Faith leaders, have you seen how your physical state can affect your ability to spiritually lead? Are you physically exhausted, fatigued, or weary? Maybe you had big goals for 2022: sleep more, exercise more, eat better. How are you doing pursuing those goals?

It is easy for spiritual leaders to put off caring for the body while focusing on soul work and the pulls of ministry. However, when one aspect of personhood is neglected or hurting, the other aspects are affected too. That interconnectedness is just one of many reasons why caring for the body is so important.

Duke Divinity School is partnering with Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. (a stock insurer) to host the first Faith + Fitness webinar of 2022. Led by two experts, the webinar will explore the foundational value of the body and practical ways to care for it.

Learning to better value and care for the body can strengthen the connection between physical and spiritual health. 

• Meet the Host

  

  Dr. Katherine Smith
  Duke Divinity School Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives

  An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. Smith most recently served as assistant dean for admissions, vocation, and stewardship at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn. She earned a B.A. in English literature from Princeton University, a M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and a Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Smith previously served as director of the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation at Duke Divinity School and as managing director of Princeton Project 55, Inc., a nationwide nonprofit organization that seeks to mobilize civic leadership for the public good.

   
• Meet the Speakers

  Dr. Joseph Spears
  Professor and Department Chair of Sport Management at North Greenville University

  Dr. Spears currently serves as professor and department chair of sport management at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C. Before his role in higher education, Dr. Spears served as the health and physical activity director for the Ninth Episcopal District of the A.M.E Church. He supported hundreds of churches across Alabama by sharing the benefits of physical fitness, especially among ethnic groups that experience health disparities. Dr. Spears believes that partnering with faith-based organizations allows for a more culturally tailored approach to changing health behaviors. He utilizes those partnerships to provide educational and informational programs that promote the entire community's well-being. Dr. Spears believes that "spiritual as well as physical fitness is the solution."

   

   

  

  Dr. Gregg Allison
  Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Secretary of the Evangelical Theological Society

  Dr. Gregg Allison is a professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. and the secretary of the Evangelical Theological Society. Before his current role, Dr. Allison taught theology and church history at Western Seminary in Portland, Ore. for nine years. He worked in campus ministry with Campus Crusade (Cru) for 18 years. He also served as a missionary in Italy and Switzerland and co-pastored a church in Lugano, Switzerland. One of his interests as a systematic theologian is human embodiment and he recently authored the popular book “Embodied: Living as Whole People in a Fractured World.”