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Verbum et Ecclesia
versão On-line ISSN 2074-7705
versão impressa ISSN 1609-9982
Verbum Eccles. (Online) vol.35 no.2 Pretoria 2014
The narrative turn in practical theology: A discussion of Julian Müller's narrative approach
Jaco S. Dreyer
Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, South Africa
The importance of narrative for practical theology is today widely recognised, both nationally and internationally. There is, however, disagreement amongst practical theologians regarding the scope and role of narrative in practical theological methodology. The practical theologian Julian Müller made, and continues to make, an important contribution to the methodology of practical theology through his narrative approach. The aim of this article was to contribute to the ongoing methodological discussion about the scope and role of narrative approaches in practical theology. Müller's narrative approach was discussed against the backdrop of the narrative turn in the human and social sciences. It was concluded that Müller's narrative approach reveals some of the key tensions in practical theological methodology. His metaphorical narrative approach, as a representative of the poetic pole in the methodological debate, helps to guard practical theology from losing its transformative orientation and its vital connection with religious practice. Embracing a variety of approaches could help practical theologians to steer between the Scylla of a one-sidedly scientific practical theology and the Charybdis of the triumph of the immediacy of praxis.
It is a privilege to contribute to this 'Festschrift' for our colleague Julian Müller. He has contributed much to the field of practical theology in South Africa over the years as lecturer at the University of Pretoria (Büchner & Müller 2009), as editor of the journal Practical Theology in South Africa, as chairperson of the Society for Practical Theology in South Africa, as researcher and as supervisor of many master's and doctoral students.
In this article, I focus on one area of practical theological scholarship where Julian Müller made, and continues to make, an important contribution, namely the methodology of practical theology.1 It is in particular his narrative approach to practical theology and his work on postfoundationalism that stands out in this context. Although his ideas on postfoundationalism and narrative are closely related, I focus in this article specifically on his views regarding narrative and a practical theological methodology.
The importance of narrative for practical theology is widely recognised today, both nationally and internationally. The recently published Wiley-Blackwell companion to practical theology (Miller-McLemore 2012) includes, for example, a chapter by the Dutch practical theologian Ruard Ganzevoort (2012) on narrative approaches. He starts the chapter by referring to the importance of narrative for practical theology:
Although in some sense narrative approaches in practical theology have been developed only recently, one could claim that there is a long and intrinsic history of their relationship. Religious practices that form the core material for theological reflection in practical theology are often directly related to narratives. In one way or another human stories are connected with stories of and about God. (p. 214)
Most, if not all, practical theologians will agree with Ganzevoort that narratives and narrative approaches are important in practical theology. It is especially in the practical theological fields of pastoral care and counselling (narrative therapy), preaching (narrative preaching) and religious education2 that the work on narrative has gained prominence in recent years (Ganzevoort 2012:218-219). Hopewell (1987) also gave us an excellent example of the use of narrative in congregational settings in his book Congregation: Stories and structures.
Agreement regarding the importance of narrative for practical theology, however, does not mean that there is agreement on the meaning of narrative for the theory and practice of practical theology.3 In the words of Mauz (2009:281) we can say that the 'scope and locus of narration' in practical theology is much disputed. Practical theology is not alone in this regard. The use of the word 'narrative' has in recent years become so widespread, and its meaning so diffuse, that is very difficult to reach a common understanding. Lamarque (2004:394-395), in a discussion on the difficulty of defining narrative, says that this is further complicated by a 'three-way product-act-object ambiguity'. The word is used to refer to the product of narrative (i.e. the story told), the act of narration and the object (e.g. reading a narrative). The meaning of the construction 'narrative approach' is equally slippery. Moen (2006:2) writes that a narrative approach could be 'a frame of reference, a way of reflecting during the entire inquiry process, a research method, and a mode for representing the research study'. Even in narratology, the field that studies narrative as its object, it is hard to come to an agreement on a definition of narrative (Pier & Garcia Landa 2008).
In a recent article 'Practical Theology as part of the landscape of Social Sciences and Humanities - A transversal perspective', Müller (2013) makes a distinction that helps us to understand his narrative approach:
In my own approach to the discipline, I make the distinction between the narrative metaphor according to which I practice practical theology and narratology. The latter is based on the knowledge of narratives as a phenomenon and the ability to analyse and interpret the narratives. It therefore also works with stories, but is structuralistic and analytical in the analysis thereof. (p. 4)
It seems to me that Müller uses this distinction between narrative as metaphor and narratology to draw a clear line between his 'arts-based' approach to narrative (Müller 2012) and empirical-analytical approaches to the study of narrative. This distinction makes even more sense against the background of the various descriptions of his (evolving) narrative approach in the last decade. However, it also raises important questions regarding the scope and role of narrative in the methodology of practical theology. Is there a clear-cut distinction between a 'metaphorical' and a 'narratological' narrative approach in practical theology? What is meant by a metaphorical narrative approach? If narrative is only a metaphor, does that imply that stories are not to be studied, analysed and interpreted as narratives? What is Müller's understanding of narratology? Is a narratological approach necessarily structuralistic and, if so, is there no place in the methodology of practical theology to study and interpret narratives in an analytical and/or empirical way? Do practical theologians have to choose between these alternatives - either a 'metaphorical approach' or a 'narratological approach', or is there perhaps another approach to narrative in practical theological scholarship?
The conflicting positions regarding the scope and role of narrative in practical theological methodology4 establishes the research problem for this article. The aim of this article is to contribute to the ongoing methodological discussion (Dreyer 2010) about the scope and role of narrative in practical theology through a critical discussion of Julian Müller's narrative approach.
The article is structured as follows. In the next section I briefly describe Julian Müller's narrative practical theology. This 'narrative turn' in practical theology has to be seen against the broader background of the narrative turn in the humanities and social sciences. In the following section I thus give a brief overview of this narrative turn in the humanities and social sciences. Two main approaches to narrative in the human and social sciences, namely metaphorical and narratological, will be distinguished and discussed. Next we return to Müller's narrative approach and it will be argued that Müller's metaphorical approach to narrative is firmly rooted in the metaphorical family approach of the human and social sciences. The article ends with a discussion of the contribution of Müller's narrative approach to the methodology of practical theology.
Julian Müller's narrative approach
In order to understand Julian Müller's contribution to the methodological debate in South Africa, we have to go back to the practical theological methodology scene in the 1980s and 1990s. At that time, the buzzwords were 'action or operation science' and 'empirical approaches' to practical theology. It was a time of lively methodological debate. There was much excitement about the new practical theological approaches and the use of empirical research methods. By the end of the 1980s a methodology group had been established. During our monthly meetings at the University of South Africa (UNISA), which Julian Müller attended regularly, we enthusiastically discussed these new methodological developments.5 It was also a time when many practical theologians in South Africa embraced the model of 'intradisciplinarity' (Van der Ven 1993:101-112), according to which practical theologians have to do their own empirical research. Regarding research methods, the main debate at that stage was whether we should use quantitative or qualitative methods, or perhaps both.
The methodological debates in South Africa received an important stimulus in the second half of the 1990s, when questions were raised regarding the 'action scientific' approach to practical theology from Postmodernism, systems theory, eco-hermeneutics and so forth. It was during this time that a narrative approach appeared on the methodological scene. This approach, inspired by postmodern ideas, social constructionism, and later also postfoundationalism, challenged the dominant action theoretical approach to practical theology and many of the research conventions and practices associated with this approach. Julian Müller was one of the leading figures who put the idea of narrative firmly on our methodological table.6 As early as 1996, he had called for a practical narrative theology in his book Om tot verhaal te kom: Pastorale gesinsterapie, published in the series RGN-studies in praktiese teologie (Muller 2006). Over the past decade, he has revised and refined his ideas regarding a narrative approach to practical theology and has published or co-published (mostly with his postgraduate students) numerous articles in which he explains or illustrates his view of a 'narrative practical theology'.7
True to his emphasis on reflexivity, Müller always strives to be transparent regarding his philosophical commitments. He writes, for example: 'The philosophical framework is found in an integration of two paradigms, namely social-constructionism and postfoundationalism' (Müller 2003a:293). The implications of this combination of social-constructionism and postfoundationalism8 for his view of the world, knowledge and research methodology and also for his theology are discussed in many of his publications (Demasure & Müller 2006; Müller 2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c, 2011a, 2011b, 2012, 2013). They give the philosophical rationale for the choices regarding contextuality, local knowledge, seeing participants as co-researchers and so forth.
