University of Dubuque Theological Seminary Professor's Book Receives Award
Sep 3, 2004 | University of Dubuque Theological Seminary
University of Dubuque Theological Seminary professor, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner has had her book The Spirit of Adoption: At Home in God's Family(Westminster/John Knox Press, 2003), selected by The Academy of Parish Clergy as one of the top ten books for parish ministry published in 2003.
In her heart-felt theology of adoption, Stevenson-Moessner explains that while the church has long understood the grounding self-concept of a Christian as a child of God, it has failed to underscore that Christians all come into the family of faith by adoption. She explores adoption as a central theme in Scripture, as a doctrine of faith, and as a theological metaphor. Further, in using her own experience of adoption to inform her scholarship, Stevenson-Moessner offers help to all those touched by adoption, including adoptive parents. By beginning with chapters on barrenness, conception, and expectant waiting, and moving to discussions of the developing years, the search for identity, and challenges in the adoptive family, her writing begs a wide audience.
"This is front-line work, on an urgent topic& Until I read this book, I had no theological pegs on which to hang the accounts of sufferings and glories that can come with adoption." (From the Foreword, xii, Martin E. Marty, professor emeritus, University of Chicago.)
Dr. Stevenson-Moessner came to the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 1997 and now serves as associate professor of pastoral theology and Christian formation. She earned her MA from Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, NJ) and her Dr. Theol. from the University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland). She is the editor of Through the Eyes of Women: Insights for Pastoral Care (Augsburg Fortress, 1996), and In Her Own Time: Women and Developmental Issues in Pastoral Care (Augsburg Fortress, 2000); and co-editor of Women in Travail and Transition: A New Pastoral Care (Augsburg Fortress, 1991). She lectures widely and publishes in numerous journals such as New Proclamation, Year C, 2004, Easter through Pentecost (Augsburg Fortress, 2003).
The Academy of Parish Clergy isan interfaith, voluntary, and self-governing association of ordained persons occupying clerical roles, ordinarily in a congregational, judicatory or chaplaincy setting, who seek growth towards excellence in ministry through sharing the practice.
