Theology At Play: The silliness and the seriousness of a playful God

A Conversation with Dr. Charles A. Gillespie, Sacred Heart University

An interactive crash course in the big ideas that underwrite the “theology of play” and invite us to rethink how to play—wholly and holy!—with scripture, liturgy, Christ, and even the Trinity. Learn why theologians at play confidently claim that if theology is boring, it just isn’t true.

ABOUT CHARLES:
Dr. Charles A. Gillespie teaches in the Department of Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University. His research and teaching investigate religion, the arts, and culture with a focus on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, critical philosophies of art and beauty, and theatre and performance studies. In 2019, he completed his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia with a dissertation entitled Drama Alone is Credible: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Interpretive Work of Theatre and Performance in Twentieth-Century Christian Thought. Charlie holds a B.A.H. in Humanities from Villanova University (2010) and a M.A.R. in Religion and Literature from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale University Divinity School (2013). He served as a catechist for Pope Francis’ visit to the Youth Congress of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015 and is a co-founder of the interdenominational liturgical drama troupe, Theatrum Sacrum. Charlie is working on his first book, God on Broadway. He lives in Norwalk, CT, with his spouse, Tara Powers.