No Pigeon-holing Theology?

An e-mail conversation with a D. Min. student this morning set me to wondering about pigeon-holing theology. With all of the dividing into camps of conservative and progressive in the old-line churches, should a pastor or judicatory leader make a particular theological stance a public matter? The student in question was studying a feminist theologian but worrying about using that perspective in an open way while others are urging more traditional theologians as models.

This is the question I'd like to have conversation with the Lifelong Learning community about: I'm wondering if a leader might do well to take something from theologians such as Barth or Niebuhr or Calvin as well as study liberationist or process or feminist theologians, and distill it all into one's own theological perspective for presentation. When folks ask whether this is Barthian, or Calvinist, or Thomist, or feminist, can we tell them it's "my own" reading of the best of traditional theology based not so much on the big-name theologians as it is on the Bible (sola scriptura). Can we also tell them we're also being very careful to listen to and not exclude any voices in the community of faith, including that of the Holy Spirit? Can we ask them to critique and reflect on our theology rather than pigeonholing it?

What's in my mind here is a remembered comment from my theological hero Al Winn (who taught theology at LPTS in the 60s and was president of the seminary through some of that turbulent time, then a pastor in Richmond and in Atlanta before he retired. He is shown in the picture here from a 2004 General Assembly of the PC(USA) flexing his theological muscles). When Al was asked if his theology was orthodox or neo-orthodox, he replied that he's "paleo-orthodox"--going all the way back to the Biblical authority for what is Christian and Reformed.

It's easy to put someone into a theological box and discount the insights. It's harder to reflect carefully on the perspective of that person, and enter into a conversation about how that perspective compares or contrasts with one's own.

I don't know if I'm right on this. Tell me what you think!