Annie: 鈥淲hile I鈥檓 concerned about what you would think of as politics鈥攚hat would be in the political section of a newspaper鈥擨鈥檓 also thinking about the politics of being human, the politics of church, the relational dynamics between people and between groups. That鈥檚 kind of what I mean by political in the broader sense.鈥�

Annie is the host of , a podcast exploring the long and often problematic story of Christianity in the United States, grounded in the hope that by better understanding where other perspectives are coming from, we can be better conversation partners across difference and contribute to sustainable, collaborative social change.鈥� Her work is primarily concerned with two questions, she says: What do we believe it means to be human? And what do we believe is true about God? On God Help Us, Annie and her guests wrestle with how both of those questions inform our relationship to each other and our response to events in the world around us.

Annie: 鈥�God Help Us is about information, it鈥檚 about what are our commonly held beliefs in this country, how are they informed by our Christian heritage? […] I鈥檓 hoping, on a more meta level, that it鈥檚 also a way of modeling those conversations, so we can feel defensive and have all the human range of emotions while we鈥檙e disagreeing with each other and still continue to talk to each other.”

Much of Annie鈥檚 work can be connected to the category of spiritual darkness, which was the focus of her Integrative Project at 天美视频, 鈥淢aking a Home in the Dark.鈥� In our 2018 Integrative Project Symposium, Annie offered this insight into what draws her to working with spiritual darkness: 鈥淚 think that in those times when everything has been stripped away, we also lose hold of the lies we have believed about ourselves, about each other, and about God. So I鈥檓 left only with my desire and the question of what to do with it, and the question of what to do with this new reality. And I find that the only option really is to come home to myself. And in those places, I find that God is waiting for me there.鈥�

Annie: 鈥淲hen we recognize that we have put our faith in something like patriarchy, it doesn鈥檛 let us go easily. These periods of darkness, of feeling completely lost and at our wits鈥� end, both communally and individually鈥攊t forces us to give up hope in what we鈥檝e put our hope in. And that is this great gift that we can then decide we鈥檙e going to do something different now.鈥�

In an era of fragmented relationships鈥攁nd, therefore, fragmented politics鈥攚e are deeply grateful for the insightful, far-reaching conversations Annie is hosting. Here鈥檚 to listening deeply, speaking boldly, and returning again and again to our connections with each other.

Resources to Go Deeper

• You can learn more about Annie鈥檚 work, including God Help Us, at . And if you have ideas for future topics or guests on the podcast, email godhelp.podcast@gmail.com.
• As this conversation turned to purity culture, it brought to mind an article by Lauren Sawyer (MA in Theology & Culture, (鈥�14). Shauna asked Lauren to record an excerpt for this episode, and here鈥檚 the full article from Feminist Studies in Religion:
• To be fair, Annie鈥檚 reference to is more tangential than thematic. But it really is a great film!
• Shauna references an episode from NPR鈥檚 Invisibilia podcast about the relationship between uncertainty and dogmatism, and what we do when we don鈥檛 know what to do.
• Annie mentions being inspired by this article from Tyrone Beason at the Seattle Times:
• Just in time for summer, we got a bunch of book recommendations from Annie. Happy reading!
  • by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers
  • by Frank Schaeffer
  • and by Amber Cantorna
  • by Mary Daly
  • by Miguel A. de la Torre

The post Politics, Theology, and Spiritual Darkness with Annie Mesaros appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

The MA in Counseling Psychology with a Concentration in Trauma & Abuse, to be launched in Fall 2019, offers a unique specialization in Trauma-Informed Narrative Therapy, a modality that has been developed over decades of experience by Dr. Dan Allender and The Allender Center. Informed by research into neuroscience, shame, somatic psychotherapy, bodywork, and robust theology, Trauma-Informed Narrative Therapy is a therapeutic approach integrating in-depth story engagement and an awareness of trauma science through the lens of a dynamic Christian faith.

