ABSTRACT This article examines Jill’s House – a Christian nonprofit organization that offers overnight respite for families with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities – as a contemporary example of the theological practice of providing rest. Drawing from our larger mixed-method study involving more than 200 parents participating in programs across several US locations, we highlight the profound and holistic impact of respite care on a family’s wellbeing. By exploring how rest is made tangible in the everyday care practices of Jill’s House, we address how this experience has reshaped the perspectives of service providers, prompting their renewed awareness of the universal need for respite. Through dialogue with families, our findings enrich understanding of respite as a vital, life-giving resource and underscore the critical role of churches in cultivating inclusive, compassionate spaces marked by access to God’s restorative rest.

ABSTRACT Using autoethnography, the authors (a Muslim woman and a Christian man) reflect on their co-creation of a podcast series, ‘Conversations in Practical Theology’, which they commenced in 2017. Locating the precipitating factors in their experiences of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT) conference that year, and their respective faith contexts of Islam and Christianity, they test Stephen Pattison’s 2020 proposal that practical theology is fundamentally a practice of conversation. They argue that through encountering one another (and themselves) in podcasting, it is the eclecticism and haphazardness of their intellectual engagement, crucially as representatives of no-one but themselves, that Pattison’s contention of the messiness of good practical theological conversation is upheld.

ABSTRACT This research investigates the interplay of witchcraft beliefs, epilepsy, poverty, stigma, and discrimination in Nigerian Yoruba Pentecostal communities. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 Yoruba Pentecostal leaders in southwestern Nigeria and engaging with scholarly works on religion, health, and disability in Africa, this study provides nuanced insights into the complex intersections of these topics. Highlighting the significant role of practical theology, the paper argues for its potential in fostering more inclusive communities. A key element of this article is that it illustrates how theological practices can cultivate respect and understanding for individuals with epilepsy and challenge prevailing cultural beliefs and medical misconceptions. Taking this approach is crucial to dismantling the stigmas and discrimination prevalent in these communities. A major outcome of the study is the recommendation of effective strategies to increase epilepsy awareness and foster empathy within Yoruba Pentecostal circles, promoting social inclusion and transforming attitudes towards health and disability in African religious contexts. Overall, this research contributes to the broader dialogue on religion, health, and social inclusion in Africa, emphasising the transformative power of practical theology in addressing critical social issues.

ABSTRACT Church decline is typically seen as a problem to be solved. Many denominations have developed strategies of renewal to address the problem of numerical decline. By paying attention to a particular church in numerical decline through a theological action research project, this paper asks whether there might be different narratives to be uncovered, and particular gifts that declining churches might offer; gifts such as quietness, presence, and welcome. While recognising some of the descriptive value of the typical narrative of decline, taking the example of the life-cycle of a church model, this study shows its diagnosis to be misplaced. It challenges the model’s assumptions around aging, time and hope, and by developing the conversation with the work of Andrew Root, Rowan Williams and John Swinton it shows how a declining church actually offers a different perspective on aging, time and on God’s action in the world. The paper concludes by suggesting that a church in numerical decline is not just a problem to be solved, but an invitation to pay attention to God in the present.