Müller was strongly influenced by the work of Freedman and Combs (Müller 2011b) and the narrative therapy movement, but he developed his own approach to narrative. A particular stimulus for this was his discovery of the work of Wentzel van Huyssteen, in particular his ideas on postfoundationalism and interdisciplinarity.9 These insights were creatively integrated into his narrative approach to practical theology. Many of his master's and doctoral students adopted this narrative approach in their dissertations and theses and some of them continue to do so as 'postdocs' and newly appointed lecturers in practical theology. His metaphorical approach to narrative thus played a very important role with regards to the narrative turn in practical theology both in South Africa and in the international context (Ganzevoort 2012:218).
What makes this approach to the methodology of practical theology so different from other approaches? Let me try to summarise some of the main ideas of Müller's narrative practical theology. Müller (2005:73) states that a narrative practical theology should be developed from a very specific and concrete 'moment of praxis' that is always local, embodied and situated. Practical theological knowledge is local knowledge, dealing with specific persons in their particular contexts. The formulation of a theory for praxis is seen as being too far removed from the real world. Hence, the task of the researcher is to assist the 'co-researchers' (research participants) to develop their own interpretations of their stories and to help them to create alternative (life-enhancing or 'preferred') stories. Müller (2005:74-76) is sceptical about a hermeneutical approach to practical theology owing to its inadequacy 'in situations where there is a continuous distortion of communication through the use of language', its 'lack of emphasis on the socially constructed nature of knowledge and knowledge-systems' and 'the seeming inadequacy of the hermeneutical approach to provide Practical Theology with real contextual outcomes'. Regarding this last point he continues: 'In spite of good theory, it seems to leave Practical Theology only with theoretical abstractions. The "theories for praxis" which are created, often remain distant from the real world' (Müller 2005:75-76).
With regard to research methodology, Müller (2005) developed a practical theological research process consisting of seven moments:
- Describe context.
- Listen to and describe in-context descriptions.
- Make, describe and develop interpretations of experiences in collaboration with co-researchers.
- Describe experiences in the light of traditions of interpretation.
- Reflect on the religious and spiritual aspects, especially on God's presence, as it is understood and experienced in a specific situation.
- Describe experience as thickened through interdisciplinary investigation.
- Develop alternative interpretations that point beyond the local community.
He also mentions specific methods that are to be used in each of these moments. This is clearly a very interesting and sophisticated research model. From a research methodological perspective one can ask questions about each of these seven moments. However, for the sake of my argument in this article, I would like to make two comments.10 Firstly, there is little reflection on the narrative aspect in this research model. There are some references (Müller 2005:83) to narrative in relation to social constructionism and postfoundationalism and methodology ('The team of researchers does empirical research, based on the narrative approach.'), but no reflection on what a narrative is, why it is used and so forth. The article (Müller 2005) ends with a few references to 'narrative' and 'story', but nothing more.11 Secondly, very little information is given on how the 'stories' are to be analysed and interpreted. Müller (2005) states that according to this research approach:
the researchers are not only interested in descriptions of experiences, but also and foremost in their (co-researchers') own interpretations. The researcher in this phase does not, in the first instance, look for data, but for meaning/ interpretation given by the co-researchers. (p. 84)
One of the methods to be used is interpretation conducted in 'constant feedback loops and in collaboration with "co-researchers"' (Müller 2005:84). How this is to be achieved is not discussed. Müller (2005) does mention that the development of an alternative interpretation:
will not happen on the basis of structured and rigid methods, through which stories are analysed and interpreted. It rather happens on the basis of a holistic understanding and as a social-constructionist process in which all the co-researchers are invited and engaged in the creation of new meaning. (p. 86)
How a holistic understanding could be achieved and how they will arrive at this 'new meaning' is not explained.
This newcomer on the methodological scene of the 1990s has, since those days, become very influential, at least in our South African context.12 In summary, we can say that Müller's narrative approach is characterised by strong ontological claims regarding the relation between narrative, identity and selfhood, a social constructionist epistemology and a rejection of conventional empirical research methods and procedures. The strong emphasis on narrative in his approach has to be seen in the context of the so-called narrative turn in the human and social sciences. In the next section we thus briefly reflect on this narrative turn in the human and social sciences.
The narrative turn in the human and social sciences
The idea of stories is of course not new. Stories have been with us since time immemorial. The French linguist, Roland Barthes (in Czarniawska 2004), famously said13:
The narratives of the world are numberless ... All classes, all human groups, have their narratives ... Caring nothing for the division between good and bad literature, narrative is international, transhistorical, transcultural: it is simply there, like life itself. (p. 1)
The study of narrative also has a long history.14 Biblical scholars made an important contribution through their study of biblical texts and helped to lay the foundations for textual interpretation and the literary study of narrative.15
It is, however, not the literary study of narrative that concerns us here. What is important is the sudden interest in narrative and narrative theory in the human and social sciences since the beginning of the 1980s.16 This 'narrative turn' is quite significant if we consider it against the backdrop of the Methodenstreit between the natural and human sciences.17 The idea of narrative became popular in a vast array of disciplines in the human and social sciences, professions such as counselling, law, medicine and also in popular discourse (Spector-Mersel 2010:204-205). The story of narrative is that it has moved from the margins to take centre stage in human and social scientific research!18 This spectacular rise of the use of narrative as a concept, method, approach or paradigm has become known as a narrative turn in the human and social sciences. In the words of Herman, Jahn and Ryan (2005), the editors of the Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory:
The past several decades have seen an explosion of interest in narrative, with this multifaceted object of inquiry becoming a central concern in a wide range of disciplinary fields and research contexts. The 'narrative turn', as it might be called, gained impetus from the development of structuralist theories of narrative in France in the mid to late 1960s ... (p. ix)
This interest in narrative is reflected in the growth of research and teaching activity focused on narrative, interdisciplinary book series, internationally recognised journals and the number of international conferences (Herman et al. 2005:ix-x; Terrell & Lyddon 1996:27-28). An analysis or overview of the different narrative approaches falls outside the scope of this article, but we can note that the field of 'narrative' today is complex, fragmented and in some cases highly specialised.19
The reception and integration of narrative in the human and social sciences is thus far from uniform. Narrative, as a 'travelling concept' (Hyvarinen 2006), has been appropriated in numerous ways in the disciplines and research traditions of the human and social sciences. Hyvarinen's (2006) distinction between 'two relatively independent families of narrative theory', namely a metaphorical family (typically found in the 'narrative-turn' literature) and a narratological family (a 'literal' or theoretical approach to narrative), is particularly helpful here. We briefly consider these two narrative families.
Hyvärinen (2006) maintains that the epistemological crisis in the human and social sciences was an important factor in the origin of the metaphorical family. Referring to the work of Ryan, he writes:
The acute epistemological crises in human and social sciences were an obvious reason for interest in these new metaphors: narratives and stories seemed to provide scholars with more complex and less objectivistic forms of knowing than the previous laws, experiments, and abstract theories ... (Hyvärinen 2006:22)
Although stories and narrative play a role in the metaphorical approach, narrative refers in this approach not in the first place to the use of stories as research material to be analysed and interpreted, but to the epistemological positioning of the researcher. This research is sensitive to power issues, especially the power of so-called academic knowledge and discourses (Foucault's knowledge and power), and rejects any 'big narratives' (Lyotard). The metaphorical family is thus closely associated with Postmodernism and deconstruction. The stories of the marginalised and oppressed have to be told and heard. The particular stories of the 'co-researchers' are more important than abstract theorising. A high premium is placed on the subjectivity of the co-researchers as the authors of their own life stories.
