Properly indoctrinated?

Am I "a properly indoctrinated Marxist Brite graduate . . . probably coming to pastor a church near you"?

I've never found Marxist theory to be particularly helpful for my own theologizing. But I am a liberationist thinker. And that's a consciously chosen viewpoint, not the result of indoctrination.

So the characterization above probably isn't accurate.

Even so, I wish I had written what another former Brite student said yesterday about the school's affirmation of its decision to honor Jeremiah Wright.

It's amusing to read blogs and comments about Brite and see how the place is characterized by those who disagree.

Truth is, Brite never felt particularly "liberal" to me. Certainly, it was socially progressive and progressive in terms of scholarship--but I always found my theological education rather mainstream, compared to what I was reading and exploring on my own.

God's church, that community of those called out, is a wonderfully diverse place. That's what makes it so dynamic and so frustrating. Brite reflects that broader diversity.

The differing perspectives in the classroom--where students ranged from conserving and evangelical to progressive and insurrectionist--made my education there rich, engaging, and occasionally frustrating. Faculty (mostly) did a great job of modeling how to engage differing perspectives.

My experiences there prepared me wonderfully for the range of perspectives I would encounter in the local church and in denominational gatherings. I'm grateful for that.

.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Thursday, March 20, 2008

The right Wright decision

Today I'm proud to be a graduate of Brite Divinity School, which has affirmed its decision to recognize Jeremiah Wright's ministry at this month's State of the Black Church awards banquet.

I don't know that God would damn America, as Rev. Wright suggested God ought, but the Holy One surely grieves the nation's racist history and the blood-stained wealth that continues to influence its cultures, politics, and educational institutions.

Recognizing the need to interpret Wright's statements with context, audience, and rhetorical intent in mind, Brite has made a courageous and just decision.

I am disappointed by TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini's statement distancing the university from the award.

(Now . . . if someone could just help Brite re-write its public response so the lede isn't buried and it doesn't sound so academic . . . .

I'd tend to say something like:


Brite is recognizing Dr. Wright for his forty-year ministry linking divine justice and social justice.

This is work that Brite seeks to further through its mission of educating women
and men—through its programs of instruction, research and scholarship, and other
forms of church and community service—for the ministry, witness, and outreach of the church of Jesus Christ in the world.

Brite does not endorse all of the statements or views of any of the church leaders recognized by the Divinity School.

But after careful review of Rev. Wright's statements, and understanding the sincere concerns many have voiced in response to recent media reports, Brite affirms the Black Church Studies Program’s decision, made months ago, to recognize the contributions of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. at the fourth Annual State of the Black Church Awards Banquet.)





.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sally Kern

There’s a certain irony in the fact that Sally Kern’s outraged and outrageous comments about “the homosexual lifestyle” came to the nation’s attention during the fifth week of Lent.

In many churches, the appointed gospel this week is the story of Jesus calling Lazarus from the tomb. It’s an iconic text for queer theologians.

In the passage, Jesus stands outside the cave where the body of Lazarus has been placed and hollers, as the Voice of Love: "Lazarus, come out!"

When he stumbles from the shadows of the tomb, hands and feet are bound by the linens strips placed on his corpse, Jesus commands the gathered community: “Unbind him.”

It’s an appropriate story for Lent, which is a time of reflection, preparation, and turning from the human norms, powers, and interpretations that bind our perceptions and experiences.

Lent seeks to prepare us for renewed reliance on a just and merciful God who seeks our freedom and release from oppression.

Now that Kern, an Oklahoma legislator, has stumbled from the shadows into the light—feeling, perhaps, “exposed” in the ways that Lent is intended to expose human brokenness—the Christian community can help unbind her from dangerous assumptions, questionable logic, and thin exegesis.

Certainly, we can unbind her from the presumptions that she speaks unilaterally for the Christian traditions and community, past and present.

But it’s hard to know where to begin.

