Kardia House Authors
A group of folks from Wake Forest University School of Divinity have recently received a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. that focuses on the Thriving Congregations Initiative. Kardia House is partnering with them to develop Thriving Congregation Guides for churches.
These eight Wake Divinity students are partnering with Kardia Writing and Publishing to produce a series of guides for congregational health, which will be available in the near future.
From the Authors: “These guides are the result of a labor of love on the part of Wake Divinity students, staff, and faculty, and we are deeply grateful for the congregations that worked with us and opened their doors in hospitality and love to us. We offer these guides in hope for a future life of the Church where we see congregations thriving and participating in justice, reconciliation, and compassion with a world that desperately needs communities where these beautiful ideas are alive, are embodied, and are practiced on a daily basis.”
The Thriving Congregations Initiative is especially interested in helping congregations to: explore and understand their rapidly changing social and cultural contexts; gain greater clarity about their values and mission; and draw on practices from their theological and ecclesial traditions to adapt their ministries to the demands of their changing contexts.
The aim of the Initiative is to help congregations thrive by strengthening ministries that help people deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and the world. The Endowment anticipates announcing grant awards in early December 2023.
The Good Doctors of Abbey Research are Dr. Kristen Donnelly (MSW, M.Div., Ph.D.) and Dr. Erin Hinson (MA, Ph.D.). They are corporate trainers that focus on employee engagement and retention with approaches and insights that get to the root of discontent, poor morale, and miscommunication, the key factors in employee turnover.
Kristen and Erin are Kardia House Authors who recently published a co-authored book, The Culture of Burnout, with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which is available for order on Amazon now.
From the Authors: “Our culture of burnout means that we are all, collectively, fostering an environment that breeds exhaustion, disconnection, and a sense of personal failure. If we can, instead, move to a culture of balance, we can foster an environment that supports growth, comfort, safety, and community. We think the first step to that is understanding.”
Kristen is an award winning four time TEDx speaker, international empathy educator, and researcher with two decades of experience in helping people understand the beauty in difference, and the power in inclusivity. She is one of The Good Doctors of Abbey Research, COO of their parent company, and an unapologetic nerd for stories of change. Kristen lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, where they are surrounded by piles of books and several video game consoles.
Erin is a researcher, educator, and tea enthusiast with over a decade of experience in cultivating curiosity in herself and others. As one of The Good Doctors of Abbey Research, Erin advocates for inclusion, equity, and understanding through conversation. She lives in Pittsburgh with her mother, cat, and international gin collection.
Rev. Charley Garrison is Senior Minister of Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church and identifies as a gay man, political activist, preacher, teacher, servant, and Christian.
Charley is a Kardia House Author who recently published Unveiling the Dotted Line with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which is available for order on Amazon now.
From the Author: “This is a story about how a good Southern Baptist boy ended up as a gay Christian minister, and all the challenges I met along the way: surviving high school bullying, overcoming alcohol and drug addiction, losing my faith and then finding it again, maneuvering through an AIDS epidemic, and more. In short, it’s a story about a messy life and my search for meaning in it.”
Charley was an AIDS activist for 20 years in Baton Rouge where he discovered Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) and began to integrate his spirituality, his sexuality, and his passion for justice, which led to his ordination with MCC in 1998. In November of 1999, he was appointed as the Interim Pastor of Central Texas MCC in Waco, TX, and he became their permanent pastor in November 2000.
Through his encouragement and sermons, the members of Central Texas MCC have learned to embrace their sexuality as gifts of God. They have developed programs to serve the hungry within their community, they have found a voice to speak out for equal rights for all people, and they have taken up a much-needed ministry to people living with HIV.
Esther M. Hooley (Ph.D.) is a psychologist based in Texas. She has been a therapist for over a decade and currently engages in clinical practice across the U.S.
Esther is a Kardia House Author who recently published Embracing Erotic Wholeness with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which is available for order on Amazon now.
From the Author: “When we determine something is worthless in our lives, what do we do with it? We toss it out! We say “not good enough,” and we create distance between us and the worthless thing. When we cut ourselves off from our bodies, sexuality, pleasure, the right to have desire, we are silencing fundamental parts of ourselves. Said another way, we were taught – in the name of religion – to attack and shame ourselves, our sacredness as women, and to try to amputate a natural and life-giving part of our being. A first step to reclaiming a spirituality of our sexuality is understanding our shame, especially when it comes to religion…and purity culture.“
Esther stumbled into the field of psychology but soon learned that psychotherapy was what she was made to do. She feels humbled and privileged to be a healer and to bear witness to people’s journeys. She has found her therapeutic home at the intersection of trauma, spirituality, and sexuality.
Esther has presented at multiple conferences on these topics and hopes to contribute to a shift in narrative regarding how we can engage our faith and our sexuality in a meaningful manner, both in her writing and therapeutic work.
Sharyl West Loeung, M.Div. is a speaker, preacher/former pastor, writer and educator who spends her days working with faith leaders, community members, writers and speakers to help them consider what it means to belong in a diverse world.
Rev. Dr. Josh R. Ritter, M.Div., Ph.D., is a rhetorical and communication scholar who studies religious rhetoric, theology, philosophy, dialogue and deliberation, and civic interfaith leadership.
Josh and Sharyl are Kardia House Award-Winning Authors who recently published a co-authored book, Following the Way of Wisdom Jesus, with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which received a Reader’s Favorite 5-Star Review and is the winner of the American Book Fest Best Book Award for the category of Religion: Christianity. It also received a Best Book Finalist Award for the category of Spirituality: General.