This epistemological positioning regarding narrative was combined with new developments regarding a narrative ontology. The works on narrative by renowned philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre (cf. Holquist 2011) and Paul Ricoeur (1984-1988) were chiefly important in this regard. Hyvarinen (2006) states that:
MacIntyre's remarkable contribution to the conceptual history of narrative resides almost entirely on the level of radicalizing the range of reference of narrative. Narratives became something to be lived out individually and collectively; became something attached to our very identities. (p. 26)
Paul Ricoeur's ideas regarding time, narrative and identity also provided an important philosophical base for the narrative turn (Demasure & Müller 2006). Narrative came to be seen as a condition for meaning-making and identity formation. The writings of scholars such as Bruner (1987) and Sarbin (1986) were very influential in the field of education and psychology and provided a further stimulus for the narrative turn in the human and social sciences. The work of Jerome Bruner in particular proved to be very influential in the development of the metaphorical family.20 His use of the metaphor 'life as narrative' (Bruner 1987) and his distinction between paradigmatic and narrative knowing linked the epistemological and ontological claims regarding narrative. This resulted in strong ontological claims regarding the relation between narrative, life and personal identity, such as that narrative constitutes reality (Bruner, in Tammi 2006:20). Researchers in the metaphorical family thus tend to see all of social reality as a narrative reality (Spector-Mersel 2010:211-212).
Despite the key role of the concept narrative in this new narrative paradigm in the human and social sciences, it is interesting to note that it remained a relatively undeveloped concept. Hyvärinen (2006) gives an interesting explanation in this regard. He maintains that the 'narrative-turn' proponents did not import the concept of narrative from literary theory but from its everyday use. The metaphor family, with the exception of Paul Ricoeur, is thus not really interested in the debates in literature theory about narrative and the criteria for narrative. Attention is paid to the content of narratives, but without taking the form of narratives seriously.21 This at least partly explains the relatively unsophisticated use of the term narrative in the narrative-turn literature:
Where then is the problem? Paradoxically, right in the middle of the new wave of narrative studies, the concept of narrative has remained principally un-theorized or under-theorized for a long time. Story has provided a new heuristic perspective on life, psychology, identity, and action, but oddly enough the narrative itself has been left in shadow, out of theoretical considerations. (Hyvärinen 2006:32)
In contrast to the firm emphasis on the ontological and epistemological assumptions of the metaphorical approach to narrative, little attention is given to research methodology. This seems to be a deliberate choice, as attention to research methods and data analysis strategies are seen as structuralist and remnants of a positivistic approach in which method was often seen as a 'royal road' to knowledge. The epistemological and ontological positioning of the metaphorical family thus leads to a very different view of the role of research and research methods, knowledge and the academy. The primary beneficiaries of research are the co-researchers and not the academic community. This reinforces the close link between Postmodernism and the 'narrative turn' in the human and social sciences.
The metaphorical approach to narrative was, however, not the only approach to narrative in the human and social sciences. The empirical research traditions in the social sciences in particular challenged the narrative as metaphor approach. In order to study narrative, it is important to conceptualise and operationalise the concept of narrative. This approach thus made specific use of narrative theory. Despite many variations, we can say that a key distinguishing feature of a 'narratological' approach, at least in the social sciences, is that narrative is seen as the object of research. In contrast to the metaphorical approach, this approach makes use of narrative theory in order to conceptualise and to operationalise narrative. Most followers of this approach will probably agree with the definition of narrative in the Routledge encyclopaedia of narrative theory, namely that narrative is 'a basic human strategy for coming to terms with time, process, and change' (Herman et al. 2005:ix).
The stories of research participants are typically collected via qualitative research methods such as interviewing. This does not imply that there is no difference between narrative research and other qualitative research strategies. Riessman (2008:12), for example, takes pains to explain why the focus on storytelling makes narrative research different from other interview-based qualitative research (except perhaps case studies). The focus is on exploring the life of an individual or group. This requires expertise in eliciting 'stories'. One technique that could be used to encourage the telling of story, especially regarding sensitive topics, is the use of a timeline (Guenette & Marshall 2009). The data in narrative research can be written documents (e.g. diaries), oral data (interview data) or even visual data. Regarding written documents one can distinguish between 'documented' narratives (e.g. autobiographies, reports) and those that are constructed through interviews. The techniques used for collecting or constructing the data 'are taken from the familiar toolbox of qualitative research (observation, interview, focus group, archival examination etc.), yet in employing them they focus on stories' (Spector-Mersel 2010:213).
The narrative analysis of data has also received much attention in the 'narratological' research tradition. Tohar et al. (2007) propose, for example, the use of five codes (hermeneutic, semic, symbolic, proairetic, cultural) from Roland Barthes' theory. Riessman (2008) discusses four strategies for narrative data analysis, namely thematic analysis, structural analysis, dialogic performance analysis and visual analysis, which seem promising in this regard. These analysis strategies are appropriate for different kinds of texts, for different types of questions, for keeping sequences of action in mind and for making conceptual inferences.
It is important to note that the distinction between metaphorical and narratological narrative approaches does not overlap with the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research on the research methodological level. Although quantitative research is clearly situated on the side of a narratological approach, many qualitative research projects in dominant and mainstream research are seen by exponents of the metaphorical approach as part of a narratological approach.
It is evident that the metaphorical and narratological approaches are embedded in different research traditions with different ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions.22 A big divide thus exists between the metaphorical and the narratological approaches. The 'relatively independent families of narrative theory' (Hyvärinen 2006:37) sometimes do 'border-crossings', but this seems to be quite rare. The narratological family does not really take note of developments in the narrative-turn literature,23 and vice versa.
In recent years, we see a growing uneasiness regarding the strong ontological claims about narrative in the metaphorical camp. Critics point out that metaphorical approaches generally only have a weak conceptualisation of the concept narrative and that it tends to over-interpret the narrative metaphor. Titles such as 'Against narrativity' (Strawson 2004), 'The limits of narrative: Provocations for the medical humanities' (Woods 2011),24 'On not expecting too much from narrative' (Lamarque 2004), 'Why narrative?' (Bamberg 2012) and 'Frankie, Johnny, Oprah and Me: The limits of narrative' (Sartwell 2006) are indicative of this reaction. The assumption that life is a narrative has been heavily criticised and some started to point out that narrative also has the potential to mislead.
The epistemological positioning (social constructivism or constructionism) of the metaphorical family has also not found much favour amongst empirical researchers in the social sciences. After all, the metaphorical family has its origins in a critique of the dominant (neo-)positivist approaches in the social sciences. The lack of methodological rigour and the disregard for academic conventions has further fuelled the scepticism. The critical response of Atkinson and Delamont (2006:169) to the use of narrative where generation of 'own narratives of experience under the rubric of autoethnography' is done without a 'commitment to an analytic stance', is an example of this scepticism. They see this as a 'celebratory stance' towards narratives that mirror the general culture of 'the interview society'. Their call for adopting an analytical stance is polemically formulated as follows: 'Despite its considerable popularity, however, we believe that the analysis of narrative needs to be "rescued" from many applications in contemporary social research' (Atkinson & Delamont 2006:164).
The narrative scene in the human and social sciences is thus inhabited by two distinct families: one focusing primarily on narrative as a particular approach to empirical research or as a research method that could help us to gain insight in human experience (i.e. narrative inquiry); the other using narrative primarily as a metaphor for the construction of the self and identity on an ontological level and as a different way of knowing on the epistemological level.
Müller's metaphorical approach: A discussion
This brief overview of the narrative turn in the human and social sciences helps us to understand the narrative turn in practical theology. It also helps us to see where Julian Müller's narrative approach fits into the different narrative approaches in the human and social sciences. It is clear that Müller's narrative approach is firmly rooted in the 'metaphorical' tradition in the human and social sciences. He agrees with the ontological assumptions regarding 'life as narrative' that are characteristic of the metaphorical family, he shares the postmodern epistemological positioning of the 'researcher' and the distrust of scientific knowledge and he is deeply distrustful of the role and place of 'research methods' regarding methodology.
