Ethics Considered

Teaching amidst the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racism? Use trauma-informed pedagogy. My latest article on this topic has just been published: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/9/449. This is part of my ongoing research on pedagogy in higher education. If you are interested in collaborating in further research, contact me.

This article promotes a wider understanding of trauma-informed pedagogy for the higher education classroom, whether in-person or virtual, focusing on undergraduate and graduate teaching in religious studies and theological education. Trauma is not confined to individual experiences of single horrifying events—trauma can be collective (community-wide, e.g., COVID-19), epigenetic (inherited or intergenerational), social-cultural (e.g., racism), or vicarious. Drawing on religious education literature and recent insights from psychology, neuroscience, and public health studies, this article provides a shared basis for further development of trauma-informed pedagogy by religious and theological educators. A principle feature of this article is bibliographic, portraying the state of scholarship at the intersection of religious education and trauma and pointing to resources necessary for further development. It offers a brief survey of extant literature, presents a basic definition and description of trauma, introduces the features of a trauma-informed community approach, and discusses the core values guiding trauma-informed pedagogy. The article also explores religious aspects of trauma and discusses care for instructors, who deal with their own traumatic pasts as well as the secondary effects of encountering, teaching, and supporting traumatized individuals in the religious education classroom. This article concludes with a call for further research.

Darryl W. Stephens, “Trauma-Informed Pedagogy for the Religious and Theological Higher Education Classroom,” 2020

Coming soon: The fall 2020 issue of Spotlight on Teaching in Religious Studies News, a publication of the American Academy of Religion will be devoted to trauma-informed pedagogy. Look for it in late November.

Christians, pray for the earth and give thanks to your Creator! The Season of Creation has begun. On this first day, I invite you to commit your life anew to environmental holiness. In the Methodist tradition, holiness is not an accomplishment or destination, it is a practice, a way of life. Today can be the first day of that new way of life.

Living into the fullness of God’s goodness is what United Methodists call holiness—personal, social, and environmental. Now is a good time to read Genesis, chapter 1, and Psalm 148. Better yet, read these texts together, following the seven days of creation one day at a time. If folks don’t know much else about the Bible, they know that it says, “In the beginning, God created . . . and it was good.” There is goodness inherent in every person and all parts of the cosmos. It is God’s goodness and the goodness of creation that we celebrate for the next five weeks.

Celebrating a church “season” or “feast day” is not a familiar observance for many Protestants, except those in liturgically-oriented denominations. Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christian traditions are accustomed to celebrating special holy days and seasons throughout the year. Many Protestants would be hard pressed to name a feast day other than St. Valentine’s or St. Patrick’s Day (and, even then, might not recognize the celebration as having anything to do with church). Church seasons ring more familiar to Protestant ears.

Properly observed, a liturgical season is a time of preparation. Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas; Lent is the season of preparation for Easter. Both represent hope and new life. However, it is common in Protestant traditions to sing Christmas songs well before December 25, and many folks skip Ash Wednesday services, showing up again only on Easter Sunday. We often do not do a good job of waiting, of preparing.

The Season of Creation begins September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends October 4, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. There are many ecumenical and denominational resources for observing this season. Protestants might wonder, though: What is the Season of Creation preparation for? How are we to celebrate a “season” that claims no familiar, commercially-identifiable endpoint?

The Season of Creation can be a time of preparation for living more faithfully as stewards of creation. It is a time to renew and strengthen our relationship with our Creator and all of creation. This year’s theme is “Jubilee for the Earth: New Rhythms, New Hope,” inviting us to consider, among other things, how the earth has enjoyed a reprieve during 2020. The immediate reduction in human travel and industry worldwide as an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 resulted in cleaner air and lower carbon emissions. Can we, as a global human population, learn to carry forward some of these environmentally healthy practices as life-long commitments?  

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, proclaimed the importance of living the faith. Holiness is the word he used for exercising the renewed image of God within each of us. It is not a destination. It is a life-long practice.

To read more about the Methodist tradition of environmental holiness, see my writings on “Environmental Ethics.”

Often, we think of church as sanctuary. A sanctuary is a place of safety, a refuge from the dangers of the world. When we enter a sanctuary, we expect to be protected and comforted, perhaps by a gentle—or even bold—sermon proclaiming God’s love. This is an important aspect of the Christian tradition. But to what end? Should a sermon not provoke as well as comfort?

Last week, I was privileged to hear sermons by two United Methodists. These sermons proclaimed God’s love in radically different ways. Both moved me out of my comfort zone, challenging me to imagine the uncomfortable wideness of God’s mercy. Both of these preachers provoked an awareness that God’s love for the world includes love for people in ways I may not want to. These are my reflections on one of these sermons.

What is your superpower?

Superpower is just another name for spiritual gifts. Based on 1 Corinthians 12, she spoke of the varieties of gifts that each of us has as a beloved child of God, each of us “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Some persons are good at sports, some at teaching, others at teambuilding. Each of us has something to offer the greater community. It is easy to imagine that “gifted” people have something to offer others. The provocation comes when Paul writes of “giving the greater honor to the inferior member” (1 Cor 12:24).

You see, Johnson is a champion of persons with so-called disabilities. She is fluent in American Sign Language. She was a campus minister at Gallaudet University and pastored the Christ UMC of the Deaf for twenty years before her election as bishop. She has written a book on awareness, accessibility, and advocacy for people with disabilities. She is open about sharing her own disabilities, for example, being blind in one eye. She literally sees the world differently from the way many of us do.

As she preached, my imagination awoke. For the church, this means that diversity and difference are not only to be tolerated but celebrated. Johnson’s words from last year, in response to a pastor supporting the United Methodist Church’s discriminatory policies against same-sex marriage and ordination of homosexuals, echoed in my mind:

The church is called to be on the side of those who are oppressed. Our church through history has worked through our social issues with an eye to justice. Our rules were many times challenged in order to liberate people. With each victory (such as the end of the [racially segregated] Central Jurisdiction and the ordination of women) the church has become more and more gifted and inclusive.

Bishop Peggy Johnson, response letter, November 20, 2019

For the United Methodist Church today, our current struggle is the full and equal inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons. When will this church offer liberation instead of oppression? When will this church recognize the gifts rather than demonize the differences? Johnson’s sermon pushed me further out of my comfort zone, though.

Through her sermon, Johnson provoked me to consider that her unique combination of abilities and disabilities is her superpower, a gift of God. Not that we should glorify suffering. By no means! Her point was everyone has a unique set of gifts that makes them who they are, beloved by God, and important to the community. She offered example after example of persons who did not allow their disabilities to become obstacles to flourishing—in fact, they leveraged their uniqueness to become blessings to others. This is the nature of God’s incomprehensible, unbounded, transforming love. This is the inviting yet challenging word of God. Quite a provocation!

Ethics Considered has officially launched! This website features writing and research on issues relating to ethics, leadership, and community. Here you will find descriptions of and links to scholarly publications for both church and academy, written by me and my colleagues. I welcome your conversation and feedback. You may reach me by emailing my initials “dws” at this domain.