Should we:


  • deconstruct the “facts” she cites, which appear to come from the discredited research of Paul Cameron?
  • contest the ahistorical nature of her comments about same-gender-loving people?
  • introduce her to the broad range of Christian understandings of same-gender love?
  • clarify her broad and totalizing comments about sexual orientation, which appear imprecise and outdated?

I’d like to know, for example, if Kern was speaking about people who experience same-sex attractions, engage in same-gender sexual behaviors, or self-identify as lesbian or gay. Did her comments include those who identify as bisexual, transgender, and/or queer, or only those who are exclusively homosexual in attraction, behavior, and identity?

Kern says now that she wasn't speaking about queer folk in general.

She says she was referring to wealthy, politically active people who don’t discriminate based on sexual identities and use their influence to advocate for lawmakers (and laws) that support their views.

So maybe she’s not opposed to “homosexuals,” but to people with power who think differently than she does and choose to influence public discourse and processes?

Kern's comments probably don’t meet legal definitions of “hate speech.” But I have no doubt that people die because of rhetoric like hers.

She apparently feels she is in danger herself because of her rhetoric, given the content of e-mails and phone calls she has received.

I'm troubled that some have threatened Kern or resorted to ad hominem attacks against her.

Our task as the church is to listen carefully to Kern, discern her needs, and respond appropriately and compassionately.

In the end, God is both just and merciful. For that, we—and Sally Kern—should be grateful.

.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Friday, March 14, 2008

Vocation and spiritual gifts

On Sunday and Monday, I am the speaker for the Fall Festival of Faith at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas.

Our focus will be spiritual gifts and vocation from a Presbyterian perspective--looking closely at the connections between our desires, our gifts, and their connection to abundant life.

St. Andrew is a wonderful congregation that's used to being "stretched" theologically and intellectually, so the Festival promises to offer rich conversation.

I hope my sermon and workshops will be helpful as people think about who they are called to be--and how they are called to contribute--in the particularity of their lives.

That last phrase, in fact, hints at the title of this year's Festival: In Particular: Our Desire, God's Gifts, One Purpose.

Worship--where I will preach the sermon "Catching God's Dreams"--is at 8:30a and 10:50a Sunday, accompanied at 9:30a by an adult class titled "Call Me! Hearing the Voice of Meaningful Work."

That night (at 5:30p), I will speak on desire and spiritual gifts at a session titled "Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want."

On Monday (also at 5:30p), I will speak on spiritual gifts and abundant life at a session titled "Yes, Your Majesty."

One of the joys of my own vocation is being able to bring my scholarship to local congregations in practical ways, so I'm really looking forward to the Festival.

If you decide to drop in, make a point to introduce yourself--I'd enjoy meeting you!

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.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Thursday, November 08, 2007

Mental-health parity

From Doug Ronsheim, director of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors:

The House and Senate have both moved forward with mental health parity bills, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 (H.R. 1424) and the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S. 558). Both bills require group health plans that provide both medical and surgical benefits to provide mental health and substance-related disorder benefits on an equivalent basis. Ultimately, the bills hope to prevent any limitation of treatment or imposition of additional financial requirements for patients in need of mental health or substance abuse services.

S. 558, sponsored by Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) passed unanimously in the Senate on September 18th. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) sponsored H.R. 1424, which was marked up by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 26th. H.R. 1424 was approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee on October 16 and it should be presented on the House floor in the first two weeks of November.

H.R. 1424 includes a number of provisions that the Senate bill does not. The House measure allows coverage for out-of-network services for mental health and substance abuse benefits if a health plan covers out-of-network services for medical and surgical benefits. Additionally, H.R. 1424 defines what are considered mental illnesses, based on the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual". The Senate version, on the other hand, allows insurers to define what is considered to be a mental illness, also allowing state law to decide whether certain conditions may be covered or not. House Republicans, with the backing of health insurers, favor this approach and hope it is adopted during conference. If passed, H.R. 1424 would go into effect on January 1st, 2008, whereas the Senate bill would go into effect one year after becoming a law.