Müller's narrative approach to practical theology has much to offer to a practical theological methodology. I just mention a few aspects that stand out for me. Firstly, it takes the research participants ('co-researchers') and their life-world seriously. It is a thoroughly human-centred and participatory approach. It thus seeks to do research with rather than for or on people. This approach stresses the importance of subjectivity, embodiment, context and the richness of experience. Secondly, it places a very high premium on ethical research practices. It is respectful of the research participants and on high alert regarding the abuse of power in research practices. Thirdly, it highlights the importance of praxis-based research and never loses sight of the practical aims of research. Its emancipatory concerns and its conscious choice to give a voice to marginalised groups and individuals are valuable contributions to a practical theological methodology. These are aspects that can easily disappear from the horizon in more conventional 'scientific', analytical and structuralistic approaches. Practical theologians working in the new bureaucratic research environments, such as the 'entrepreneurial university', can easily lose sight of the fact that practical theological research is not an end in itself. The pressure to 'publish or perish' and to conduct research for career advancement cannot be underestimated. Practical theologians also face the burden to constantly demonstrate their academic standing amongst peers who are keen to ridicule their 'practical' theologies.
The strengths of a metaphorical narrative approach should, however, not blind us to the many questions regarding its ontology, epistemology and methodology. Firstly, the strong ontological claim regarding 'life as narrative' is much disputed. The narrative metaphor certainly provides an important perspective on identity and personhood. However, identity issues cannot be reduced to narrative as critics of the narrative metaphor point out. It is perhaps more appropriate, as Ryan (2005:347) suggests, to distinguish between 'being a narrative' and 'possessing narrativity'. Narrative approaches that engage more specifically with narrative theory could provide important contributions in this regard.
Secondly, the epistemological positioning in the metaphorical (postmodern) approach raises new questions. Researchers following this paradigm tend to take the stories of research participants at face value. The question is whether stories do not also deceive and distort 'the truth'. Furthermore, the modernistic faith in rationality and 'the scientific method' is easily replaced by an equally one-sided faith in the autonomy of the person and a radical subjectivity. From a theological perspective this also raises questions regarding the relation between divine and human action (Root 2012:411-413). Is truth only to be found in the subject's story? Boer (2009:36-37), in response to a contribution of Müller (2009c) on a narrative approach to poverty, refers in this regard to the possibility of distorted interpretations and 'false' narratives. He maintains that human experience, in the form of narrative, is an important source of normativity for theology, but it constitutes only one of the discourses in our search for theological truth (Boer 2009:38-43). The stories of our 'co-researchers' cannot be the exclusive source of theological normativity and truth.
Thirdly, regarding methodology we noticed the reluctance to use conventional qualitative and quantitative research methods. The systematic analysis of narratives, as is typical of narrative inquiry, is quickly dismissed as structuralistic and generalisation and abstraction are seen as obstacles that diminish the subjectivity of the co-researchers. Analytical thinking and theorisation are seen as representative of a paradigmatic mode of knowing (Bolivar 2002:7-13) that put a narrative mode of knowing at risk. Müller's narrative approach thus raises important questions about our research practices.
Although this metaphorical approach to narrative has found much favour amongst practical theologians, especially amongst pastoral therapists, it has to be pointed out that this is not the only narrative approach in practical theology. The narrative approaches of some practical theologians are much closer to Hyvärinen's (2006) 'narratological family' than to the metaphorical family. The Dutch theologian Ruard Ganzevoort (1998, 2001; Ganzevoort & Bouwer 2007; Tromp & Ganzevoort 2009) provides some good examples of using narrative research, in particular biographical and life narrative research, in practical theology.25 The divide between the 'metaphorical' and 'narratological' families that Hyvärinen (2006) describes is thus also present in practical theology.
Müller's narrative approach is an example of an approach that favours concrete experience over generalisation, the local over the global, the particular over the abstract, 'lived experience' over 'high theory' (Graham 2012:198). The divide between those who favour the 'immediacy of praxis' and those who prefer a more 'systematized, analytical mode' (Graham 2012:198, with reference to Miller-McLemore) is an enduring and striking feature of practical theological discussions. This divide is also clearly evident in many of the chapters on method in the Wiley-Blackwell companion to practical theology (Miller-McLemore 2012). Schipani (2012:99) refers, for example, to the 'tension between particular reality and generalization' and Ganzevoort (2012:215) distinguishes between those who aim for 'general, objective, and absolute knowledge' and those who 'develop local, particular, and in a certain sense subjective understandings'. The division is perhaps most clearly visible in Walton's (2012) chapter on poetics, in which she discusses the importance of poetics, aesthetic reasoning, 'praxis-based theologies' and prophetic modes of reflection and states that 'recently there have been an increasing number of voices warning against an over-reliance upon epistemological traditions that focus our vision upon what can be conceptually objectified and reasonably analyzed ...' (Walton 2012:174). Her discussion on the poetics of church, practice and testimony strongly resonates with Müller's narrative practical theology.
Other practical theologians, in turn, warn against the dangers of privileging the 'immediacy of praxis' over the 'systematized, analytical mode' (Graham 2012:198). Schilderman (2012:130) reminds us that it is 'one thing to highlight the significance of experience for theology and quite another to draw scientific inferences from this insight'.26 Nieman (2012:136-137, 139) in similar fashion warns against 'an overly individualistic treatment of religious practices', 'the presentist and localist tendencies in practical theological scholarship' and 'methodological naïveté in its study of living human situations, one that relies too much on personal biases, hunches, and anecdotes'. Nieman (2012) concludes:
Critically testing our work by following disciplined procedures, triangulating the methods used, and rigorously questioning the results garners greater credibility and value for what we do, without pandering to a crude scietism or diverting from the transformative aims upheld by many practical theologians. (p. 139)
Is there a way forward?
The discussion of Müller's narrative approach thus reveals some of the key tensions in practical theological methodology. His metaphorical narrative approach, as a representative of the poetic pole in the methodological debate, helps to guard practical theology from losing its transformative orientation and its vital connection with religious practice. However, his preference for the 'immediacy of practice', his rejection of theory and his reluctance to use analytical procedures for data construction and analysis raise serious questions regarding the contribution of such a narrative approach to a 'full-grown theological discipline that is academically integrated in the scientific framework of the university' (Schilderman 2012:131).
How do we deal with these different paradigms and approaches in practical theology? Is there a way forward? In a previous article (Dreyer 2012), I discussed three different responses to intradisciplinary diversity, namely unitary, pluralist and dialogic pluralist. I argued that a dialogic pluralist response to intradisciplinary diversity implies that diversity is neither viewed as a stumbling block on the way to disciplinary integration (a unitary response), nor just passively accepted and tolerated (a pluralist response), but seen as an opportunity for 'productive intellectual dialogue' as Joas (2004:308) describes it. Such a dialogic pluralist approach to intradisciplinary diversity requires that we enter into a dialogue with other approaches, practices and discourses. This entails, I concluded, that we do not only need to respect the variety of approaches, but that we have to learn to listen to and learn from everyone who joins the conversation. Practical theologians could, by reaching across the divide of the 'metaphorical' and 'narratological' families, by truly listening to and learning from each other in a critical dialogue, learn to steer between the Scylla of an one-sidedly scientific practical theology and the Charybdis of the triumph of the immediacy of praxis. I am convinced that Müller, in the spirit of dialogical pluralism, will also affirm this.27
Competing interests
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
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Müller, J.C., 2011a, 'Postfoundational practical theology for a time of transition', HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 67(1), Art. #837, 5 pages, http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v67i1.837 [ Links ]
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Jaco Dreyer
PO Box 392
Pretoria 0003
South Africa
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Received: 18 June 2013
Accepted: 30 Aug. 2013
Published: 06 Aug. 2014
1. This contribution of Müller to the methodology of practical theology is specifically mentioned in the review by Buchner and Müller (2009:3) on the history of the Department of Practical Theology at the University of Pretoria: 'Since 2000, Müller expanded his narrative approach to pastoral therapy towards a research methodology for practical theology. More recently the concept of a postfundamental [sic] practical-theological methodology was also discussed in publications.'
