸⁸ The following questions are recommended for this movement: How do we understand the specific context in which we must act? What is ideal praxis within this context?⁸⁹ How do we “critically defend” the norms of such praxis?⁹⁰ What strategies should we use in this context?

Implicit within the final question is the issue of where people are currently at, and what first steps can be taken towards processes of transformation. Communication is a key focus. For those who see practical theology exclusively as application, this last question concerning means and strategies is thought to be the totality of practical theology. Yet strategic practical theology is broader than application, and includes public as well as ecclesial dimensions.⁹¹

      Rich practical thinking contributes to the life of the church, and to the common good in the broader community. Thus, a strategic practical theology of friendship is concerned with the praxis of friendship in the world, as well as within faith communities. To this end, the fourth phase of this research consists of a ninth chapter outlining ideal praxis, along with strategies for encouraging such praxis.

      Conclusion and Appendix

      The conclusion draws together the findings of the previous chapters in a summary of practices and understandings that contribute towards the development of a practical theology of friendship. An Appendix outlines the development of correlational methodology, identifying objections, challenges, and strengths of this approach to theological reflection.

      Notes

      1 1 See, for example, Māori Marsden, The Woven Universe: Selected Readings of Rev. Māori Marsden (Ōtaki, New Zealand: The Estate of Rev. Māori Marsden, 2003).

      2 2 Aotearoa is now often used as the Māori name for the entirety of New Zealand. Alternatively, Aotearoa refers to the North Island and Te Waipounamu to the South Island. Readers who are not familiar with te reo Māori (the Māori language) may wish to consult the online Māori dictionary for the pronunciation of Māori words: https://maoridictionary.co.nz. As a mark of respect, and for consistency, macrons have been added to Māori in older works.

      3 3 The Woolley family, from Somerset and Wiltshire, must have arrived during the 1840s also. Subsequently the Hunter family from Scotland arrived in the Port of Lyttelton on The Sir George Pollock in 1851. The Tindills arrived from Gravesend into Auckland in 1865 on The Ulcoats. The Marples arrived from Derbyshire into Nelson on Mataura in 1875. Margaret McMullen from Ireland arrived on The Ionic into Wellington in 1884 along with her mother; it is possible that Jean Baptiste Grondin from the Reunion Islands was a mariner on the same ship. James Brown arrived in 1860 from the United States on The Blue Jacket, apparently in search of gold. Thus far, I have not been able to ascertain when the Fawcett or Merriman families arrived from Yorkshire, Durham, and Ireland, nor when John Maindonald emigrated from Guernsey, his future daughter-in-law from Denmark, and George McDonald from parts currently unknown.

      4 4 Locations included: St. Michael’s Anglican Church and Marae, Te Papa-i-Oea (Palmerston North), with speakers including Sam Chapman, Muri Thompson, and Norman Tawhio; Ngā Tapuwae College Marae, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), two weeks in a supportive leadership role for a multicultural youth dance and drama team; Ōrongomai Marae, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta (Upper Hutt), with Monte and Linda Ohia; Koraunui Marae, Koraunui (Stokes Valley), with the school Kapahaka team; Hongoeka Marae, Porirua, bicultural education, with Dick Grace. It was also