The current Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, set to expire at the end of 2007, requires a far more limited parity between mental health and medical or surgical coverage than what is included in these bills. Advocates view these bills as vehicles for ending the discrimination that mental illness patients face and recognize the work that lies ahead to ensure that the President signs the provisions into law.
The support of people of faith will be essential for this legislative process. This is one way that you can actively participate in the "praxis of God" (to borrow Peter Hodgson's phrase) and promote social justice.

Take a few minutes to call your US Representative. The US Capital Switchboard is 202-224-3121. Urge support for House Bill 1424.

For other congressional information and contacts use: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/.

.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Tuesday, October 23, 2007

How we know: new chapter available

The philosophy of knowledge is one of my interests these days--especially when it comes to clarifying what counts as "spiritual" knowledge and understanding how knowledge of all types shapes the work of clinicians (especially pastoral counselors).

So it's a delight to plug a book by friends that includes a chapter on the topic (especially since I wrote the chapter!): The Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Clinical Applications, edited by Thorana S. Nelson and Frank N. Thomas.

Aimed at mental-health professionals of all types, the book is a significant, "second-generation" contribution to the literature of solution-focused therapy. It includes a chapter on SFT in faith communities for those who have a specific interest in pastoral applications.

My own chapter traces the epistemological foundations of SFT, drawing on an Islamic theory of spiritual knowledge to propose one (ontological and metaphysical) way of understanding the tremendous shifts that can occur during conversations informed by solution-focused theory.

It's something I would like to write more about in the future from a particularly pastoral and theological perspective, as Western philosophy has been largely silent about the spiritual dimension of human knowing.

(Of course, Mark McIntosh's Discernment and Truth: The Spirituality and Theology of Knowledge is a recent and valuable exception to this vast generalization. Heartily recommended!)

I blushed when I read one early comment about my chapter:
WOW--this is an amazing piece. . . . And this chapter is going into the required reading list for my students (and me). One of the best and most accessible explications I've read.
(It probably helps that there aren't actually all that many explications of the epistemology of SFT!)

Several times during the American Academy of Religion meeting last fall, I heard panelists and members talking about the need to explore "alternative epistemologies" in the study of religion and spirituality.

Pastoral theology has done a good job exploring the limits of knowledge, particularly from a philosophical perspective. We've been less concerned, however, about the metaphysical and ontological dimensions/implications of how we know through and during our practices of care.

That's probably something we'll have to address if spirituality is going to become a source, norm, criterion and resource for pastoral care and counseling.

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.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Thursday, May 10, 2007

Who are we?

At the AAPC conference last weekend, I made a throwaway remark about "forming good clinicians."

Immediately, Lee Butler of Chicago Theological Seminary said something like: "We're not about forming 'good clinicians.' We're about forming pastoral theologians who have good clinical skills."

I appreciate Lee's comment (made to the Association's working group of faculty in graduate programs), not only because I agree but because he has succinctly named a primary issue faced by pastoral counselors today:

  • Are we primarily clinicians who also know how to reflect theologically and spiritually on the people and situations we encounter?
OR

It's not an either/or issue, of course. But it's at the heart of the formation of pastoral counselors today, of my work as a theological educator, and of the crisis of identity faced by AAPC.

The tension between these two approaches was evident--but unnamed--in the comments at a two-part session on theological reflection (during which Lee responded to a case presented by another pastoral counselor) and during much informal conversation at the conference.

(By the way: Don't bother with Wikipedia's entry on pastoral theology--it's hopelessly out of date with the ways the discipline has evolved into the 21st century.)

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.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Christic Heart

I'll be delivering the 2007 Boreham Lectures in Pastoral Care later this week at Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The title of the series is "Christic Heart: A Spiritual Theology for Pastoral Care," and the three lectures engage a close reading of the biblical "Song of Christ" from the second chapter of Philippians, exploring its implications for pastoral care and spiritual formation.

We'll start Thursday evening, May 3, with "Thickening Wisdom," a look at the type of practical, spiritual wisdom that is at the heart of the text.

