Update from Virginia Knowles

Hello friends!

It's been well over a year since I posted on this blog! I had started it as a project for my summer 2020 internship while I was completing my MA in Ministry at Asbury Seminary.

In the meantime, I got hyper-busy finishing up that last year and then launching into new adventures. My podcast plan expired and I didn't renew it, so if you try to listen to them, you're just going to hear silence. I may resurrect them at some point in time.

One of my biggest projects is writing my newest book, Burned: Rising from the Ashes of Spiritual Crisis. Burned is for those who have been burned up or burned out in their Christian religious experiences. It's a collection of transformative and restorative spiritual practices for reconnecting with God when what you've tried before either triggers you or just doesn't work. I've written most of the book already, and have just a few chapters and an appendix left to finish.

I wrote a Summer Update 2021 on my personal blog which will let you know what's kept me busy lately. The short story is that I graduated from Asbury in May, I'm finishing my book, I started teaching high school English and middle school Language Arts part-time at a weekly Christian homeschool program, I'm still homeschooling my youngest teen, and I'm still working part-time for our local crisis hotline.

I also had the wonderful opportunity last fall to teach a Practical Theology seminary class session as a course assistant. I did a presentation via Zoom on research methodology using my paper on The Church's Response to Marital Abuse as my example. 

In addition, when I took a Transformative Teaching class in the spring from the same professor, Dr. Beverly Johnson-Miller, I revisited this research for my student lesson presentation. You can watch the public part of it here: Transformative Teaching Presentation on The Church's Response Marital Abuse. 

But wait! There's more! This week I'm doing the same research methodology presentation for the current Practical Theology students as I did last fall!  Here is the link for the Slide Presentation on the Research Writing Project. It's an honor to do this, and always a pleasure to work with Dr. Johnson-Miller, who privately "commissioned" me for crisis advocacy work when I was on the Kentucky campus this spring. (Edit to add: Just finished the new presentation! I loved teaching it!)

In the future, I hope to do some local or video presentations on this topic. As I told a friend recently, I'll be doing some sort of advocacy work for the rest of my life. 

What is your call?

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

Episode 8: Growing into the Ministry of Writing

In Episode 8, I share about how I grew into the ministry of writing in various formats and genres.

 

(I actually recorded this episode about two weeks ago, but unexpectedly ended up in the hospital for a few days, so everything got delayed for a while. I am still very tired and trying to recover from lingering respiratory issues. Even during this recording, you can tell my voice is a little bit strained. Also please note that my Colossians Study: Read Your Bible, Read Your Life study has been postponed by a week and starts this Wednesday, July 15. Join us online!)

Near the end of the episode, I tell about my latest upcoming project, a new book! I also describe how I intend to get it done, namely by doing an independent research course in seminary as one of my electives. The professor did agree to supervise my research, and reminded me that I only need to write two papers for the class and not a whole book. However, this research will lay the groundwork for writing a solid content book, and I am free to complete as much as I want of my manuscript this fall semester too. I just submitted the final forms, reading list, and updated proposal to the seminary for the dean's approval. I don't anticipate this will be a problem. What is it about? Listen and find out! Or, just keep reading....

Here are some excerpts from my longer proposal:

I am proposing to create an independent research course for Fall 2020 on the topic of Christian spiritual formation, both classical and creative contemporary, as a means of care for women who have experienced life crisis and/or religious disillusionment. This topic, in one form or another, has been my focus of ministry for many years, as well as my goal after graduation from Asbury Seminary... During this project, I plan to research Christian spiritual formation, trauma-informed care, women’s ministry, and writing/publishing for Christian audiences. This research could include books, academic journals, personal interviews with women, and/or a writer’s conference. I will write the required two research papers. Tentatively, one will be on the spiritual needs of women in crisis, and the other will be on creative adaptations of spiritual practices for this population. I also plan to start writing a book called Pilgrimage and Jubilee: Christian Spirituality for the Wounded, Weary, Doubting, or Just Plain Stuck. This would introduce restorative classical, contemporary, and creative spiritual disciplines through the following genres: poetry, stories from women, prose instruction, and creative exercises.

And here is my tentative reading list. I am required to read 1,200-1,500 pages suitable for graduate level research, as well as whatever else I want. Since the books listed here represent more than 4,000 pages, I can skim and glean from many of these books, but I will read most of the core books all the way through.