2. See for example the recent publication by Reed et al. (2013).
3. Ganzevoort (2012:214) refers to different dimensions in narrative approaches that 'blend together and make it impossible to render a simple description of narrative approaches'.
4. The focus here is on the role and scope of narrative regarding the methodology of practical theology as an academic discipline and not in its use as a particular approach or practice (e.g. narrative therapy in pastoral care and counselling and narrative preaching in homiletics).
5. This was a time in which a number of methodological books in the field of practical theology were published.
6. Another key figure in this development was Dirk Kotze, who started the Institute for Therapeutic Development in the 1990s. Many students at the University of South Africa followed his courses and adopted a narrative therapy approach.
7. The importance of a narrative approach for practical theology in Müller's work is also mentioned in an article that tells the story of the development of the Department of Practical Theology (Büchner & Müller 2009): 'Since 2000, Müller expanded his narrative approach to pastoral therapy towards a research methodology for practical theology.'
8. 'In previous publications I have argued for the concept of a narrative Practical Theology, based on a social constructionist paradigm. The introduction of the concept of postfoundationlism [sic] to Practical Theology is no diversion from that position. It is the same line of thinking, but at the same time a very important enrichment. Postfoundationalist Practical Theology includes the ideas of social constructionism and the narrative approach, but provides us with the apparatus to better position ourselves within a theological world. It also helps us to better position ourselves against the relativistic tendencies in some approaches within social constructionism and the narrative approach (Müller 2005:80).
9. The role of postfoundationalism in Julian Müller's approach came more to the fore in his later work. He makes a very interesting combination between narrative and postfoundationalism. In a public lecture at the end of 2012 he refers to 'Postfoundational Practical Theology as Narrative Theology' (Müller 2012:9). In a recent article, 'Practical theology as part of the landscape of the social sciences and humanities - A transversal perspective' (Müller 2013), he refers to 'the narrative and postfoundational approach to practical theology'. Narrative and postfoundationalism are thus closely linked.
10. It is of course not possible to give a fair reflection of all the nuances in this approach, or to give a thorough evaluation of this approach in this article. There are many aspects of this narrative approach that we applaud. There is a real concern for people and their well-being. One of the core principles of this research approach is that it is not research on people or of people but with people.
11. 'This practical theological narrative is not only a paradigm-story, but also a method-story. It is an integrative narrative, which allows the practical theologian to participate with integrity in processes of both "story-telling" and "story-development"' (Müller 2003a:305).
12. Many postgraduate students in practical theology, having been trained in this narrative practical theology approach, use it for their master's or doctoral research.
13. Riessman (2008:5) warns that the concept of 'narrative' has become so popular that it has lost its specificity.
14. 'The beginnings of narrative analysis can well be placed in the hermeneutic studies of the Bible, Talmud and Koran' (Czarniawska 2004:1).
15. Many different traditions of the literary study of narrative developed over the years, with the Russian school, French structuralism and poststructuralism as some of the important schools in narratology.
16. Kreiswirth (2000) presents a very interesting overview of four different 'turns' that made the narrative turn possible.
17. The success of the natural sciences research, with its emphasis on quantification, objectification, et cetera has, for a long time, been the dominant model of scientific research in the humanities and social sciences. The early Chicago School of empirical theologians also emulated the model of the natural sciences and set out to discover laws regarding religion (Heimbrock 2007:134).
18. 'With surprising speed, the loosely defined field of narrative studies has moved from its early marginal status in the human sciences to a robust legitimacy' (Mishler, in Specter-Mersel 2010:205).
19. For example, the field of cognitive narratology (Herman 2009).
20. Hyvärinen (2006) gives a very interesting overview of the main authors and texts that sparked the metaphorical turn.
21. In most cases, the narrative-turn literature focuses more on the content of the stories, even to the point of illustrating naiveté as regards the narrative form (Hyvarinen 2006:37).
22. Ontology refers to beliefs about the nature of phenomena or reality, epistemology to beliefs about what might represent knowledge or evidence of this reality and methodology to all the choices regarding the research process such as research design, methods and techniques for the collection, construction and analysis of data, and the communication of research findings (Guba & Lincoln 1994).
23. Hyvärinen (2006:36) mentions the work of Hannah Arendt on narrative as an example.
24. Woods (2011) writes about the important role that narrative plays in medicine as a way to access subjective experiences of illness because of its therapeutic value. She mentions some problems regarding narrative: the lack of a clear definition of narrative and the relation between narratives, stories and events, the truth-value of narrative, narrative coherence as harmful phenomenon, overinflating what counts as narrative, the lack of distinguishing between different narrative forms and contexts and of accounting for different genres, overlooking the cultural and historical dimensions of narrative and the model of the self as an 'agentic, authentic, autonomous storyteller'.
25. It is therefore unsurprising that he presents a narrative model with six dimensions (structure, perspective, tone, role assignment, relational positioning and justification for an audience) that could be used 'to observe and analyze the narrative process' in the chapter on narrative approaches in practical theology in the section on methods in the influential Wiley-Blackwell companion to practical theology (Ganzevoort 2012:220-221).
26. 'Who vouches for the validity of empirical facts - the wholeheartedly involved participant of the professionally disengaged theorist?' (Schilderman 2012:126).
27. Müller (2013:4), in a similar spirit, writes: 'Different contexts and fields of research ask for different approaches. The result is a practical theological approach that does not look the same everywhere. Sometimes it is similar in nature and methodology to the quantitative and qualitative methodology of the social sciences. At other times, it is narrative in nature and more oriented towards the arts.'


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Disclosure: Maker's Mark paid for our travel and expenses to visit the distillery outside of Louisville, Ky.
We recently had the opportunities to spend a few days in Louisville. But it wasn't the mania surrounding the University of Kentucky-Iowa State game or the Southern hospitality that impressed us the most.
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WINGATE, N.C. – The Coker baseball team went 1-1 in a SAC double-header verse Wingate on Saturday (Feb. 8) at Ron Christopher Field.
The Cobras took game one of the day after Dustin Russell broke the 1-1 tie by hitting a single to the shortstop to drive in Ernie Kirkwood. Coker would then add a security run after Jarren Donato drove in T.J. Giczkowski on a fielders choice to make it 3-1 in the top of the eighth. The defense then took care of the rest by shutting out the Bulldogs for the remaining two innings.
Matt Prosser (2-0) would get the win after pitching a complete game. In nine innings, Prosser only allowed five hits, one run and struck out five batters.
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Ben Brown (1-1) would be charged with the loss after giving up five hits and six runs in 6.1 innings of work.
Coker will return home on Wednesday (Feb. 12) to host Claflin. The first pitch will be thrown at 2:00 p.m.


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The Eastern Star Chapter #379 is hosting a Spaghetti Supper fundraiser at Lafayette Elementary School, 401 Meador Drive, on Friday night, October 26, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. with all proceeds going toward the building fund for the Masonic Lodge #543 and Eastern Star.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 2nd flames lit up the sky as a ferocious fire engulfed the building at 122 Main Street that housed the Lafayette Laundry and Lafayette Masonic Lodge & Eastern Star. The laundry was completely destroyed and the Lodge was heavily damaged.
Disheartened, the members searched through the debris and salvaged what little they could. There was so much damage to the structure, that after looking at every available option they decided to rebuild the Lodge at another location. With some advice from experts, careful planning and land donated by the county, the building project is underway on Mag-a-Mor Drive, directly behind the Macon County Health Department on Highway 52 By Pass East. The Lodge members don't have enough insurance to completely cover the cost of rebuilding, so this spaghetti fundraiser is very important to the future of the Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star charitable organizations.
