Phillis Isabella Sheppard

Gender, Violence, and Justice

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“It is a sad reality that Pamela Cooper-White’s Gender, Violence, and Justice volume, is so timely in 2019. This collection of essays, covering over three decades of dedicated attention to the brutal fact of violence directed against women—women of color, LBTQ and cis women—is enough to make most of us cry and, some of us, commit to the hard work of changing societal attitudes about violence and women. . . . The abuse of power and the use of violence are theo-ethical concerns and Cooper-White is ever the pastoral theologian.”

Injustice and the Care of Souls, Second Edition

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“In this second edition of Injustice and the Care of Souls: Taking Oppression Seriously in Pastoral Care, Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook and Karen B. Montagno again make a significant contribution to pastoral care. Time has confirmed what the first publication argued--context and particularity matter. The model of pastoral care that reified the individual and gave scant attention to those relegated to the margins and subjected to the capricious effects of systemic injustice is fading, thanks to Kujawa-Holbrook and Montagno and their collaborators. The new chapters are timely and thought-provoking. The collection is deeply pastoral and, like the first edition, challenges the novice and most experienced to think theologically, pastorally, and systemically. A classic.”

Liberalism and Colonial Violence

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“It is hard to imagine a more necessary, and compellingly written, book for the field. Hellena Moon has pulled the colonial thread to unravel the hold that Western thought has wielded in pastoral theology and care. This is decolonial theology that dismantles at the deepest roots. Moon convincingly asserts that such work is necessary to articulate a pastoral theology that liberates the discipline and its practices of care.”

Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care is a volume sorely needed. Spiritual care in the last twenty years has more often than not been commodified as part of the capitalist project. As such, the liberation of humans from systemic suffering has been, at best, peripheral. Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care redefines the practice of spiritual care by exposing the legacy of colonial aims and offering images of spiritual care wherein person, systems, and communities are inextricably linked and, therefore, the heart of postcolonial care.”

Rethinking Incarceration

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“Dominique DuBois Gilliard's book is both hopeful and tough. The social and historical analysis is filled with hard truths. Incarceration in the United States cannot be separated from our racial history of the slavocracy in its former and contemporary forms. Gilliard writes to all who are deeply committed to embodying Christian understanding of justice, mercy, and restoration. Beginning with the view that restoration is required for those who have been imprisoned is expected in a book such as this, but Gilliard advocates for the restoration needed by the church and individual outside the confinement of prison. Real restoration involves being and becoming a faith community whose theological anthropology recognizes the full humanity of all—the imprisoned and the ones on the other side of the bars. Such a theological anthropology calls the church to give up its preoccupation with punishment in favor of love and restoration. If you have ever taken time to notice the injustices that permeate our system of justice and have been brokenhearted by the abuses, racism, and privilege that doles out prison sentences to some and offers grace to others, you will be challenged by Rethinking Incarceration.”

Shared Wisdom

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“In her revised and expanded edition, Pamela Cooper-White has given us a window into how the evolving nature of pastoral care and counseling is shaped by cultural shifts, such as attending to religious experiences beyond Christianity and heteronormativity, but also how the theologian is changed by deep pastoral listening and theological reflection. And we witness this shift throughout the work in the nuanced and substantive ways she engages theory and lived experiences. The expanded version has the depth we have come to appreciate from Cooper-White and challenges us anew to further our understanding and vision of pastoral care and counseling. Required reading for serious students and colleagues.”

Shared Wisdom

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“In her revised and expanded edition, Pamela Cooper-White has given us a window into how the evolving nature of pastoral care and counseling is shaped by cultural shifts, such as attending to religious experiences beyond Christianity and heteronormativity, but also how the theologian is changed by deep pastoral listening and theological reflection. And we witness this shift throughout the work in the nuanced and substantive ways she engages theory and lived experiences. The expanded version has the depth we have come to appreciate from Cooper-White and challenges us anew to further our understanding and vision of pastoral care and counseling. Required reading for serious students and colleagues.”

The Psychology of Christian Nationalism

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“In The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Divide, Pamela Cooper-White turns our attention to one of the greatest tasks facing the United States—how to stop the tide of ‘Christian’ nationalism in this country. Hers is a nuanced analysis of the rise of Christian nationalism and its relationship to white supremacy. Cooper-White’s contribution to these concerns is her adeptness at navigating the psychological, conscious, and unconscious motivations that lead many to identify with sociopolitical groups that, on the face of it, contradict their religious and moral values. A practical theologian to the core, Cooper-White brings a tempered hope while arguing that the way forward is the simultaneous pursuit of justice and love.”