Gratitude as a Spiritual Path: the Art of Ministry from the HeartGrace Kim (Sycamore University)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] The cultivation of gratitude is an essential imaginal entry point for religious education. This paper explores first the theological roots of gratitude as a virtue within the Judeo-Christian tradition, and will follow with an examination of the religious, psychological, sociological, anthropological and scientific dispositional dimensions of gratitude
Based on my ethnographical research, it delves into the power of gratitude by identifying the dynamics of the physical, psychological, spiritual benefits from the new discipline of brain science and neurocardiology.
Pressing On: Pauline Perspectives on Forming in Hope-filled VocationAmanda Pittman (Abilene Christian University)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] Christian hope, a powerful, liberating, and embodied reality, constitutes an essential element of Christian formation, one that gains definition and perseverance on the basis of God’s redemptive and liberating work through Christ. Drawing on Paul's theology of participation, I describe a theological basis for Christian hope. Subsequently, and in sustained engagement with the book of Philippians, I posit three pedagogical instantiations of such hope: exemplars of God’s redemption as a pedagogical practice, kenosis as a pedagogical disposition, and “hope-filled vocation” as a pedagogical goal.
