This paper explores the challenges of cultivating ecological engagement in the context of congregations and describes pedagogical strategies for cultivating transformational approaches to care for the Earth. Working with data from clergy taking part in an online program for education and support on climate and environmental issues, we imagine what…

This paper addresses the urgent reality of the environmental crisis, underscoring its irreversible nature and the critical need for transformative action. It explores the complex intersections of capitalism, consumer culture, and climate justice, highlighting the profound societal challenges these forces create. Through case studies of two…

This article seeks to engage the often-overlooked voices of mothers and daughters in the face of patriarchal dominance. Conversations between mothers and daughters are important spaces for the exploration of faith experiences and provide transformative power. Through these conversations, the practice of story-linking comes to life, enabling…

Nyambura Jane Njoroge is one of the most courageous, impeccable and emancipatory African theological voices who have engaged in the unceasing search for transforming theological education in Africa. This article takes an appreciative inquiry in engaging Njoroge as a lens to conceptualize what is seen as her main concern in ecumenical theological…

This article investigates a life education initiative from India, directed at children from primary to the end of secondary school. Over the course of the program, students learn to connect with their emotions and values, to understand that their lives are made of stories, and that they have a place in the larger community as agents of change.…

This essay offers a glimpse into what is possible when religious educators traverse the walls of the justice system and work with students-incarcerated to curate spaces of hope, grace, and transformation in prison. Herein I present both a dream and a challenge to the future of religious education to live into a life-saving mission to offer the…

Religious Education in Ireland over the past two decades has achieved a new status in the publicly funded schools at the secondary (high school) level. This has happened largely because it has become examinable and is now a subject like any other. In this process however, it has tended to become too much like other subjects sharing their…

That religious and theological education today largely neglects reading as a spiritual discipline is a profound pedagogical oversight. The fallout contributes to the bifurcation of intellectual and spiritual formation in education. While the dominant mode of reading in the academy is beholden to the Weberian solitary, detached, and disenchanted…

Service learning and short-term missions represent one of the many habits disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption imposed a break from routine that may also offer opportunities to push back on habits that hinder the flourishing of our students and our host communities. This article critically analyzes the practice of these trips to…

Interfaith dialogue can encourage learning between members of different religions. Facilitators of interfaith dialogue must support, encourage, and challenge participants to engage with others in dialogue on a difficult and sensitive topic. I present findings from a qualitative case study conducted with an interfaith dialogue group located in the…

The Loyola Institute for Ministry (LIM) developed a method of practical theology for ministry professionals and religious educators rooted in transformative learning theory to enable students to reflect more intentionally and theologically on their experiences in ministry. This study asks, by teaching students to engage in dialogue through…

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops created a curriculum for Catholic secondary schools that describes "what" adolescents should learn including the importance of developing a religious and moral identity, encounters through service, and a deeper understanding of interreligious dialogue. This study adds the "how" to the…

While there is hesitancy to talk about spirituality in public education, many educators are recognizing the need for an inclusive spirituality as a resource for teachers and students. This research-based article highlights how teachers of students with emotional disturbance experience the spiritual in the school setting and how they foster…

In this racially-charged time, religious educators are engaging in research that transgresses traditional (white) norms. Such research can not only dismantle white normativity through the subjects investigated; it can also be practiced in ways that are transgressive. This article uses a particular experience of ethnographic theological research in…

As Robin D'Angelo (2018) describes it, white normativity rests on the "definition of whites as the norm or standard for human, and people of color as a deviation from that norm." Consequently, going beyond white normativity is not a simple feat. Racism and normativity have been an entrenched part of many of cultures, societies, and…