Michael Koppel is a Member of National Capital Presbytery and a Minister of Word and Sacrament with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  In conjunction with teaching pastoral counseling courses at Wesley Theological Seminary, Mr. Koppel acts as a Faculty Advisor to the Presbyterian Student Fellowship. His ordained pastoral service includes ministry positions as campus minister, local church pastor, hospice chaplain, and clinical pastoral supervisor in California, Ohio, and New York.
Current projects include:

• a book-length manuscript that assists pastoral leaders in developing care-filled and creative play in ministry.
• two articles: 
  
• one addresses critical pastoral educational practices for congregational and clinical contexts;
  
• one considers the value of experiential learning inside and outside the traditional theological school classroom.

A 2005-2006 Grant from the Wabash Center for Teaching Theology and Religion (Crawfordsville, Indiana) has enabled the design of a Master’s level course that integrates pastoral practices with biblical interpretation as well as the writing of an article on the practice of silence in pastoral care and counseling.

Courses Taught:

• Counseling Skills for Ministry
• Pastoral Care and Counseling in Contexts
• Spirituality of Pastoral Care and Counseling
• Death, Dying & Bereavement
• Creativity in Pastoral Ministry
• Play Theory and Plays (co-taught with Fredricka Berger)
• Cross-Cultural Pastoral Care and Counseling
• The Bible and Pastoral Care (co-taught with Denise Hopkins)
• Cross Cultural Immersion to the People’s Republic of China
  
  

Education:

• University of California, Davis, B.A.
• Yale University Divinity School, M.Div.
• Claremont School of Theology, M.A., Ph.D
  
  

Publications:

• “Self Psychology and End of Life Pastoral Care,” Pastoral Psychology, Vol. 53 (2), November 2004, pp. 139-151.
• “Structuring Chaos,” The Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Vol. 58 (3), Fall 2004, pp. 257-259.
• “A Pastoral Theological Reflection on Play in the Ministry,” The Journal of Pastoral Theology, Vol. 13 (1), June 2003, pp. 3-12.
• “Practicing Forgiveness,” Weekly Disciple Companion: A Resource from Wesley Theological Seminary, (2003). 
• “An Examination of How Adult and Theological Education Literature Informs the Practice of Clinical Pastoral Care: A Critical Review,” The Journal of Pastoral Care, Vol. 54 (1), Spring 2000, pp. 11-21.
• “A Jungian Perspective on Therapy at the End of Life,” Pastoral Psychology, Vol. 48 (1), September 1999, pp. 45-56.
• “Seminar Summary of ‘Ecotherapy’ Lecture by Dr. Howard Clinebell,” Process Perspectives, Vol. 22 (1), Spring 1999, p. 12.

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