Theology and Poetry: A View from an Astonished Observer
with Rev. Dr. Harold J. Recinos
September 14, 2024
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CST
In-person at Brite Divinity School

Poets use words to show how facts of everyday life may be invested with meaning in order to inspire people to bring about social change for common good. Poetry provides theology with vast and rich materials that seek to explain, to interpret, to comfort, and to allow for ways of knowing truth not limited to rational ways of knowing. In this workshop, we will explore how poetry can teach us to call out various and different kinds of oppressions and visions of life, to quote T.S. Eliot, “at the still point of the turning world.” I imagine poetry to be graffiti on a public culture that, with imaginative language, aims to address the hope and the pulse of everyday life in overlooked places. We will explore various poems to find the intersection between poetry and theology and will learn techniques to help us develop our own ways of expressing ideas through poetry.

The Rev. Dr. Harold J. Recinos is Professor of Church & Society at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He received his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary, a D.Min. in parish ministry from New York Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology in 1993 from the American University in Washington, D.C. A cultural anthropologist, he specializes in ethnographic literature dealing with undocumented Central American migrants, especially Salvadorians. He has published numerous articles, chapters in collections, six major works in Latinx Theology, and nineteen collections of poetry. Recinos’ theological work includes Hear the Cry! A Latino Pastor Challenges the Church (Westminster John Knox Press, 1989), Jesus Weeps: Global Encounters on Our Doorstep (Abingdon Press, 1992), Who Comes in the Name of the Lord? Jesus At the Margins (Abingdon Press, 1997), Good News from the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006). Recently, several new collections of poetry were released including The Looking Glass: Far and Near (RP-Wipf and Stock, 2023), Tell Somebody (RP-Wipf and Stock 2023) and The Place Across the River (RP-Wipf and Stock, 2024).

Register at https://epay.tcu.edu/stalcup_seminar/