Karen D. Scheib
- PhD, Vanderbilt University, 1994
- MDiv, Pacific School of Religion, 1980
- BA, Sonoma State University, 1977
The Rev. Dr. Karen D. Scheib has returned to Candler as Scholar-in-Residence after retiring in 2020 as Professor of Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology. Scheib began teaching practical and pastoral theology at Candler in 1998, and served as director of the school’s Women, Theology, and Ministry program for many years.
Scheib’s research interests include faith and health, theological and cultural dimensions of crises and trauma, and narrative theory and therapy. She is the author of Challenging Invisibility: Practices of Care with Older Women (Chalice Press, 2004), Pastoral Care: Telling the Stories of Our Lives (Abingdon Press, 2016), and Attend to Stories: How to Flourish in Ministry (Wesley's Foundery Books, 2018). In addition, Scheib has contributed to several other books, and written for numerous scholarly and popular publications. Her current writing explores the intersection of ecclesiology and practices of care. She served on the editorial board of Journal of Pastoral Theology from 2003-2005 and as the managing editor from 2005-2008.
A widely sought teacher and presenter, Scheib has been a frequent visiting professor and lecturer at the Methodist Theological University in Seoul, South Korea, Arhus University in Aarhus, Denmark, and the Methodist University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Pastoral Theology. At Emory and Candler, Scheib served on numerous university committees and leadership teams, including the University Senate from 2015-2017. She was also the faculty advisor to the Korean graduate student group at Emory for 15 years.
Scheib is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has served on the North Georgia Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, and on the advisory board and an adjunct faculty member for the Center for Leadership Training and Education of the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church.
Books
Attend to Stories: How to Flourish in Ministry, Wesley's Foundery Books, 2018
Pastoral Care: Telling the Stories of Our Lives, Abingdon Press, 2016
Challenging Invisibility: Practices of Care with Older Women, Chalice Press, 2004
Chapters and Articles
"All Shall Be Well: Flourishing and Well-Being in Positive Psychology and Feminist Narrative Pastoral Theology" in Journal of Pastoral Theology, vol. 24, no. 2, Maney, May 27, 2015
"Love as Starting Point for Pastoral Theological Reflection," in Pastoral Psychology, vol. 63, nos. 5-6, Springer Press, December 01, 2014
"Christian Commitment to Well-Being: John Wesley's 'Sensible Regimen' and Primitive Physick," in Religion as a Social Determinant of Public Health, Oxford University Press, 2014
"Suffering and the Sacred," in Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, Springer Press, 2012
"Weaving a Communal Narrative: Agape United Methodist Church," in Pastoral Bearings: Lived Religion and Pastoral Theology, Lexington Books, Rowman and Littlefield, 2010
"Make Love Your Aim: Ecclesial Practices of Care at the End of Life," in Living Well and Dying Faithfully: Christian Practices for End of Life Care, Wm. B. Erdmans, 2009
"Heath" and "Healing," in Wesley Study Bible, Abingdon Press, 2009
Selected Awards
Teresa Fry Brown Faculty Award, Black Student Caucus, Candler School of Theology, 2017
Mentoring Award, Emory Korean Graduate Student Association, Candler School of Theology, 2017
Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, Emory University, 2016
"On Being a Student" - Service of Word and Table Sermon, Cannon Chapel, September 5, 2017
"How to Love Yourself, Wesley’s Rules and Our Inner Lives" - Sermon at Eastside UMC, July 16, 2017
Service of Word and Table Sermon, Cannon Chapel, March 21, 2017
"Caring for Self and Others through Story" - Candler Practical Ministry Webinars, March 2, 2016
Maundy Thursday Service, Cannon Chapel, April 2, 2015
Selected Courses
Contextual Introduction to Pastoral Care
Pastoral Care of Women
Pastoral Care in Church and Community
Reading Lives: Narrative and Identity
Theological Dimensions of Pastoral Care
Writing as a Theological and Spiritual Practice