I am continually faced with my powerlessness over gun violence and its traumatic effect(s) upon me personally and the community in which I live. This past Wednesday afternoon, my four-year old daughter and I, heard around 10 gunshots as we stood near my bedroom window. This is the second time in two weeks that we…
Category: Social Work
Pastoral Care and Counseling to Navigate Social Services
As clergy, we find that we are constantly asked to be experts at tasks and we’re unprepared—plumber, roofer, fundraiser, cleaner, social media expert, copier repair person, barista. Tasks we spend years preparing for in seminary revolve around divinity and theology. Tasks many of us hope we are prepared for revolve around care and counseling. Theology…
Theological Values of Social Work
The theological values of social work can be summarized by two of my husband’s phrases, “God loves us no matter what” and “be a hard worker.” God Loves Us No Matter What Scripture tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come,…