鈥淥ur mission is to train people to be competent in the study of text, soul, and culture to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. It鈥檚 not about studying as an end in itself; that call to service is at the heart of everything we do,鈥� says Dr. Derek McNeil, Acting President. 鈥淎s students develop more clarity about the specific realm of service they are called to, their education should become more focused as well. So this concentration will offer very particular training that hones the work students are already engaging through the Counseling Psychology program.鈥�

鈥淎s students develop more clarity about the specific realm of service they are called to, their education should become more focused as well.鈥�

This new concentration, the first of several being developed within our graduate degree programs, is emerging at a crucial time in our culture. We are surrounded every day by evidence of trauma and abuse鈥攊ncluding the heartbreaking revelations of widespread, systemic abuse in institutions; the rising tide of individual stories brought to light through the #MeToo movement; and the myriad ways that more subtle effects of trauma and abuse play out all around us. More than ever, our world is faced with an urgent need for well-trained practitioners who are equipped to address the complex realities of trauma as they help individuals and communities pursue healing.

Our Concentration in Trauma & Abuse will feature teaching informed by a broad range of theories and approaches, as well as experiential training in individual and group story work. Courses will be offered in a laboratory-style learning environment, combining theoretical learning with practical application. Clinical formation will be facilitated by 天美视频鈥檚 practitioner/scholar faculty, in tandem with immersive learning with The Allender Center. Through the integration of these methodologies, students will develop trauma-informed strategies for work in a variety of mental health settings and will be equipped to provide grounded, insightful, and attuned presence to traumatized clients.

鈥淭his concentration is for those willing to listen and attune to the pain and harm they have experienced in their own life. We can only take someone else as far as we have gone ourselves,鈥� says Abby Wong-Heffter, LMHC, Affiliate Faculty and Allender Center Teaching Staff. 鈥淔rom that foundation, we train wounded healers to help others understand and heal from the complex impacts of trauma and abuse by listening to the stories their body remembers and longs to tell the truth about.鈥�

The Concentration in Trauma & Abuse is designed to be completed concurrently with the MA in Counseling Psychology, and is composed of 70 credits: four concentration-specific credits, four required MACP electives, and two intensive offerings from The Allender Center. More information about the curriculum, application process, and goals for this new offering are available here.

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As a PhD student it鈥檚 rare for me to pick up a book at a bookstore that鈥檚 鈥渇or fun.鈥� Don鈥檛 get me wrong, the work I鈥檓 doing for my PhD is a certain kind of fun, but it鈥檚 a fun that makes for a lot less leisurely reading. That said, on a recent trip to a bookstore my eye was drawn to the new nonfiction table and a fire engine red book jacket that read in blazing white letters, 鈥�.鈥� Uhm鈥es please.

Flipping through the book I was reminded of a comment I made recently in Dr. Kj Swanson鈥檚 鈥淕od, Gender, & Sexuality鈥� class when talking about some of the queer and feminist theologies we had assigned. I said something along the lines of 鈥淩eading this stuff should make you angry,鈥� and what followed was a cathartic expression from a few of the women in class about the tears they shed, the frustration they felt, and the resilience they found when doing the week鈥檚 reading. Another book released just this month, rounds out this year鈥檚 publications on the topic, with having opened the year. There definitely seemed to be a theme forming.

And so, as I look through my newsfeed filled with protests, marches, and hashtags and as I witness the litany of books and articles being written on the subject, I think it鈥檚 important to name that current expressions of women鈥檚 anger aren鈥檛 just something political or cultural, they鈥檙e theological. Women are making use of their prophetic voices to point to larger issues of dignity, worth, respect, and they are pointing to these issues with rage and frustration because for too long they have been told to be passive and deferential, and for too long they have been prisoners to a system they didn鈥檛 create and which never accounted for the fullness of their humanity.