There is a lot of amazing history surrounding these two groups of dedicated men and women. The Lafayette Masonic Lodge was granted a charter in 1890 and they met in the building located at 114 Main Street. The current membership is 122, and in order to be a member you must be 21 years old, having a belief in a Supreme Being and of good moral character. A very interesting aspect of the Masonic Lodge that I didn't know myself, is the fact that anyone wanting to join will not be invited. They must come in of their own free will and asked a standing Mason for a petition.
The Lafayette Chapter #33 Order of the Eastern Star was originally organized in 1905 but lack of interest led to the organization dissolving. It was re-organized in 1939 and later renamed Chapter #379. The Eastern Star must have at least two Masons in the group to keep their charter. The current membership is 140.
These two organizations, whose focus is on charitable work, are very secretive in providing help to those in need and they graciously donate their time, money and effort. However, they do not publicize their actions.
The Masons and Eastern Star members would like to thank the Red Boiling Springs Masons for allowing them to use their facility for their regular meetings.
The projected completion date for the new Lafayette Lodge is spring of 2013. Everyone please remember to come out this Friday night and support the Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star Chapter.
They will also be serving salad, dessert and drinks. The price is $8.00 for adults and children 7 and young can eat for $5.00.


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Creativity is the Key to Hook Reluctant Readers
As a teacher who works with high school students that struggle with reading, there have been times in my classroom when I have felt disappointed with a lesson. However, lucky for me, I have found many valuable and successful strategies, by utilizing ReadWriteThink.org. One lesson I particularly like is Book Report Alternative: Hooking a Reader with a Book Cover by Cassandra Love, where she provides a creative alternative to the book report. Students are given the opportunity to exhibit their ability to comprehend, interpret, and appreciate text. I believe that we need to hook reluctant readers with the joys of reading by implementing creative strategies based on their interests. This lesson includes a very good list of questions that guide analysis, and I also made an interactive Venn Diagram so my students could move the qualities of the characters into the circles that are different and the qualities that are similar. This is just one of the many creative ReadWriteThink lessons I have implemented.
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My name is Missy and I am also a member of the Mom Bloggers Club. I have a blog,www.luxurybeautyproducts.blogspot.com and I also run the blog hop network.
I wanted to let you know that I am following you, and hoping when you get a chance you can follow me back. I also want to invite you to join my groups, The Blog Hop Network, Beauty Bloggers, and Children's businesses. Also, I would love to place a link to your site on my blog if you want to do the same with my blog on yours. Please let me know by sending me an email regarding this and it has been nice meeting you via the web.
Welcome ....I hope you enjoy it here!
My name is Amber and I run Dazzling Daily Deals a wonderful place to find great daily deals and freebies on everything from food, activities, health and beauty and everything inbetween. I'm a SAHM of 6 and I am alway looking for a way to make the income stretch a little further and find fun things for the family to do. Please come take a look and follow me on FB if you would like to keep up on all of the latest deals.
Welcome and have a great day!!!


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The following public and specialized transit service providers in South Dakota are listed in three categories: T1 Specialized or Client Transportation; T2 Public Transportation and T3 Transit Related Organizations.
T1 Specialized or Client Transportation agencies are agencies which do not provide transportation
services as their primary purpose. Provide transit service as a secondary or support function to
provide access for clients or users of their primary services.
T2 Public Transportation agencies are primary providers of transit services to the general public.
Interactive Transit Provider Map


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Today, while on a flight to Florida en route to give a FreeReading presentation, I spent some time going through emails and resources I bookmarked over the last few months. While doing so, I came across an email from my friend Cynthia recommending that I look at Steck-Vaughn's Professional Development Resources. Once I arrived at my hotel this evening, I took a look at the site and was quite impressed by the number of free and high quality research articles and classroom resources in the areas of phonics/phonological awareness, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency.
For example, take a look at:
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Readers Theater, found in the fluency section of the site)
- The story map chart (found in the comprehension resources)
- The Frayer Model worksheet (found in the vocabulary section of the site)
- The Amazing Alliteration worksheet (found in the phonological awareness resources)
This is definitely a resource to bookmark for use during summer school or next fall!
Signing off from Ft. Lauderdale, FL!


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Preserving the Past to Inspire the Future
The New England Osteopathic Heritage Center (NEOHC) is dedicated to preserving, promoting and providing access to the history of osteopathic medicine in New England. The center is an educational resource of archival material and museum displays offering dynamic programs. NEOHC programs aim to educate the public, and honor the osteopathic medical profession and the men and women who have served New England for more than 100 years.
NEOHC collections include letters, documents, photographs, artifacts, videos and publications documenting doctors, professional organizations and osteopathic hospitals in New England.
NEOHC is actively collecting and safeguarding items meaningful to the study of osteopathic medicine in New England.
Come see the new exhibit from the NEOHC collections located in Stella Maris. This exhibit explores the wide variety of artifacts, including medical equipment, yearbooks and drug kits held by the NEOHC.


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Is there a limit on how many items I can request online at one time?
Yes. You can have up to 15 items requested on your library card at any one time.
If you have a temporary library card, you may only request 2 items online until you pick up your permanent card.


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Dr. FitzRandolph is Associate Professor of Economics, and has been teaching economics to bright young minds at St. Lawrence since 1973, except for a three-year hiatus during which he served as Vice President for Student Affairs. He regularly teaches courses in Investments, and in American Economic History. His early research concentrated on financial intermediaries in the post bellum south and was published in the Journal of Economic History, while current research centers on the pioneers of American finance and investment banking during the period 1770 to 1820.
Dr. FitzRandolph has served on the St. Lawrence County Legislature for seventeen years where he currently chairs the Finance Committee. He frequently speaks to local groups on the financiers and entrepreneurs of 18th and 19th century New York.


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The GRAMMY Museum Goes Metal
(On April 11 the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, in conjunction with Revolver magazine, launched Golden Gods: The History Of Heavy Metal to coincide with the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Awards. The exhibit features rare artifacts from iconic metal bands as well as a variety of interactive exhibits and programs to illustrate the history and influence of the genre. The exhibit is on display through February 2013. For more information, visit www.grammymuseum.org.)
By Jamie Harvey
As you step onto the second floor of the GRAMMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles, you are greeted by one of metal's most iconic characters — Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie. He towers over you, disturbing and intimidating, the perfect beginning to an exhibit that tells the story of music's loudest genre: heavy metal.
Combining rare artifacts with interactive exhibits, Golden Gods: The History Of Heavy Metal educates, celebrates and assimilates visitors into the world of metal. One minute you're watching vintage MTV clips of Whitesnake, and the next you're reading the handwritten lyrics to Dio's "Holy Diver." Next you're gazing upon a row of posters featuring Slayer, Lamb Of God and Cannibal Corpse, and then you're confronted with a Gwar costume and guitar from Death's Chuck Schuldiner.
Did you know Motörhead hired a research company to conduct focus groups? Or that Pantera's Dimebag Darrell had a Kiss sticker on his guitar? How about that it's really hard to do Cookie Monster vocals without laughing? These are all things I learned while walking around the exhibit and trying out the Scream Booth.
Later that evening at the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Awards I spoke with several of the artists who contributed to the exhibit. Twisted Sister's Dee Snider mentioned how "excess was the norm back in the day," referencing the 500-pound cast iron Twisted Sister manhole cover featured on the album Come Out And Play — a literal piece of heavy metal history.
"'The money sucked' was usually the entry … or that I couldn't hear a thing," said Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister regarding his tour journal. Quiet Riot's Frankie Banali commented on the mask from the iconic Metal Health record. "That is one of the three masks from the Metal Health video," he said. "One was destroyed on the set, one went missing, and then the one in the [GRAMMY] Museum I've had since 1983." Machine Head's Robb Flynn spoke about one of his guitars that's on display in the Museum. "My 1997 [Gibson] Flying V that I used through 2008 — and it's thrashed, that thing's got vodka and beer on it — and one night I set it down by an amp the first time we played Helsinki and the whole back burned off." On the inclusion of a black cowboy hat from Ministry's Al Jourgensen, his wife lauded, "That hat's been more places than Johnny Cash. Al's the new man in black."
