24th Annual Pittsburgh Pastoral Care Conference

Friday, April 19 2024 —  8am-4pm

Christ United Methodist Church
44 Highland Road, Bethel Park, PA 15102

For clergy, pastors, laity, counselors, social workers, nurses, teachers, volunteers and others in the flock helping those needing healing and recovery.

Keynote Speaker

The Rev. Kimberly Wagner, Assistant Professor of Preaching, Practical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

The Rev. Dr. Kimberly Wagner serves as the Assistant Professor of Preaching at Princeton Theological Seminary. She received a B.S. in Secondary Life Science Education from Miami University (OH), a M.Div. from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and her Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. Though she has served among the Lutherans and was educated among United Methodists, Dr. Wagner is ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Previous experience on the pastoral staff of a PCUSA congregation in Virginia helps fuel and inform her present scholarship and teaching. She is passionate about supporting students’ formation and helping clergy and communities navigate the realities of an ever-changing world and church. Her current writing and work focus on preaching and ministry in the midst and wake of trauma, particularly thinking about collective trauma, the role of the preacher, and the resources of our Scriptures and faith to respond to these moments. Dr. Wagner’s book, Fractured Ground: Preaching in the Wake of Mass Trauma (Westminster John Knox Press, 2023), offers guidance for preaching in the aftermath of communal trauma, including mass violence, natural disasters, and public health crises.