Doing Evangelical Public Theology: The Gardener Approach as a Methodology

Abstract

Even though the subject of Public Theology is popular and widespread, it lacks a definite and authoritative methodology and so the search for a methodology continues. As a contribution to the search for a methodology for this relatively new brand of theology, this paper developed a theological model based on the gardener’s vocation. It argues that the work of a gardener represents a powerful metaphor for understanding the task of the public theologian because the two vocations are strikingly analogous in nature and scope. The Gardener Approach ensures that public theological discourses are not only biblically grounded but also contextually sensitive, politically engaging, practically oriented, and accessible to the public. The paper is organized in two sections. Using a comparative approach, the first section draws parallels between the tasks of the public theologian and the gardener. With the results of this step as a framework, the second section establishes five methodological steps for doing evangelical Public Theology based on the principles of gardening. The steps are: Preparing the socio-political soil (exploration phase); planting the theological seed (planting phase); maintaining the theological crop (maintenance phase); harvesting the theological fruit (harvesting phase) and distributing the theological fruit for consumption (distribution phase). The article contributes to the field of Public Theology by creatively and practically linking theology with agriculture in a way that emphasizes the centrality of Scripture in theological discourses and makes theologizing accessible to the ordinary researcher/reader without compromising academic standards. Keywords: The Gardener Approach, Public Theology, Socio-political soil, Systematic Theology, Practical Theology, Theological seed