‘Living in the gap’ between expectations of Spirit-empowerment and reality

This is the Zoom recording of a presentation I made on my dissertation research at the Center of Spirit-empowered Research at Oral Roberts University on 28th February 2025. How do Pentecostals experience depression when their theology emphasizes Spirit-empowered victory? This presentation explores the tension between Pentecostal expectations of healing and real-world struggles with mental health. […]

Review of “Christianity and Depression,” by Tasia Scrutton

Christianity and Depression. By Tasia Scrutton. London, UK: SCM Press, 2020), xvi + 236 pp. Tasia (Anastasia P.) Scrutton is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds in the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science. Her research focuses on the interaction between religion and mental health and philosophical approaches to emotion and […]

Exploring How Pentecostals Preach About Depression

A qualitative analysis was completed on twelve sermons into how Pentecostal preachers talk about depression from the pulpit using the Assemblies of God (AG) as a purposive sample. Findings illustrate that preachers talked about faulty thinking as the source of depression and interpreted depression as a transformative journey occurring within the context of a God […]

Breaking Depression’s Silence Within the Church Through Friendships

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has […]