On Becoming Wise Together
Learning and Leading in the City
Author Maria Liu Wong ISBN 9780802879066 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date September 19, 2023 Size 140 x 216 mmTheological education is for whole communities, not just individuals.
Urban ministry reaches across the city’s socioeconomic, ethnic, generational, and faith boundaries. All should be able to gather at the table and find God’s peace. How can theological education in the city further this goal?
Maria Liu Wong addresses this question through the lens of her experience as a British-Chinese immigrant to Long Island, a missionary kid, a wife and mother, and the provost of City Seminary of New York. Using autoethnographic methodology, Liu Wong presents anecdotes and images from her life, with which she thinks broadly about how theological education functions in the city, both formally and informally. What she finds is that theological education is less about individuals accruing knowledge and more about communities growing in wisdom together—as a family, as friends, as colleagues, as coleaders. In these pages, seminary and university professors will find ways to learn with and from not just individual students, but the communities they comprise. Pastors and ministry leaders will find inspiration and encouragement in the ways our lives form our faith and future in the city.
“This series of books highlights voices that have traditionally been marginalized in the North American context. The beauty of this series is that it highlights the many voices and perspectives that provide a broad and robust theological education.”
“In her book, On Becoming Wise Together, Provost Maria Liu Wong invites readers to peek into an intimate theological journey of her everyday life. Liu Wong, who is Chinese, British, and American, portrays the richness of her lived experiences around the globe and positions herself as a cultural learner and friend. This autobiographical theological reflection narrates her familial ancestry and others she has met on her journey. As an educator, mother, and spouse, Maria embodies Urban ministry that is communal, innovative, and thus accessible. Pastors and educators will find the book refreshing.“
— Rev. Young Lee Hertig, PhD, executive director of Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity (ISAAC)
— Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief, Comment Magazine
— Heather Walton, professor of theology and creative practice, University of Glasgow
— Mai-Anh Le Tran, associate professor of religious education and practical theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
— Frank Yamada, executive director of The Association of Theological Schools
Maria Liu Wong (EdD, Teachers College, Columbia University) is provost of City Seminary of New York, and codirects a major national initiative there, Ministry in the City HUB. She is the coauthor of Stay in the City: How Christian Faith is Flourishing in an Urban World.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Waiting
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Learning
5. Leading
6. Becoming
For Further Thought
Notes