What is public theology?

A new constellation has appeared in the theological firmament. Alongside now-familar galaxies discovered in the last half of the century, such as political, feminist and Liberation theologies, and the bright stars more recently catalogued, like post-liberal theology and radical orthodoxy, we now have something called 'public theology'. University centres in America, England, South Africa and Australia bear its name, as does the new International Journal of Public Theology, and there is a Global Network for Public Theology, while theologians like me are now having 'public theology' added to their job descriptions, which in my case is wedded to the further designation of 'contextual theology' - an extra tank on the booster rocket propelling me high up in the realm of theological relevance!