Michael Koppel

Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Pastoral Theology and Congregational Care and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

A native of California, Michael Koppel is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and has served as pastor, campus minister, hospital clinical care supervisor, hospice chaplain, and youth minister in California, Ohio, and New York. He teaches and researches in the field of pastoral theology and care ministries. Michael served a four-year term on the Society for Pastoral Theology Steering Committee (2011-2015) and a six-year term (with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins) as co-convener of SBL Section, The Bible and Practical Theology (2008-2014). He currently advises PCUSA students at Wesley. He has been awarded: a Pulpit and Pew Pastoral Leadership Dissertation Fellowship, Duke University (2001); a Wabash Center Faculty Fellowship (2005); and with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins: a Theological Education Renewal Award from the Yale Center for Faith and Culture (2006); the Association of Theological Schools Research Grant (2007); and a Wabash Center Project Grant, sponsored by the Lilly Endowment (2012). Michael enjoys swimming, bicycling, and hiking.

Publications

Coming Home: The Body in Pastoral and Spiritual Care (forthcoming)
Co-editor (with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins), Bridge Work: Conversations between the Bible and Pastoral Theology (forthcoming, Cambridge Scholars, 2017)
“The Prophets and Pastoral Care,” The Oxford Handbook of the Prophets, ed. Carolyn Sharp (forthcoming, 2016)
“The Contemplative Bow in Teaching and Learning Pastoral Care,” Teaching Theology & Religion 16,1 (Jan. 2013): 76-88
“‘Let Them Be Like the Snail that Dissolves into Slime’: Pastoral and Theological Perspectives on Divine and Human Violence in the Bible” (with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins), Journal of Pastoral Theology 23,2 (2013): 2.1-2.18
Co-editor (with Janet E. Schaller) and author, Graceful Eldercare: Essays in Honor of William M. Clements, Pastoral Psychology 60,1 (February 2011)
Co-author (with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins), Grounded in the Living Word: The Old Testament and Pastoral Care Practices (Eerdmans, 2010)
Open-Hearted Ministry: Play as Key to Pastoral Leadership (Fortress, 2008)

Education

Ph.D., Claremont School of Theology, with President’s Award for Excellence
M.Div., Yale University Divinity School, cum laude
B.A., University of California, Davis, Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude

Research Interests

Classes Taught

Pastoral Care and Counseling in Contexts
Spirituality of Pastoral Care and Counseling; Counseling Skills for Ministry
Death, Dying, and Bereavement
The Hebrew Bible and Pastoral Care (with Denise Dombkowski Hopkins)
Inter-cultural Care and Counseling; Pastoral Care with Young Adults
The Tone of Church Leadership