My Body Is My Vocation: Embracing Self-Care as a Sacred Calling
Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Thursday, September 19, 2023
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Foss Center, Hoversten Chapel, AUgsburg University
In religious contexts, vocation is usually defined as the work that the Divine calls us to do on behalf of others. But what if our vocation starts much closer to home, with the ways that we care for and nurture ourselves? This lecture explores how self-care transcends mere indulgence to become a spiritual discipline and vocation that helps us to cultivate resilience, compassion, a deeper connection with our faith, and ultimately, greater love for the world.
Chanequa Walker-Barnes, Ph.D., is a prominent scholar, theologian, and author, known for her thought-provoking work on racial justice and spirituality. With a deep commitment to social change, she combines her expertise in clinical psychology and theology to tackle issues of systemic oppression, cultural trauma, and their impact on individuals and society. Through her research, writing, and speaking, Dr. Chanequa strives to inspire others to transformative social action and wholistic self-care. A professor of practical theology at Columbia Theological Seminary, she has authored three books – Sacred Self-Care, I Bring the Voices of My People, and Too Heavy a Yoke. Her faith has been shaped by Methodist, Baptist, and evangelical social justice communities as well as by Buddhism and Islam. In her thirty years in higher education, she has been a Hurricane (U. Miami), Gator (U. Florida), Tar Heel (UNC-Chapel Hill), and Blue Devil (Duke). Yet somehow, she is still not a sports fan.