Spiritual Crisis & Healing

Care of Souls: Revisioning Christian Nurture and Counsel by Dr. David Benner

Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores by Dr. Diane Langberg

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Survivor Care: What Religious Professionals Need to Know about Healing Trauma by Dr. Christy Gunter Sim

Healing our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing Our World by Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Dr. Graham Hill

Rhythms of Restoration: Practicing Grief on the Path of Grace, A Field Guide of Mini-Retreats for the Hurting and Those Who Help Them by Laura Baber Beach

A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward the Undivided Life, Welcoming the Soul and Weaving Community in a Wounded World by Parker J. Palmer

Healing Together: A Guide to Supporting Sexual Abuse Survivors by Anne Marie Miller

Simple Acts of Moving Forward: 40 Suggestions for Getting Unstuck by Vinita Hampton Wright

Other Spiritual Crisis & Healing Topics: gender role issues in the church, high demand religious movements, narrative therapy, faith deconstruction & reconstruction, pastoral attitudes toward professional mental health care.

Spiritual Disciplines & Direction

Spiritual Direction: A Guide to Giving and Receiving Direction by Dr. Gordon T. Smith

The Making of an Ordinary Saint: My Journey from Frustration to Joy with the Spiritual Disciplines by Nathan Foster

The Celebration of Discipline: A Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster

The Workbook Keeping Company with the Saints by Dr. Maxie Dunnam

The Flowing Grace of Now: Encountering Wisdom through the Weeks of the Year by Sister Macrina Wiederkehr

Sacred Rhythms: Arranging our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton

A Diary of Readings edited by John Baillie

Other Spiritual Disciplines Reading Topics:  Hildegarde, Madame Guyon

Spiritual Writing

The Art of Spiritual Writing: How to Craft Prose That Engages and Inspires Your Readers by Vinita Hampton Wright

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity and Writing by L.L. Barkat

Breath for the Bones: Art, Imagination, and Spirit by Luci Shaw

Other Spiritual Writing Topics: Christian writer’s conferences and critique groups, publishing process. 

_______________________________

Here is the poem which will start the book.

"Pilgrimage and Jubilee"
by Virginia Knowles, 2013

It’s been a long road
And I’ve traveled the valley of the shadow.
But I write as a free woman
Still with earthy bonds, yes
But able to rise above and go beyond.

We are called to the dignity of the Image of God.
We are called to walk the path of peace and glory.
We are called to hear the holy echo:
"Proclaim liberty throughout the land!"
So let us rise, strong and free.

Mine is the story of pilgrimage and jubilee.

_______________________________

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

Episodes #3-5: The Church's Response to Marital Abuse

Podcast Episodes on The Church's Response to Marital Abuse

This three part podcast is about the Church's Response to Marital Abuse. It is based on my research report "Examination and Recommendations on the Church's Response to Marital Abuse" written for my Practical Theology class at Asbury Seminary. You can read the PDF version here.

The three parts of the series are Examining the Church's Response to Marital Abuse, Theological Reflections on the Church's Response to Marital Abuse, and Recommendations for the Church's Response to Marital Abuse.




I have already written extensively on domestic violence. Most of my articles are available on my Domestic Violence Resource on one of my other blogs. On that page, there are also links to many of the books listed in my research.

Recommended books quoted in my research paper:

• Give Her Wings: Help and Healing After Abuse by Megan Cox 
• Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife: My Story of Finding Hope after Domestic Abuse by Dr. Ruth A. Tucker 
• A Model for Marriage: Covenant, Grace, Empowerment and Intimacy by Jack O. Balswick and Judith K. Balswick
• The Life-Saving Divorce: Hope for People Leaving Destructive Relationships by Gretchen Baskerville
• Divorce and Remarriage in the Church: Biblical Solutions for Pastoral Realities by Dr. David Instone-Brewer
• And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament by Dr. Craig Keener
• No Place for Abuse: Biblical and Practical Resources to Counteract Domestic Violence by Catherine Clark Kroeger and Nancy Nason-Clark 
• Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores by Dr. Diane Langberg
• Survivor Care: What Religious Professionals Need to Know about 
  Healing Trauma by Dr. Christy Gunter Sim
• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Bessel. 

Recommended articles mentioned in my research paper:

• Your Stories of Women and Marriages Damaged from Love and Respect by Sheila Wray Gregoire, To Love Honor and Vacuum blog
• Grounds for Divorce: Why I Now Believe There are More than Two paper presented by Dr. Wayne Grudem at 2019 Evangelical Theological Society
• Why Couples Counseling is Not Recommended for Abusive Marriages - Even Christian Ones by Virginia Knowles at Watch the Shepherd blog
• A Critique of Wayne Grudem’s ‘A Grounds for Divorce' by Marg Mowczko 
• Paul’s Words on Divorce, and Leaving an Abusive Marriage by Marg Mowczko
• God Hates Divorce? by Rev. Sam Powell on My Only Comfort blog