"Attending to Spirit: Spirituality and Childhood Hope in Chronic Illness"

Children with incurable chronic illness see hope as a relational resource that emerges in the present moment. Instead of asking when God’s reality will arrive, they point to where and with whom God’s common/wealth manifests. The lecture draws on qualitative research with 51 children to describe “attending to Spirit” as a primary way that sick children sustain hope and cope with physical and psychosocial pain. Especially prevalent among young people from Black and Brown communities, the practice involves learning from, practicing with, and valuing others in formal and informal spiritual communities. Sick children tend toward an instrumental understanding of religious resources, but speak intimately and personally of God’s availability and presence in the midst of illness. Clinicians and spiritual caregivers can play an active role in accessing and amplifying spiritual and religious resources, with implications for cultivating hope among adults and broader communities.

This lecture will be held virtually on Zoom and as an on-campus watch party. Registration is required for both.

View printable pdf.

About Dr. Duane Bidwell

Duane R. Bidwell, PhD, is an award-winning teacher and mentor who has served as faculty member, psychotherapist, nonprofit director, clinical supervisor, and accreditation specialist. He is a PCUSA minister member of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery. 

The 2022 Greenhoe Lecture draws from his forthcoming book on pediatric hope, which highlights the voices of 51 children living with incurable chronic illness. 

Duane teaches at the Center for Health Professions Education, Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, where he oversees a collaborative program with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to improve clinical education in hospitals across the country.

From 2010-2022, Duane taught practical theology, spiritual care, and counseling at Claremont School of Theology, where he functioned as accreditation liaison officer, co-director of the Center for Sexuality, Gender, and Religion, and senior staff clinician and supervisor at The Clinebell Center for Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy. 

He has published five books and 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. His work has been featured on NPR, CNN, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and his book When One Religion Isn’t Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People (Beacon, 2018) was a Christian Century bestseller and Library Journal Best Book of 2018. 

Duane’s research in spirituality and mental health explores identity, agency, and possibility as building blocks of effective care. He works from a relational, strengths-based perspective, with expertise in solution-focused, narrative, and appreciative practices.

He serves on the boards of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and The Taos Institute, an international educational organization that promotes relational approaches to education, organizational development, mental health, and other issues. Duane is a former editor of the Journal of Pastoral Theology and steering committee member of the American Academy of Religion unit Innovations in the Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care. 

He lives in Southern California with his wife, a curriculum editor. They have an adult son and participate in the life of Claremont Presbyterian Church. Duane volunteers as a fire lookout in the San Bernardino Mountains, hand-builds pottery, and enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and good food.

About the Greenhoe Lecture

The Greenhoe Lectures were established in 1966 by Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland, Michigan, in honor of their former pastor, Dr. Theodore M. Greenhoe. Dr. Greenhoe was a member of the Louisville Seminary class of 1934.