There is an abundance of women throughout history that have done amazing prophetical work beyond those who have been historically pointed to, and I believe that we are witnessing some of that powerful prophetic work today. As we look at the Kavanaugh hearing protests, at the multitude of #Metoo and #TimesUp posts, and as we look at how women continue to march across the globe for reproductive justice, racial equality, and other human dignities, I contend that women are using their anger to strengthen their prophetic voices. They are demanding the reconstruction of human relations, and that鈥檚 powerful stuff. It鈥檚 also dangerous stuff if you鈥檙e in the crosshairs. In Rage Becomes Her author Soraya Chemaly explains, 鈥淲omen鈥檚 anger is usually disparaged in virtually all arenas, except those in which anger confirms gender-role stereotypes about women as nurturers and reproductive agents. This means we are allowed to be angry but not on our own behalves. If a woman is angry in her 鈥榩lace,鈥� as a mother or a teacher, for example, she is respected, and her anger is generally understood and acceptable. If however, she transgresses and is angry in what is thought of as a men鈥檚 arena鈥攕uch as traditional politics or the workplace鈥攕he is almost always penalized in some way.鈥�¹ We鈥檝e been witness to this penalization time and again, most recently in the mocking of a sexual assault victim and countless victims like her during a political rally.

鈥淲omen are using their anger to strengthen their prophetic voices. They are demanding the reconstruction of human relations.鈥�

In Sexism and God-Talk Rosemary Radford Ruether explains that 鈥渇eminism sees what male prophetic thought had not seen: that once the prophetic norm is asserted to be central to Biblical faith, then patriarchy can no longer be maintained as authoritative.鈥�² There is something at work in the current expressions of women鈥檚 anger, something to be in awe of because it points to something huge. Argentinian social scientist Ver贸nica Gago examines the power of protest, specifically those of women in light of the rampant femicides in Buenos Aires. Part of the Ni Una Menos (Not One More) movement, Gago explains that the global surge of women鈥檚 movements can be directly correlated to issues of economic and social justice. Further, current women鈥檚 movements offer a radical critique to the paternalism found in old ways of understanding how we are to care for one another. Women therefore, through their anger, are pointing beyond patriarchal distortions towards a vision of the world where everyone is heard, and seen, and where all can thrive.

As a culture we鈥檝e been conditioned to see anger as something destructive, poisonous, and ultimately harmful, and it certainly can be all those things. I and others writing about women鈥檚 anger aren鈥檛 ignorant to the ways that as an emotion, anger can scorch and burn. But for women, anger can be a matter of epistemic justice鈥攚e know what we feel, and we should get to feel it鈥攁nd what鈥檚 more, we should get to express it. Again, as Chemaly explains, 鈥淎nger has a bad rap, but is actually one of the most hopeful and forward thinking of all our emotions. It begets transformation, manifesting our passion and keeping us invested in the world. It is a rational and emotional response to trespass, violation, and moral disorder. It bridges the divide between what 鈥榠s鈥� and what 鈥榦ught鈥� to be, between a difficult past and an improved possibility.鈥�³ Let us move forward in these troubled times allowing for all the feelings鈥攖he hope, the despair, and the anger friends, for in doing so we make full use of our prophetic voices, allowing for the divine to break forth with searing brilliance.

¹Soraya L. Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her: the Power of Women’s Anger (New York: Atria Books, 2018), xvii.

²Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sexism and God-talk: Toward a Feminist Theology, 10th ed. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993), 24.

³Chemaly, xx.

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Shauna: 鈥淚鈥檓 most compelled by Jeremy鈥檚 full-spectrum capacity to dive deep into heartache鈥攈is own and others鈥欌�攁nd to leap so high into all sorts of play, especially in his play with his own children.鈥�

Jeremy went to college to become a youth pastor, but a couple of years into school he realized that he had significant questions that were being answered in ways that felt disappointing and cheap. The environment seemed increasingly isolated and self-absorbed; it was all too easy to focus on obscure passages of Scripture or dense theological questions that felt removed from the day-to-day realities of the rest of the world.

