Listening As Religious Practice (Part One): Exploring Quantative Data From An Empirical Study Of The Cultural Habits Of Music Fans, Vaughan S. Roberts, Clive Marsh
Dec 2014
Listening As Religious Practice (Part One): Exploring Quantative Data From An Empirical Study Of The Cultural Habits Of Music Fans, Vaughan S. Roberts, Clive Marsh
Vaughan S Roberts
This article explores and reflects upon the role that music consumption may be playing in the flexible field of cultural expression, identity formation, and meaning-making activity in the West, as overt commitment to organised religion continues to decline and prove fragile. Using quantitative data from a 2009–2010 study of 231 music users, the authors locate and analyse the respondents’ declarations about their listening practices in relation to their other socio-cultural habits and life commitments. The article explores the genres and themes of music listened to, the means by which the music is accessed, the frequency of listening, and the scale …
Review Of 'The Lyre Of Orpheus' By Christopher Partridge, Vaughan S. Roberts
Dec 2014
Review Of 'The Lyre Of Orpheus' By Christopher Partridge, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
A review of 'The Lyre of Orpheus: Popular Music, the Sacred, and the Profane' (Oxford University Press, 2014) published in the Anglican Theological Review
Review Of Leadership & Oversight By Malcolm Grundy And Managing By Henry Mintzberg, Vaughan S. Roberts
Jun 2012
Review Of Leadership & Oversight By Malcolm Grundy And Managing By Henry Mintzberg, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
The full review of Grundy's Leadership & Oversight and Mintzberg's Management of which an edited version appeared in Third Way magazine
Soundtracks Of Acrobatic Selves: Fansite Religion In The Reception And Use Of The Music Of U2, Vaughan S. Roberts, Clive Marsh
Sep 2011
Soundtracks Of Acrobatic Selves: Fansite Religion In The Reception And Use Of The Music Of U2, Vaughan S. Roberts, Clive Marsh
Vaughan S Roberts
This article addresses the question of how responses to the arts and popular culture, as mediated through on-line fan activity, may contribute to the development of religious/spiritual exploration in contemporary Western societies. It offers a critical reading of 40 short essays posted by fans of the rock band U2 on a fan site from the perspective of how respondents expose their personal, critical reflections on their developing selves. The function of the U2 songs reflected upon, the listeners’ responses, the strategies/processes used, and the resources upon which they draw in the task of reflection are noted and examined. The article …
A Sacramental Viewing Of 'Atonement': The Movie, Vaughan S. Roberts
May 2008
A Sacramental Viewing Of 'Atonement': The Movie, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
The movie version of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, raises interesting questions about implicit sacraments in films. This presentation explores how the film of Atonement develops and introduces Christian themes into the storyline and the way in which this might reflect more widely upon the place of Christianity in a secular world. A version was written up for the journal Implicit Religion and can be found here https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/IR/article/view/6300
Hearts Go Walking: Conversations Between Poetry, Prayer And Theology, Vaughan S. Roberts
Sep 2007
Hearts Go Walking: Conversations Between Poetry, Prayer And Theology, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
There are many potential connections between poetry, prayer and theology. This presentation briefly explores each subject in turn before looking at how they might converse with each other through various poems under the headings of: (a) prayer in the world; (b) prayer as lover; (c) prayer as apophatic encounter; and (d) prayer as divine meeting.
A Body Of Consensus: The Church As Embodied Organization, Vaughan S. Roberts
Dec 1999
A Body Of Consensus: The Church As Embodied Organization, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
This chapter examines how thinking about the nature of embodiment might inform an understanding of how this metaphor is used to describe the Church. It begins by looking at two important metaphorical uses of the body in the New Testament (the Last Supper and the Church as the Body of Christ) and then employs ideas from the writings of Mark Johnson, John O’Neil, Philip A. Mellor and Chris Shilling to see how they could inform theological notions of embodied unity, diversity, contingency and dialectic. It concludes by arguing that the Church is an embodiment of consensus and conflict.
Theology For The Beach, Vaughan S. Roberts
Jun 1998
Theology For The Beach, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
Arising from my paper ‘The Sea of Faith: After Dover Beach’ (1997) this presentation to an annual conference of naval chaplains explores how water and sea might function as organizational metaphors for chaplaincy ministry. A fully revised version was published as ‘Water as an implicit metaphor for organizational change within the Church’ (2002) in the journal Implicit Religion and can be found here: https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/IR/article/view/2946/
The Beginning And End Of The Church, Vaughan S. Roberts
Jun 1997
The Beginning And End Of The Church, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
This paper brings together some organizational insights from within the Church (Carl Dudley’s ideas on rigorous and relational faith) and from outside the Church (Nils Brunsson’s thinking on action and political groupings) to explore how these might inform an understanding of the Church’s telos or purpose. It concludes by arguing that Alasdair MacIntyre’s notion of universities as places of constrained disagreement might also be a good model for this telos.
The Sea Of Faith: After Dover Beach?, Vaughan S. Roberts
Jun 1997
The Sea Of Faith: After Dover Beach?, Vaughan S. Roberts
Vaughan S Roberts
The metaphor of ‘the sea of faith’ comes from Matthew Arnold’s poem Dover Beach (1867) and has been explored subsequently by a number of theologians, notably Don Cupitt in his BBC TV series of the same name and the Sea of Faith Network founded to explore his ideas. This paper explores how the image of the sea functions in Arnold’s poem and his The Forsaken Merman before arguing that R. S. Thomas’s use of the sea in his poem Tidal provides a better theological metaphor than Arnold’s.