On Friday morning, we'll turn to "Subverting the Emperor," which explores the social setting and rhetorical purpose of the text to propose how it can be used in spiritual and pastoral assessment.

Finally, on Friday afternoon we'll turn to "Evoking Majesty," which frames emptying, serving, and humbling as ways to help people identify and enrich their preferred ways of being and strengthen resistance to "the power of empire" in their lives in order to manifest the majesty that God intends for each person (and all of creation together).

So if you're around the south-central part of the country this week, and you'd like to spend some time exploring with others how spiritual theology can inform pastoral care, come join us. Registration and lunch are only $30.

For more information, contact the hospital's pastoral care department at 479-441-5452.

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.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Monday, April 30, 2007

New book release

I'm delighted to announce the release of The Formation of Pastoral Counselors: Challenges and Opportunities.

Co-edited with Joretta Marshall of Eden Theological Seminary, the book arrived last week in both hard- and soft-cover.

It's the first comprehensive look at what it takes to nurture pastoral counselors for this day and time, paying special attention to the racial, ethnic, sexual, economic, theological, spiritual and theoretical diversities present in today's community of pastoral counselors in North America.

It takes a few months after finishing a project to get some critical distance on it, so I'm always a bit apprehensive the first time I see something I've written (or edited) in print.

But now that I've looked through the finished text, I can honestly say that the book feels like an important and substantial contribution to the future of our discipline.

(Of course, it's up to our peers to decide whether that's true. Many will get a first look at the text later this week during the annual meeting of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors in Portland, Oregon.)

Featuring essays by two dozen of the most prominent clinicians and scholars in the field, the book weaves critical scholarship with practical formation models already at work in pastoral counseling centers around the country.

Contributors include:

Order a copy, take a look, and let me know what you think.

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.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Sunday, April 22, 2007

Seeing detail

Brian looked at the quick outline I'd drawn of Scull's Angel by John Chamberlain.

"Good," he said. "You've done a great job simplifying the shapes [unspoken commentary: which is not what I asked or expected you to do].

"Now," he said, "try to capture what you see--all the idiosyncrasies, the imperfections."

The sculpture's basically a crushed car, man--everything about it is idiosyncratic.

But my drawing had reduced it to smooth, generic, almost geometric lines.

With one comment, this teacher identified what's demanded these days--and what I fight with--in my writing, my scholarship, my clinical work, my spirituality, my relationships:

Get specific. Fill in the details. Know one thing intimately. Don't generalize.

It's been at least 28 years since I've taken an art class (the required course at what was then Urbana Junior High). But this afternoon I ventured into "Drawing from the Collection," a free weekly class at The Modern.

It was a worthwhile lesson.

For the rest of that particular exercise, I focused on allowing the pencil to create the precise curves, warps, and crinkles in the metal; in the next exercise, on tearing sheets of paper to resemble the exact strokes of a Motherwell masterpiece.

Seeing and communicating detail is nothing like capturing the perfect, objective, almost-Platonic form I automatically look for "behind" or "within" what's in front of me.

Yet that's what accuracy requires--in thinking about Jesus, in relationships with those who are different, in simple sketches meant to get us out of our heads and into the world.

Seeing detail, being mindful of what's in front of us, can be difficult to do.

I wouldn't have acknowledged it until this afternoon, but too often, I--like many (Western, white, male, modern?) people--want to find the universal in the specific, the abstract in the particular, the essence in the idiosyncratic.

For me, it's a desire to identify and possess the perfect, but to keep my distance at the same time.

Too often the results (in art, in theology, in writing, in human interaction) are like a huge, shiny, deep red, supermarket apple that tastes like Styrofoam.

.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Sunday, September 10, 2006

Celebrating the thunder at the heart of the universe, Spondizo explores pastoral theology, spiritual formation, and the vocation of caring for each other and the whole of creation.

The site is written and published by Duane R. Bidwell, Ph.D.

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© 2004-2007 Duane Bidwell. All rights reserved. Photograph courtesy of Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection, Indiana University Archives (P15776).