Jeremy: 鈥淚t felt like many of the ways that we were answering questions of God further isolated us from the rest of the world.鈥�

So Jeremy pursued other work鈥擲tarbucks, bronze casting, a microbrewery. He found himself longing for something more, but he knew it wouldn鈥檛 look like the pastoral education he鈥檇 seen before. Around this time he was exposed to work coming out of 天美视频, and he was intrigued by its openness to the rest of the world, a willingness to learn about God in unexpected places. Jeremy had tried walking away from his faith, but 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 quite shake it.鈥� He was drawn to 天美视频 as a place where he could learn and wrestle with truth without having to artificially surrender his questions.

Jeremy: 鈥淲hat has felt true of vocation, and even calling, is that somehow it鈥檚 felt like that has been written in the peaks and in the valleys of my story. Both the places where I have known of my goodness and been uniquely named and uniquely spoken into, and in the places where I鈥檝e been most harmed and violated. Somehow my calling aligns those two.鈥�

Shauna asks Jeremy what he has learned about vocation, calling, and sustainability, in the years since his time at 天美视频. The conversation also touches on what Jeremy鈥檚 work with parents has revealed about his own parenting, on what surprises and grounds him in his work, and on his heartbreak about the ways that men have used and abused power. The #MeToo, #ChurchToo, and #TimesUp movements have highlighted the need for his to keep pursuing his own growth and to help other men and young boys address their violent reactions to fragility and harm.

Jeremy: 鈥淰ocational sustainability has be wrapped up in who I am as a father as well, and as a husband.鈥�

Resources to Go Deeper

Jeremy shares that he鈥檚 had a 鈥渞enewed energy for reading鈥� lately. Here鈥檚 what he鈥檚 into these days:

by Leif Enger鈥攔ecommended years ago by VP of Student & Alumni Development Paul Steinke, based on Jeremy鈥檚 love for by David James Duncan.

by Christine Marietta, over which Jeremy has cried with clients who feel validated in new ways by Christine鈥檚 words.

by Dorothy Dinnerstein, a feminist psychoanalyst writing in the 鈥�70s.

by Daniel Keyes鈥攎ost people read this as kids, but a client recommended it to Jeremy to better understand where she鈥檚 coming from.

by Rene Girard鈥擩eremy heard about it in school and sometimes found himself using that language, so he decided to figure out what he meant by it.

For more from Jeremy, check out the video of his Symposia 2016 presentation, 鈥淧ractical Parenting: When Good Enough Is Good Enough, Even for the Trained Professional as Parent.鈥�

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In Zadar, Croatia there is a thousand-year-old church that sits crumbling on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. Embedded in its foundation are countless broken artifacts, altars, and columns from the pagan temple that once stood in its place. It was only a few meters from this church where I swam in open water for the first time. There, the intersection of city and sea is mediated by an aging sea wall with stone steps that sink into the turquoise water of the Adriatic. As I descended these steps, I felt the rush and swell of open water and my own heart leaping into my throat as I slipped from the lowest step into the embrace of the sea.

Days later I returned home to Seattle, where brooding grey replaced brilliant blue and that church with its foundation of ruins receded to memory. And yet, in this season of #metoo, of marginalized voices breaking through, and of watching the Church teeter precariously between closing ranks and unfurling into the heavy work of lament, I think often of the church built on ruins and the sea that embraced me when I took a deep breath and chose to do the thing I feared: exist in my body.

For my body, descending the steps in my bathing suit on the seawall packed with rowdy young European tourists felt far riskier than swimming alone in open water: I am a fat woman. No stranger to catcalling鈥檚 weight-shaming counterpart: 鈥渇atcalling,鈥� existing in my body comes with a cost, and overt experiences of body shame remind me of what often remains unspoken. For my body, freedom costs. I spent three days in that city before deciding I was willing to pay the price.

I am grateful to be a part of a community that has challenged me to enter conversations around the areas where I am privileged. I am being trained to consider race, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic status in every professional conversation I engage. Growing competency to engage these issues with integrity is absolutely critical to dismantling individual and systemic oppression鈥攂ut my body asks: will we say we are done, there? Or will we enter the difficult work of examining our dis-ease about bodies in order to make space for diverse bodies, like mine? Will we stop and notice how thin-ideals are so internalized that privilege could permit many of us to live a lifetime without considering how they inform the ways we engage with persons who have bodies very different from our own?

