Discovery theology: reflecting people by the Tay

Abstract

George Gammack’s paper emerges from the context of his ministry in the Whitfield area of Dundee. He describes a parish marked by significant levels of deprivation and seeks ways in which to forge a theology relevant to such an environment. As a key tool in this he employs a process of theological reflection, drawing lessons from the kind of encounters with people that characterise his parish work. Out of this, in the ‘City of Discovery’, he evolves what he calls ‘discovery theology’: a way of doing theology that is grounded in the incarnation and focussed on enabling church members to become people’s theologians. This is not a theology of abstract ideas but one that grows out of a ministry in a context where human need is great and material resources limited.