Gisela Matthiae

Gisela Matthiae (born August 22, 1959 in Geislingen an der Steige ) is a Protestant German theologian , theater educator and clown .

Life

Gisela Matthiae studied Protestant theology from 1978 to 1986 at the Universities of Tübingen , Rome ( Waldensian Faculty) and Hamburg . After graduating, Matthiae passed the first theological service examination. From 1986 to 1990 Matthiae worked as a vicar and pastor of the Evangelical Church of Württemberg . This was followed by postgraduate studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley from 1990 to 1991 . In July 1998 Gisela Matthiae became Clown God with her dissertation . Doctorate on a feminist deconstruction of the divine with Wolfgang Grünberg at the University of Hamburg. Frigga Haug provided impetus for the development of the empirical investigation .

Since 1994 Matthiae has been teaching as a lecturer at educational institutions such as the University of Hamburg, the Church University of Wuppertal / Bethel , the University of Freiburg , the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen . Her topics are images of God - images of people , names of God , body play performance, church services in a (post) feminist perspective, spirituality , collective memory work and religious socialization.

From August 1998 to July 2007, Matthiae was the director of studies and managing director at the women's studies and education center of the Evangelical Church in Gelnhausen . In her educational work she emphasized the interreligious and intercultural dialogue . At the same time, she taught feminist theology in the form of long-term advanced training and distance learning . From 2013 to 2014, Gisela Matthiae was a women's pastor of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, one of the two leaders of the Evangelical Women's Meeting Center in Frankfurt am Main .

Since August 2007 Gisela Matthiae has been working as a freelance theologian and clown (church clown). This includes appearances at the Evangelical Church Days since 1999, most recently in Bremen 2009 , Dresden 2011 and Hamburg 2013 . At the same time, she has been conducting long-term training courses on clowning in church and community and clown in old people's homes since 2007 . So far she has trained more than a hundred clowns.

Publications

Monographs

• Clown god. A feminist deconstruction of the divine. Dissertation University of Hamburg 1998. 2nd edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-017252-2 .
• Where there is faith, there is laughter. With clowning to the joy of faith. Kreuz, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-61176-6 .

Editing

• Women live religion. A handbook of empirical research methods. Together with Edith Franke and Regina Sommer. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Berlin / Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-17-016969-6 .
• The crack in the bowl. Artists and theologians in conversation. Together with Kirsten Beuth and Benita Joswig. Centaurus, Herbolzheim 2002, ISBN 3-8255-0380-1 .
• Feminist theology. Initiatives, churches, universities - a success story. Together with Renate Jost , Claudia Janssen , Antje Röckemann, Annette Mehlhorn . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-08032-1 .

Web links

• Homepage Gisela Matthiae (clown).
• Homepage Gisela Matthiae (church clowning).
• Gisela Matthiae: Because where there is faith, there is also laughter. Luther 2017.
• Gisela Matthiae: Humor in the Old Testament. Biblical Dictionary.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Pacific School of Religion.
2. ↑ Gisela Matthiae: Clown God. A feminist deconstruction of the divine. Dissertation University of Hamburg 1998. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1999, 2nd edition. 2001, p. 11.
3. ↑ Evangelical women's meeting center.