For most of my life I believed the message coming at me from all directions that said that my body size was something with a moral value: bad. I believed, as stigma dictated, my body was evidence of a lack of willpower. I did not know that studies that look at the long-term effects of diets show that nearly all bodies return to their beginning weight or heavier after a diet, and that weight-cycling is shown to do more harm to bodies than living a healthy lifestyle at a higher weight. Some of the voices that have spoken harm over my body actually may have told themselves they were motivating me towards a 鈥渉ealthy change,鈥� but what experts now know is that experiences of stigma and body shame actually result in poorer mental health, increased binge eating, decreased use of healthcare services, and actually tend to increase weight gain over time. Unfortunately, weight-based stigma is embedded in our culture, fortified by a $66 billion diet industry, and is intensifying rapidly as this socially-acceptable form of discrimination has more than doubled in recent years. (Source citations available .)

鈥淔or most of my life I believed the message coming at me from all directions that said that my body size was something with a moral value: bad.鈥�

The problem with all of this for those of us who follow Christ, as theologian Marcia Mount Shoop reminds us in her book , is that we can鈥檛 thrive as a church body when any one person鈥檚 body is excluded or distanced:

鈥淲e may unconsciously reject those who are outside the range of our comfort zones even when we believe ourselves to be hospitable to difference. [鈥 When someone intersects us who embodies the jarring truth that there is contradiction, complexity, and ambiguity in human embodied existence, we fear the chaos they may bring with them. Fear wounds us as the body of Christ. It trivializes who we are and how the future becomes.鈥�

So how do we replace stigma with embrace in our homes, communities, and churches? Our task is first to enter the difficult work of holding our own dis-ease about bodies and the insecurities large bodies might provoke within us. This is complex work that is unique to each individual, but often stigma is a way that we set ourselves apart from that which we fear that we are or might become. In a culture where thin is ideal and obese is understood to indicate a weakness of will, what might we gain through socially-normalized marginalization of large bodies?

How would Christ engage in a world in which the line between the Samaritan and the Jew was thinly veiled, a line that people moved across often and unwillingly?

I believe Christ would affirm that all bodies are good bodies; I believe that Christ would remind me that, in the countercultural words a friend texted me as I sat in my hotel room quietly working up the courage to swim, my body deserved the richness of life as much as any other body.

There are structures in our cultural and faith heritage that are crumbling, and, like the church built on ruins, we are charged to use these ruins to create something new. We are invited, in this creating, to join with God through expanding our capacity to hold diverse voices and experiences. As for me, I鈥檓 experimenting with a new way of being an embodied person as I honor the rolls and contours I鈥檇 never have chosen for myself by giving this body, in all its largeness, permission to exist, to thrive, and to adventure to far-off places and defy watching eyes by stepping out into turquoise blue seas.

The post All Bodies Are Good Bodies appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

These realities are not new, of course, but the outcry of those who have been oppressed and traumatized鈥攖he righteous insistence that we acknowledge wounds鈥攈as risen to a volume and frequency that is increasingly difficult to ignore. It is clear that familiar answers and old solutions are no longer sufficient. 鈥淭he status quo is not going to work,鈥� says Dr. Angela Parker, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, in this video.

Dr. Parker challenges students to engage discomfort in the classroom so that they can rise up as prophets and agents of change outside the classroom.鈥淎 prophet will raise up a voice that speaks a truth to power in order to bring about change,鈥� she says. 鈥溙烀朗悠� is committed to forming pastors, chaplains, and leaders to be prophets for the revolution.鈥� (You can watch the full video here.)

鈥溙烀朗悠� is committed to forming pastors, chaplains, and leaders to be prophets for the revolution.鈥�

As our culture dips a toe into acknowledging systems of injustice that many have long hesitated to name, we are鈥攁ll of us鈥攆aced with daunting questions: how do we move from lofty rhetoric to the kind of real, on-the-ground change that fosters healing? How do fan the flame of #metoo from a hashtag into a vibrant and lasting movement? How do we use our voices when the march has ended and society鈥檚 attention has moved on?

