Darryl W. Stephens

• PhD Christian Ethics
• Lancaster Theological Seminary

Trauma-informed Christian ethics seeks to expose and redress patterns of systemic patriarchy and racism, leveraging privilege in solidarity with trauma survivors. Drawing on trauma studies and feminist theology and ethics, particularly the relational theology of Marjorie Suchocki and the defiant and resistance ethics of Traci West, this article pre...

Does United Methodism have a teaching office? Yes, and General Conference is a primary part of this office, according to several noted Methodist theologians and historians: Frank Baker, Thomas Langford, Mary Elizabeth Moore, and Russell Richey. However, the fruit of United Methodist theological discourse at General Conference is dispersed and not r...

How can institutions of higher learning in theological education respond to an increasing need for bivocational ministry preparation, training, and support? This article presents detailed findings from one US, mainline Protestant seminary’s effort to evaluate current and perceived needs in this area. Data from surveys of students, staff, faculty, a...

Written from a standpoint of religious ethics, this article interprets the work of trauma response and recovery in transcendent and moral terms not always apparent to the practitioner or institution. This article provides a broad understanding of spirituality, transcendence, and faith as these concepts relate to Judith Herman’s stages of trauma hea...

Ambiguities and uncertainties about defining bivocational ministry are an opportunity for theological reflection and religious education. This article begins by acknowledging a context of anxiety about congregational vitality in North American mainline denominations and utilizes Boyung Lee’s communal approach to religious education to facilitate im...

This article promotes a wider understanding of trauma-informed pedagogy for the higher education classroom, whether in-person or virtual, focusing on undergraduate and graduate teaching in religious studies and theological education. Trauma is not confined to individual experiences of single horrifying events—trauma can be collective (community-wid...

This article by the guest editor introduces the theme of this special issue of Religions, reveals some of his underlying convictions and assumptions regarding the task of reenvisioning Christian ethics, and introduces each of the eight articles in this collection. Rather than a discipline, Christian ethics might more accurately be described as a fi...

The descriptive moment in ethical reflection is helpfully informed by a careful consideration of what religious bodies have said about moral issues such as climate change. As a case study, this article identifies and interprets primary documents of The United Methodist Church (UMC) and its predecessor institutions, providing a detailed examination...

Ecumenical ethics is in need of a methodology for identifying when a common moral witness exists across communions, despite apparent dissimilarities. This essay illustrates, via the case of ecological witness, the promise of internally differentiated convergence as a conceptual catalyst for that identification. Differentiated convergence is linked...

“Open and affirming” connotes ministry that is fully inclusive of LGBTQIA+ persons. As a participant-observer, the author employed narrative theory to learn how members of a congregation recently committed to this ministry understood their faith in relation to the queer experiences of their sisters and brothers in Christ. This article offers a desc...

Classroom instructors implementing pedagogical strategies for embodied learning about sexuality and religion need institutional support and assistance from colleagues and mentors to be successful. One means of providing institutional and peer support for classroom instructors is to host and lead a pedagogy workshop. Building on the work of Ott and...

Intended for “the general educated Catholic population” (xiii), Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction (SE) is a masterfully abridged version of the authors’ award-winning 2008 book, The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology (TSP). Nearly all of the text of Sexual Ethics is common to both volumes, much of it edited for a broader...

Clergy often begin their ministerial careers unprepared to handle issues of professional power, sexuality and intimacy, and interpersonal boundaries. In response, denominational bodies and theological schools are seeking together ways to enhance the teaching of “professional sexual ethics”—referring to the integration of professional ethics, sexual...

This article describes Methodism’s efforts to address misconduct within ministerial relationships as an important dimension of sexuality education within a religious context. The United Methodist Church (UMC) makes a concerted effort to promote awareness, justice, and healing in cases of sexual abuse within ministerial relationships. The most promi...