A Postmodern Theology of Ritual Action? An Exploration of Foot Washing Among the Original Free Will Baptist Communit

This work of practical theology explores the meanings of ritual action through a postmodern lens of hermeneutics and deconstruction. This work attempts to demonstrate that meaning is already present within ritual action rather than outside it. That is meaning is not imparted upon ritual action, instead meaning is already present in human action and community. Using hermeneutical tools and the openness of deconstruction, this work explores meaning within the Christian practice of foot washing among the Original Free Will Baptist (OFWB) denomination of Eastern North Carolina. This work is a theological and philosophical conversation with the OFWB and the ways in which foot washing has molded and shaped the character of the people. Through this conversation, meaning within ritual action is explored with the help of social theory and practice, phenomenology, and postmodern thought. Finally, this conversation ends with the themes of love and ecclesiology, ultimately pointing towards a future relational practical theology. Foot washing suggests a new future for theology, a future that models love, service, and acceptance.