Chapter 2 Approach: Holding a Conversation
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenGrey Repository UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW FACULTY OF ARTS SPEAKING OF FAITH AT WORK: TOWARDS A TRINITARIAN HERMENEUTIC by MARGARET JANE WHIPP Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Margaret Whipp 2008 ii ABSTRACT This thesis presents a theological exploration of the problems and potentialities of speaking about Christian faith in the context of working life. It is based on a qualitative investigation of the experience of Christians working in secular institutions. The argument is that the discursive interface between work and worship raises critical questions of identity, of power and of language which challenge the integrity of Christian discipleship. The practice of articulating faith- talk in the working context is analysed in the light of a trinitarian hermeneutic. The thesis addresses the practical theological question: How may a Christian speak adequately and appropriately of their faith at work? This question is explored through an integration of qualitative-representational analysis and theological-evaluative critique. An ethnographic method is developed, based on extended immersion in the field of secular work, and focused in a series of research conversations and reflective meetings. Analysed from the perspective of a Christian woman who has struggled and continues to struggle to forge an adequate and contextual articulation of faith in workplace settings, the problematic is described through the metaphor of ‘a life in two languages’. A faithful resolution of the problem is approached through the contextual discovery of three trinitarian practices: of engagement, fluency and communion. The thesis makes a contribution to academic knowledge in the practical theology of working life. By addressing the communicative dimension of working life, and exploring the experience of Christians in the workplace using the resources of cultural theory and discourse analysis, the thesis presents a contemporary and practical perspective on work. In a field which attracts a large volume of popular and motivational writing, the study contributes a sustained and critical reflection and offers a creative map for interpreting the challenge of Christian witness at work in the light of a trinitarian understanding of faithful practice. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go first to my supervisor, Heather Walton, whose quiet sparkle, gentle encouragement and timely criticism have done so much to make this an enjoyable, as well as a fruitful journey. I am enormously grateful to the innumerable friends and contacts, students and colleagues, who have shared their experiences with me, whether through formal interviews or incidental, but memorable, asides. Their interest and friendship has put heart into me, and colour into my thesis. I am also thankful to David Clark, Jim Francis, Margaret Halsey, John Mantle, Nick Parish, Mark Saunders, Peter Sinclair, Dermot Tredget, Susan van Beveren and Robert Warren for stimulating discussions along the way. Most of all I am indebted to Howard, my beloved, whose outstanding kindness has enabled every word. iv To Howard v CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................ii Acknowledgements..........................................................................iii Dedication.......................................................................................iv List of figures..................................................................................ix List of tables....................................................................................ix List of abbreviations.........................................................................x Bible references................................................................................x Part I: Engaging the Problem............................................................1 Chapter 1 Introduction: A Life in Two Languages...........................................3 1.1 Personal and professional context....................................................3 1.2 Practical agenda...............................................................................5 1.2.1 The research question...........................................................5 1.2.2 The scope of the research.....................................................6 1.2.3 A note about definitions.......................................................7 1.2.4 The aims of the research......................................................8 1.3 Academic context.............................................................................9 1.3.1 A study in practical theology...............................................9 1.3.2 A fresh slant on work.........................................................10 1.4 Towards a trinitarian hermeneutic.................................................11 1.5 Overview of the thesis....................................................................13 Chapter 2 Approach: Holding a Conversation................................................16 2.1 A strategic conversation.................................................................16 2.2 An inter-disciplinary conversation.................................................17 2.3 In my own voice.............................................................................19 2.4 Partners in conversation.................................................................20 2.4.1 An ethnographic project.....................................................21 2.4.2 Research conversations......................................................22 2.4.3 Other voices.......................................................................23 2.5 A conversation between data and theory.......................................25 2.5.1 Working with the literature…………………………........25 vi 2.5.2 Working with themes………………………………….....26 2.5.3 Critique of the conversational method...............................27 2.5.4 Continuation of the conversational method.......................29 2.6 Conversation in the work of practical theology.............................31 Part II: The Problem in Perspective...............................................33 Chapter 3 The Working Self: A Question of Identity.....................................35 3.1 The self at work..............................................................................35 3.2 A dissonant self?............................................................................37 3.3 A relational self……………………………………………..……39 3.3.1 A hybrid self……………………………………...………40 3.3.2 A hermeneutic self…………………………………….....42 3.3.3 A dialogical self………………………………………….44 3.4 A witnessing self………………………………………………....46 3.4.1 Faith-full questioning…………………………………….47 3.4.2 Soul-full presencing……………………………………...49 3.4.3 Hope-full embracing……………………………………..50 Chapter 4 The Economy of Secularism: A Question of Power…………......52 4.1 Naming the Powers……………………………………………....53 4.1.1 Case study: A secular university……………………........53 4.1.2 Case study: A secular profession…………………….......54 4.1.3 Sponsors of secularism in the contemporary workplace....55 4.2 Unmasking the Powers…………………………………………...58 4.2.1 The modern myth of secularization……………………....58 4.2.2 The outworkings of differentiation………………………59 4.2.3 The consequences of societalization…………………......64 4.2.4 The rewards of rationalization…………………………....68 4.3 Engaging the Powers……………………………………………..69 4.3.1 Practising discernment…………………………………...70 4.3.2 Practising dialogue……………………………………….71 Chapter 5 How Discourse Works: A Question of Language………………..73 5.1 The trouble with words…………………………………………..74 5.2 The power of discourse analysis…………………………………77 vii 5.3 Managing discourse: A critique……………………………….....79 5.4 The dream of a common language: A conversation………….......82 5.4.1 From Babel to Pentecost…………………………………83 5.4.2 Conversation-in-Trinity…………………………………..85 Part III: The Problem in Practice......................................................87 Chapter 6 Missionary Positions: The Practice of Engagement………..…….89 6.1 Engagement in practice: Context and models…………………....89 6.1.1 Situating the workplace context…………………….........89 6.1.2 Engaging a Niebuhrian approach…………………….......91 6.2 Three missionary positions at work………………………….......94 6.2.1 Implicit witness: Meet the worker priests……………......96 6.2.1.1 The implicit theme, and variations………….........96 6.2.1.2 Theological evaluation……………………….....104 6.2.2 Explicit witness: Or, getting God to work……………....106 6.2.2.1 The explicit theme, and variations……………...108 6.2.2.2 Theological evaluation………………………….115 6.2.3 Dialogical witness: Sitting on the fence?.........................117 6.2.3.1 The dialogical theme, and a variation…..............120 6.2.3.2 Theological evaluation……………………….....123 6.3 Engaging with power…………………………………………...124 Chapter 7 Speaking in Tongues: The Practice of Fluency…………………128 7.1 Case study: “Let me tell you my testimony”…………………...129 7.2 Faith-talk at work: Pragmatic problems………………………...134 7.2.1 Respecting power……………………………………….134 7.2.2 Respecting privacy……………………………………...141 7.2.3 Respecting propriety…………………………………....146 7.3 Case study: “What would the Vicar of Dibley say?”…………...150 7.4 Faith-talk at work: Poetic possibilities………………………….154 7.4.1 From monologue to dialogue…………………………...155 7.4.2 From rhetoric to poetry…………………………………159 7.4.3 Translating myself: Theological reflections.....................164 7.5 Faithfulness and