Rick Wolff, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair
Communication and
Visual Arts Department,
Valparaiso University
I teach a variety of courses in communication, both graduate and undergraduate, including digital media production, media studies, human communication, and cinema studies. My research focuses on religion and media, and boxing, media and the church.
Books
Fight Sports and the Church
Boxing and Martial Arts Ministries in America
Fight sports and the church might at first seem like an unusual combination. Even so, modern fight sports ministries thrive, from martial arts programs of suburban churches, to urban boxing ministries geared towards at-risk youth. History finds substantial practice of fight sports in the church, offered for evangelism, formation, and social outreach. It also finds the church using fight sports to present itself as a masculine institution, appealing to male congregants. Popular culture reflects this relationship, as film, television and novels use fight sports to depict church leaders as both peace-loving and tough. Meanwhile, news media often sensationalize fight sports ministries, in ways that misrepresent the approach of many programs. Christian ethicists argue about whether and how boxing and martial arts are compatible with church teachings and settings. Indeed, both Biblical references to fight sports and modern models of discipleship have something to add to this discussion.
This book reflects upon all of these matters. Its highlight is a series of interviews with boxing and martial arts ministry leaders, who describe their programs and reflect upon the relationship of fight sports and faith. Their discussions reveal remarkable insights into the practice of boxing and martial arts ministries in church settings.
Reviews.
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Richard Wolff's Fight Sports and the Church is a swift kick to reductionist accounts of fight sports. Wolff's nuanced and sympathetic narrative situates boxing and mixed martial arts in the context of broad debates about sport and religion. This volume will be fascinating to scholars, participants, and fans who want to engage the theological, ethical, and cultural issues connected to fight sports.
-- Jon Pahl, Peter Paul and Elizabeth Hagan Professor of the History of Christianity at United Lutheran Seminary (Philadelphia/Gettysburg)
The Church on TV
Portrayals of Priests, Pastors and Nuns on American Television Series
Sister Bertrille, Father Dowling, and Reverend Camden - these three characters span the history of television's depiction of church leaders, from "The Flying Nun (1967-1970)" to "The Father Dowling Mysteries (1989-1990)" and "7th Heaven (1996-2007)". Each exemplifies one of three trends in television's chronicle of the church, from shows of the 1960s-70s that focus on internal conflicts in the church, to those of the 1980s and early 1990s that illustrate the church's struggle for relevance in the modern world, and finally those of the 1990s through today that portray the church in the family context. Along the way, the book discusses the programs' depiction of various issues facing the church of their times, including: the role of women in the church; clerics reconsidering their call; the sexuality of clerics; the ecumenical movement; and the church's response to abortion, homosexuality, racial injustice and illegal immigration. "The Church on TV" looks at American broadcast network programs that focused regularly and principally on church leaders.
Reviews.
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What Wolff analyzes and subjects to a highly skilled critique is the way Church and society relate.
-- The Church Times
Provocative and compelling. Scrutinizing over forty years of television series, Richard Wolff has provided a comparative analysis of portrayals of priests, nuns and pastors and the historical, cultural and ecclesial contexts and issues that inspired these shows. His analysis yields fresh insight into both the representation of these religious characters on television, as well as the issues and cultural contexts of both the religious and television audiences. This is both a great text for classroom use and an exhaustive resource for the study of the representation of religious characters on television.
--Professor Joe Morris, Lecturer in the Religious Studies Department at Santa Clara University
Wolff's engaging and critical study recognizes that the Church is a fixture in television's version of America's cultural landscape. As he traces the Church's evolving role on TV, Wolff argues persuasively that when a show presents the Church as a stable social presence, the show is successful... For scholars and fans alike, this is a valuable addition to the literature on television.
--Jamey Heit, author of The Springfield Reformation
Richard Wolff’s study of The Church on TV is a thorough, well-written analysis of how the television medium has explored the relevance of religious institutions to contemporary social challenges through various prime time serial programs. Interested readers in the fields of communication and the media, religious studies, sociology, and the history of religion will find this book interesting and useful.
-- Eileen McMahon, Lewis University, American Studies Journal