By Matt Willingham
“My hands were sweaty, I was so nervous, but I had these friends over for a sleepover and knew I needed to evangelize them.”
Peacemaker and pastor, Nicole Wriedt, is reflecting on a moment when her theology began to shift. After attending an evangelism conference for teens, Nicole went home with a list of friends she wanted to convert.
“After sharing with one friend, I remember it all feeling so weird and out of place. We never talked about it again and are still friends, but I wonder how she felt afterward. I began to realize that a salvation focused on the afterlife isn’t good news to people suffering now. My hyper individualized, cerebral faith rooted in right doctrine just wasn’t enough anymore, so I began a theological shift toward something more local, more physical, more here-and-now, and more fully ‘embodied.’”
You may have heard this phrase, ‘embodiment theology.’ For many like Nicole, this is a shift away from a theology of ‘someday’ and ‘somewhere’ to right here, right now, in God’s good world all around us.
At the church where Nicole co-pastors, this looks deceptively simple and practical as the beloved community gathers around tables, exercising muscles of listening and caring for people and their stories. It’s about noticing power dynamics and who has access to resources, who doesn’t, and why. It’s about learning the story of the land where you currently reside—its history, the people who lived there before, and the ecosystem that sustains it.
As Nicole looks back at that sleepover, it’s clear her theology was mostly ‘head-focused.’ Theology was about what she believed, and so she worked to make sure people believed and thought the right things. The beautiful shift of embodied theology is not away from the head but toward everything else. What does a theology of the hands, heart, feet, and every other part of us look like?
For Nicole and the faith community she co-leads, it looks like a life transformed. No more lists of people to convert, but many, many lists of people to love, see, hear, and learn from—on their terms.
Friends, this is a theology that can truly be called Good News!
Third-generation German American, Nicole Wriedt (she/her/we) grew up in the suburbs of Wisconsin in an offshoot of the largest evangelical church in the state. Church was her second home. Joining the swell of those pursuing a decolonized faith, Nicole considers her deepest liberation to be that of experiencing Jesus in the lives of Muslims, formerly incarcerated individuals, and the LGBTQ+ community. Nicole holds an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and co-pastors Table San Diego, a faith community in Southeast San Diego.