Christian Vocation throughout Life’s Seasons
Kathleen A. Cahalan and Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, eds.
Eerdmans, 2017
Visit this title on the publisher’s website »
Watch companion videos for each chapter »
Read an excerpt in Bearings Online »
Read an excerpt in the Christian Century »
Read an excerpt in Faith & Leadership »
Do infants have a vocation? Do Alzheimer’s patients? In popular culture, vocation is often reduced to adult work or church ministry. Rarely do we consider childhood or old age as crucial times for commencing or culminating a life of faith in response to God’s calling.
This book from the Collegeville Institute Seminar on Vocation Across the Lifespan addresses that gap by showing how vocation emerges and evolves over the course of an entire lifetime. The authors cover six of life’s distinct seasons, weaving together personal narrative, developmental theory, case studies, and spiritual practices.
Contents:
- Callings over a Lifetime—Kathleen A. Cahalan
- Childhood: The (Often Hidden Yet Lively) Vocational Life of Children—Bonnie Miller-McLemore
- Adolescence: Vocation in Performance, Passion, and Possibility—Katherine Turpin
- Younger Adulthood: Exploring Callings in the Midst of Uncertainty—Katherine Turpin
- Middle Adulthood: The Joys and Paradoxes of Vocation—Matt Bloom
- Late Adulthood: Seeking Vocation Once Again—Kathleen A. Cahalan
- Older Adulthood: Vocation at Life’s End—Joyce Ann Mercer
- Nine biblical interludes on vocation—Jane Patterson
Meet the Authors
Matt Bloom is associate professor of management in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and is the principal investigator for the Well-Being at Work project.
Read an interview with Matt on well-being at work (Part 1 and Part 2).
Kathleen A. Cahalan is professor of practical theology at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, Collegeville, Minnesota. Her previous work includes Calling in Today’s World: Voices from Eight Faith Perspectives and The Stories We Live: Finding God’s Calling All around Us.
Joyce Ann Mercer is professor of practical theology and pastoral care at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of Lives to Offer: Accompanying Youth on Their Vocational Quests and Welcoming Children: A Practical Theology of Childhood.
Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of Christian Theology in Practice: Discovering a Discipline.
Read an interview with Bonnie on the vocation of children (Part 1 and Part 2).
Jane Patterson is assistant professor of New Testament at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas and author of Keeping the Feast: Metaphors of Sacrifice in 1 Corinthians and Philippians.
Read an excerpt by Jane from Calling All Years Good about the Biblical stories of vocation in younger adults.
Katherine Turpin is associate professor of religious education, Iliff School of Theology and author of Branded: Adolescents Converting from Consumer Faith and co-author of Nurturing Different Dreams: Youth Ministry Across Lines of Difference.
Read an interview with Katherine on the vocation of youth and young adults (Part 1 and Part 2).
