How do members of faith communities care for the mentally ill—the depressed, or psychotic, or addicted—in their midst?
What does the loss of agency, loss of control, even loss of self often associated with mental illness, mean for a Christian?
And, above all, how should these situations be narrated theologically?
“Christian responses to these questions vary dramatically,” says Dr. Warren Kinghorn, chief psychiatry resident at Duke University Medical Center, and a candidate for The Divinity School’s new doctoral program in theology. “It’s my conviction that the church has much work to do in order to make sense of the questions.”
Psychiatric and neurobiological research is important, but Christians trying to interpret the results of this research need more than scientific knowledge alone, says Kinghorn.
“This is profoundly theological work which requires intensive training in the language and practices of the church. Because of this, the Duke Th.D. program has been a perfect fit.”
Kinghorn hopes to work in a divinity school or medical center where through teaching and scholarship he will help form clergy and laity ministering to community members who are mentally ill, as well as mental health professionals who care for patients from diverse religious traditions.
Born: March 16, 1975, Greenville, S.C.
Education: Residency, Duke University Medical Center: Internal Medicine/ Psychiatry, 2003-05; Psychiatry, 2005-07; Chief Psychiatric Resident, 2006-07
M.D., Harvard Medical School, 2003
M.T.S., Duke Divinity School, 2002
B.S., Psychology, Furman University, 1997
Publications: “Professionalism in modern medicine: Does the emperor have any clothes?” Academic Medicine, January 2007
“‘You are dust:’ Ash Wednesday on a Psychiatic Ward,” The Christian Century, March 21, 2006
Experience: 2006-2007 – Chief psychiatric resident, Duke University Medical Center
2005-2007 – Residency, psychiatry, DUMC
2003-2005 – Residency, Internal Medicine/Psychiatry, DUMC
1998 – Summer Research Fellow, Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
1996 – Duke Endowment Intern, Department of Chaplaincy Services, Presbyterian Hospital, Charlotte, N.C.
Denomination: Presbyterian Church (USA)
The interdisciplinary approach of Duke’s Th.D. gave it a distinct edge over traditional Ph.D. programs in religion for Melanie Dobson Hughes, who knew she wanted to study healing within the church.
“With this degree I can look at aspects of suffering, reconciliation and redemption through Scripture, the Tradition, and in the church’s practices,” she says.
“As an ordained United Methodist minister, I also was attracted to the program’s commitment to doing scholarly work that is integrated into the life of the church.”
While Hughes is open to teaching and a return to pastoral ministry, she and her husband, a fourth-year medical student, dream of establishing a retreat center in the North Carolina mountains.
“Our vision is to offer truly integrated, wholistic healthcare in a setting that honors people’s minds, bodies and spirits, as well as creation,” she says.
“I am focusing on courses that will help me reflect deeply on the nature and practices of healing.”
A registered yoga instructor, Hughes currently teaches classes in Durham as a way of practically embodying healing in her own life.
Born: April 13, 1975, Charlotte, N.C.
Education: M.Div. & Th.M., Duke Divinity School, 2001, 2002
B.A., Furman University, Greenville, S.C., 1997
Publications: “Being Real: The Practices of the Body of Christ,” Ministry at Large, Divinity magazine, Winter 2004
Experience: 2002-2006 – Associate Pastor, Dayspring United Methodist United Church, Tempe, Ariz.
2000-2001 – Student Pastor, Trinitatis Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bonn, Germany
1997-1998 – Teacher/Missionary, United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, Utila, Honduras
Denomination: Elder, United Methodist Church
After earning a Th.M. degree last May, the Rev. Craig Heilmann wanted to continue his studies at Duke before returning to ministry in New Zealand.
As a member of The Divinity School’s first class of doctor of theology students, he recognizes he’s been given a rare opportunity. His scholarship will focus on the practice of penance and confession, areas he studied for the master of theology degree. But the program will also feature hands-on experience.
“With its emphasis on practices in the Christian community, it is my hope that I will gain the knowledge and skills to engage real life problems in the context of a church community, so that I end up with a theology ‘with shoes on’ (or should I say sandals?),”quips Heilmann.
A bonus of the doctoral program, he adds, is the flexibility to take courses in areas of the university in addition to The Divinity School. Last semester, for example, he took a course on the French philosopher Foucault in Duke’s Program in Literature.
“In the end, those of us in this program receive encouragement from great faculty to pursue different areas of knowledge that might shed light upon Christian practices,” says Heilmann. “And that has the power to lead to the integrated life of individuals and communities.”
Born: Sept. 17, 1965, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Education:
Th.M., Duke Divinity School, 2006 M.T.S., early Judaism & the New Testament, Regent College, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1990; Postgraduate Study, 1991
Grad.Dip.CS, early Judaism & the New Testament, Regent College, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1989
B.A., Multnomah College, Portland, Ore., 1988
Publications: Hogwarts or Hogwash: The Harry Potter Phenomenon & Your Child, LGHP Ltd., 2002.
“Harry Potter & The Lord of The Rings: A Study of Competing Worldviews,” Parenting with Confidence: Vol. 4, No. 2, April 2001.
Experience: 2003-2005 – Minister at large, Greenlane Christian Center, which with 3,000 members is Auckland, New Zealand’s largest independent church.
2000-2005 – Executive director, Family Matters Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing and serving the modern family.
1998-2000 – Founder and director of a publishing company.
1995-1999 – Senior lecturer in theology, Hillson College, Sydney, Australia.
Denomination: Ordained minister in a Free Church in New Zealand; previously an Anglican layperson.
