Practising God's Hospitality: The Contribution of Letty M. Russell toward an Understanding of the Mission of the Church

Abstract

I maintain that Letty M. Russell provides a significant contribution toward our understanding of the mission of the Church. This dissertation is an exploration of the theology of Russell as a resource toward the development of a theology of the mission of the Church. It will draw out of Russell's theological writings her significant contribution to an understanding of the mission of the Church as: a spiral of theological engagement, fresh images of the Church, the paradigm of authority in community, and mission as practising. God's hospitality. The starting question for this study is: What is the contribution of Russell's work in understanding the mission of the Church? This study probes two subsequent questions: In what ways does Russell's contribution relate to the theological enterprise of mission? How would her contribution re-vision the Church? My choice of Letty M. Russell as a resource is not arbitrary given that she is a pioneer in feminist liberation theology. Through her writings, teaching, editing, and pastoral ministry Russell continues to have a prominent impact on the development of feminist theology in North America and globally for over thirty-five years.1 Russell, a feminist liberation theologian from a Reformed tradition, is currently the Professor of the Practice of Theology at the Yale University Divinity School, a position she has held for over twenty years. Prior to the position as Professor, she was a Christian educator who served as educator and pastor in East Harlem for twenty years, ordained by the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. She continues to be actively engaged in ecumenical dialogue on a worldwide scale. She has written extensively on ecclesiology and has developed her thought in dialogue with various disciplines and groups of people. Not only has Russell produced a large body of literature on a myriad of topics, but she has exhibited incredible theological vision. Her theological commitment is demonstrated both by her production of a large body of literature on a myriad of topics and by her practice of the Word in the world.2 Together with these reasons for studying Russell's understanding of the mission of the Church, I have been encouraged by her commitment to reflective theological scholarship along with active participation in academia and communities of faith, and the significance of this for the mission of the Church. Russell is engaged in scholarly feminist theology as well as “churchly” feminist theology.3 1See Margaret Farley and Serene Jones, eds., Liberating Eschatology: Essays in Honor of Letty M. Russell (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1999). 2See Letty M. Russell, Human Liberation in a Feminist Perspective (Philadelphia: The Westminster, Press, 1974); The Liberating Word. 3See M. Copeland, “Journeying to the Household of God,” in Liberating Eschatology, eds., Margaret Parley and Serene Jones, 28.