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Preaching : Pain & Trauma

An overview of resources on preaching at Yale Library.

Relevant Research Guides

Evidence-Based Mental Health: Yale Psychiatry Residency Program

LGBTQI Health Resources

RLST 217 Health, Science, and Religion

Sermon Resources on Trauma

Bearing the Unbearable: Trauma, Gospel, and Pastoral Care by Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger Weaves together threads from the fields of psychology and pastoral theology to explore the impact of trauma on people's lives and offers practical strategies and restorative practices for dealing with it.
Trauma-Sensitive Theology: Thinking Theologically In The Era of Trauma by Jennifer Baldwin Designed to help theologians, professors, clergy, spiritual care givers, and therapists speak well of God and faith without further wounding survivors of trauma.
Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma-Informed Theology by Sarah Travis Provides a theological lens for preachers who wonder how their sermons can address suffering amid traumatic wounding.
Lament-Driven Preaching: Proclaiming Hope Amid Suffering by Eliana Ah-Rum Ku This book challenges Christian communities to engage in lament--a mode of existence characterized by impassioned expression, witnessing, and personal or social protest in the face of evil and injustice, reflecting a profound yearning for God's saving presence.

Sermon Resources for Pain and Suffering

Addiction and Pastoral Care (Online) by Sonia E. Waters Weaves together personal stories, research, and theological reflection to offer helpful tools for ministers, counselors, chaplains, and anyone else called to care pastorally for those struggling with addiction.
Crisis Preaching: Personal and Public by Joseph R. Jeter Explains how to diagnose a crisis (public, congregational, and personal) and offers six homiletical strategies for creating sermons when speaking during a crisis.
Ethical Approaches to Preaching: Choosing the Best Way to Preach About Difficult Issues (Online) by John S. McClure Organizes recent literature on ethics and preaching into four ethical approaches.
God in Her Midst: Preaching Healing to Wounded Women by Elaine M. Flake Crafts a womanist theology and praxis of preaching to wounded women.
God in Pain: Teaching Sermons On Suffering by Taylor, Barbara Brown A volume of teaching sermons on suffering which presents different approaches to the problem of God in pain.
Grief: Contemporary Theory and the Practice of Ministry by Melissa M. Kelley Presents contemporary grief theory and research, integrated with important theological, religious, and ministerial perspectives.
Military Moral Injury and Spiritual Care: A Resource For Religious Leaders and Professional Caregivers (Online) by Nancy Ramsay et al. Offers resources to inform and support practices of spiritual care for veterans and others affected by moral injury incurred in the context of military service.
Soul Repair: Recovering From Moral Injury After War by Rita Nakashima Brock; Gabriella Lettini The first book to explore the idea and effect of moral injury on veterans, their families, and their communities.
The Divine Art of Dying: How To Live Well While Dying by Karen Speerstra; Herbert Anderson Explores the unique moment when seriously ill people choose to turn toward death.
This Incomplete One: Sermons Occasioned By the Death Of A Young Person by Michael D. Bush Features sixteen sermons from preachers wrestling with the deaths of children and young adults.