The Challenge is in the Naming

This volume is built around a collection of previously published essays by the author over the course of thirty years, supplemented by current reflections and personal narratives that place these essays into a broader and engaging theological journey.

""A rich blending of personal, church, and academic narratives and contexts. . . . This interdisciplinary collection has the potential to become a pivotal resource for the next generation of Mennonite theologians, scholars, and pastors.""
--From the Foreword by Kimberly Penner and Susanne Guenther Loewen

""Theology . . . pays attention to how we name the Creator, the One beyond our naming . . . and how we name the 'other' in the context of relationship and dialogue . . . In addition, theological reflection includes intentionally naming ourselves, who we are, how we have experienced life within the web of intertwining relationships that have shaped us. Theology thus also names the world we live in, its complexity and its beauty, its joy and its pain.""
--From the Preface by Lydia Neufeld Harder

Lydia Neufeld Harder has been passionate about the church and its ministry throughout her life. She has expressed this in her commitment to theological scholarship as well as through various kinds of ministry in the congregation and broader church. She advocates for an ""embodied"" theology in which elements of one's identity such as social location, gender and sexuality, ethnic background and economic standing are acknowledged within the theological conversation. She directed the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC) from 1994-1999 and taught as an adjunct faculty member at Conrad Grebel University College (CGUC) and Toronto School of Theology (TST). Her other teaching experience includes a number of years of elementary school teaching as well as short term assignments in seminaries in Paraguay and Egypt as well as Elkhart, Indiana and Winnipeg, MB. Her area of teaching and research has been in biblical hermeneutics with a focus on feminist dialogue. More recently she has co-taught courses in the area of the church and its ministry with her husband Gary. She fully retired from teaching in 2013 but continues her interest in theology by participating in TMTC forums and the TMTC Women Scholars group. Lydia participated in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) International Peace Committee and was deeply involved in the theological dialogues between the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute and TMTC, visiting Iran two times. She has also been a board Member of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (eight years), a member of the Faith and Life Committee of Mennonite World Conference (2 years) and was on the editorial committee of the Believers Church Commentary Series (ten years).