With a stack of Slayer's well-used Marshall amps at the exhibit's end becoming an unintentional ode to the recently passed Jim Marshall, the experience ends on a heavy note. Still, I walked away, even as a metalhead, with a deeper appreciation and respect for music's darkest and arguably most misunderstood genre.
(Texas-based Jamie Harvey is the rock community blogger for GRAMMY.com. She attended 112 shows in 2010. You can follow her musical adventures and concert recaps at http://www.hardrockchick.com/.)


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The Day 2 keynote at Google I/O was no match for yesterday's Android keynote (though it did have people skydiving again), but Google delivered when it came to Google Docs: At long last, Google Docs has offline editing. The update has been added to Google Docs as of today, but you'll need to take a few steps to enable it.
Offline mode in Google Docs is especially useful while traveling on an airplane or if you're in a cafe with no Internet connectivity. When you get back online, your changes will be synced to the cloud. One drawback, however, is that offline support isn't available to the full Google Docs suite. You'll be able to edit only documents offline. You can view spreadsheets, but you can't edit them. Presentations, drawings and other items from your Documents List won't be available while you're offline.
If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer, this next bit of news might be disappointing: Offline mode works only in the Chrome browser. It's a smart tactic by Google to get people to use Chrome, but it is a bit annoying if you don't regularly use the browser.
After setting up Chrome, you will need to allow offline access on your computer. If you're using the classic look, click the gear icon in the upper right-hand of your window. If you are using the new look, click the grey gear just above your document list. You'll see a new option in the drop-down menu that reads "Set up Docs offline (beta)."
After clicking on that option, you'll be taken to a separate window with an "Enable offline Docs" button. When you complete that step, you'll be asked to install the Google Drive Chrome web app (if you haven't already). You're taken directly to the Chrome Store where you can quickly download the Drive app. The app will show up alongside your other Chrome apps; click on it and you're back to your Documents List.
In the upper right corner, you'll see a notification informing you that your recently open documents and spreadsheets are being synchronized. Click "View offline Docs" from the gear menu, and you can see which documents are available to you offline. And that's it--you're ready to start working on Google Docs offline. The whole process takes about five minutes to set up if you already have Chrome installed on your PC.
Google Documents in offline mode worked well and felt stable once I had it set up. I was disappointed that you can't actually create documents offline; you can only edit them. Bizarrely, there's a button at the top of your offline documents window labeled "New Document," but clicking on it brings you to a page informing you "this document is not available offline." It seems like an oversight to include this non-functioning function, but this is a Google beta project after all. I hope that Google expands offline editing mode to spreadsheets and presentations in future updates as well.


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The Washington County fiscal court opted to change phone services on Friday, leaving AT&T for SouthEast Telephone.
With the change, the county is consolidating from four bills to one.
"There will be no change in numbers, no change in service," Washington County Judge-Executive John Settles said.
Lee Stevens and Chris Hill from SouthEast Telephone presented to the court on Friday at the regular scheduled meeting.
Stevens and Hill said they could guarantee savings of at least $250 a month for the county.
Springfield's annual Independence Day celebration will take place tonight in downtown Springfield. This year marks the 12th annual celebration for the city to honor members of the military and veterans, according to Nell Haydon, Springfield's Main Street Renaissance director.
A Washington County man was indicted in Marion County for his alleged role in the sexual abuse of a child.
Christopher Grigsby, 30, of Bardstown Road in Springfield, was indicted for first-degree rape (victim under 12, two counts), first-degree sodomy (victim under 12, four counts), first-degree sexual abuse (victim under 12) and incest (victim under 18, six counts).
The numbers aren't good in looking at the unemployment rate in Washington County, as well as others in the Lincoln Trail Area Development District.
The Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet released statistics this week showing that 99 counties in the state saw decreased unemployment numbers from May 2010 through May 2011. Washington County was not one of those counties.
A Washington County man was injured in a motorcycle accident near Loretto in Marion County Sunday morning.
According to a report from the Kentucky State Police, Charles Sagracy, 64, of Springfield, was riding a 2005 Kawasaki motorcycle about a mile west of Loretto at the junction of KY 527 and KY 52 at 12:09 a.m. Sunday. Sagracy was traveling north on KY 527 when he attempted to avoid another vehicle, the report said. He lost control of the motorcycle and came to rest in the road.
Some high-tech health care is coming to Washington County.
Air Methods, a Colorado-based company, will be locating at the Lebanon-Springfield Airport in July, and with the company will come the ability to transport patients in need of immediate medical care to surrounding hospitals much faster.
A group of local theatre students spent six days in New York City last week, and while in the Big Apple, they received star treatment.
Central Kentucky Community Theatre at the Opera House hosted its first ever 'Jeannie Awards' Gala on Monday, June 13. The evening began with dinner at Mordecai's on Main, and then the stars, presenters and theatre goers walked the red carpet to the Opera House.
When a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq takes his or her boots off, that soldier might be wearing a pair of Kentucky Proud socks from Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works in Springfield.
The small fiber mill, the only one in the state, turns soft fleece sheared from alpacas into the yarn to make its new outdoor Adventure Sock. In less than a month, nearly 1,500 pairs of Flaggy Meadow's rugged yet comfortable socks have been sent to American troops serving in the Middle East through a grassroots volunteer organization called the Alpaca Sock Brigade.
The Springfield city council presented the first reading of the 2011-12 budget on June 14 at the regular scheduled meeting. The proposed budget comes in at $2,163, 885
The upcoming proposed budget is $87,956 less than last fiscal year's proposed budget. Expenditures across the board were slashed to compensate for the smaller budget.
Mayor Dr. John W. Cecconi provided a written message to go with the first reading of the budget.
Copyright © 2019
The Springfield Sun is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Springfield, KY, and the surrounding area.


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Coffee Equipment: Breville's New Home Espresso Machine
High quality coffee at home is a challenge. Behind the everyday kvetches about counter space, low steam wand power, and coffee that "just doesn't taste good on my home machine" are a series of legitimate technological and consumer laments: shouldn't we really have something at least pretty good to make espresso on at home?
The Australian-born small appliance manufacturer Breville recently convened an assortment of New York coffee pros to show off their latest toy, which attempts to satisfy the answer to the above question. The new Breville BES900XL Dual Boiler espresso machine (here's to hoping for a catchier name) simply packs more power than most kitchen countertop espresso makers, using two separate boiling mechanisms (remember the catchy name?) to maintain temperature, pressure stability, and of course enough steam power to texture a super-decent cappuccino without even leaving the house.
We really hope it launches a new generation of less-expensive but high quality home espresso machines. Currently the home espresso market has a rather upsetting gap in quality between classics like Rancilio's Miss Silvia (around $700), Nuova Simonelli's Oscar (around $1,000) and, you know, if you're feeling fancy, you can always leap to the La Marzocco GS3 (a scant, cough, $6,500). Planning to enter the retail scene somewhere around $1,200, Breville hopes to throw as much commercial-grade technology as possible at the home game, emphasizing that the dual boiler technology—famously popularized by the commercial duty Synesso machines, also Australian—will be the ticket in leaping ahead of the competition.
Alongside the company's new Smart Grinder, a tabletop drip-to-espresso grinder commercially comparable to the Baratza Vario, the Dual Boiler machine took on some of the country's finest coffees—blends from Ecco Caffe, Stumptown and Counter Culture were in the hoppers—to surprisingly strong results. (Third Rail's Mike Jones produced an unusually good Hairbender macchiato for being in a hotel basement, while Deaton Pigot of Toby's Estate had no problem corralling the Dual Boiler's separately controlled steam wand into texturing a supply milky macchiato.)