“The way of wisdom is always an applied practice and in reading this, I am grateful for the reminder that there is much below the surface and behind the scenes that is mysterious and hard to explain. Which is why we all need generous communication in a world that is often turned in on itself instead of open handed toward others.”
Dr. Bo M. White, author of A Time to Question Everything
“Following the Way of Wisdom Jesus is a groundbreaking book that will restructure how you view religion, spirituality, and God. I loved reading this book and hope to enjoy more work from these amazing authors.”
Doreen Chombu, Reader’s Favorite, 5-Star Review
From the Authors: “Communication is a spiritual practice of generosity and mindful awareness. After 20 years of ministry in diverse contexts, theological study, teaching, and spiritual exploration, this is a truth we finally came to embrace, and we came to see Jesus’s teachings as instructions on how we communicate. Weaving together insights from other wisdom traditions such as Judaism and Buddhism, we came to understand Jesus differently – and more deeply – as a rabbi and a wisdom teacher who is focused on the ways we communicate with ourselves, with each other, and with God.”
Josh worked in the higher education sector for over 15 years as a chaplain and a teacher of rhetoric, writing, leadership, and public speaking. He has several academic publications and has presented at conferences around the country on civic interfaith leadership in public life and religious rhetoric in the public sphere, but his real passion is the practice of engaged contemplative spirituality and reframing the ways we approach religion, justice, communication, and the spiritual imagination.
Sharyl worked in the higher education sector for over 8 years in diversity, education, training, and program management, and she is now a TedX speaker, DEI trainer and writing consultant. Though her career has taken her in many directions, the common thread has always been facilitating space for intercultural relationships through bridge building, story-sharing and nurturing cultural humility for the discovery of common ground, and ultimately, meaningful social change.
Rev. Dr. Josh R. Ritter, M.Div., Ph.D., is a rhetorical and communication scholar who studies religious rhetoric, theology, philosophy, dialogue and deliberation, and civic interfaith leadership.
Josh is a Kardia House Award-Winning Author who recently published a book, These Dry Bones, with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which received a Reader’s Favorite 5-Star Review and is the winner of the Literary Titan Silver Book Award.
“Ritter’s writing is imbued with an inviting blend of instructive earnestness and compassionate humanity, allowing his passion and expertise to resonate on every page. These Dry Bones unfolds with graceful complexity, leading to a final sense of clarity and comprehension. The book’s ingenious structure interweaves the eight Beatitudes, reflecting teachings on the interconnectivity of life and warning against the perils of unchecked individualism.”
literary Titan, editorial review
“These Dry Bones is a comprehensive study in which Ritter presents his analysis of Jesus’s teachings in a concise and approachable manner. Very highly recommend.”
Jamie Michele, Reader’s Favorite, 5-star review
From the Author: “In this book, I weave together wisdom teachings and insights from Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism to explore the beatitudes through the lens of the wisdom tradition. On this creative journey into the heart of the beatitudes, I offers spiritual and wisdom-oriented insights rather than theological ones, and I present many different and differing interpretations of the beatitudes and other pieces of the biblical narrative. Through the lens of the spiritual imagination, I explore, re-imagine, and reframe various ways to interpret the beatitudes as a type of eight-fold path of spiritual development. What I discover is that the true beauty of the beatitudes is their openness to rich interpretations and deep wisdom. Just as Jesus understood scripture as a deep and living well of beauty and wisdom, this book approaches the beatitudes with the same understanding.“
Rev. Dr. Josh R. Ritter, M.Div., Ph.D., is a rhetorical and communication scholar who studies religious rhetoric, theology, philosophy, dialogue and deliberation, and civic interfaith leadership. He is also a chaplain, a teacher of rhetoric, and a contemplative, and his passion is the practice of engaged spirituality and reframing the ways we approach religion and the spiritual imagination.
His previous publication is his co-authored book, Following the Way of Wisdom Jesus, that focuses on communication as a spiritual practice of generosity and mindful awareness.
Rev. Dr. Josh R. Ritter, M.Div., Ph.D., is a rhetorical and communication scholar who studies religious rhetoric, theology, philosophy, dialogue and deliberation, and civic interfaith leadership.
Josh is a Kardia House Award Winning Author who recently published a book, These Dry Bones, with Kardia Writing and Publishing, which received a Reader’s Favorite 5-Star Review and is the winner of the Literary Titan Silver Book Award. His newest book is A Hidden Hum: A Wisdom Journey into Advent and the Spiritual Imagination.
From the Author: “Advent is a time of remembering, and it is a time of birthing. The season of Advent is a time each year when we pause to listen and to remember the sacred beckonings of our shared history, our shared spiritual heritage and ancestry. It is a time of listening for the hidden hum of grace and mercy in our lives. It is a time to engage our spiritual imaginations, and to recall the practices of our lives: How have they shaped us this year? How will they shape us next year? This is the season of shadow and light as we remember to hold our Christ-nature gently within our spiritual womb that we call our heart. Just as Mary teaches us to do, we nurture our spiritual womb in shadow, and we prepare for the birthing of light into our lives.”
Rev. Dr. Josh R. Ritter, M.Div., Ph.D., is a rhetorical and communication scholar who studies religious rhetoric, theology, philosophy, dialogue and deliberation, and civic interfaith leadership. He is also a chaplain, a teacher of rhetoric, and a contemplative, and his passion is the practice of engaged spirituality and reframing the ways we approach religion and the spiritual imagination.
His previous publication is his co-authored book, Following the Way of Wisdom Jesus, that focuses on communication as a spiritual practice of generosity and mindful awareness, and These Dry Bones, which focuses on exploring the beatitudes through the lens of the wisdom tradition.