Dr. T.T.J. Pleizier
Theo Pleizier joined the staff of Practices at the Protestant Theological University in Groningen as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology in September 2015.
Personal & Professional
From 2007-2015 I served the Protestant Church in the Netherlands as a parish minister in the congregations of Langerak and Dirksland. I was trained as a systematic theologian at MA-level and did my PhD in practical theology in the field of empirical homiletics, published as Religious Involvement in Hearing Sermons (2010).
The parish and the academy together symbolize the core of my theological method, the interaction between religious practices and theological theory. Faith is grounded in human lives, social practices, religious communities and cultural contexts. In my research I use Grounded Theory to explore the practice-theory relations in religious practices, mainly in the fields of homiletics and pastoral care.
The interest in the theory-practice relationship also guides my teaching and it provides ample opportunities to discuss and explore with students the areas of preaching and care in diverse contexts and from various theological perspectives.
Our family lives in the beautiful city of Groningen.
Teaching & Research
In my teaching I concentrate on the fields of preaching and pastoral care. They embody two primary phenomena in Christian ministry: speaking and listening. The biblical text, the Christian tradition, human lifes, and the current context are intertwined in these communicative-religious practices. Though they can never be mastered fully, preaching and pastoral care can be learned - theoretically and practically. In the areas of practical theology, preaching, and pastoral care I supervise students with their MA-theses to complete the MA-program.
Research expertise: sermon reception studies, empirical homiletics, Grounded Theory research methodology, pastoral care in congregational contexts, military chaplaincy studies.
