Pathways of Grace: Offering and Encountering God’s Goodness in Helping Professions
About this ebook
In Pathways of Grace, psychologist Mark R. McMinn and spiritual director Lisa Graham McMinn draw from the largest social science study ever conducted on how Christians experience divine grace, revealing four distinct pathways through which grace most often breaks into ordinary life: brokenness, attunement, suffering, and kindness.
This book is written for those in helping professions such as counselors, therapists, pastors, spiritual directors, and social workers. Through story, research, spiritual reflection, and practical wisdom, the McMinns equip these helpers to experience the grace they spend their lives giving to others.
What you will find in Pathways of Grace:
- An exploration of what grace is, identifying a framework of lived religion, with examples of how people practice and experience faith in their real, everyday lives, offering insight into grace beyond textbook theology
- Insights drawn from eight in-depth studies conducted throughout the United States, funded by the John Templeton Foundation
- Practical scholarship for helping professionals to receive grace themselves, let it nourish their own spiritual lives, and bring it into their helping relationships
- A spiritually rich, multidisciplinary perspective with insights from psychology, sociology, and spiritual formation
Whether you are an experienced practitioner or a graduate student entering a helping profession, Pathways of Grace offers a fresh, research-grounded vision of how God's grace meets people—including you—in ordinary life.
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About the author
Mark R. McMinn (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is professor emeritus at George Fox University. After a thirty-six-year career in academics (Wheaton College, George Fox), he now operates a private practice in psychology and a small fruit farm in rural Oregon. He is the author of numerous books on the integration of psychology and Christianity, including Integrative Psychotherapy; Care for the Soul; and Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling.
Lisa McMinn (PhD, Portland State University) is a certified spiritual director, supervisor, and minister of pastoral care and spiritual formation at North Valley Friends Church. Prior to that she was a sociology professor, having taught at Wheaton College, Trinity International University, and George Fox University. She has authored or coauthored seven books, including An Invitation to Slow.