The machine's concessions to current popular trends, like variable programmable preinfusion times (that's the initial soak of water through the espresso grounds before the high-powered "express" extraction, in non-geek terms) are matched by the real-world pressure and temperature stability to pull legit shots even in a noncommercial machine. And if you're not a supernerd—or as Breville's design team put it, a "highly engaged coffee consumer"—there are still plenty of civilized concessions to the home environment that add appeal to the machine's performance. From the quirky tamper-hanger magnet to a programmable wake-up-and-warm-up time, the BES900XL (focuses on earning your precious counter space. And it's meant to be easy to clean because—let's admit it—some of you home baristas aren't too fastidious, are you?
While Breville's hat in the ring will take some feet on the ground to be a contender for real-life, every-morning espresso, any entries into the competition for genuinely high quality home espresso machines are welcome. Here's to hoping one day the home espresso machine question will no longer be, "is it possible?" but instead, "how will it look next to my deep fryer?"


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thornewilliams on Family Tree Circles
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Hello, I am looking for any information on Benjaimin Franklin Rodgers b. 1853, married to Mattie Hughes (maiden) Rodgers...son Dan B. Rodgers was my maternal grandfather. Dan was raised at the Buckner's Children's Home in Dallas...
legend was B.F. Rodgers and Mattie huges Rodgers were killed in a wagon accident..don't know...1880 census has them both in Anderson, TX.might be Anderson County..esp. Palestine...with BF Rodgers Father's birthplace as Kentucky and his mother's birthplace as Indiana...
Any help, this has been a family mystery for decades...
Thank you,
Thorne Williams
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Alex Steffen's breadth of understanding, when it comes to transforming our world for sustainability, in Introductory Letter 0.3, is impressive. Speaking about Climate Destabilization, he says
To acknowledge that we are living in a world dangerously destabilized by our own way of life is something most Americans are not yet willing to do.
"Reality" as too many of us understand it is at odds with the facts and their implications.
This presents a cultural crisis, because most people have no other way of looking at what unfolds around them, having left behind our traditional ways of seeing when we went through industrialization. (And we have left the old ways behind, for the fundamental characteristic of those ways is their unity and holism; to be forced see through an industrial lens on the world is actually to never be able to look through traditional eyes again. This is a wound fundamentalisms of all sorts attempt to salve by re-insisting on the primacy of their traditions—an insistence that of course can only be made, only needs to be made, when those traditions are no longer unitary or all-encompassing, when they have lost their central claim to authority.)
And now, in the face of painful facts, we are losing the myths of industrialization in the same way, and being forced to step into a new world whose meaning is not at all clear to us. ... it's the kind of strain that rocks societies off their foundations.
At a planetary scale, the central ideas of the Industrial Era simply don't match reality.
- First and foremost, it is a place of limits, in which we must recognize that the planet is fundamentally singular, finite and balanced.... It is finite because what's here is all there is. We know this now, but we have not absorbed it yet. We have not yet begun to think in truly modern terms about our situation, which is this: We already have everything we will ever have, at least for the meaningfully imaginable future.
- Finally, this new reality is balanced. The systems on which humanity depends are themselves a web of interconnected systems, with complex relationships and non-intuitive processes of change. ... right now our grasp of those systems is still rudimentary and our ability to mimic them primitive.
The belief most divorced from reality is the one we believe most deeply: that we can meet every crisis created by industrialization with more of the same brute force industrialization.
We are exceeding the limits of the planet's systems, and that, in turn, is destabilizing the balance of earthly systems on which our very lives depend.
Every day, the rift between the world we must make and the world we have made yawns larger. Those just grasping the difference often experience a profound psychological dislocation, a sort of "planet shock."
We have no choice but to face the future together with a world full of planet-shocked people. Which means planetary thinking must be able to respond to the profound disorientation it creates—we need new ways to understand and reorient our political systems, our cultures as peoples, our natures as human beings.
Planetary thinking must mean not only to think new things, but to feel new ways.
How we build our cities and suburbs, how we manufacture and sell our goods, how we grow food and harvest resources, how we debate long-term problems, how we educate our children, how we structure our civic life, how we describe the destinations towards which humanity itself might be moving—all of the old ways of doing things are being washed away by a flood of new insights.
Which obliges us to come to know ourselves in new ways. ... we regularly work with aspects of ourselves we do not fully understand— through the arts, literature, spirituality, ritual, politics and all the intangible skills we have inherited and created. These human skills mean more to our task of survival, ultimately, than all the formidable science and technology at our disposal— indeed, it is the acknowledgement of ourselves as full, complex, mysterious beings whose systems often operate in ways that are still beyond quantification that I believe will bring science and technology into their full maturity.
... everything we understand about "how things are" needs to be tested against new realities. Many of our beliefs will need to be replaced with something new. We will not remain unchanged while everything around us changes.
Planetary thinking must mean not only to think new things, but to feel new ways. [emphasis mine]
Thinking in the future tense, in short, must be an extraordinarily rapid reinvention of our entire culture and our selves -- as profound as replacing pre-industrial perceptions of reality with an industrial "lens". This will be what we must do to survive. Reverting back to a primitive way of making sense won't work. Those of us who have evaded the salve of fundamentalism should be better equipped to imagine the way.
Views: 153
Ruth! Exactly what I want to read. Where did you find it and are there other authors? As you know, Ed Lindaman, president of Whitworth University, author of "Thinking in the Future Tense, who helped me profoundly with my Master's thesis, was a futurist and gave me a whole new way of thinking about my challenges and how to get through them. This author appears to be at a more mature level on this same line of thinking. He is pulling together climate crisis and destabilization and planetary thinking, things we were not even thinking about in 1979.
In my opinion, we are going through a very important shift, not only in climate, but in economics, politics and the role of religion in our political and economic life. Talk about CONVERGENCE!
What is it E.O. Wilson talked about? Consilience? Yes, the coming together of science and the humanities in ways that enriched both. We do live in interesting times!
Thanks Ruth.
Alex Steffen: The shareable future of cities
Green projects expand our access to things we want and need and reduce the use of cars. Perfect concept! Now, let me think, where do I start?
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Boos drowned out Sonny Bill Williams despite the code hopper technically claiming the biggest scalp in his fledgling boxing career in Brisbane on Friday night.
Former All Black Williams (6-0) somehow emerged a unanimous points winner in his WBA international heavyweight title fight with Francois Botha (48-9) despite appearing to have been trampled by the South African bruiser dubbed "the White Buffalo".
Botha, 44, showed all the experience that had led him to world title fights with boxing's who's who including the likes of Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
Yet despite battering Williams throughout their 12 round bout, Botha suffered the ninth loss in his 60 pro fights – much to the disgust of the packed Brisbane Entertainment Centre crowd.
Williams, 27, was almost booed out of the ring after officials somehow awarded the fight to the Sydney Roosters NRL star 97-91, 98-94 and 97-91.
Williams had threatened to give up the sport if he was knocked out by Botha.
But it appears Williams' boxing options are limited despite somehow emerging triumphant from his "victory" over the hard-hitting Botha.


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We've speculated about what could be in the Beatles limited edition Rock Band bundle, but now GameStop has detailed exactly what will come in the package. There are no images yet, but if you're on the company's e-mail list you should have already received the information. It may be $250, but it's sure sounding pretty swank so far.
I'll let GameStop tell the story itself: "We've just learned that the Limited Edition Premium Bundle will include The Beatles: Rock Band software; a H�fner Bass controller; The Beatles-inspired and Ludwig-branded Rock Band drums with classic pearl finish, a metal kick pedal and a vintage replica drumhead; plus a microphone with stand, as well as additional special content."
The microphone stand is great news; playing Rock Band with a mic stand so you can sing and play guitar is great fun. The bass controller is also a great addition, although we were hoping for a guitar and bass controller to be included for that price.
We're looking forward to seeing what all this will look like, but in the meantime, does this get you any closer to buying the bundle? I'm interested in your thoughts.