There may not be any easy or quick answers to those questions; the work of healing鈥攊ndividual, communal, or cultural鈥攊s long, difficult, and messy. But we are committed to that work, to equipping radical change-makers and truth-tellers, and to fostering the kind of dialogue that sparks thoughtfulness, integrity, and clarity of purpose. 鈥淭he faculty of 天美视频 have been raising awareness regarding the pervasive nature of sexual abuse for two decades,鈥� says Dr. Craig Detweiler, President. 鈥淲e agree that time is definitely up. As these traumas are increasingly brought to light, we redouble our commitment to the healing process.鈥�

That commitment has shaped and clarified 天美视频鈥檚 ethos, ever since our founders gathered around a kitchen table to dream about an institute of higher education that might change the world from the ground up. It is at the very heart of our mission鈥攖raining people to be competent in the study of text, soul, and culture to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships鈥攁nd informs everything we do.

Below is a snapshot of how that mission compels us across our organization. We invite you to dig deep and join us as we engage and further this conversation.

Intersections blog

鈥淣aming sexual harassment or even sexual violation is not enough. Our culture must come to name that sexual abuse鈥攐vert and criminal and subtle and socially ignored鈥攊s not a sad reality that an unfortunate few suffer but a common cultural experience that is as inevitable as the flu.鈥�
-Dr. Dan Allender, writing about #metoo

• 鈥淒o You See This Woman? Disgust, Boundaries, and Your Brain鈥� by Brittany Deininger
• 鈥淭he Need for Lament in Troubled Times鈥� with Dr. Soong-Chan-Rah
• 鈥淟eveling the Field鈥� by Deb Montgomery
• 鈥淲e Are Worldless Without One Another,鈥� an interview with Judith Butler

Read more on the Intersections blog.

Text.soul.culture podcast

鈥淭he real dream is to continue to have the capacity to bring in different voices and not just listen to our favorite ones. We should constantly be asking: Who do we need to invite in? This dream costs a lot: we might be wrong; we might need to ask different questions; we might have to set down assumptions.鈥�
-Dr. Chelle Stearns, in an episode on integration and dissonance

• The Why and How of Justice with Dr. Ron Ruthruff
• Ecological Homeless and Degradation with Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger
• Embodied Biblical Study with Dr. Angela Parker
• Equipping Students for Change with Dr. Caprice Hollins

Listen to text.soul.culture.

The Allender Center

鈥淲ith what has been happening in the country and with the big T Trauma around white supremacy, there is greater complexity to the conversation. You can鈥檛 just take yourself out of it because you are not a white supremacist.鈥�
-Abby Wong-Heffter, in an episode on

• podcast series
• podcast series
• by Susan Kim
• by Abby Wong-Heffter
• by Dr. Dan Allender

Read more from .

The Other Journal

鈥淧erhaps now more than ever, we desperately need a movement rooted in collective hope and a defiance to empire. To that end, we have a deep theological heritage to draw from, one that has a long and rich tradition of embracing its prophetic voice in the face of oppressive and hegemonic regimes.鈥�
-a letter from the editors of The Other Journal

• by Dr. Chelle Stearns
• an interview with Dr. Shelly Rambo

Read more from .

鈥淭he times both invite and require the work of reflection. The pain is personal, and we must allow it to be personal and embodied, but it is also more complex than reacting and resisting,鈥� says Dr. Derek McNeil, Senior Vice President of Academics. 鈥淲e are called to reflect on where we have been and on those who have gone before us, so that we can extract the life that is needed for the task of birthing something new. There is no learning without reflection.鈥�

There is much work ahead. The call to justice and transformation infuses our mission and identity, and we will remain steadfast in that labor no matter what systems arise to oppose it. We are grateful for those who have joined the conversation, and we are energized by the moments that it becomes so much more. May the movement of truth, goodness, and beauty never cease guiding our way forward.

The post What We Talk About When We Talk About Trauma appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.