Clergy Reslience and Podcasting

I just finished recording an upcoming Faith Trends podcast episode. The co-host, Rick Hiemstra, ploughed through my thesis and asked insightful questions about what he discovered. I'm so impressed! Outside of my PhD defence committee, no one has posed such direct questions about my 200 page research project. I'm hoping to have more opportunities to talk about my research into online theological education and pastoral formation. I would love to work with pastors, denominational leaders, and educators to discern how we equip future Christian leaders and ministers in a world increasingly saturated by Internet technology and digital devices.

After the recording I had a chance to listen to the episode where Rick and Lindsay (the other co-host) talked with Briercrest Seminary professor, Dr. Margret Clarke. Margaret is an expert on clergy resilience in Canada and her podcast interview provides a window into her research. I had the privilege of working with Margaret as part of a round table discussion on educating clergy for wholeness at Briercrest's online conference last month. I highly recommend getting in touch with her and asking her for a copy of her dissertation executive summary. It's interesting, accessible, and packed full of helpful findings. In the meantime, feel free to listen to her Faith Trends interview here: https://soundcloud.com/faithtrends/clergy-resilience

 

Christian Education in a Secular Age

Last month I wrote a blog post about how I was reading Charles Taylor's A Secular Age for a conference paper proposal I was writing. Last week I submitted the proposal and I hope to hear back by the end of the month about whether it will be accepted. If accepted, I'll be presenting the full paper at Christian Education in a Secular Age, an online conference hosted by Briercrest Seminary. 

In an interesting twist, after submitting the proposal I received an email from one of the conference organizers who noticed my focus on pastoral education. She put me in touch with one of her colleagues who was looking to collaborate on a round-table discussion about clergy resilience and the implications for pastoral education. After an email exchange, I agreed to join Margaret Clarke, assistant professor of marriage and family therapy at Briercrest, and Beth Fisher, a PhD candidate a researcher involved with Wycliffe's Wellness Project in a roundtable discussion at the conference. I am humbled and honoured to be at the virtual table with these two researchers. We are going to meet at the end of this month for some initial planning and brainstorming. I look forward to seeing where the conversation leads.