Reclaiming Apostolic Soul – Is There Good News for a World in Trauma?
Explore the EMU core values of Christian discipleship and the ethical practice of Christian faith with Elaine Heath, Ph.D., for the annual Augsburger Lecture Series on Christian mission and outreach.

There is a talk-back lunch from Noon-1 p.m. in the West Dining Room hosted by the Bible, Religion and Theology Department. Meal tickets will be provided for students who do not have a meal plan.

Check out the complete schedule for the Nov. 20-21 Augsburger Lecture Series found here.

Dr. Elaine Heath’s work bridges the gap between academy, church, and world. Her current research interests focus on community as a means of healing trauma, emergent forms of Christianity, and alternative forms of theological education for the church in rapidly changing contexts. Heath is the author of numerous books and monographs, the most recent of which is Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors (Spring, 2019). Her other publications include Five Means of Grace: Experience God’s Love the Wesleyan Way (2017), The Mystic Way of Evangelism, Revised and Updated 2nd Edition (2017), God Unbound: Wisdom from Galatians for the Anxious Church (2016), missional.monastic.mainline (co-authored with Larry Duggins, 2014), Naked Faith: The Mystical Theology of Phoebe Palmer (2009), and Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Communities (co-authored with Scott Kisker, 2010. She is the co-founder of the Missional Wisdom Foundation, a non-profit educational organization that equips clergy and laity to develop diverse forms of community and social enterprise, and Neighborhood Seminary, a contextualized educational program for laity in emerging contexts. Heath is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and lives at Spring Forest, an intentional Christian Community in rural North Carolina.

Dr Heath’s life work is “interdisciplinary, weaving together the study of Scripture, theology, and Christian spirituality in ways that help the church to reach beyond its walls and into the community.” This approach of taking “church to the people,” as Heath says, characterizes the aims of the Neighborhood Seminary, where Heath is president and co-founder.

For more information see EMU’s news article about Dr. Elaine Heath.